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Your affiliates were 3-5 on the night as the full minor league roster is underway.  Anthony Alford and Rowdy Tellez made debuts at High A and Richard Urena continues to hit homeruns.  Brad Glenn collected five RBIs in Buffalo.



Lehigh Valley 2 BUFFALO 7

Scheduled starter Matt Boyd was replaced by Chad Jenkins, who pitched four shutout innings.  Devon Travis and Brad Glenn had three hits apiece to pace the Bisons.  Glenn had five RBIs while Travis stole a base for good measure.

Portland 4 NEW HAMPSHIRE 6

Dwight Smith Jr. pushed across the winning run in the eighth with a single as the Fisher Cats moved closer to .500 baseball.  Smith Jr. had two hits in five trips to the plate and Dalton Pompey homered to lead off the game.  Kevin Nolan and Jack Murphy each had two hits.  Chad Girodo picked up the win in relief and has yet to yield an earned run since his promotion.

CLEARWATER 8 Dunedin 7 10 Innings

Anthony Alford and Rowdy Tellez are now High A baseball players.  Tellez acquitted himself quite well in his debut, collecting two hits and a walk.  Alford less so.  He went 0’fer, but did walk and score a run.  I like the aggressiveness with the two.  If the two struggle at High A, I don’t view their seasons as a failure given what they’ve done in Lansing.  They’ll come back next year and know what to expect at High A.  If the two succeed, well, we might have some hitting prospects on our hands.

Tellez and Alford aside, a collection of Dunedin players had good nights at the plate.  Matt Dean had three hits.  Christian Lopes, Dawel Lugo, and Mitch Nay had two hits.  J.D. Davis doubled and walked twice.  Just about the only donkey last night in Dunedin was relief pitcher Alberto Tirado who allowed the Phillies’ affiliate to tie the game in the ninth and win the game in the tenth.

WEST MICHIGAN 6 Lansing 5

Richard Urena has twelve homeruns.  Richard Urena is 170 lbs.  Kid has pop.  I gather most of these are from the left side, but power is usually the last tool to come.  It will be fun to watch him develop over the next few years.

Lansing though stranded the bases loaded in the ninth, thus squandering a glorious opportunity to come from behind.  Urena, in fact, was the last out.  Starter Sean Reid-Foley struck out six in four and a third.  He took the loss, allowing three earned.  The aforementioned Urena had two hits, Ryan McBroom had three hits, and Jason Leblebijian had two hits.

Vancouver 3 TRI CITY 9

Really not much to see here.  Juan Kelly had two hits, but the Canadians got little in the way of pitching from starter Jackson McClelland and a medley of relievers.  Second baseman Lane Thomas went 0-4.

Elizabethton 1 BLUEFIELD 4

It’s interesting the Jays have not sent Carl Wise to Vancouver.  Anyways, he was 1-4.  Rodrigo Orozco had two hits and starter Dalton Rodriguez pitched five innings of one run ball.

GCL YANKEES (1) 6 GCL Blue Jays 4

Cliff Brantley had three hits and Jesus Severino had two as the Baby-Baby Jays beat one the Yankes GCL teams.  Our GCL, Bluefield, and Vancouver teams seem to be devoid of highly regarded prospects relative to past years.

DSL Blue Jays 3 DSL WHITE SOX 6

Three Stars

3. Richard Urena

2. Dwight Smith Jr.

1. Brad Glenn

 
Alford and Tellez Promoted | 32 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Lylemcr - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 01:39 PM EDT (#303809) #
The one thing I like about Alford is that even when he is 0fer, he still seems to get a walk and contribute.

What is the story on his defense?
Gerry - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 03:19 PM EDT (#303819) #
Miguel Castro is off the DL and he has been sent to Dunedin.
hypobole - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 04:05 PM EDT (#303820) #
Thanks Gerry, will be great to have Castro back on the mound.
uglyone - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 04:49 PM EDT (#303822) #
glad castro is back at the proper level. and hopefully back starting.

everything i've read about alford's D is excellent.
hypobole - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 05:17 PM EDT (#303823) #
3 nice innings between debuting youngsters Espada and Meza in the GCL today.

