R.A. Dickey wins Fielding Bible Award, Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman get All-Star nods

Born-again Dickey Gets the Bible

Just a few days after R.A. Dickey and teammate Mark Buehrle were named as two of the three finalists for the Gold Glove Award, Dickey bested Buehrle in the sabermetrically-inclined (and more obscure) Fielding Bible Award. Dickey received 105 points, Zack Greinke had 98, and Buehrle was third with 73. SB Nation's Rob Neyer got a vote, along with other notables like Bill James, Hal Richman, Peter Gammons, Joe Posnanski, and John Dewan. One weekend after the season ends, they all gather at one of the panellists' mom's basement and use spreadsheets to decide the winner instead of actually watching the game.

With eight defensive runs saved this season, Dickey picks up his first Fielding Bible Award, snapping Buehrle's winning streak at four seasons. In the press release John Dewan mentioned that Dickey "had in the top 10 among 175 qualifying pitchers in Defensive Runs Saved," and that he "all facets of defending his position," setting himself in the right fielding position, fielding bunts, and having a "tremendous pickoff move."

Despite the bad infield defence that was all too evident at the beginning of the season, Blue Jays fans were treated to a fantastic season of pitching defence with Dickey and Buehrle at the top of the rotation. Of course, in 2013 Blue Jays fashion, both Buehrle and Dickey got hit with a ball during their last start (Buehrle got the out, Dickey didn't).

Since the debut of the award in 2006, four awards have been given to a Blue Jays player: Aaron Hill (2B) won it in 2007 and 2009, Alex Rios (RF) won in 2007, and Dickey in 2013.

Sanchez and Stroman are Fall Stars

More good news for the Blue Jays (two positive stories in one day? wuhhh?) family, pitching prospects Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman were named as members of the Arizona Fall League East Division team of the Fall Star Game. The game will be streamed live on MLB.com this Saturday at 8 pm Eastern.

Sanchez recently completed another great starts on Monday, being perfect through the first three innings. In his 4.1 innings of shut out work, Sanchez allowed just a single and struck out four against the Mesa Solar Sox in a place called the HoHoKam Stadium. The only thing that marred his line were three walks. Stroman was also in the game, pitching one inning in relief and notching a hold, giving up just one single.

Designated hitter Andy Burns went 2-for-4 with an RBI single and catcher Derrick Chung collected another hit in a 1-for-3 effort to continue his turnaround from a slow start at the plate. DRaysBay writer Danny Russell saw him play and praised Chung for his baserunning and defense.