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Big leaguer Jose Bautista lit the world on fire in Minnesota on Sunday with three home runs but three affiliates were also busy in the Jays universe. Only one, though, came out on top with a win.


Round Rock 7 Las Vegas 4

Luis Perez received the start for Las Vegas but struggled with his command. He walked two batters, hit one and gave up three homers. In all, he allowed four runs in 7.0 innings. Wil Ledezma and Danny Farquhar were both touched up for runs. Rangers prospect Neil Ramirez kept the 51s' bats quiet and struck out eight batters. At the plate, both Mike McCoy and DeWayne Wise had three hits. McCoy also stole two bases and Wise nabbed one while also banging out two doubles. Danny Perales went 2-for-4 and scored a run. Eric Thames was 1-for-3 with his fourth double in two days. Brett Lawrie went 0-for-5. Travis Snider went 0-for-4.

Reading 5 New Hampshire 4

Veteran double-A starter B.J. LaMura was touched up for five runs in 6.0 innings. Alan Farina did not allow a run in 1.1 innings. The top of the order struggled for the Fisher Cats. Darin Mastroianni and Adeiny Hechavarria went a combined 0-for-10 with four strikeouts. Moises Sierra had a solid day after going 3-for-4 with his fifth homer. He also scored two runs and drove in two runners. Yan Gomes had two hits, as did veteran Ricardo Nanita. Anthony Gose had a hit and has been on fire; he's had seven hits in the past 10 games. Michael McDade had a rare off night and was 0-for-3.

Dunedin 8 Jupiter 3


The baby Jays bashed the Marlins former No. 1 draft pick Chad James for seven runs (five earned) on right hits and three walks in 4.1 innings. Justin Jackson went 0-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base. He scored two runs. Brad Glenn went 3-for-5 with a double and a homer. He's banged out five homers in 10 games but walked just once with 10 Ks. Kevin Ahrens was 1-for-4 with a homer and two RBI. Jon Talley also hit a homer. A.J. Jimenez went 1-for-4 with a double. Nestor Molina allowed seven hits - but no walks - which led to three runs (one earned) in 5.0 innings. He struck out six batters and induced eight ground ball outs. He hasn't walked a batter since April 16 (27.0 innings). Matt Wright did not allow a hit or a run in 2.0 innings. He walked two but struck out four batters.

Lansing and Great Lakes - Rained Out

The Three Stars:
3. Moises Sierra - three hits, homer
2. Brad Glenn - three hits, double, homer, two RBI
1. Mike McCoy - three hits, two steals



Dunedin Saves the Day for the Affiliates | 9 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
hypobole - Monday, May 16 2011 @ 12:12 AM EDT (#234901) #
Thames now leads the PCL in doubles with 17, 5th in total bases, 7th in slugging and 11th in OPS.  What would it take for Eric to supplant Travis as our "left fielder of the future"? Will it ever be Eric's to win, rather than Travis' to lose?
TamRa - Monday, May 16 2011 @ 02:49 AM EDT (#234905) #
Gerry, I have a curiosity - nothing of importance but it nags at me:

what's the deal with Chad Beck?


An entierly non-discript reliever/spot-starter throughout his career, and in his first crack at AA, as a full time starter, he's aces?

where did this come from? Dude learn a new pitch or something?

On the flip side, what the heck is wrong with Scott Richmond? clock strike midnight or something?

Other random thoughts -
1. why in the heck are the likes of Callazo and Everts keeping Farina in AA? Or is Farina getting the same handling as Stewart?

2. What's wrong with Mastro? Coincidental cold streak, or upset about demotion?

3. Will there be any significant promotions before June (Say Jenkins to AA for instance). i know the plan is "go as slow as you need to" but Jenkins seems a reasonable case since he did some HiA last year, and they have six starters there anyway. Alsom makes me wonder if guys like Lamura, MacDonald and Beck will simply be dumped when the actual prospects start moving.

