Dean stays scorching hot with two homers

There's hot and then there's the start Austin Dean is off to with Double-A Jacksonville. 
The Marlins prospect went 3-for-5 with his first two homers of the season on Sunday, raising his batting average to a Minor League-best .536 and helping the Jumbo Shrimp to an 11-5 victory over Tennessee at Smokies Stadium. He drove in four runs and scored three.

Dean entered the day with no homers, but changed that in the second inning. Marlins No. 2 prospect Monte Harrison led off the frame with a double and the 24-year-old followed with a two-run shot to left field on a 2-1 offering from starter Duncan Robinson.
"Nothing really changed," Dean told the team's website. "I'm just trying to hit the ball hard and make good contact and try to get on base. That's just kind of been my approach this year." 
The mentality is working. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound outfielder owns a 1.366 OPS through 16 games, which ranks third across all levels.
In the sixth, Dean clubbed his second two-run homer of the day, this time plating eighth-ranked Isan Díaz and accounting for Jacksonville's final runs. The 2012 fourth-round Draft pick worked the count full and saw six pitches before connecting against Preston Morrison. 
"He's off to a great start. Hopefully, it lasts all the way to September," Jumbo Shrimp manager Randy Ready said. "He's just off to a great start. He looks very confident. He's getting good pitches to hit. He's seeing the ball well. He's hitting the ball right on the screws." 
Gameday box score
Jacksonville tagged Robinson for five runs in the first, and Dean found himself in the middle of the action. He singled to load the bases, eventually scoring on a three-run double by Eric Jagielo. 
"[The first inning] was a big step, kind of a game-changer," Dean said. "I think that was the most we scored in the first inning this year, so that kind of started it. And then the next inning, kind of adding onto it [with my homer]. I think collectively, as a team, we hit really well, we pitched really well, so it was a good team win for us after the struggles in Chattanooga and [Saturday's] loss. It was good to bounce back and kind of send a message."
Dean has eight hits in his last 13 at-bats. The Texas native credited the information hitting coach Kevin Witt imparts to him and his teammates before every game for contributing to the early-season success. 
Diaz went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and Harrison also had a pair of hits. The team's approach against Tennessee, Ready said, was to swing away, since Smokies pitchers were not afraid to throw strikes. 
"That's why we gotta be aggressive in the strike zone," the manager said. "I thought we did a nice job of controlling it and harnessing the strike zone. We reaped the fruits of our labor, so to speak. We hit a lot of balls hard today." 
Dean said the key for him in the first month of the season has been letting the game come to him. 
"Just having fun, honestly," he said. "You gotta keep it loose and have fun. I've been playing this game for a while now. You gotta have fun out there. 
"It's a tough game out there."
Dean isn't making it look that hard so far.