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Scott Copeland went seven shutout innings, Kevin Pillar had three hits and George Kottaras hit a three run home run to lead Buffalo. New Hampshire also won with a Charlie Wholestaff approach. Vancouver won, Barreto hit, enough said? Rowdy Tellez hit a big home run for Bluefield. The GCL Jays also won. Lansing and Dunedin had bad nights.

Buffalo 5 Lehigh Valley 0

  • Scott Copeland with his second excellent start in AAA. Copeland went seven shutout innings allowing just 4 hits. It was almost a mirror image of his first AAA start.
  • Kevin Pillar's 21 game hit streak ended on Friday. He was back yesterday with 3 hits.
  • George Kottaras had a couple of hits including a 3 run home run. I assume Kottaras will get a call-up in September but will AJ Jimenez too? Four catchers? Why not?


Akron 5 New Hampshire 8

  • This looked like an all-hands game for the pitchers. Blake McFarland started and pitched just one inning. Richard Bleier relieved to start the second and went five innings. That is a pattern you don't often see. Bleier was very good, he only gave up one run.
  • Andy Burns had two hits. Burns looked like he was heating up last week but its were harder to find this week until yesterday.
  • KC Hobson had three hits to move his BA to .215. Hobson will be 24 next week and looks to be topping out in AA.


Brevard County 5 Dunedin 1

  • Roberto Osuna gave up 5 runs on 7 hits in 3.2 innings. Tyler Murray tweeted that Osuna looked better than his line, his FB velocity was still good and his slider looked better. But his command was still a bit off, he walked a couple and hit a batter. One of the runs scored on a steal of home. The return from TJ is a rocky road and command can take some time to return. Next year willl be the true test for Osuna.
  • Only 4 hits for Dunedin, Jorge Saez had two of them.


Lansing 1 South Bend 5

  • Jeremy Gabryszwski came back down from Dunedin and took the loss. He gave up 12 hits in 6 innings.
  • The Lugnuts had only 4 hits, all singles.


Vancouver 5 Everett 2

  • Another game, another Franklin Barreto highlight, 2-5 with two doubles. Barreto also stole his 20th base. Roemen Fields went 0-4 with two steals to give him 40 on the season.
  • Dan Lietz started and pitched six innings, two runs, six K's. It was his best start in Vancouver for the 20 year old.
  • Alberto Tirado pitched two hitless innings. Tirado had one very bad appearance on July 30th where he gave up 5 runs. If we ignore that outing and go back to mid-July we get 15.2 IP, 7 hits, 12 walks, 17 K's, no runs. The walks are still high but the rest of his numbers are good.


Bluefield 5 Princeton 3

  • With this win Bluefield win the annual Mercer Cup which is decided on the season series between the two teams. It seems to be a big deal with the two cities/towns. The series was tied and this was the winner take all finale. The Jays were outhit 13-7 but they had the big hit.
  • That big hit was from Rowdy Tellez who hit a 3 run home run in the eight to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 win. That was Tellez's only hit.
  • Richard Urena was 2-3 with a walk. His .322 BA is fifth in the league. The 4 guys ahead of him are 21-23 years old. Urena is 18.


GCL Blue Jays 4 GCL Braves 2 - game 1

GCL Braves at GCL Blue Jays - postponed

  • Angel Perdomo pitched 3 shutout innings for the win. Perdomo is 20 and the Jays left him in the GCL this season so the Jays are not all in on him. But he has opened some eyes this season with 46 K's in 38 IP. He is a 6'6" lefty so he could be a slower developer.
  • Deiferson Barreto has been playing regularly over the past month and he is putting up good numbers. In August Barreto is hitting .370 and is doing well at 19 years old.
  • After Yeltin Gudino the next three youngest players in the GCL are Rodriguez's. Hansel started and gave up two runs in three innings. Hansel's numbers have been OK this season but the Jays must see something in him they like to bring him to the GCL as a 17 year old. Freddy is an outfielder who is hitting .242. Again, you don't need to look to carefully at the numbers of a player who would be in grade 11 if he was in the US or Canada.


3 Stars

3rd star: George Kottaras

2nd star: Rowdy Tellez

1st star: Scott Copeland


Boxes

Rowdy Tellez Leads Bluefield to Mercer Cup Win | 20 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Gerry - Sunday, August 17 2014 @ 10:57 AM EDT (#292095) #
Playoff status with just over a couple of weeks left:

Buffalo: 2.5 games out of the wild card

New Hampshire: Nope

Dunedin: In

Lansing: 3.5 games out of playoffs but behind four teams so not much hope

Vancouver: Tied for second half winner, but in a three team dogfight

Bluefield: 6.5 games out so its a long shot

GCL: Nope
rafael - Sunday, August 17 2014 @ 11:31 AM EDT (#292097) #
I was elated to see great starts after promotion to AAA by Graveman and Norris. Now Copeland has two great starts.
Should I conclude AAA is just easier than AA and A ?
ramone - Sunday, August 17 2014 @ 11:33 AM EDT (#292098) #
Maybe AAA is easier only when playing the Iron Pigs.
Richard S.S. - Sunday, August 17 2014 @ 12:50 PM EDT (#292100) #
I think, by this time in a season, those that should be in AAA get there. After that, it's just waiting for the call. If they are pitching well, they can be a pre-planned call-up, or the emergency call-up/be available call-up (not just pitched/pitching). Nothing else matters.

