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Since we're on the subject of prospects lately, here's the latest news from the Next Jay-neration in the minor leagues. The boys were swinging a lot of lumber down on the farm last night....

Syracuse 10, Columbus 5

Gabe Gross made a nice Triple-A debut with a single and a run scored while batting fifth. Minor-league veterans Glenn Williams and Glenn Burnham did most of the damage with the bats, but Kevin Cash doubled, scored twice and drove in 2. Evan Thomas, who I could have sworn was released a while back, got the win, but more importantly, Juan Pena got his third save with 1 2/3 shutout innings (1 H, 0 BB, 2 K).

New Haven 12, Trenton 2

If the Ravens missed Gross, they hid it well. Gabe’s replacement in right field, Justin Singleton, walked four times and homered for a perfect evening, while the suddenly red-hot Dominic Rich had two more hits, walked twice and scored twice. Guillermo Quiroz had two hits and scored three times too. But the big bat belonged to John-Ford Griffin, who cracked his 13th home run and drove in 5 runs. The winning pitcher was David Bush, who allowed 2 runs in 5 fairly messy innings (5 H, 4 BB, 4 Ks). His AA numbers thus far: 3-1, 2.63, 5 GS, 27 IP, 24 H, 11 BB, 27 K, 1 HR, 22.5% KBF -- lots to like there.

Dunedin 1-4 Tampa 5-1

The D-Jays split a twinbill with Tampa, winning the opener 4–1 despite giving away 10 walks to the Yankee hitters. The normally solid Chad Pleiness issued 7 free passes in 5 innings, but helped make up for it by allowing just 2 hits and 1 run, while K’ing 6. Justin Maureau actually picked up the win, but his 2 innings featured 1 hit, 3 walks and no strikeouts. In the nighcap, well, Mikail Jova homered, and that was about as interesting as it got.

Greensboro 13, Charleston 4

The Alley-Cats are probably the poorest cousins in the minor-league chain right now; they’re almost completely bereft of hitters and many of their best hurlers have been promoted. DJ Hanson got knocked aroung again last night, lasting just 2 innings and surrendering 4 runs on 3 hits and 5 walks, striking out only 2. Tracy Thorpe pitched again in relief and did pretty well, 1 and 1/3 innings of 1-hit, 0-run ball, with 2 Ks. No one interesting did anything useful with the bat; maybe it’s time Charleston received an infusion of offence from the powerhouse team below them:

Auburn 11, Tri-City 1

I just love reporting on Doubleday games. Aaron Hill cracked his 2nd home run and drove in 3, while 3B Ryan Roberts walked twice, scored twice and stole his 5th base. Roberts, an 18th-round 2003 selection out of the University of Texas at Arlington, is looking like a major steal: in his first 84 ABs, he’s gone .357/.450/.524 with 2 2Bs, 4 HRs, 5 steals and a 13/21 BB/K rate. Mike Galloway hit his 4th homer and scored twice. On the mound, Tom Mastny won his second game with 5 1/3 innings of 4-hit, 1-run ball (1 BB, 2K). Auburn is a staggering 18-5, and leads the NY-Penn League in BA, runs, homers and walks. And keep in mind, the NYP has traditionally been a pitchers’ league....
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Pistol - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 10:42 AM EDT (#97894) #
http://www.baseballamerica.com/cgi-bin/03draftdbx_team.cgi?team=TOR
Some more of the signing bonuses are being reported at BA. There's a couple in there that stick out for not following what I would think is the expected pattern.
_Jordan - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 11:10 AM EDT (#97895) #
Yeah, Jayce Tingler and Danny Core can't be too happy after looking at that list, huh? It also seems like the early signees did better than the late ones. I'm sure that's not a coincidence; the Jays are sending a little message.
Coach - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 11:22 AM EDT (#97896) #
I was very impressed with what I saw of Dominic Rich in a televised spring training game. The way he stands in the box, stares down the pitcher and watches everything right into the catcher's glove is eerily reminiscent of Pete Rose. Whatever physical problems contributed to his slow start are obviously behind him, and people seem to have forgotten he was the leading hitter in the FSL last year.

maybe it’s time Charleston received an infusion of offence from the powerhouse team below them

The West Virginian fans deserve to see some of the talent, even briefly, with Christian Snavely and Vito Chiaravolloti among the other fine candidates for promotion to the SAL. No power (yet) from Snavely, but the Ohio State star has a .391 OBP, while Vito, a 15th-round steal, is mashing the NYPL at a 343/471/597 clip.

However, several of the Auburn stars might jump straight to Dunedin. Josh Banks and Jamie Vermilyea are looking special, and deserve at least a late-season look at High-A. I see no reason why Aaron Hill shouldn't be in AA early next year, following Adams (and Rich) up the ladder. Toronto fans shouldn't get too attached to Hudson and Woodward, though the latter could take over the Dave Berg role some day.

