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It remains to be seen who will win the long-term bragging rights for the best draft pick from 2007, but on Thursday Dunedin's Brett Cecil out-dueled Lakeland's Rick Porcello.


Syracuse 4 Pawtucket 2

The Chiefs managed to win against knuckleballer Charlie Zink. Wayne Lydon led the way with three hits and a stolen base (his sixth on the season). Chip Cannon came out of his season-long slump and also had three hits, as well as a homer. Pedro Lopez was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Adam Lind had a pinch hit single. Bill Murphy received the start for Syracuse and was good once again. He went 5.2 innings and allowed two runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked two. Tracy Thorpe received the win despite going only 0.2 innings. During that time, he managed to walk two and strikeout two, which is the story of his career. Mike Gosling got the save after pitching 2.2 innings, while allowing just one hit and no runs.

Bowie 7 New Hampshire 3

The Fisher Cats played some poor baseball on Thursday night, lead by starter Jean Machi, who has walked four or more batters in each of his last three starts. Over three innings, Machi allowed four runs on six hits. Daryl Harang allowed one run over 2.2 innings and Seth Overbey allowed two runs in 2.1 innings. Mike Gallo pitched a scoreless inning. In all, Fisher Cats hurlers walked nine batters. Offensively, Aaron Mathews led the way with a 3-for-5 night and he also scored a run. Chris Gutierrez was 2-for-5 with a run scored, but he also made an error. Ryan Patterson was 1-for-4 with a double and he drove in two runs. In his last five games, Patterson is 10-for-21 after starting the season off very slowly. Travis Snider was 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. He is now batting .143 with eight strikeouts in four games.

Dunedin 3 Lakeland 1

Dunedin’s offence more or less took a holiday for the third straight day, as it managed only five hits. That said, four of those hits came against one of the best pitching prospects in the minor leagues – Rick Porcello, a No. 1 draft pick from the 2007 draft (out of high school, no less). But Dunedin’s Brett Cecil (a 2007 draft pick out of college) out-dueled the youngster, despite only being able to go three innings due to a strict pitch count. Cecil allowed one hit, did not walk a batter and struck out five. As well, of the four outs in play he recorded, all came on groundballs. Reliever Julio Pinto continued his impressive season and went five innings and allowed one run. Zach Dials recorded his league-leading seventh save of the season with a scoreless inning. Offensively, the five hits were spread out to Chris Emanuele, Brian Dopirak, J.P. Arencibia, David Smith, and Brad Emaus. Only three batters in the starting lineup (Cory Patton, Dopirak, and Arencibia) were hitting above .260 on the season.

Lansing – scheduled off day



Three Stars:

3. Aaron Mathews, 3-for-5 with a run scored
2. Wayne Lydon, 3-for-5 with an RBI, and a stolen base
1. Brett Cecil, for out-dueling Rick Porcello


*If you haven’t checked out the most recent issue of Behind the Dish, the free, weekly magazine devoted to the Blue Jays minor league system, do so now right here.
Jays Win Battle of the 2007 Draft Picks | 11 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
85bluejay - Friday, April 25 2008 @ 07:57 AM EDT (#183618) #

With a smarter G.M we could have had both cecil & porcello - then we would be outright winners.

 

Lugnut Fan - Friday, April 25 2008 @ 08:06 AM EDT (#183619) #
Lansing had a seven inning exhibition game against Michigan State last night and won 4-2.  There were almost 13,000 people at the game last night.  A few arms from extended spring came up and threw in the game last night.  Tim Collins looked really, really good in his two innings of work.  Nice sharp breaking ball.
Marc Hulet - Friday, April 25 2008 @ 09:00 AM EDT (#183623) #
Tim Collins is an interesting case. The Jays signed him last year out of high school at the age of 17 as a NON-DRAFTED free agent. He had OK numbers in a few appearances last year and was lights-out during minor league spring training this year, striking out a ton of guys. He's still working on his control and is a pretty small guy right now but has room to fill out... Definitely someone to keep an eye on.
CaramonLS - Friday, April 25 2008 @ 09:43 AM EDT (#183627) #
*no one* and I mean no one should be surprised at what we are seeing from Porcello.  He was bar none the best pitcher in the draft and only fell because of overslot consideration (including the Jays passing on him twice), and of course, he is a highschooler.  JP doesn't like HS pitchers in the first round.

Of course, how much are you really paying when guys like Silva get ~10 million a season.

Ryan Day - Friday, April 25 2008 @ 10:21 AM EDT (#183630) #
JP doesn't like HS pitchers in the first round.

Almost nobody liked a high school pitcher at the price Porcello was asking. 26 players were chosen ahead of Porcello, which makes for a lot of other stupid and/or stubborn GMs. Did the Dodgers suddenly become afraid of high school pitchers and Scott Boras? Did the Brewers, Indians, A's and Diamondbacks forget how to build a farm system?
Pistol - Friday, April 25 2008 @ 10:27 AM EDT (#183631) #
JP doesn't like HS pitchers in the first round

Or any other round for that matter.

The decision to pay slot is almost surely one from ownership.  The only fault you can give Ricciardi on that is that he hasn't convinced ownership that a little more today saves you a lot more down the road.  Keith Law mentioned in a chat that he thought the Jays would be one of the last teams to break from slot.
Mike Green - Friday, April 25 2008 @ 10:42 AM EDT (#183633) #
In addition, Ricciardi has pretty much made clear that he would rather not negotiate with Boras.  I suspect Shapiro feels the same way, but the D'Backs did draft Drew. 

Speaking of over-slot drafts, Cameron Maybin seems to be really struggling  back in double A, striking out in almost 1/2 of his at-bats so far this season. 

robertdudek - Friday, April 25 2008 @ 10:58 AM EDT (#183637) #
There was a time when high-school pitchers were the "it" draftees. Then Bill James and others weighed in with studies showing the generally poor return for high school pitchers and the pendulum swung as more and more teams drafted college pitchers. I think it has swung a bit too far.

Unless you can get one of the half dozen high impact college players , or 3-4 premium high school hitters, it's worth taking a risk and going after a premium high school pitcher. When you draft you high round picks,  you want to do is go after potential stars - if you produce a boatload of mediocre big leaguers it isn't going to help you very much.
Ryan Day - Friday, April 25 2008 @ 11:08 AM EDT (#183638) #
I suspect Shapiro feels the same way, but the D'Backs did draft Drew.

That's a completely different animal, though. I'd be much more willing to give big bucks and a MLB contract to an elite college player like Drew or Weaver than a high school pitcher.
Mike Green - Friday, April 25 2008 @ 11:10 AM EDT (#183639) #
I agree. The recent changes to the CBA, which allow teams to hold onto players for a year longer without putting them on the 40 man, alters the dynamic in favour of high school pitchers, as well.  The A's, of course, switched gears and drafted quite a few high school pitchers.

Each circumstance is different.  Among the three early lefty college drafts of recent years, I felt (at the time) that David Purcey at #16 was a solid draft, Ricky Romero at #6 was a poor choice, and Brett Cecil at #38 was excellent.  We will see how that all turns out. 

#2JBrumfield - Friday, April 25 2008 @ 06:05 PM EDT (#183690) #
Lugnuts catcher Jonathan Jaspe has earned himself a 50 day "forced vacation".  Here's the sad details from CBC.
Jays Win Battle of the 2007 Draft Picks | 11 comments | Create New Account
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