I think A.A. has learned that he's moving his prospects too slow from someone he talks to. If a draft pick is meant to be in the majors, they will get there sooner or later. To speed up the process, continually challenge the prospects and promote those who do well. Those that can get there faster, let them - keep them or trade them, just don't devalue or waste them.

Gerry - Sunday, August 17 2014 @ 05:57 PM EDT (#292139) #
Scott Copeland's reward for his zero ERA is a trip back to New Hampshire. The return of Brad Mills and Chad Jenkins pushed him out of Buffalo.
PeterG - Sunday, August 17 2014 @ 07:40 PM EDT (#292149) #
7 more shutout innings for Kendall Graveman
Super Bluto - Sunday, August 17 2014 @ 08:24 PM EDT (#292151) #
The Graveman buries another!
John Northey - Sunday, August 17 2014 @ 10:48 PM EDT (#292159) #
Amazing - 26 AAA innings so far, 3 runs, 18 hits, 3 BB, 14 SO.  The low K total is the only thing close to a negative there.  6 innings each of his first 2 games, 7 innings his next 2.  Pitch count in the 80's for all 4 games so he might have had enough to go 9 the past 2 games but the Jays aren't pushing him anymore than they already are.  Only 3 times all year has he allowed more than 2 runs - all 3 times were in A+ allowing 4 runs (2,3,and 4 ER in the 3 starts).  Only twice he walked more than 2 (3 each time, low A and A+).  Just once he didn't get 5 innings in (4 in A+ ball). 

At what point does Graveman become a real prospect?  I think he might have crossed that point now with those 4 solid starts in AAA after one solid one in AA (6 IP 1 R).

Richard S.S. - Sunday, August 17 2014 @ 11:16 PM EDT (#292161) #
Right now, he's a top ten Prospect. A 2013 Draft pick who's in AAA, and pitches like it easy, is a HUGE prospect. He's also one of the youngest people in AAA. Anyone who won't consider him a top prospect shouldn't be allowed to rank prospects.
uglyone - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 01:50 AM EDT (#292168) #
He's not a top prospect in our system, but he's at least establishing himself as a legit prospect.
TangledUpInBlue - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 02:09 AM EDT (#292169) #
Dan Johnson's playing again in AAA. Is that as part of a rehab assignment? I'm guessing that's the case since I doubt he'd make it through waivers if they tried to send him down. His first game was Aug. 16, so with the 20-day rehab rule, they'll be able to activate him on Sept. 1 and not have to expose him to waivers.
Richard S.S. - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 06:26 AM EDT (#292171) #
He's not a top prospect in our system, but he's at least establishing himself as a legit prospect.

He's not a prospect in our system because:
it's too early for such things to happen; and,
those responsible will feel embarrassed that an eighth round bargain signing in 2013 is in AAA, pitching like it's easy, being one of the youngest in AAA.
John Northey - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 09:07 AM EDT (#292176) #
I think for top prospects in the organization it is getting crowded.  This is a very good thing.  Checking MLB.com's top prospects for Jays...
  1. Norris - has to be at or very, very close to the top, has been doing what Graveman has but better, just a couple starts behind
  2. Sanchez - now in majors, not sure if he'll still have rookie status for 2015
  3. Pompey - best hitter in system
  4. Hoffman - shouldn't be ranked this high as he is on the DL for the year, but viewed as a legit top of rotation guy
  5. Osuna - way too high a ranking at this point imo, but is 19 and in A+ which is always nice to see even if he is getting kicked around after surgery
  6. Pentecost - 749 OPS so far in minors, best catching prospect we have and should climb minors very quickly, expect him to reach AA next year by the end of the year
  7. Mitch Nay - in Lansing, 734 OPS at 3B, could be good
  8. Franklin Barreto - in Vancouver 904 OPS, just 18 at SS could be a 'wow' guy if this keeps up, expected to move away from SS
  9. DJ Davis - in Lansing just a 569 OPS with 150 K's (ugh).  Viewed as fast but just 14 SB in 108 games in the OF. I'm not impressed.
  10. Sean Reid-Foley - 18 year old RHP in first pro season, getting kicked around with a 6.59 ERA in the GCL.  Far too high at this stage of his career.
  11. Sean Nolan - a guy with a 2.89 ERA in AAA ranked this low? Weird.

