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Minor League Update Small Sample Sizes
Three of the affiliates have played four games, the Bisons have been rained and/or snowed out so far. In general it has been a good start for the affiliates but as usual we have to say it's early. Buffalo, Lansing and New Hampshire are all northern teams but Buffalo have been the unluckiest with the weather so far. Although the Lugnuts played with the temperature below zero so its not exactly baseball weather.

New Hampshire have started 4-0 and its not all down to Vlad and Bo. Vlad is adjusting to AA, his reputation has proceeded him and the pitchers are wary of giving him anything to hit. His average is just .200 but he has just one K in four games with three walks. He hit his first home run on Sunday. Bo took an oh-fer in his first game but since then he has been hitting. Bo's average is up to .333 and he just two K's in 4 games. Lourdes Gurriel, Cavan Biggio, Connor Panas and Juan Kelly have all been hitting well. Jonathan Davis, Harold Ramirez and Max Pentecost are all off to slow starts.

Sean Reid-Foley pitched six shutout innings on Sunday, although he was a bit wild at times. Nick Tepesch and Jordan Romano also pitched well.


Dunedin have started 3-1 against Clearwater. Josh Palacios had a tough year last year with several injury issues. He is red hot to start the season. The Jays put him at the top of the order and he is hitting .533. Nash Knight is hitting over .300 but he has two home runs. New Jay Ivan Castillo is also hitting, as is the forgotten DJ Davis. Riley Adams and Logan Warmoth are on the cooler side of the ledger hitting around .200, although Adams has hit his first home run. You would expect some acclimation for those two having skipped the low A level in Lansing.

The four Jays starters have pitched OK, but not great. Patrick Murphy might have been the best, three hits and three walks allowed over five innings.


Lansing are 2-2 through their four games, that's not bad, but they started 0-2 and lost both ends. The two young speedsters, Chavez Young and Reggie Pruitt, are both hitting over .300, as is Kacy Clemens. There are many hitters who are cold, physically and at the plate. Samad Taylor and Kevin Smith are two of the hitters slow off the mark. For some of these Lansing players it is their first exposure to cold weather.

Yennsy Diaz dominated on day one, Zach Logue did well in game two but Graham Spraker and Turner Larkins did not do well. Ty Tice has pitched very well out of the bullpen.



Three Stars

Third Star - Bo Bichette

Second Star - Sean Reid-Foley

First Star - Josh Palacios


Boxes


Posted by Gerry on Sunday, April 08 2018 @ 07:31 PM EDT.
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The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Mike Green - Sunday, April 08 2018 @ 08:15 PM EDT (#355796) #
Guerrero's homer was a bomb.  ND from contact.  3 walks, 1 K and 1 HR from a 4 game series is what you want to see- the hits will come.
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Richard S.S. - Sunday, April 08 2018 @ 08:33 PM EDT (#355797) #
Buffalo will have either a lot of double-headers and/or fewer days off if they have to make up these games. Hard to be able to call anyone up if no one has played in over a week. Jays might need to go to AA to get anyone whose played enough to be useful.
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bpoz - Sunday, April 08 2018 @ 10:03 PM EDT (#355801) #
Glad to see some SPs doing well.
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bpoz - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 08:55 AM EDT (#355806) #
SRF had a good game after a terrible ST. I know SSS.
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whiterasta80 - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 10:14 AM EDT (#355812) #
Just read the recap of the New Hampshire extra innings game (https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2018/4/9/17168098/how-to-ruin-a-good-baseball-game-with-one-stupid-rule)

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I personally think that ties are a perfectly valid result in baseball. Certainly better than the fully actualized evolution of the "runner on second" rule which will be a pinch runner, sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly/squeeze play.
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mathesond - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 10:56 AM EDT (#355814) #
"Certainly better than the fully actualized evolution of the "runner on second" rule which will be a pinch runner, sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly/squeeze play."

Especially when the home team does the same thing in the bottom of the inning, leading to yet another extra inning.
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AWeb - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 11:31 AM EDT (#355816) #
If you must tie-break (I agree that ties in the minors are just fine, thank you, if you must end the game after 12 innings just end it), I really want a single half-inning that looks like this:

Visiting team proposes a bases/outs situation, home team can choose to go on offense or defense. If a run scores the offense team wins, if not, defense wins. Both teams would be limited to the players left on the bench and bullpen to fill the running and pitching roles though, batting order remains where it is. Oh, and no pitching changes (except for injuries of course) once the inning starts.

For example, I propose man on second, 0 out. run expectancy (http://www.tangotiger.net/re24.html) says you would score about 61% of the time, so you go for offense. But I get to use my high-K closer (if he's available), so that might bring the odds to about even. Depending on the pitching options and where the respective lineups are, it would make a fun little game in a game.
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ComebyDeanChance - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 01:02 PM EDT (#355819) #
Especially when the home team does the same thing in the bottom of the inning, leading to yet another extra inning.