4. Kevin Ahrens? Sample is too small but he's been real hot the last 10 games, plus Dunedin isn't conducive to hitting, plus sobo has been miserable at AA. probably too early to ask (Definitely too early) but heck might as well challenge him I would think.
pooks137 - Monday, May 16 2011 @ 03:56 AM EDT (#234906) #

Just noticed that ex-Jay Kyle Phillips is back in the majors catching for San Diego.

Nice to see him get another chance, as it just wasn't meant to be with the Jays and their catching depth.

Ducey - Monday, May 16 2011 @ 11:19 AM EDT (#234921) #

Ahrens is just getting by.  Its a little early to think promotion.  He is .282/.341/.538 in his last 10 games.  He is .242/.313/.312 for the season (33 games).  The latter boxcars are a lot closer to his career numbers.  If he can put up .282/.350/.538 for another 50 games, I might believe he is someone to keep an eye on.

Of course he is positively on fire compared to Sniders last 10 games: .190/.255/.238.  Anyone still believe he was demoted for service time reasons?

Gerry - Monday, May 16 2011 @ 11:55 AM EDT (#234927) #

I would have to go back and check my notes on Beck.  From what I remember Chad Beck is a muscular guy who has a good fastball in the low to mid nineties.  I believe he also had a slider and a change.  I recall that Beck was signed as a free agent by the Jays and initially was used as a reliever, I think had been released by the Diamondbacks (don't have time to check now). 

The first thing to understand is that pitchers can, and do, come out of nowhere if they can master a pitch or gain command.  The Jays obviously didn't see it in the spring because they assigned him to Dunedin and he was promoted from there.  Again I don't know how his arsenal has changed but I didn't see him as a top prospect and I would say his ceiling would be as a major league reliever.

I don't think we will see many promotions before the end of June.  Baseball people don't look at one month's results as a reason to promote someone.  Players can get hot for a month.  Another AA pitcher BJ LaMura was great in April but hasn't been as good in May.

Secondly, teams like to get prospects into pennant races.  Like last season New Hampshire is in a race and Las Vegas may or may not be.  The Jays would prefer to leave a prospect in AA to be in a race rather than promote them to a team going nowhere.  Also remember that Lansing and Dunedin have split seasons so their rosters won't change significantly until the results of the first half are clear.

Finally teams look at what a player does, rather than what the results are.  Can a hitter control the zone?  Can he hit a breaking ball?  Can a pitcher use three pitches, or just two.  For the pitchers someone posted some of the criteria last week.

In summary, teams are more reluctant to move a player than the fans are.  And don't expect much prospect movement before late June when the short season rosters are filled.

lexomatic - Monday, May 16 2011 @ 12:06 PM EDT (#234932) #
So I've been reading this book about defense (I hope to do a book review pinch hit eventually so more later... but here's the link http://goo.gl/2TrDf), and I've been wondering about whether the Jays should be working on ensuring the Gose's defense in CF is superior. It seems like Mastroianni is an afterthought now, and Gose is probably the most advanced long-term CF option. I suppose the team could also work on Marisnick's defense too, just in case.
I'd be curious if someone can ask minor league staff sometime about what is done to work on the players defense?
Maybe Devon White (#7 all-time according to the method in this book) would be willing to coach OF defense? I wonder, because Mike Cameron credits his skills with intense coaching from Gary Pettis (also with the angels when Devo was coming up). All 3 are considered top 10 all-time.
If Gose could become Devon White 2 with a good arm that would be tremendously valuable.


MatO - Monday, May 16 2011 @ 12:56 PM EDT (#234943) #

Chad Beck came from Arizona in the David Eckstein deal.

On a side note, lefty Evan Crawford (8th round 2008) is putting impressive numbers in AA.  He's been completely under the radar but 25K in 18.2IP will get your attention.

TamRa - Monday, May 16 2011 @ 06:48 PM EDT (#234970) #
Matt Wright is another unheralded reliever who's looked good so far.
Kelekin - Tuesday, May 17 2011 @ 01:00 AM EDT (#234995) #
Glad to see the comment on Wright.  I've talked about him as an interesting pick since that 08 draft and I really hope they challenge him with AA soon.  I think he has the stuff to be a ML bullpen guy, out of anyone on that team at least.
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