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It hasn't been much fun recapping the affiliates on Sundays so far.  On this particular day, the four teams managed to go 0-5.  Read on, if you dare.


Las Vegas 1    Sacramento 2  (13 innings)

The 51s pitchers held Sacramento's offense two two runs on six hits over 13 innings on Sunday, though it wasn't enough as, in what was a theme among the affiliates, the offense was dormant.

Robert Ray made his first career AAA start and went 4.3 shutout innings allowing two hits and three walks while striking out three.  He was followed by five relievers including Brian Wolfe who allowed a run and two walks in one inning, Jeremy Accardo, who threw two perfect frames, and Davis Romero who took the loss after walking four (two intentionally) in his 1.7  innings of work.

At the plate, nobody really did a whole hell of a lot.  Brett Harper and Angel Sanchez were the only 51s with multiple hit days.  Scott Campbell was 1-for-5 while J.P. Arencibia took an 0-for-4 and is hitting just .241/.281/.389 on the season.


Binghamton 4    New Hampshire 3

The Fisher Cats led this one 3-1 heading into the 7th thanks in part to a two-run homer off the bat of Adam Calderone and a nice start from pitcher Luis Perez.  Things unraveled in the 7th, however, as Celson Polanco surrendered a three spot, and that was that.

Perez made his third strong start on the season going 5 innings, allowing a run on three hits and a walk while striking out five.  A year ago, Perez was middling along in Lo-A.  Now, at the age of 24 and after skipping Hi-A entirely, Perez is turning himself into somebody worth watching.

At the dish, Calderone provided all of the offense worth mentioning, though Chris Gutierrez did pitch in a couple of singles.  Both David Cooper and Brad Emaus were 0-for-4, though Emaus did manage to draw a walk.


Brevard County 8    Dunedin 3


Man oh man, is the Dunedin offense ever overmatched at this point.  Of the nine regulars in today's line-up, six are hitting below .200.  On this day, the offensive 'heroes' were John Tolisano who doubled, walked, and scored twice, and Jesus Gonzalez whose 2-for-4 day raised his average to .139.  Kevin Ahrens was 0-for-4 with a strikeout while Justin Jackson went 1-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.  Jackson has now whiffed in 30 of his 64 at-bats.  Adam Loewen took an 0-for-2 with two walks to give him an unusual .125/.364/.125 line in 8 at-bats on the year.

On the mound, Alan Farina was hit hard allowing four runs on four hits and four walks in just two innings of work.  Trystan Magnuson followed with perhaps his best outing of the season with three shutout innings.  Up next was Da Box favourite Tim Collins.  Tiny Tim was his usual strikeout-y self whiffing 6 in three hitless innings.  What was incredibly odd, however, is that Collins walked three batters and allowed five (!) stolen bases.  I guess Collins doesn't get much practice in holding runners on since, you know, he rarely allows any baserunners.  Kind of a nice problem to have, I suppose.  In 14 innings work, Collins has now struck out 26 and allowed just 8 baserunners.  He will also be featured on next week's episode of Little People, Big World.



Lansing 1    West Michigan 3  (Game 1)


Noticing a trend here?  The Lugnuts managed just five singles in the first game of a doubleheader and three of them came off the bat of Mark SobolewskiKenny Wilson and Brian Van Kirk had the other two.  Everyone else should have probably just stayed home.

On the hill, Josh Wells was the loser allowing three runs on six hits in five innings.  He walked a batter and struck one out, also.  Matthew Daly relieved him with a scoreless inning.

I don't feel this is enough info.  Um, ok, Markus Brisker pinch ran in the sixth and stole his 5th base of the young season.  Too bad he's hitting just .103. 



Lansing 2    West Michigan 4  (Game 2)


Ugh.  This could be a mad libs.  The ______ (adjective) Lansing offense ______ (verb) just two runs in the night cap.  Jon Del Campo was the only _____ (adjective) for Lansing, picking up two hits.  Oh, and Johermyn Chavez tripled and scored.

On the mound, Jonas Cuotto was roughed up for four runs on six hits in just 2.7 innings.  On the bright side, Yorman Mayora struck out four in 2.3 scoreless innings.

That's it.  I'm done.  Bless you for reading this mess.


Three Stars:

3rd Star-  Mark Sobolewski;
3-for-3

2nd Star-  Tim Collins; 
3 IP, 0 H 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

1st Star-  Luis Perez;
5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K



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Sneeps - Monday, April 27 2009 @ 03:12 AM EDT (#199012) #
The Dunedin And Lansing teams i'm not too worried about at this point.

In Lansing, just about every player comes from a warm weather climate.  This is more of a problem for the hitters than most people realize, in my opinion.  I think in the next 2-3 weeks you'll start to see that team get a lot more competitive.

I'm going to give Dunedin at least another month before I worry about those hitters.  Most of hitters on the baby Jays are still just 20 years old, while the avg. age of players in the FSL is about 21-22.  For the most part, they should be fine.

pooks137 - Monday, April 27 2009 @ 05:03 AM EDT (#199014) #

Off topic, but I see former catcher-of-the-future Robinzon Diaz got called up this week to the Pirates to split catching duties.  According to rotoworld.com, he had a red-hot spring, ending camp with an OPS over 1200, but got sent down because the Pirates were looking for a more polished receiver.  I remember scouting reports while in the Jays' system stating that pitchers' didn't like throwing to him, so I guess that rep has still followed him.

It sounds like he'll get an extended look with Ryan Doumit out for at least 2 months with wrist surgery.  Diaz was always an exceptional contact hitter, but I remember Marc commenting that he hit for a very "hollow" .300 avg, with no walks and no power.  If his newfound power from this spring carries over, he may be a useful major leaguer in the Bengie Molina/Johnny Estrada mould. 

I'll find it interesting to watch the Batter's Box's #4 Prospect in 2007 get a longer look in the Senior Circuit.  It would be nice to have someone with upside backing up Barajas or stashed in AAA as the third string instead of Raul Chavez.  I guess it's important as well though to have a veteran, defence-first backup to help break-in our 4 green SPs. 

China fan - Monday, April 27 2009 @ 05:06 AM EDT (#199015) #

It's great to see Robert Ray having a good start at AAA after his excellent 2008 season at AA.   He was hampered by injuries in 2006 and 2007 and has been a late bloomer.  According to Gerry's interview with Dick Scott in the off-season, Ray has always been regarded as having good stuff, but was plagued by blow-up innings and never got it together until last season.  He is 25 years old now, so this will be a key season.  If he continues to do well at AAA this season, he could be in the mix for a bullpen position next season, or maybe even as a starter if the injured Jays pitchers don't bounce back as strongly as we hope.

On another note:  Jeremy Accardo has a 2.25 ERA so far at Vegas and is holding LHB to a .200 average, which is almost identical to his career average.  He probably deserves a call-up soon, but Cito might prefer to keep Murphy and Bullington as innings-eaters for those games when Burres or Tallet can only last for 4 or 5 innings.

 

Mike Green - Monday, April 27 2009 @ 09:38 AM EDT (#199019) #
Timing is everything.  The club has a bunch of decent (or better) pitching prospects, but they all need a bit more time in the minors.
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