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The Vancouver Canadians have made it to the final of the Northwest League playoffs thanks to an all hands win over Everett.   Meanwhile the Blue Jays offense is so bad that even JP Arencibia and David Cooper couldn't prevent the Dunedin Jays from being shut out. Marcus Walden made one mistake and that was enough to take the loss. The D-Jays had several chances but couldn't deliver a key hit.



Dunedin 0   Lakeland 1

Marcus Walden gave up a first inning home run and that held up for nine innings. Walden went six innings and had three hits allowed and three K's.

Offensively, JP Arencibia went 0-4 with a walk, David Cooper was 1-5. Kenny Wilson was 2-4 with a walk. Dunedin outhit Lakeland 7-5 but all Dunedin hits were singles. The Jays had several chances to score.  They loaded the bases in the fifth on three walks but Cooper flew out.  In the eighth the Jays again loaded the bases with two out but Marcus Knecht lined out. The D Jays left 12 on base, Lakeland left four.

 

Lansing - series starts Wednesday

 

Vancouver  7   Everett 4

Vancouver won two straight games from Everett to make it to the final and to give themselves a chance to repeat as league champions.  Vancouver led 5-0 after two innings and 7-1 after six.  The big blow was a three run home run from Art Charles in the first inning.  Jorge Flores, who played a key part in the game one win, doubled in a run in the second and later scored on an error.   Meanwhile Taylor Cole was cruising on the mound.  He was not as good as his previous start but he made it through six innings with just one unearned run allowed.  Cole had at least one runner on base in every inning.

The Canadians added two more in the sixth, one scored on a balk and another on a wild pitch.  Wil Browning allowed three runs to score in the seventh but he did better in the eighth and Andrew Sikula got the last three outs.

Flores led the offense, he was 3-4 with two doubles.

 

Stars

 3rd star: Taylor Cole and Marcus Walden

2nd star: Jorge Flores

1st star: Art Charles

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The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Gerry - Wednesday, September 05 2012 @ 10:32 AM EDT (#263075) #

Taylor Cole pitched effectively last night and there has been a lot of interest in him since his no-hit innings last week.  I reached out to a contact in the Jays system to talk about Cole.  He said that Cole was most effective due to a plus change-up and a very good slider.  Cole's fastball sits around 88-90 and his command of it is OK, but improving.  Cole does need to improve his fastball to be successful at higher levels but his off-speed pitches are his ticket to success right now.

vonwafer234 - Wednesday, September 05 2012 @ 02:09 PM EDT (#263080) #
Had to ask this but have there ever been cases where Rule 5 Picks in the minor league portion of the draft where a pick somehow snuck into a team's top 20 prospects list? Because that's how Javier Avendano's been pitching this year. He's been nothing but LIGHTS OUT! Is he still projectable?
China fan - Wednesday, September 05 2012 @ 02:41 PM EDT (#263083) #
Gerry, I notice that Cole is 23. Isn't that a little old for the Northwest League? Should his results be heavily discounted for that reason? Next season he'll be 24 and presumably only in Lansing at the most, or perhaps Dunedin by the end of the season but still a little old for his league, I would think.
Gerry - Wednesday, September 05 2012 @ 03:08 PM EDT (#263086) #

Yes he is old for the league.  Cole missed time to go on a Mormon mission and when he came back to playing baseball his fastball had lost some speed.  I believe last year was his first year back so this year is year two.  I think everyone was waiting to see where regular playing time, after a year off, got him to.   The answer appears to be "not as much speed on the FB as before".  But he has been very successful and if the "kids" were not in Lansing both he and Avendano would likely have been there.  I assume he will be in Lansing in some capacity next season.

I don't think he is a top 30 prospect but he is a guy to watch next year.

China fan - Wednesday, September 05 2012 @ 03:42 PM EDT (#263089) #
Thanks, Gerry. I didn't know about the Mormon mission. Helps explain his late development. Will be very interesting to see how he does next year.
jerjapan - Wednesday, September 05 2012 @ 06:47 PM EDT (#263100) #
Vonwafer, I was wondering the same thing about Avendano,   To a casual observer like myself, his numbers look astonishing. 
wacker - Wednesday, September 05 2012 @ 07:59 PM EDT (#263101) #
Its sad that the d jays who got them to playoffs have to sit on the bench so these rehabbing players can play. They aint doing crap either except upsetting the chemistry. Im posting this at the 7th inning of second game. I feel bad for the players on the bench sucks for them.
ComebyDeanChance - Wednesday, September 05 2012 @ 08:58 PM EDT (#263102) #
When I read "Mormon mission" I think 'Orlando'!
Chuck - Wednesday, September 05 2012 @ 09:40 PM EDT (#263103) #
Hello, my name is Elder Cole.
TamRa - Thursday, September 06 2012 @ 12:07 AM EDT (#263107) #
Its sad that the d jays who got them to playoffs have to sit on the bench so these rehabbing players can play. They aint doing crap either except upsetting the chemistry. Im posting this at the 7th inning of second game. I feel bad for the players on the bench sucks for them.

Eh. I don't think Jon Jones and Jack Murphy are the lynchpins of the D-Jays offense. I could have seen an argument about Murphy having been the regular catcher for the team's pitchers but they got good pitching in those two games.

As i wondered in the other thread - when will we see if the re-habbing guys get moved north to Lansing to continue to get live at bats?





TamRa - Thursday, September 06 2012 @ 02:34 AM EDT (#263112) #
Cole actually spent two years away from the game. is it not reasonable to suppose that he might yet regain the velocity he once had? it seems odd that it would simply disappear for good if he ever once had the physical ability to reach it (assuming no injury of course)
Richard S.S. - Thursday, September 06 2012 @ 03:11 AM EDT (#263115) #
Missions like Cole's can be anywhere in the world, not just Canada and the U.S. Anything he had before the mission fades away because he has little time to stay effective. It might take another year or two before we know what he has on his fastball. If an injury keeps you out of baseball for two years, do you stop being a prospect? I think no, so accordingly I think Cole is still a prospect.

Prospects are Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3. They should also be Type A (fast movers), Type B (normal progression), Type C (slow/delayed progress). Cole would be a Type C, Tier 1.
ayjackson - Thursday, September 06 2012 @ 10:16 AM EDT (#263126) #

reasonable to suppose

Well I'm not sure what kind of certainty this phrase is associated with, but I would say that it is possible that Cole regains his velocity, though I'm not sure it is probable.

TamRa - Thursday, September 06 2012 @ 02:54 PM EDT (#263132) #
"reasonable to suppose"

keep reading:


 "that he MIGHT regain..."
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