Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine
I'll just cut to the chase, since this is really what you want to hear: J.P. Arencibia had a huge night, going 3-3 with 2 homers, a double and 2 walks. No matter what else happened, it was a good night for the affiliates.


Las Vegas 7 at Nashville 5

It was a see-saw battle in Nashville. The 51s jumped ahead in the first with a 3-spot in the 1st thanks to 2 bloops by Aaron Mathews and Randy Ruiz and J.P.'s first blast. Starter Ricky Romero held the Sounds at bay through 3 innings, but ran into some trouble in the 4th, which seemed to have everything - 2 hits, 2 walks, a hit by pitch, an error, a caught stealing. Throw it all in a blender and the game was tied at 3 after 4. Next half inning, Vegas regained the lead on a Randy Ruiz RBI double. The back and forth continued when Nashville scored a run in the bottom of the 5th to tie it, and another in the 6th to take the lead, but the 51s came back with single runs in the 7th, 8th and 9th. Romero's final line: 5 IP, 4ER, 8H, 2BB, 3SO. It's probably safe to say he'll make at least another start or two in Vegas. Jeremy Accardo pitched a perfect inning and his ERA stands at 2.70.

In his last 10 games, Arencibia is 15-39 with 10 extra base hits, 6 walks and 3 strike outs. His OPS on the season improved from .744 to .834 last night.

New Hampshire - scheduled off-day.

Daytona 10 at Dunedin 3

26 year old Vincent Bongiovanni got the start for the D-Jays and wasn't great - he only lasted 3 innings, and gave up 3 runs, 2 earned. Trystan Magnuson relieved him and was much worse, allowing 5 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks while recording 2 outs. The bullpen pitched well for the rest of the game, particularly Dumas Garcia, who allowed just a walk in 1.1 IP while striking out 4, but the damage had been done. Dunedin could only manage 3 runs on the evening. The offensive stars were Darin Mastroianni and Kevin Ahrens, who each doubled twice, with Ahrens adding a single, and Jesus Gonzalez, who went 2-3 with a walk. Justin Jackson went 1-3 with a walk and a strikeout.

Dayton 11 at Lansing 2

Maybe Jays' affiliates just have trouble against teams whose cities start with "Dayton". The Lugnuts got drubbed by even larger margin than the D-Jays. Ryan Koch started and actually wasn't that bad, going 6.2 innings and allowing 4 Dragons to score. Michael Barbara came in and allowed his only inherited runner to score to bring Koch's final line to 6.2 IP, 5ER, as well as 3 others, while recording only 2 outs. Just like in Dunedin, the Nuts couldn't come close to matching Dayton's offensive barrage. Kyle Mclanahan was the only Lugnut to reach base twice, smacking 2 doubles, while Justin Van Kirk hit a solo homer.

Three Stars!
3. Kevin Ahrens - 3-4 with 2 doubles
2. Dumas Garcia - 1.1 IP, 4K
1. J.P. Arencibia - 10 TB, 2 BB
The J.P. Arencibia Show | 22 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Helpmates - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 01:18 PM EDT (#200220) #

Wow, good news. 

Whom would you guys prefer (if they're still available):  James Paxton or Mike Trout?

ayjackson - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 01:30 PM EDT (#200224) #

Paxton or Trout?

Based on these reviews, Paxton looks a bit more exciting to me.

Helpmates - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 01:53 PM EDT (#200226) #
Those were the two names I'd heard attached to the Jays recently.
jjdynomite - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 01:59 PM EDT (#200231) #
Is there any reason (i.e. service time) that Accardo is still in AAA as opposed to Wolfe or Camp, now that he appears to be healthy?

All three are righties, and as opposed to the latter two, Accardo has proven that he can be a satisfactory closer in the bigs (= set-up man on the 2009 Jays, considering BJ and Downs are both closers).
Mike Green - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 01:59 PM EDT (#200232) #
If Arencibia continues in this vein, the Jays will have the option to bring him up as a DH/3rd catcher, in the event of an injury to an outfielder (with Lind moving to left).  That way he can learn the fine defensive skills slowly with the help of Barajas and Chavez.  Sometimes things just fall into place.
Mike Green - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 02:09 PM EDT (#200233) #
JJD,

My best guess (and hope) is that Ricciardi is working the phones on a small deal, and that the current arrangement works in terms of possible deals. In addition to Accardo, the Jays also have Janssen who could conceivably return to the bullpen at the outset. 

92-93 - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 02:36 PM EDT (#200235) #
Mike, I really don't think that would be the case. The Jays probably prefer, and rightfully so, for Arencibia to play everyday and get the work rather than playing once or twice a week at the big league level. If an OF got injured I think we'd see Bautista man LF every day, and Joe Inglett would then get the call to take over the versatile bench man role. Cito is comfortable with who he knows.
MatO - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 02:43 PM EDT (#200236) #
Is there any reason (i.e. service time) that Accardo is still in AAA as opposed to Wolfe or Camp, now that he appears to be healthy?
My take is that both Wolfe and Camp are long relievers to be used when a starter leaves early (like Richmond against the Yankees) and Accardo is another one inning guy.  Janssen for Camp or Wolfe would be a better fit.
Moe - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 02:46 PM EDT (#200238) #
Is there any reason (i.e. service time) that Accardo is still in AAA as opposed to Wolfe or Camp, now that he appears to be healthy?