Note: #14 is AJ Jimenez, our 'catcher of the future' who is running out of time to get up here.  #17 John Stilson just had a season ending injury. #20 Smoral is starting to look real again and might be a fast riser next year with his 12.8 K/9 if he can get those walks down from 5.0 per 9.

I'd suspect Graveman could be anywhere from #4 to #10 easily depending how you discount injuries.  I'd put Nolan a lot higher as this list seems to put too much stock in tools and not enough in results imo but I'm hardly a scout so who knows.  Looking forward to the season ending list by the crew here as they know a lot more than I do about prospects.

Mike Green - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 09:59 AM EDT (#292177) #
Graveman had 39 so-so innings in Lansing last year.  He started this year back at Lansing and was overpowering there for 4 starts and moved to Dunedin where he made 16 starts with a 2.23 ERA.  That sounds out very good, but it was just the 4th best among Dunedin starters behind Matt Boyd, Daniel Norris and Taylor Cole.  Dunedin evidently had a pretty good defence. He's had 5 good starts for New Hampshire and Buffalo since.

What he has done best this season is avoid the home run.  He describes himself as a pitch-to-contact pitcher and the numbers fit with this.  If he can keep the ball in the ballpark, he'll probably have a career in the major leagues likely in the bullpen.
Mike Green - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 10:02 AM EDT (#292178) #
mlb.com's top prospects list pretty clearly weights draft order very significantly.  Personally, I'd have Barreto and Urena right behind Norris and Pompey (assuming Sanchez graduates). 
Alex Obal - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 10:03 AM EDT (#292179) #
Here are Graveman's detailed minor league stats. 62.7% GB will generally keep the homers down. 3.47 P/PA certainly qualifies as pitching to contact. Pretty interesting. I'm not sure how well pitchers with this profile generally translate to the majors, if they ever get a fair chance to begin with.
Mike Green - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 10:34 AM EDT (#292180) #
Graveman has had 114 outfield fly balls this year.  Two have left the yard.  The number in the major leagues would likely be somewhere between 10 and 13.  It still has been a very good year for him.  I guess that it is better than Gustavo Chacin's 2004 and you could imagine him having a couple of decent years in the rotation and then a long career in the bullpen.
metafour - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 12:16 PM EDT (#292182) #
Richard; Graveman turns 24 in just a few months.  I'm not exactly sure why you keep mentioning him as being "young" for AAA because he really isn't.  Norris is at the same level and he is nearly 2.5 years younger.  The reason why he isn't a "top prospect" no matter what stats he puts up is because his stuff is simply too fringy.  ~Average fastball, average breaking ball, and a good changeup.  He throws strikes and keeps the ball on the ground, but as mentioned, he wont be able to maintain his fluky HR rate at the major league level.  He has become interesting which is more than you can expect out of a college senior who signed for next to nothing, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.  Do we not remember Nestor Molina? Extreme groundball pitcher with average stuff who wasn't walking anyone and who was putting up great stats (in fact, he was actually striking out considerably more batters than Graveman currently is) who ended up fizzling out completely after we traded him to the White Sox for Santos.  Very striking similarities between the two.
uglyone - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 12:36 PM EDT (#292183) #
That mlb.com ranking is pretty poor, and i imagine they will change it significantly at the end of the year.

The great thing about the system this year is that there's enough high upside prospects that are actually performing that we no longer need to include non-performing high upside guys (like nay, lugo, davis) in our top ten i don't think, nor high performing low upside guys. We can pretty much fill a while top 10 with guys who are both high upside and top performers this year.

In fact you could fill a top 10 out with legit upside high performance guys without even touching the rookie league rosters:

Sanchez
Norris
Pompey
Hoffman*
Pentacost*

Barreto
Castro
Osuna*
Nolin
Smith

To be fair the asterisked guys haven't shown top performance this year but the samples are so small and the previous track record and/or rep so good that they have to be included in the top ten.

And then you have the high upside strugglers above rookie ball:

Lugo
Nay
Davis
Tirado
Labourt
Stilson

And the lower profile performers above rookie ball:

Graveman
Dean
Loveless
Heidt
Dawson
Suriel

And then there's a whole bunch of standout performers in rookie ball:

Urena
Tellez
Smoral
Borucki
Janssen
Perdomo
Lietz
Smith
Thomas
Romano

And then a few guys with fairly high profile but not much to go on yet:

Alford
Reid-Foley
Hollon
Lietz
Huffman

A whole lot of good stuff going on in the system right now - enough that IMO there's not much room in the top 10 for players without both legit upside and legit performance.

China fan - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 01:01 PM EDT (#292184) #
So many great pitching prospects in the Jays system that if they still had Syndergaard you could argue that they should probably trade him anyway....
Rowdy Tellez Leads Bluefield to Mercer Cup Win | 20 comments | Create New Account
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