Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Not Just Another Romero

Davis reminds us that Ricky isn’t the only Blue Jay prospect named Romero, as the farm goes 3-2 with three, count ‘em, three shutouts.

Durham 0 @ Syracuse 5

Jamie Vermilyea, Brandon League, and Jason Frasor teamed up to shut out the Bulls on 6 singles and 4 walks. Vermilyea went the first 4 innings, with 3 of the hits and 2 strikeouts; League pitched the next 3 and collected the W despite being the least effective of the three, allowing 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2; Frasor made just his 4th career AAA appearance and struck out 4 while walking 2 over 2 innings.

The SkyChiefs got the only runs they would need on a 2-run Chad Mottola homer in the bottom of the 4th. They then ran up single markers in the 6th, 7th, and 8th. Mottola finished the night with a single to go with his homer, and Kevin Barker also singled and hit a solo shot, drawing a walk for good measure. John-Ford Griffin had a double in 4 trips, John Hattig a single; Sergio Santos had nothing to show for 3 plate appearances.

Bowie 0 @ New Hampshire 9

Davis Romero had a no-hitter through 6 innings, and Manny Mayorson provided all the support he would need with a solo homer in the bottom of the 6th. Romero’s no-hit bid was broken up by a single with one out in the 7th, and the Fisher Cat hitters did not respond kindly, hanging an 8-spot on the Baysox in the bottom of the frame. David Smith capped it with a 3-run dinger.

Undeterred by the long wait on the bench, Romero went back out to finish the 1-hitter. He totaled 4 strikeouts on the evening and walked one. Smith had a double to go along with his homer, while Mayorson complemented his round-tripper with a pair of walks. Adam Lind drove in 2 with a double, and also walked. Chip Cannon had a single in 4 trips.

Dunedin 3 @ Fort Myers 4

The Blue Jays racked up 12 hits and 5 walks, but could only translate that to 3 runs in losing to the Fort Myers Miracle. Brian Wolfe was roughed up for 4 runs (3 earned) over just 3 innings, but Danny Core (3 innings) and Connor Falkenbach (2 innings) provided shutout relief.

Robinson Diaz, playing 3rd base, collected 3 base knocks. Ron Davenport and Dustin Majewski had 2 each, while Christian Snavely had a double and 2 walks. Ryan Patterson went 1-for-5, Chris Gutierrez 1-for-4 with a walk.

Lansing 5 @ Quad Cities 6 (7 innings)

Lansing 1 @ Quad Cities 0 (7 innings)

The Lugnut offence was slow getting started in the opener, spotting the Quad Cites 4 runs, natch, before scoring 2 in the 5th, and then drawing even at fives with a 3-spot in the top of the 7th. Unfortunately Po-Hsuan Keng couldn’t send it to extras, as he came on for the bottom of the 7th and went walk-groundout-double-intentional walk-sac fly to end it. Keng’s ERA for the season remains miniscule at 0.90 in 20 innings.

Sean Shoffit turned in another excellent leadoff performance with 2 singles and a 3-bagger. Anthony Garibaldi delivered a double and a single, and Josh Bell came in to hit a pinch double. Joey Metropoulos had a double in 4 at-bats, Brian Pettway a single in 3, and Jacob Butler went oh-fer.

In the second game, Billy Carnline left nothing to chance, tossing 6 shutout innings with 6 Ks and just 2 singles. Paul Phillips made sure his effort didn’t go unrewarded, collecting the save with 2 strikeouts and 1 base knock in his inning. The Lansing offence, on the other hand, expended no extraneous effort. They totaled only 4 hits and 1 walk, striking out 7 times. Cory Patton had the hit that counted, a big fly in the 6th inning, part of a 2-hit game for him.

Three Star Selection!

The Third Star: Kevin Barker, Syracuse. Single Homer Walk.

The Second Star: Billy Carnline, Lansing. Just 6 more brilliant innings.

The First Star: Davis Romero, New Hampshire. Simply outstanding.

Three Star Standings

Congratulations to Dunedin outfielder Ryan Patterson, our Three Star champion for the month of April. The 2005 4th-round pick collected 41 points on the strength of being named one of the three stars 5 times. Patterson hit .304 / .340 / .504 for the month with 6 doubles, 5 homers, and 19 RBI in 22 games.

