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A 2-3 night on the farm but some signs of encouragement came in Central New York Tuesday night. New Hampshire, Lansing and Vancouver were off. No score from the DSL as of press time.


Buffalo 6 Syracuse 2

Syracuse, NY — Ricky Romero
(1-3) finally has his first win of the season. The lefty scattered six hits, two walks and a hit by pitch over seven innings, resulting in two runs against the Nationals affiliate. He gave up a homer but struck out seven. Eight of his 11 outs in play were on the ground. Of his 105 pitches, 65 were strikes. John Stilson finished up with two perfect frames and two strikeouts.

Romero got some help from the rehabbing Brett Lawrie as he produced an RBI single in the first before belting a two-run homer in the sixth. Anthony Gose and Mike Nickeas had back-to-back RBI doubles in the fifth. Ryan Goins had a sacrifice fly in the seventh for the final Bisons run. Kevin Pillar had three hits, including a triple, and Lawrie stole a base to complement his two-hit performance. Goins had the other base hit. Eugenio Velez and Mike McCoy had two bases on balls apiece with Velez collecting his 19th stolen base of the season. Andy LaRoche and Clint Robinson, in his first game at Triple-A, were both 0-for-4.


Dunedin 8 Tampa 4 (Completion of June 30 game)


Dunedin, FL — Mike Crouse
drove in the first Dunedin run with a single in the first to even things up at 1-1. They grabbed the lead for good when Peter Mooney delivered a bases-clearing double in the fourth. A K.C. Hobson sacrifice fly and a Gustavo Pierre RBI single scored two runs in the fifth. Crouse and Hobson had back-to-back sac flies in the eighth. Opitz had three hits and a walk. Jon Berti was on base three times with two hits and a walk and swiped his 34th base of the season. Crouse, Mooney, Pierre, Marcus Knecht and Nick Baligod all had two-hit efforts. Derrick Chung was 0-for-4.

Marco Grifantini
gave up a run on two hits and a walk. Jesse Hernandez (5-6) pitched the next 6 2/3 innings and all three runs he allowed were unearned. He struck out seven, walked nobody and induced eight groundball outs. Lefty Tyler Ybarra stranded a runner for Hernandez and worked his way around a pair of walks to pitch 1 1/3 innings of scoreless ball. He struck out a pair to earn his first save.


Tampa 7 Dunedin 0 (7 Innings)

Tampa, FL — The Yankees did most of their damage in the first two innings against Shawn Griffith (0-3), bunching up five hits and three walks to produce three runs. Griffiths struck out three. Marco Grifantini allowed a run on a hit and a walk over one inning. Lefty Tony Davis served up a solo long ball but whiffed two in his inning of work. Blake McFarland had a one-walk eighth and Ajay Meyer also walked one in the ninth but struck out a pair.

Dunedin's bat did not make the trip to Tampa, save for Marcus Knecht, who provided the lone hit with a single. Jon Berti drew a walk. Shane Opitz, Mike Crouse, K.C. Hobson, Nick Baligod, Oliver Dominguez and Pierce Rankin put up a goose egg in their three at-bats. Matt Newman was 0-for-2.


Johnson City 7 Bluefield 2

Bluefield, WV — Bluefield led 2-0 after RBI singles by Dawel Lugo in the fifth and Alexis Maldonado in the seventh. Lugo was denied a two-run single when Jorge Saez was thrown out at home by the Cardinals right fielders. Lugo had a two-hit night and Mitch Nay had two walks. D.J. Davis singled and stole his fourth base of the year. Saez, Matt Dean, Jesus Gonzalez and D.J. Jones also had base hits. Jonathan Davis drew a walk. Derrick Loveless was 0-for-4. Melvin Garcia and John Silviano came up empty in pinch-hitting appearances.