It's unlikely going to be service time: according to Cot's, Accardo has 3.088 days of service. A year of service is 172 days, so Accardo would have to spend more than half the season down at AAA for him to end the year with less than 4 years of service. It may happen, but I doubt it's the plan.

Service time consideration really only matter for players who have a lot of value to the club. If the Jays wanted to play with service time, they would send Snider down for about 1.5 month. The one player where service time may figure in is Romero; if he stays down for more than 20 days he will end the season with less than a full year of service and would be under club control for an additional year.
Mike Green - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 02:56 PM EDT (#200239) #
We'll see, 92-93.  The slow and easy approach worked very well for the Yankees with Posada, in the midst of their championship run.

First off, Arencibia needs to sustain his new approach at the plate for a little longer.

Ducey - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 02:59 PM EDT (#200240) #

Accardo only pitched 12 innings last year and 16 this year.  I expect we will see him at some point but maybe once he has proven the injuries are behind him?

He is also a little better against lefties than righties.  Give that they have three lefties in the pen, maybe they see Wolfe as having more value as a ROOGY.

92-93 - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 03:12 PM EDT (#200242) #
The Yankees didn't really take it slow with Posada. In 1997 he spent the whole season as the backup C (224 PA) playing 1/3 of the time, and by the next year (and in 1999 too) the roles were reversed, with Girardi playing a third. They certainly didn't call him up to wither way on the bench as backup.
Helpmates - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 03:31 PM EDT (#200244) #

There's a brief piece about Eric Thames on Baseball America's website; worth a glance:

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=4101

 

 

Mike Green - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 03:50 PM EDT (#200247) #
"Thames flows to fast start".  The bar is not set too high, MLUers.



jgadfly - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 04:00 PM EDT (#200248) #

Trading... What would it take ?

Magpie - Wednesday, May 13 2009 @ 04:22 PM EDT (#199921) # I'm off to the ball park. Is there anything anyone can do to help the Angels with their bullpen? They're probably holding open tryouts at this very          moment...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Mike Green - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 02:09 PM EDT (#200233) # JJD, My best guess (and hope) is that Ricciardi is working the phones on a small deal, and that the current arrangement works in terms of possible deals.

How untouchable is Brandon Wood ... recently returned to the minors ?  Would Romero, League, Carlson and Emaus touch him ?  Would Ricciardi jump ?  I suppose we can dream but I believe he would definitely be a nice fit/backup SS/3rdbase RH bat DH for this season and plugging some holes down the road ...

 

92-93 - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 04:10 PM EDT (#200249) #
That is way too much to give up for a guy the Angels clearly don't have much faith in.
damos - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 04:53 PM EDT (#200253) #
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090519&content_id=4810990&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Apparently Paxton is a Boras client. 
This article names a few other potential picks in Boras' stable. 

ayjackson - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 06:11 PM EDT (#200255) #
A rare win for Lansing this afternoon as young Henderson Alvarez continued his dominating ways on the hill.
Mike Green - Tuesday, May 19 2009 @ 10:10 PM EDT (#200261) #
David Purcey had another nice outing for the 51s, but a bullpen implosion cost him the win. 
slitheringslider - Wednesday, May 20 2009 @ 02:43 AM EDT (#200268) #
"A rare win for Lansing this afternoon as young Henderson Alvarez continued his dominating ways on the hill."

It is certainly good to see our young pitching do well. Does anyone have a scouting report on Alvarez. Despite his solid results, the 26K in 46IP does not suggest he is dominating A-ball or scream prospect, and his ground ball rate is not so stellar that he can go down the Chien Ming Wang route. Is he getting A-ballers out on 1 above average pitch or is he relying on guile. Is this guy a prospect or an organization filler?
greenfrog - Wednesday, May 20 2009 @ 07:37 AM EDT (#200269) #
Arencibia is hitting a tasty .395 with 5 doubles, 5 HR, and a 6:4 BB:K ration over his last 10 games. Last year he had 18 walks in 126 games.
Sano - Wednesday, May 20 2009 @ 09:04 AM EDT (#200271) #
Here's a quote from Dane Johnson of BA concerning Henderson Alvarez.

BB:  Who has the best fastball and change-up in the GCL?

DJ:  I would say Henderson Alvarez, he gets it up there at 92-93 mph with movement which is good for an 18 year-old.  He also has a very good power change-up.  His problem is that he doesn't know where it is going most of the time but he does have lots of potential if he can get it together.

I'd post a link if I knew how.  This quote was already posted on the Box a few weeks ago.

So I'd say that Alvarez has the stuff to beat bats.  Just needs to polish, which is good because he's still only 18 years old.




The J.P. Arencibia Show | 22 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.