Absolutely true. Loved this assessment.
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Gerry - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 04:49 PM EDT (#355833) #
Lansing had a doubleheader yesterday and used a lot of pitchers. Today they added Brayden Bouchey and Dalton Rodriguez and sent Andy Ravel and Kyle Weatherly to extended. We don't know if this is a short term move or a long term one.
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Gerry - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 05:05 PM EDT (#355834) #
Alford is about to start his rehab assignment in Florida per Gibby.
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dan gordon - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 05:17 PM EDT (#355835) #
We use a similar extra inning rule in the slo-pitch leagues I play in, and it's pretty exciting. The difference being that in slo-pitch you can't bunt, and also, you start the extra inning with 1 out, in addition to the runner on 2nd. I would certainly hate to see a bunt-a-thon in the extra inning(s), so why not start with 1 out and the man on 2nd, eliminating the bunt as a viable strategy. Alternatively, you could put in a rule prohibiting the 1st batter up in the extra inning from bunting. If you really want to get radical, start the extra inning with the bases loaded.
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whiterasta80 - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 06:52 PM EDT (#355836) #
I still think that simply having ties is a better approach personally. If you have to decide a winner (playoffs) then play real baseball to the end no matter what.
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hypobole - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 07:08 PM EDT (#355838) #
Could someone explain to me the logic in having Vlad bunt?
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Gerry - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 07:37 PM EDT (#355839) #
Reportedly Vlad decided on his own to bunt. He said that Gurriel was swinging a hot bat and he wanted to set things up for him.
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Gerry - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 07:41 PM EDT (#355840) #
JB Woodman has hit his first homer of the season against Dunedin tonight. He has six K's in 11 at-bats so in general no sign of a change yet.
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Gerry - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 07:46 PM EDT (#355843) #
Danny Jansen and Rowdy Tellez each have a walk and a hit in their first two plate appearances in their first game.
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Gerry - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 08:00 PM EDT (#355845) #
Two hits for Bichette already tonight, now hitting .400.
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Gerry - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 08:08 PM EDT (#355848) #
Jansen home run alert.
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Gerry - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 08:15 PM EDT (#355852) #
Good start for Biagini, Alford just singled off Luke Gregerson!!
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bpoz - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 08:22 PM EDT (#355854) #
2 men on 1st and 3rd, Vlad at the plate. Do you give him anything to hit? I think not.
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uglyone - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 08:23 PM EDT (#355855) #
Too much good news at every level so far this year.
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uglyone - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 08:26 PM EDT (#355857) #
Mcguire DHing while Jansen catches. Guess we do see them trade places all year.
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Gerry - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 09:03 PM EDT (#355860) #
Jansen 3-3 with a walk. Needs a triple for the cycle.
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hypobole - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 09:19 PM EDT (#355862) #
Thanks Gerry. Yeah, I would hope our minor league managers are a bit more analytically inclined than we seem to believe.
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Gerry - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 09:26 PM EDT (#355866) #
Vlad Jr home run alert!
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uglyone - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 09:48 PM EDT (#355870) #
Lol. See you in july, vladdy.
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Gerry - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 09:50 PM EDT (#355872) #
Jansen could have had the cycle but Tellez was the runner in front of him. Jansen is still perfect at the plate.
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bpoz - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 09:52 PM EDT (#355874) #
YES!!!!!!!!
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Gerry - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 09:58 PM EDT (#355878) #
Vlad and Bo each have three hits tonight and are hitting over .300. Vlad has 6 RBI tonight.
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uglyone - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 09:59 PM EDT (#355879) #
6 rbi

#freevladdy
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Gerry - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 10:21 PM EDT (#355881) #
Its going to be a tough job picking the 3 stars tonight. #niceproblemtohave
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hypobole - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 11:10 PM EDT (#355887) #
Last years 11th round pick Donnie Sellers with quite the relief appearance in Lansing.

5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 12 K.
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GabrielSyme - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 11:19 PM EDT (#355888) #
Jansen's performance was all the more impressive given that the rest of the Buffalo lineup was getting mown down - 20 Ks for the Pawtucket pitchers, albeit in 12 innings.
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SK in NJ - Monday, April 09 2018 @ 11:58 PM EDT (#355891) #
Barring any trades or setbacks, there’s a chance that all of Vlad, Bichette, Alford, Gurriel, Jansen, and Teoscar will be on the big league roster some time in 2019. I can’t remember the last time the Jays had so many good position player prospects that were near ready, assuming of course that Gurriel’s performance thus far is indicative of improved performance going forward. Including Hernandez in that mix is probably being kind given his K% and age, but he’s still a controllable young talent.

The pitching side has some catching up to do, but the quality and quantity of intriguing position player prospects with varying skill sets is nice. One more draft + rumored to be in on a top international player this year, and it will get even better.
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