Alberto Tirado
pitched three shutout innings by navigating his way around three hits and a walk. His strikeout and groundout totals came in at three. Fellow Dominican Jairo Labourt (1-1) was not as fortunate in his 4 1/3 innings. Two of the lefty's four runs were unearned on a Maldonado error at second. Labourt surrendered a homer among his six hits, including a home run. He struck out two and got eight groundball outs. Brett Barber stranded a Labourt runner but was roughed up for three runs on two hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings while whiffing one. Lefty Francisco Gracesqui allowed both of his inherited runners to score on two hits before getting the final out.


GCL Phillies 8 GCL Blue Jays 7


Clearwater, FLMatt Smoral was not able to get out of the first inning as the Phillies used four hits and two walks to score five times. The left did not strike anyone out in his two-thirds of an inning. Lefthander Corey Gorman stranded a runner for Smoral but had problems of his own in his two innings as he surrendered a run on two hits and two walks while whiffing one. Lefty Jose Fernandez stranded a runner for Gorman and survived a hit and two walks in one scoreless frame that included a K. Francisco Diaz saw one run cross the plate on three hits but did strike out four in 2 1/3 innings. Phil Kish (0-1) yielded the winning run on three hits and a hit by pitch but collected three K's.

Lydell Moseby helped the Jays claw back from a 5-0 hole with a run-scoring single in the second and brought home another run with an RBI groundout in the sixth. Thomas Collins III singled home another run in third and Gabriel Cenas brought home another with a bases loaded walk. The Jays would tie it with three runs in the seventh. Dan Jansen drove in a run with a ground-rule double and Cenas would follow with a sacrifice fly. The tying run scored on a strike three wild pitch to Andres De Aza.

Jansen had two doubles while Cenas and Collins had the other two-hit games. Jansen and Cenas also had a walk apiece. Sean Hurley reached base four times with a single, a hit by pitch and two bases on balls. Franklin Barreto had a double and a walk while De Aza singled and was plunked. Koby Kraemer was 0-for-5 and Trey Pascazi was 0-for-3. Josh Almonte and Edwin Fuentes were both 0-for-1.

Boxscores


*** 3 Stars!!! ***


3. Kevin Pillar, Buffalo — Hitting .373 with 15 extra-base hits in 75 at-bats with Buffalo, compared to 27 extra-base hits in 304 ABs with New Hampshire. Might be major league ready!


2. Brett Lawrie, Buffalo — Went 0-for-6 with Lansing but hit .333 with New Hampshire and now .500 with Buffalo. Anything less than .667 in Toronto will be a huge disappointment! ;D


1. Ricky Romero, Buffalo — A 17-5 K-BB ratio over his last 19 innings. Is the former ace finally turning a corner?


Wednesday's Probable Starters...


DSL Blue Jays
— TBA vs. DSL Nationals, 10:30 am ET.
GCL Blue Jays — TBA vs. GCL Pirates, 12:00 pm ET.
Dunedin Austin Bibens-Dirkx (4-3, 2.88) @ Tampa, 12:00 pm ET.
BuffaloJustin Germano (5-7, 5.44) @ Syracuse, 7:00 pm ET.
Bluefield — TBA @ Burlington, 7:00 pm ET.
LansingJavier Avendano (5-6, 4.46) @ Peoria, 7:05 pm ET.
Vancouver — TBA vs. Boise, 10:05 pm ET.
Romero & Lawrie Discover Former Glory | 27 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
China fan - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 08:50 AM EDT (#276104) #
Stilson is beginning to approach Wagner-like numbers in Buffalo.
John Northey - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 09:00 AM EDT (#276105) #
Nah, Stilson has a ways to go to reach Wagner numbers.
AAA...
Wagner: 0.89 ERA 14.2 K/9 3.5 BB/9 4.4 H/9 0 HR
Stilson: 1.90 ERA 8.0 K/9 3.8 BB/9 4.9 H/9 0.4 HR/9

Very impressive but counting on a low BABIP.  Wagner had the crazy K numbers which is a great indicator of future success.  Stilson has good K numbers but not 'wow'.  I'd be leaving Stilson in AAA for awhile yet, probably the rest of the year.  I am surprised the Jays didn't try to stretch him out more but I guess after missing April and 1/2 of May they felt it best to not strain his arm this year.