Even the Rookie level Pulaski Jays are showing patience and plate discipline. Pint-sized CF Jayce Tingler has struck out once in his first 73 AB as a pro, walking 13 times.
_Ryan - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 12:07 PM EDT (#97897) #
I was in Portland last weekend to see the Ravens for a couple games, and I was also impressed by Rich. During batting practice on Sunday he was driving the Sea Dogs' players crazy while they were trying to stretch in right field. Rich just kept peppering balls down the rightfield line.

Also of note:

John-Ford Griffin's stance looks like a left-handed version of Tom Wilson's. Similar knee-bend and upright upper body.

Russ Adams' arm didn't look too bad. He made some pretty good throws while I was there, but my fielding evaluations should be taken with a grain of salt. When I was in Portland in April to see the Ravens, Simon Pond looked like a slick-fielding third baseman. It's hard to judge anyone on just two games.
_R Billie - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 12:46 PM EDT (#97898) #
I think considering the focus of this year's draft was once again pitching, the Jays have to be thrilled with the way the Auburn club is performing offensively (and Pulaski hasn't been bad either).

It's good to see Dominic Rich and Kevin Cash returning from the dead, though the latter could become trade bait once Quiroz is ready...the Jays would just need a Myers-like lefty veteran to compliment Quiroz.

I'm not sure if Rich will stay a middle infielder all the way up. The Jays are loaded with outfielders though so it looks like they'll have enough depth to have another trading chip. Now if only Jason Arnold could get back on schedule, things would be looking very good indeed in the minors.
_John Neary - Monday, July 14 2003 @ 11:46 AM EDT (#97899) #
Nice day for some Toronto pitching prospects in the low minors:
Team     Pitcher           IP   H  R  ER BB K  HR
Dunedin Vince Perkins 5.2 1 0 0 3 9 0
Dunedin Brandon League 7.0 3 1 1 2 3 0
Auburn Jamie Vermilyea 3.0 3 3 3 2 6 0
A couple of Auburn relievers had some good lines, too:
Team     Pitcher           IP   H  R  ER BB K  HR
Dunedin Shaun Marcum 1.2 0 0 0 0 4 0
Dunedin Bubbie Buzachero 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Buzachero was a 23rd-rounder out of baseball hotbed Tennessee Tech in 2002. His year-on-year improvement is striking, small sample size notwithstanding.
Team          Season  IP    H   BB  K   HR
Tenn. Tech 2002 51.0 72 22 44 6
Medicine Hat 2002 40.0 34 25 42 2
Auburn 2003 13.2 9 4 26 0
That 2003 line is David Bush territory, and Buzachero is actually a half a year younger than Bush was last year in Auburn. Now, I'm not saying that Bubbie Buzachero is close to as good of a prospect as Bush is or was. Still, if you can twist the numbers to make him appear so, he must have something going for him.

Marcum, of course, is the 3rd-rounder from the 2003 draft. His 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 10 K, 0 HR line through 4 games is nice, but you don't want to read too much into it.
_John Neary - Monday, July 14 2003 @ 02:18 PM EDT (#97900) #
Also, Adam Peterson's promotion to New Haven seems to have been ignored by everyone but Jordan.

Peterson's numbers since being drafted tell an interesting story.
Team                     IP    H   BB  K   HR
Auburn, 2002 31.1 29 9 19 2
Charleston, April 2003 8.2 9 10 2 1
Charleston, May 2003 16.0 6 3 17 0
Dunedin, June/July 2003 12.2 5 0 13 1
New Haven, July 2003 3.1 5 2 5 0
A 4th-rounder out of Wichita State in 2002, Peterson pitched a very ordinary thirty innings for Auburn that summer and was so bad in April 2003 that Jordan wondered whether he'd "gone Ankiel." He turned his season around by pitching brilliantly in both May and June.

Peterson has the distinction of being the first Blue Jay prospect to advance two levels in 2003. He might be in the major-league bullpen mix more quickly than we imagine.

Props to Jordan for being just about the only person in the world other than Peterson's mom to keep an eye on him before he got hot.
Coach - Monday, July 14 2003 @ 02:24 PM EDT (#97901) #
Sorry, John, I posted another thread without even noticing your recap, which was a lot better than mine.

Auburn's a pitching factory, with the college men dominating the younger competition. Buzachero is getting the saves and might earn the first promotion, but Marcum is more highly regarded.

Perkins and League doing so well in High-A is a lot more exciting.
_Eric C - Monday, July 14 2003 @ 06:01 PM EDT (#97902) #
Jordan this, Jordan that, yeesh! Why don't you just marry him? =)
_John Neary - Monday, July 14 2003 @ 06:33 PM EDT (#97903) #
Eric: Actually, what happened was that I noticed Peterson's name in the New Haven box score, wrote a little piece about how he was getting ignored, and then just before I posted it I realized that what I had to say was not news. So I had to give credit ;)

Coach: I don't argue that Buzachero is as good of a prospect as Marcum or anywhere near as exciting as Perkins and League. Still, it's nice to see a 23rd-rounder striking out 48% of the batters he faces. That's even more than Vermilyea.

Plus, his name is Bubbie Buzachero.
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