On the hitting side, they seem like an old team. Just a guess, but the average age of the GCL position players is almost the same as the 21.3 yrs we had in the first half in Lansing.
Lylemcr - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 05:27 PM EDT (#303824) #
Alford has to be jumping ahead of Pompey as far as potential.
uglyone - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 05:30 PM EDT (#303825) #
upside wise alford's always been ahead of pompey....and most anybody else, too.
Beyonder - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 06:49 PM EDT (#303829) #
I guess "potential" can mean any number of things, but I don't think anything that Alford has done over 240 at bats this year puts him anywhere near the kind of prospect Pompey proved he was last year.
hypobole - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 09:30 PM EDT (#303844) #
Pompey was awesome last year, but at this point in time, he's only playing one level above Alford, who's 18 months younger.

BTW, Alford and Tellez each with their 1st High A HR's tonight.

Mike Green - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 09:36 PM EDT (#303847) #
Lots of good news on the farm, too.  Alford homers to centerfield.  Tellez homers.  Castro throws smoke in a perfect inning.  Dalton Pompey goes 2-4, steals 2 bases and scores 3 runs.  And lots of wins.
hypobole - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 10:53 PM EDT (#303852) #
1st round pick Jon Harris season debut for Vancouver. 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K.
Sherrystar - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 11:01 PM EDT (#303853) #
Anyone know who hasn't yet signed from this years draft?
Lylemcr - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 11:08 PM EDT (#303854) #
draft signing table
http://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2015/6/10/8755563/2015-draft-signing-table
Sherrystar - Friday, June 26 2015 @ 11:21 PM EDT (#303855) #
Thank you!
TangledUpInBlue - Saturday, June 27 2015 @ 04:22 AM EDT (#303860) #
he's only playing one level above Alford, who's 18 months younger

I suppose that's one way to look at it. Another way is that Pompey's shown he can handle AA, and with better numbers than Alford has shown in low-A. The age difference is a legitimate issue, but I think Alford needs to put up some better numbers before he's in Pompey's league. Alford's high BB% has a lot of people over-estimating his value, but BB% is a very poor predictive stat in the low minors (pitchers are wild and anyone can get BBs if they want). I think it's Kiley McDaniel that's written that for players in the low minors, the three important stats are BABIP, isolated SLG, and K%. At low-A, Alford had a .419 BABIP (great), .101 ISO (not encouraging), and a 25.9 K% (not good).

At the same age and level, Pompey had a .329 BABIP, .133 ISO, and a 20.7 K%. This was in 2013, and these numbers might be comparable to Alford's this year, but it was Pompey's breakout in 2014 that made him a top prospect. Alford still needs to do that before he's really comparable to Pompey.
hypobole - Saturday, June 27 2015 @ 08:58 AM EDT (#303864) #
TUIB, the Alford/Pompey discussion has legitimate arguments on both sides. Personally,I never make lists and rankings. Pompey's 2013 in Lansing was done with over 400 minor league PA's under his belt in previous seasons, but he was 6 months younger. Alford had just over 100 milb PA's. Not sure how much time each had spent in extended as well.

Not sure about the "anyone can walk" thing though. Yes very high walk rates aren't really predictive, but very low walk rates would be a definite red flag, in my opinion at least.
Mike Green - Saturday, June 27 2015 @ 09:09 AM EDT (#303866) #
I'm with TUIB on this one.  The only thing I'll add is that they seem to be on different tracks now.  When Fields was promoted to New Hampshire, he played centerfield and Pompey played left-field.  I think that the organization may have decided to transform Pompey into a left-field leadoff type.  I'm watching his W/K carefully.  It's perfectly clear that he has enough pop and speed and defensive ability to be very good in the role. 
scottt - Saturday, June 27 2015 @ 10:33 AM EDT (#303871) #
As opposed to a center-field leadoff type?