Yet another indicator that trading a few pitchers would be a safe move though.  For some organizations he'd be up already.  For the Jays he'll wait until 2014 at least I suspect as why waste a 40 man slot on a guy who can be kept off it this winter.

Gerry - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 09:06 AM EDT (#276107) #

Dunedin were no-hit on Monday night by Daytona.  In the second game of the doubleheader yesterday Dunedin were being no-hit by Tampa into the seventh inning, which was the last inning of the game.  Marcus Knecht saved the D Jays from being no-hit in consecutive days by singling in the seventh.

I don't know if a team has ever been no-hit in consecutive days.

Mike Green - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 09:12 AM EDT (#276109) #
Kevin Pillar needs some time with Tim Raines, if he hasn't already had it.  He's 16 of 27 stealing bases this year, and has been thrown out on the bases more than he ought to be (including once last night).  That seems to be the one finishing touch left to be put on his game. 

He has added power this year without sacrificing plate discipline while moving up the system.  He's 24 and maybe capable of adding even a little more.  The template for him (late arriving LFs with medium range pop and good plate discipline) would be that of Lou Piniella and Rusty Greer. 
AWeb - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 10:01 AM EDT (#276111) #

I wouldn't worry about Pillar's low SB%, since no one gets to run that often in MLB if they can't do better. The minors are all about finding your limits on this sort of thing. If it turns out he isn't a great basestealer, maybe he can be an opportunistic 10-15 SB guy, rather than a terrible (%) 30-40 SB guy like he is in AAA right now. I'd worry about a guy who never got caught too, actually, since I'd rather not have a player test his limits at the MLB level.

Hope Lawrie can come back hitting this time. His utter inability to wait on pitches long enough to take a good swing has been increasingly frustrating to watch. He often seems like he's trying to get a running start, a la Ichiro, sometimes, except a righty with power isn't exactly well suited to it.

Mike Green - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 10:17 AM EDT (#276112) #
Pillar actually runs pretty well.  He's been picked off a fair bit and thrown out quite a bit by outfielders.  You can cut back on the stolen base attempts when he arrives in the majors, but good baserunning is important regardless.
Ryan Day - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 10:23 AM EDT (#276113) #
Speaking of terrible baserunning: I hadn't realized just how awful Anthony Gose was this year - 11 SB vs 10 CS. And that's on top of his .223 BA and normal bucket of strikeouts.
Magpie - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 10:25 AM EDT (#276114) #
The template for him (late arriving LFs with medium range pop and good plate discipline) would be that of Lou Piniella and Rusty Greer.

Dan Gladden, I keep telling ya! That's who Pillar is!

And to pick a nit, Lou Piniella's pop (102 career HRs) was a good bit less than medium and his plate discipline (368 career walks) was less than good. The man played 1747 games. He also couldn't run and his arm wasn't all that great. He was a helluva player, anyway. Go figure.
Mike Green - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 10:38 AM EDT (#276115) #
Pillar is an inch taller and (more importantly) 20 lbs heavier than Gladden.  I think that he'll steal fewer bases than Gladden and hit for more pop, leading to a slash line more like Rusty Greer's.  Gladden's best IsoP in the minor leagues, .165, was, in the context of Phoenix in the PCL, not very impressive, but his 50/10 SB/CS was. 
John Northey - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 10:43 AM EDT (#276116) #
Wow is Gose having issues in AAA.  A 776 OPS in the majors over just 26 PA, but a 223/312/306 line in AAA.  Every year before this his OPS improved year over year in the minors despite climbing the ladder and being young for his level.  This year is the first time he has had to repeat a level though and I wonder if that really is playing with his head somehow.  From rookie, to A, to A+, to AA, to AAA one level a year, a taste of the majors last year, more AAA and another ML taste this year.  Since going back down he has hit 216/267/279 while going 6-5 for SB-CS.  Plus 43 K's in 122 PA which is nuts (a 211 over 600 PA pace).

