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Rain washed out the Hew Haven Ravens, driving the entire ballpark crowd into a booth at the local Denny's. The Skychiefs and Alley-Cats only wish rain had wiped out some sorry pitching performances.

AAA

Pawtucket 10, Syracuse 2


Hitting: Not much to report here. Mike Moriarty is working his way back from a scary spring-training beaning and cracked his first home run. Kevin Cash (batting fifth, interestingly) drove in one run and cleanup hitter Bruce Aven, who walked twice, scored it.

Pitching: Um, not good. Vinny Chulk got keelhauled by the PawSox, surrendering 6 runs in 4 2/3 IP (6 H, 3 BB, 5 K and 3 long balls), while Tim Young gave up four more in just 1 2/3. Even Dan Reichert allowed three baserunners, recording just one out.

Former big-leaguer sighting: Bill Haselman, catcher and future bullpen coach, Pawtucket

AA

No game Tuesday

High-A

Dunedin 7, Sarasota 2


Hitting: Third baseman Robert Cosby singled, tripled and drove in three runs, but is still running a pretty mediocre .265/.333/.368 line. Ron Davenport’s three hits included two doubles, and centerfielder Tyrell Godwin, back from the DL again, scored a run, drove one in and stole his 4th base.

Pitching: Starter-reliever Jesse Harper pitched five good innings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk, striking out 3. His ERA shrank to 1.89, but I don’t know that I‘d call him a prospect: his 19 IP include 15 hits, 5 walks and just 11 Ks, not exactly dominance personified. The win went to reliever Brian Cardwell, who has now thrown four scoreless innings.

Former big-leaguer sighting: Robert Person, aka The Man Traded for John Olerud, allowed two hits and struck out one in a 1 2/3-inning rehab start for Sarasota.

Low-A

Hickory 9, Charleston 5


Hitting: Current holder of the Coolest Blue Jays Farmhand Name is first baseman Zeph Zinsman, who singled, doubled twice and drove in a run. Light-hitting centrefielder Jason Waugh homered, had two hits, scored two runs and stole his 2nd base.

Pitching: D.J. Hanson brought his D game to the park, allowing 4 runs in 5 innings on 5 hits and 2 walks, with 3 strikeouts. But the real damage came courtesy of reliever Ryan Costello (taking care of yooooouuur money), lit up for 4 runs on 6 hits in a single inning.
Minor-league update | 9 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
_DS - Wednesday, April 23 2003 @ 12:06 PM EDT (#89993) #
From yesterday's "Ask BA":

Can you offer up a little information about Blue Jays righthander Vince Perkins? He has gotten off to an extremely hot start so far, not allowing a run and striking out 25 in 17 innings at low Class A Charleston. How does he project long-term? How do you feel about the futures of two other Toronto minor league righthanders, Brandon League and Jason Arnold?

The Blue Jays have been high on Perkins since they signed him as a draft-and-follow out of Lake City (Fla.) CC in 2001. An 18th-round pick in 2000, he spent his first two pro years at short-season Auburn, posting two eye-popping numbers: 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings and a .208 opponent batting average.

Coming into 2002, Perkins' lack of command and an effective changeup led to some projections that he could become a John Wettelandesque closer with his mid-90s fastball and upper-80s slider. Toronto obviously will leave him in the rotation as long as it can, hoping he'll refine the changeup to go with two possible plus-plus pitches. He has nine walks this year, but he's making progress. At 21, he has plenty of time.

League, 20, is similar to Perkins, throwing in the mid-90s and making his full-season debut in 2003, his third season as a pro. His slider isn't as good as Perkins', but his changeup and command are better. Arnold, 23, is a different style of pitcher, relying more on movement and pitchability than overpowering velocity. He has dominated throughout his minor league career and currently has a 0.52 ERA in Double-A, so I suspect we'll see him in Toronto sometime this summer.

The Jays have the nucleus of a very good lineup and just need some pitching to return to contention. All three of these pitchers can go a long way to shore up that weakness, though Perkins and League probably won't be ready before 2005.
_Need Relief - Wednesday, April 23 2003 @ 12:47 PM EDT (#89994) #
http://www.syracuse.com/skychiefs/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/105082775031400.xml
There's an interesting story from the Syracuse Post-Standard about the success many of the AAA relievers. It looks like JP has bought himself a fair amount of bullpen insurance just in case the one in Toronto implodes.

Click on "Need Relief" to see the story.