I'm not convinced a center-fielder needs much practice to move to left field.
Pompey should still play center-field unless there's already a better defender at the position.

It's his bat that landed him where he is and that's usually a matter of making adjustments.

bpoz - Saturday, June 27 2015 @ 11:27 AM EDT (#303875) #
Roemon Fields has moved very fast up the minor league ladder. Last year in Vancouver and this year NH by the halfway point of the season.

CF in the RC...I wonder.
Beyonder - Saturday, June 27 2015 @ 11:39 AM EDT (#303878) #
This is just surmising, but the Pompey switch to left field may have more to do with the fact that Pillar has got a grip on the centre field job on the big club -- not that Fields is a superior centre fielder. Pompey won the minor league gold glove at centre field just two years ago.
JB21 - Saturday, June 27 2015 @ 11:59 AM EDT (#303884) #
I was thinking a potential Terrance Gore come Sept 1.
TangledUpInBlue - Saturday, June 27 2015 @ 11:59 AM EDT (#303885) #
I agree, Beyonder. With the uncertainty over Saunders, the Jays have an opening in LF that Pompey could fill later this year, and I imagine they're still looking toward that possibility.
Mike Green - Saturday, June 27 2015 @ 12:52 PM EDT (#303896) #
Don't get me wrong.  I think that Pompey is an excellent defender in center field, and in fact, every bit as good as Pillar.  I think that the club may have decided that with Pillar ensconced, Alford on the way and Saunders injured, they may need a left-fielder more for the next few years anyway. 
John Northey - Saturday, June 27 2015 @ 07:30 PM EDT (#303912) #
Makes sense.  Boy pitchers would love that - Pompey in LF and Pillar in CF.
Mike Green - Saturday, June 27 2015 @ 08:29 PM EDT (#303913) #
 In tonight's game, Tellez hit his second FSL homer, a moonshot according to the D-Jays twitter feed.  Jeff Hoffman had his best outing, throwing 5 shutout innings with 1 walk and 6 Ks. 
Oceanbound - Sunday, June 28 2015 @ 08:54 AM EDT (#303918) #
In hilarious minor league shenanigans, Bluefield won 15-9 on Friday. Their opponents had to send out three position players to pitch in the middle of the game as their manager forgot to put most of his relievers on the lineup card. They gave up 9 runs and walked 7.
Gerry - Sunday, June 28 2015 @ 11:22 AM EDT (#303926) #
Blake McFarland is now a Bison, promoted today.
scottt - Sunday, June 28 2015 @ 01:35 PM EDT (#303932) #
Colabello still has the highest  OPS at Coca-Cola Field.

That seemed worth mentioning.

ogator - Sunday, June 28 2015 @ 07:13 PM EDT (#303953) #
The Canadians scored 6 runs this afternoon on two hits, both of which were singles. Now that's an efficient offense.
hypobole - Sunday, June 28 2015 @ 07:33 PM EDT (#303954) #
Wanna talk crazy? Harol Gonzalez of Kingsport had a perfect game through 8 innings vs Bluefield. A leadoff single in the 9th broke it up and he was removed after hitting the next batter, with a 4-0 lead. Jays sent 10 more men to the plate and took a 7-4 lead, then allowed 3 runs in the bottom of the frame to send the game to extras.
Mike Green - Sunday, June 28 2015 @ 08:47 PM EDT (#303957) #
More good news on the Rowdy front.  He went 3-5 with his 3rd homer in 4 games for the D-Jays.   He's hitting .500 with those homers and officially hot.  He's a good bet to be in the lineup again tomorrow...
Nigel - Sunday, June 28 2015 @ 08:55 PM EDT (#303958) #
I don't know Mike. Does Dunedin have a backup catcher that they want to showcase for a possible trade? If they do there's a decent chance that he sits!
Alford and Tellez Promoted | 32 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.