Very glad the Jays were smart enough not to just hand Gose LF or CF last winter.  Could've been another Sil Campusano level mess except without forcing Bautista to DH.

Chuck - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 10:58 AM EDT (#276118) #

A 776 OPS in the majors over just 26 PA

No offense John, but is it meaningful to cite an OPS number for just 26 PA? Even if it were 500 or 900, the number itself truly says very little given the small number of PA (tack an 0-for-4 onto those 26 PA and suddenly the OPS is sub-700 and not so good).

It's like when people cite McGowan's ERA+ or BABIP or WHIP or whatever. He hasn't even pitched 10 innings. It would be sufficient to say that he has pitched well and struck guys out. Any metrics to confirm such a diagnosis simply serve to obliterate the underlying message.

I am a fan of numbers, make no mistake. They just sometimes get used like a sledgehammer and then paradoxically shed less light onto a subject rather than more.

bpoz - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 11:04 AM EDT (#276120) #
I sort of remember Piniella choking up on the bat and getting singles. He seemed to be a very good pinch hitter.
Magpie - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 11:26 AM EDT (#276124) #
He seemed to be a very good pinch hitter.

He wasn't all that great (.253/.346/.341) - that's well below his career numbers. But... most players are much better hitters when they're in the lineup, rather than when they're pinch hitting. The reason is obvious - it's the same reason offensive production goes down when it's Late and Close (people with names like Gossage and Henke and Rivera.) Even guys who were famous specifically for pinch hitting - Manny Mota or Rusty Staub - basically just managed to hit as well when they were pinch hitting as they did the rest of the time.
Beyonder - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 11:38 AM EDT (#276126) #

Those of us looking to add a rich subtext to our frustration can look not only to Gose's implosion, but also to the excellent performances of those we traded away in the offseason.

Syndergaard: (2 levels: A & AA), combined 2.76 ERA. 81 IP, 87 K.
Nicolino: (High A) 2.18 ERA over 91 IP.
Marisnick: (AA) 295/362/498, ten homers.
DeSclafani: (2 Levels A+ and AA), combined 2.40 ERA, 75 IP, 68K
Wuilmer Becera: 306/375/347 (only 56 PA)

No return on D'Arnaud yet.

The flip side of the coin is that Osuna, Sanchez, Smoral, and Norris are all having tough years (or rough starts to their years).

John Northey - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 11:48 AM EDT (#276127) #
No offense taken Chuck. More just covering all his playing time there and I did list PA so people would know how little weight to put on it.  IIRC Gose had a good spring (just checked, 267/404/400 over 45 AB - same sample size issue).  The big question is if he is sulking about being in AAA rather than trying to push ahead and become the best he can be.  If he did what Devon White did when sent down back in 1990 by the Angels (he hit 364/435/582 in an effort to say 'I don't belong down here') then he might be up for good right now.  Instead he is stuck in AAA and being shuffled around to LF/RF while Pillar gets some CF time.  Note: before his promotion to the majors this year Gose only played CF.  Since going back down he has played 6 in LF, 6 in RF, and 19 in CF.  Pillar in AAA has 3 LF, 6 RF, 11 CF. 

Btw, just checked to see if Sierra has played in CF but noticed he hasn't played at all since June 29th.  Did a bit of checking and he was just put on the DL so I guess that explains that.
92-93 - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 12:13 PM EDT (#276129) #
Not a big fan of the swing Lawrie put on his HR. He isn't likely to receive breaking ball cookies like this in the bigs.

http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=28771377
Mike Green - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 01:57 PM EDT (#276133) #
He still is too busy with his hands before the pitch is thrown.  Nonetheless, the pitch that he hit out of the park was down;  he golfed it out.  I have seen much worse breaking pitches from major leaguers. 
uglyone - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 03:05 PM EDT (#276139) #
Romero AAA:

All 12gs: 5.0ip/gs, 5.6k/9, 5.7bb/9, 1.93whip, 6.15era
Last 6gs: 5.9ip/gs, 7.1k/9, 4.0bb/9, 1.42whip, 3.31era
Last 3gs: 6.3ip/gs, 8.1k/9, 2.4bb/9, 1.37whip, 3.79era

Not good enough to get excited about yet, but maybe, just maybe, we're seeing some legit progress, finally.
92-93 - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 03:22 PM EDT (#276141) #
It's a shame Romero isn't on schedule for July 23rd, or I think we may have seen him take Redmond's spot out of the break after 2 more MiLB starts.
uglyone - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 03:38 PM EDT (#276142) #
furthering beyonder's post....

