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Brett Cecil continues to pitch well in AA a year after being drafted.  So does Marc Rzepczynski who needs to be pitching, at least, in Dunedin.

The affiliates went 2-3 on the night.


Pawtucket 5 at Syracuse 2

The Chiefs were held in check by Clay Buchholz who threw 5 shutout innings.  After that they had a little more success against the pen with a string of singles and a sac fly to score 2.  But on the night the Chiefs managed no extra base hits, and only Watson had more than one hit.

Davis Romero had a rare bad start giving up all 5 runs in 4.2 innings.


New Hampshire 0 at Connecticut 1

Connecticut scored a run in the 6th off of Jean Machi, and that was enough.  The Fishercat bats were quiet with just 4 singles on the night.

Brett Cecil got the start and pitched 5 scoreless innings, allowing 5 hits, 1 walk and K'ing 5.

Cecil now has 52.5 innings in AA over 13 starts.  A look at the numbers:
  • 2.91 ERA
  • 9.3Ks/9 innings
  • 3:1 K:BB ratio
  • 0.5 HRs/9 innings
  • 2.1 GB/FB out ratio
He's pretty much doing everything you could possibly expect out of him.  The one area that could be better is the length of his outings.  Right now he's averaging 4 innings/start.  But prior to this year he had been a closer so it might just be a matter of stretching him out and/or not giving him too many innings this year.

Dunedin - Day off


Lansing 4 at W Michigan 0 (10 innings)

There's an odd score; the game was scoreless through 9 and then the Nuts scored 4 in the 10th.  Even more surprising is that the rally came with 2 outs and started with a bunt single by Raul Barron.  After a throwing error moved him to third Ahrens and Jaspe walked to load the bases.  Two runs scored on an error by the W Michigan shortstop and then Ebarb singled home 2 more.

Barron had 2 hits on the night and Ahrens got the only XBH above low A for the Jay affiliates with a triple.

Marc 'I don't belong in Lansing' Rzepczynski started and pitched 7 scoreless innings.  He struck out 7, walked 3, and allowed just 3 hits.  He got 9 GB outs against 4 FB outs.  Frank Gailey picked up the win with 3 scoreless innings.  He struck out 6.


Auburn 6 at Mahoning Valley 4 (11 innings)

The Doubledays banged out 14 hits in this one.  There were 6 2-hit nights for the hitters:  Nicholas, Cooper (2B), Amar, Kervin (2B), Soto and Joel Collins (2B, HR).

Joel Carreno came on in the 5th and pitched 5.1 innings.  He struck out 6, walked one and gave up 1 hit and 1 unearned run.


GCL Indians 3 at GCL Blue Jays 1

Dennis-Fortier was the only Jay with 2 hits and the only one with an XBH with a double.

Christopher Holguin started and pitched 3.2 innings allowing an unearned run.


3 Stars!:
3 - Joel Carreno
2 - Brett Cecil
1 - Marc
Rzepczynski

Cecil Passing AA Test | 4 comments | Create New Account
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John Northey - Tuesday, July 01 2008 @ 10:52 AM EDT (#188204) #
Rzepczynski (phew, will he give reports a headache if/when he makes it) in 11 starts has 57 2/3 IP (5 1/4 IP per start) 49 hits, 18 walks (a bit higher than ideal at 2.8 per 9 IP) and 58 strikeouts.  Oh, and zero home runs allowed.  That last figure is the best, showing that his mistakes are kept in the park. 

In his minor league career (Auburn last year, Lansing this) he now has 103 1/3 IP, 2 HR, 35 BB and 107 K's.  At 22 I'd say he should be on a faster track if at all possible as they say with pitchers that you should get them to the bigs as soon as their arm is ready and more time in the minors is a waste of that arm vs hitters for whom extra time doesn't really cost you too much (pitchers can and do blow out their arms). 

However, don't forget hot prospects at this level do tend to burn out pre-majors.  One I remember cheering on was Doug Linton when he was in a league at the same level in '87 (Myrtle Beach Blue Jays - still have that card set too with Pat Hentgen, Vince Horsman and Darren Hall) at the age of 21 (so a bit ahead of Rzepczynski).  He was 14-2 with a 1.55 ERA over 122 IP with 25 BB and 155 SO but 9 HR.  His ML career was 5.78 for ERA (80 ERA+) over 305 IP with just one season over 10 IP where his ERA+ reached 100.

ayjackson - Tuesday, July 01 2008 @ 12:21 PM EDT (#188208) #
Hey, John - try this....."Zip" walked a lot of batters in college, but got better in each of his last three seasons there.  He's done pretty well in keeping walks down as a pro (below his college level).  In his past four starts he's surrendered 13 walks, so you wonder if there is a old problem coming back.  He also missed the beginning of the year due to injury (elbow, I think).  The Jays may just want him to get innings under his belt and then push him through Dunedin and New Hampshire next year.  Luis Perez is also due a promotion from the starting rotation at Lansing.
Marc Hulet - Tuesday, July 01 2008 @ 02:48 PM EDT (#188216) #
Rzepczynski's injury was actually a broken hand, according to director of player development Dick Scott.
Kelekin - Tuesday, July 01 2008 @ 08:20 PM EDT (#188223) #
Jo Matumoto back in AAA.
Kenny Rodriguez has been promoted to AA.
29-year old Orlando Roman has been signed out of the Mexican league and sent to New Hampshire to replace Bubba Nelson.  Whoopie.
Bob Bell has finally signed and is pitching for Auburn.  Definitely one of the most intriguing late-round signings this year.
Jason Roenicke (19th round) has signed as well.

With Huggins and Hopkins signing last week, the Blue Jays have now signed all but three of our top 25 picks - Andrew Liebel (3rd Round), Mark Sobolewski (4th Round), and Danny Farquhar (10th round).  Any news on these three?

Players released:

P Nate Jennings, P Bubba Nelson, P Paul Phillips, P Mike Lynch.

Jennings (23) pitched 6.1 IP last year in the GCL, posting a 5.68 ERA.  He pitched only 1/3 of an inning this year before being released.

Nelson (26, who I share a birthday with!) had a horrendous season after being signed, posting a 7.64 ERA.

Phillips (24) was in his 3rd full-season in the Jays farm system, and in 3 stints never had a Sub-5 ERA in Dunedin (High-A).

Lynch (21) posted a 9.62 ERA in 24.1 IP last year in the GCL, and had a 3.00 ERA in 3 innings this year.  Out of the 4, his release was probably the only slightly surprising one.


In non-Jays prospect news, Jake McGee, a 21 year old pitcher for the Devil Rays who is one of their top 3 pitching prospects is opting for TJ Surgery.  He's dominated the minors thus far.
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