Three Smokies named Southern League All-Stars

Minor League Baseball today announced their end-of-the-season All-Star teams for the three Double-A Leagues. These teams are decided by a vote of the managers in each league. Three members of the Tennessee Smokies—third baseman Jake Slaughter and outfielders Alexander Canario and Yonathan Perlaza—were named to the Southern League All-Star team.

Slaughter, the Cubs’ 18th-round pick in 2018 out of LSU, started the season in High-A South Bend but was promoted to Tennessee after just 20 games. The 25-year-old spent the rest of the year in Double-A, hitting .293/.389/.534 with 20 home runs and 28 steals in 86 games with the Smokies. Slaughter had 68 RBI and scored 60 times.

Canario, 22, was one of two prospects the Cubs acquired from the Giants in the Kris Bryant trade in 2021. Canario played at three different levels in 2022, starting the season in High-A South Bend and finishing the year in Triple-A Iowa. Between the three levels, Canario led the Cubs organization with 37 home runs.

But Canario played the bulk of the season, 81 games, in Double-A Tennessee. There he hit .248 with a .329 on-base percentage and a .552 slugging percentage. Canario hit 24 of his 37 home runs in Double-A and also stole 17 bases in 20 attempts. Canario had 61 RBI and scored 51 times.

Unfortunately, Canario suffered a broken left ankle and a dislocated shoulder when he fell running to first base in a winter ball game. He’s not expected to be ready to return by the start of the season.

The Cubs signed Yonathan Perlaza, then an infielder, out of Venezuela in 2015. Now 22 years old, Perlaza spent the entire season in Double-A, playing 124 games with the vast majority of them in right field. For the 2022 season, Perlaza hit .255/.358/.491 with 36 doubles, three triples, 23 home runs and 15 steals. Perlaza drove in 73 runs and scored 81.

Here is the press release announcing all the All-Star teams.

MiLB Anounces 2022 Double-A League All-Star Teams and Award Winners 11822.pdf