MLB

C Y.Gomes (25): 132pa, 6hr, 20rbi, 2/2sb, 5.3bb%, 18.9k%, .287babip, .270/.303/.500/.803, .340woba, 117wRC+
LF T.Snider (25): 244pa, 3hr, 22rbi, 2/5sb, 9.0bb%, 26.2k%, .303babip, .225/.295/.333/.628, .276woba, 74wRC+
SS A.Hech'aria (24): 293pa, 2hr, 23rbi, 4/9sb, 5.1bb%, 15.4k%, .275babip, .236/.275/.320/.595, .261woba, 61wRC+

AAA

C Y.Gomes (25): 24pa, 0hr, 3rbi, 0/0sb, 16.7bb%, 16.7k%, .375babip, .300/.417/.500/.917, .412woba, 154wRC+
RH A.Woj'ski (24): 13gms, 79.1ip, 7.5k/9, 3.5bb/9, 1.1hr/9, .221babip, 1.10whip, 3.06era, 4.27fip
C T.D'Arnaud (24): 49pa, 1hr, 8rbi, 0/0sb, 24.5bb%, 16.3k%, .286babip, .250/.429/.472/.901, .391woba, 132wRC+
LF E.Thames (26): 249pa, 7hr, 33rbi, 3/4sb, 11.6bb%, 24.9k%, .383babip, .295/.382/.479/.861, .381woba, 126wRC+
C C.Perez (22): 184pa, 2hr, 21rbi, 0/1sb, 10.9bb%, 13.6k%, .289babip, .255/.335/.348/.683, .315woba, 82wRC+

AA

RH N.Syn'gaard (20): 3gms, 18.0ip, 11.5k/9, 2.0bb/9, 1.0hr/9, .341babip, 1.17whip, 1.50era, 2.76fip
RH A.Woj'ski (24): 6gms, 26.0ip, 9.4k/9, 2.4bb/9, 0.4hr/9, .254babip, 0.92whip, 2.08era, 2.43fip
CF J.Marisnick (22): 256pa, 10hr, 41rbi, 11/17sb, 5.9bb%, 21.5k%, .348babip, .295/.362/.498/.860, .391woba, 150wRC+
RH A.Desclafani (23): 4gms, 21.0ip, 6.4k/9, 1.7bb/9, 0.9hr/9, .271babip, 1.05whip, 4.29era, 3.87fip
C C.Perez (22): 60pa, 1hr, 5rbi, 0/0sb, 6.7bb%, 18.3k%, .341babip, .283/.356/.415/.771, .348woba, 120wRC+

A+

N.Syn'gaard (20): 12gms, 63.2ip, 9.1k/9, 2.3bb/9, 0.4hr/9, .333babip, 1.21whip, 3.11era, 2.60fip
A.Desclafani (23): 12gms, 54.0ip, 8.8k/9, 1.5bb/9, 0.5hr/9, .304babip, 1.06whip, 1.67era, 2.51fip
J.Nicolino (21): 17gms, 90.2ip, 6.0k/9, 1.7bb/9, 0.3hr/9, .288babip, 1.10whip, 2.18era, 2.94fip

A-

RH K.Comer (20): 5gms, 20.0ip, 7.7k//9, 2.7bb/9, 0.0hr/9, .276babip, 1.10whip, 4.05era, 2.40fip

Rk

RH J.Musgrove (20): 1gms, 2.0ip, 9.0k/9, 0.0bb/9, 0.0hr/9, .556babip, 2.50whip, 9.00era, 1.20fip




Looking up and down the list, the one guy that really kills me is Noah Syndergaard. This kid is a flat out stud, and I don't care what scouts say different. I liked him better than Sanchez when he was a Jay, and nothing that's happened this year has changed my opinion.