Cheers,

MP
_Jordan - Wednesday, April 23 2003 @ 12:54 PM EDT (#89995) #
Very cool review. Both Perkins and League have a lot of potential, and are among the brighter stars in the minor-league system. It's worth noting that Perkins is a year and a half older, born September '81 while League came into the world in March '83. They both pitched at short-season Auburn last year, where Perkins was more of a strikeout pitcher, but also had less command. The South Atlantic League (wherein the Alley-Cats reside) is something of a pitcher's haven, so I'll be interested to see their progress when they hit Dunedin.

The more I hear about Jason Arnold's repertoire, the more I think of this name: Mike Boddicker. Comments?
_R Billie - Wednesday, April 23 2003 @ 01:30 PM EDT (#89996) #
The Florida State League favours pitchers as well. The article didn't mention Dustin McGowan who might have the best potential of the lot in the low-minors. They're going to take it one level at a time with all of these guys so none of them would be regulars until 2005 at the earliest and that's assuming they move steadily and don't suffer setbacks. Guys like Bush, Pleiness, and Maureau who were college draftees last year should be able to fast track and be ready by the same time. Although, I think Maureau has wound up on the DL already.

Arnold should be a regular next year and maybe even late this year. He does need to reduce the walks, because the majors will automatically increase his walk and homerun rate and reduce his strikeout rate. Which is probably why he's back in AA to start the year.

There are a lot of arms to like in the system...just none of them will be ready any time soon. Chulk and Thurman aren't doing too well and neither is Mike Smith (I don't think he's a starter). The only starter of note at Syracuse so far has been Towers and his success is fragile because of his pedestrian stuff.
_R Billie - Wednesday, April 23 2003 @ 03:02 PM EDT (#89997) #
BTW, according to Dunedin's site, David Bush was named FSL pitcher of the week. 12 innings, 1.50 era, 6 hits, 1 walk, 9 k's. Not bad after a couple of rough outings.
Gerry - Wednesday, April 23 2003 @ 04:04 PM EDT (#89998) #
From Baseball America's Ask BA

Can you offer up a little information about Blue Jays righthander Vince Perkins? He has gotten off to an extremely hot start so far, not allowing a run and striking out 25 in 17 innings at low Class A Charleston. How does he project long-term? How do you feel about the futures of two other Toronto minor league righthanders, Brandon League and Jason Arnold?

Robbie Goldberg
Thornhill, Ont.

The Blue Jays have been high on Perkins since they signed him as a draft-and-follow out of Lake City (Fla.) CC in 2001. An 18th-round pick in 2000, he spent his first two pro years at short-season Auburn, posting two eye-popping numbers: 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings and a .208 opponent batting average.

Coming into 2002, Perkins' lack of command and an effective changeup led to some projections that he could become a John Wettelandesque closer with his mid-90s fastball and upper-80s slider. Toronto obviously will leave him in the rotation as long as it can, hoping he'll refine the changeup to go with two possible plus-plus pitches. He has nine walks this year, but he's making progress. At 21, he has plenty of time.

League, 20, is similar to Perkins, throwing in the mid-90s and making his full-season debut in 2003, his third season as a pro. His slider isn't as good as Perkins', but his changeup and command are better. Arnold, 23, is a different style of pitcher, relying more on movement and pitchability than overpowering velocity. He has dominated throughout his minor league career and currently has a 0.52 ERA in Double-A, so I suspect we'll see him in Toronto sometime this summer.

The Jays have the nucleus of a very good lineup and just need some pitching to return to contention. All three of these pitchers can go a long way to shore up that weakness, though Perkins and League probably won't be ready before 2005.
_DS - Wednesday, April 23 2003 @ 04:49 PM EDT (#89999) #
Beat you to it, Gerry.

First comment, top of the page.
Gerry - Wednesday, April 23 2003 @ 05:43 PM EDT (#90000) #
Sorry about that, E-10 on me.
_R Billie - Thursday, April 24 2003 @ 02:11 AM EDT (#90001) #
Vince Perkins did it again tonight, this time blanking Hickory for 6 innings.

IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
CHARLESTON-WV
V.Perkins 6.0 3 0 0 2 9 0 0.00

That's 23.1 scoreless innings to start the year (no runs earned or otherwise) with only 8 hits allowed and 34 strikeouts versus 11 walks. Perkins has only drawn 1 victory in 4 games since offensive support has been non-existent. I think the Jays will go for a balanced draft of hitters and pitchers this time around.
Minor-league update | 9 comments | Create New Account
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