A total of 46 Blue Jay farmhands received 3-star recognition in April. Here are the top ten:

Player	Pts	Stars
Ryan Patterson	41	5
Ryan Klosterman	27	3
Brian Pettway	27	3
Ty Taubenheim	24	2
Ron Davenport	22	3
Cory Patton	19	3
David Smith	19	2
Ismael Ramirez	18	3
Michael MacDonald	18	1
Billy Carnline	17	2

A refresher on the scoring system is in order: On a given night, multiply the number of games in the Jay system by 3 to arrive at the number of points awarded to the first star; by 2 for the second star; and by 1 for the third star. Thus on a typical night where there are 4 games going on in the Toronto system the first star receives 12 points, the second star 8 points, and the third star 4 points.

Posted by Jonny German on Tuesday, May 02 2006 @ 08:00 AM EDT.

Not Just Another Romero | 8 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Pistol - Tuesday, May 02 2006 @ 09:56 AM EDT (#146168) #

Carnline, I imagine, has to be called up to Dunedin soon. He has a 0.32 ERA and 31 Ks against *1* walk and *10* hits in 28 innings. That's a WHIP of 0.39! It appears the competition isn't much of a challenge for him.

Lugnut Fan - Tuesday, May 02 2006 @ 10:57 AM EDT (#146172) #

I talked with Brad Tillery (Lugnuts radio broadcaster) the other day about when Carnline will be promoted. He said that it would depend on whether or not they decided to convert Carnline to a starter. There are some holes in his game right now that will appear at the higher levels i.e., he needs to work on his change up and develop that. If he stays a starter, he may be in Lansing a little longer than expected just to develop that and to get his arm strength up a bit. I agree though that he has to be promoted soon because the MWL doesn't appear to be much of a challenge and his numbers are actually more impressive than Janssen's when he was here last year.

Gerry - Tuesday, May 02 2006 @ 11:46 AM EDT (#146177) #

The other factor impacting Carnline is the return of Ricky Romero. Romero pitched three innings in extended spring training yesterday with no problems. He could start for Dunedin May 6th or he could make one more start in extended. Romero, I assume, will bump Wolfe out of the starting rotation but I don't see Carnline bumping Fowler, Ray, Litsch or Trias.

So Carnline's options, barring injury, are to remain starting at Lansing or move up to the bullpen in Dunedin. As primarily a FB, Slider guy Carnline does profile better in the bullpen. Carnline's FB has some sink which will work against lower level hitters but might not be as successful against higher level hiters. Because of Romero's return I think Carnline might make another start or two before being promoted into the Dunedin bullpen.

Lugnut Fan - Tuesday, May 02 2006 @ 12:19 PM EDT (#146179) #

I agree with that assessment totally Gerry.

Gerry - Tuesday, May 02 2006 @ 12:36 PM EDT (#146181) #

Chad:

Generally pitchers use their change about 10% of the time. Carnline's plan would probably be to be around 65% FB, 25% SL and 10% CU. If he is working on his change then he should be throwing it maybe 20% of the time, trying to get it right. It is often difficult for a player to work on their weaknesses in a game. They are competitive and they know if they stick with the FB and SL they can get outs but with lower confidence in the change they might be reluctant to throw it if it could cost them the win. So a key question for Carnline, or the pitching coach, would be, what % of his pitches were change-ups? You usually only get better with a pitch by throwing it in game situations.

So Chad, you could probably ask that next time Carnline pitches, OK?

Thanks

Lugnut Fan - Tuesday, May 02 2006 @ 12:49 PM EDT (#146183) #

Yeah I can do that Gerry.

I know that he told me when I talked to him on Friday, that he is working on it, but it is mostly in side sessions. Since they were on the road yesterday, I didn't get a chance to see what percentage of change ups that he threw, but I know in his first start, he only threw 5 change ups or so out of 78 pitches. I found it odd because I didn't see how he could be as dominant as he has been with basically two pitches. He has been spotting his fastball really well low in the zone, so that is a big part of his success. His slider is pretty good too. He is also working on a curve ball that he threw last year in Auburn, but took it out of his arsenal in favor of the slider.

I'm planning on talking with Tom Signore in the near future as well. Not just about Carnline, but basically his whole pitching staff.

Mike Green - Tuesday, May 02 2006 @ 01:11 PM EDT (#146187) #

Orlando Trias was aggressively promoted to Dunedin after a so-so season last year in Auburn. He has been similarly so-so in Dunedin, and would be a natural choice to return to Lansing if and when Carnline is ready.

Gerry - Tuesday, May 02 2006 @ 01:38 PM EDT (#146190) #

Maybe Trias is hearing footsteps, he pitched 5.1 shutout innings today with 4 hits and 1 walk allowed, and 6 K's. Dunedin won, but Lansing lost game 1 of their DH.

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