Other than that, I don't miss a lot. D'Arnaud and Marisnick are both interesting, but I think their poor BB/K numbers will sink their chances of ever being star MLBers. Nicolino's K-rates have unsurprisingly plummeted moving up a level - he needs to miss more bats and I'm not sure he can with his stuff.

Woj has put himself back on the map this year, at least. Nothing we're going to miss too much though I don't think.

timpinder - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 04:26 PM EDT (#276149) #
I was wrong. Before the season started I envisioned the Jays trading Rasmus at the deadline for a solid piece while making room for Gose. Now I'm hoping the Jays extend Rasmus and I wouldn't mind seeing Gose packaged in a trade for the right player.
Rasmus is a valuable player. A center fielder with solid defense and some pop. He strikes out a lot, but once the Jays eventually rid themselves of JPA, having Rasmus as the only high K guy in the lineup with plus power will be more than fine.
92-93 - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 04:30 PM EDT (#276150) #
Colby hasn't struck out in his last 23 PA. Hopefully this trend continues into the 2nd half.
hypobole - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 05:10 PM EDT (#276162) #
"Nicolino's K-rates have unsurprisingly plummeted moving up a level - he needs to miss more bats and I'm not sure he can with his stuff."

He had a bad April where he couldn't K anyone. He's been much better since then. 1.13 ERA his last 10 starts. He may remain effective, although not nearly as dominant, as he moves up even without missing more bats.

uglyone - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 05:12 PM EDT (#276163) #
IMO, people worry too much about strikeouts for hitters.

outs are outs, for the most part.

worry about a player's walk and contact rates, sure, but unless we're talking about prospects, plain K-rate for hitters really isn't all that important, IMO.

and I don't think Ks have been much of an issue for the Jays this year anyways. having a couple of high K guys is no big deal.

K-Rates above 25%

Jays - 1.Colby 31.1k%, 2.JPA 30.6 (next highest is lawrie at 23.5)
Red Sox - 1.Ross 37.3, 2.Salty 34.7, 3.Napoli 33.1, 4.Carp 31.2, 5.Bradly 29.7, 6.Middlebrooks 27.8, 7.Drew 25.6
Orioles - 1.Teagarden 33.3, 2.Dickerson 32.0, 3.Davis 27.8, 4.Reimold 27.8
Rays - 1.Myers 28.6, 2.Rodriguez 25.0
Yankees - 1.Teixeira 30.2, 2.Youkilis 26.3, 3.Nix 26.1, 4.Hafner 26.0, 5.Adams 25.0
Thomas - Wednesday, July 10 2013 @ 05:30 PM EDT (#276166) #
Uglyone, let's not forget that scouts love Syndergaard, too. He was in the Top 25 prospects in Baseball America's midseason update. A lot can go wrong between Double-A and the majors, but Syndergaard's upside is tantalizing.
Lugnut Fan - Thursday, July 11 2013 @ 06:11 AM EDT (#276202) #
You're really splitting hairs when talking about Syndergaard and Sanchez IMO. If I had to choose one based on last season, I would have chose Sanchez as well honestly. When I saw them throw game to game last season, Sanchez's stuff was just better. There was FB command issues at times, but when you looked at the package Sanchez had an above average FB, above average CB, and a pretty good change up. Syndergaard had an above average FB, developing CB, developing slider and an ok change up.

I'm sure it was not an easy decision for AA to make, but he was in Lansing quite frequently last season and saw each throw multiple times. I'm sure that at the time he knew he was going to have to give up at least one and possibly two of the big three, it was just a matter of deciding who to keep.
Thomas - Thursday, July 11 2013 @ 07:53 AM EDT (#276204) #

Jordan Leyland has been named the Northwest League's Player of the Week.

Romero & Lawrie Discover Former Glory | 27 comments | Create New Account
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