I assume Alford threw out a guy at first to double him off, or maybe a guy who rounded first too aggressively? My brain tried to make sense of how it was possible for the CF to throw a guy out at first a la the occasional RFer, and I don't think I've ever heard of it happening.

AWeb, from the game log:

Aaron Altherr singles on a ground ball to left fielder Jonathan Davis.

Zach Green strikes out swinging.

Collin Cowgill lines into a double play, center fielder Anthony Alford to first baseman Rowdy Tellez. Aaron Altherr doubled off 1st.

Runner going on the pitch?

MLB pipeline has new Jays top-30. Prospect depth is now pretty great. Four of the newly acquired players on top 30. The teens level is filled with interesting players, they have 18 players listed as fv 50 or higher. This year is a drag but the future looks bright.

I must admit the depth looks much better right now than in a long time. The next steps is graduating some of that talent.

Has anybody else noticed that Bo Bichette has not become an extreme opposite field hitter? His 42.3% opposite field batted ball percentage is stops in the eastern league and the tops in the majors is 34.6%.

Is this the reason his raw power isn't showing up as much this year? Is this something he is working on to try and become a better overall hitter?

Shoeless joe, I posted this in the last MLU (did anyone check it out?)

https://prospectstorm.com/2018/07/03/toronto-blue-jays-2018-mid-season-top-15-prospects/

Here's Jason Woodell's take on Bo:

"Bo has plus plus bat speed and hand-eye coordination. He is at his best when he is letting the ball get deep and spraying line drives to RF. He is at his worst when he is trying to pull everything. He will sell out early in the count, but like Vlad, he is one of the more mature hitters with 2 strikes that you will find. He has the glove and arm to stick at SS. He will hit for more power as his body grows."

I did read the article, but I guess I missed that point. Very interesting tidbit.

Thanks hypobole. I succeeded getting that site just now. Failed yesterday. Excellent reading.

Agreed about the prospect depth. The FO has done a good job of adding to the farm system with very little subtraction over the years.

T Hernandez and a few others are quite bad defensively. But they provide great offense. That will have to be addressed with more than just hope.


Our young pitchers will have a hard time if easy outs cannot be made.

About roster transactions between New Hamsphire and Buffalo, what determines when a player is promoted or demoted beside recent player acquisitions by trades. CF Roemen Fields was demoted because Billy McKinney joined Buffalo; so when Vlad Jr. is about to be promoted today, would Gift Ngoepe be correspondingly demoted. Analogously, why is Patrick Cantwell not ptomoted when his OPS at about .800 suggests at large that his hitting is above average for New Hamsphire.

Cantwell has been on the 7-day DL since the end of June, and really, most of his Jay's career.  If he could stay in the field, he might make a 3rd / 4th string catcher. 

I don't know a thing about him other than his MLB stats page, but Lazaro Estrada, a just-19 Cuban in his first year in the DSL has a WHIP under 1 and 56 Ks / 49 IPs as a starter.  He's got a long way to go, but for a starter in the DSL, it's an impressive line.
Samad Taylor with his 35th steal vs. 14 CS.  He was 13 and 6 in his first two years combined.

Tanner Kirwer, Griffin Conine and Cobi Johnson will represent Vancouver at the Northwest League/Pioneer League All-Star game next week.

Groshans 3/4 with a 2B, 1HR, a BB, and 6 RBI. He's at 3B today where he's now played half his games. Great start to his career. A prospect to be excited about for sure.

In the Blue Jays Top 30, the new acquisitions abound. RHP Hector Perez is at #11, about where he was with Houston. OF Billy McKinney is at #19, while David Paulino is #20. Santiago Espinal is #25, while Forest Wall is #26. Chad Spanberger apparently just missed top 30 status. Where the P.T.B.N.L. will rank is unknown.

Three of the acquisitios have/should/will make the MLB Roster. Five of the remaining six players made the Top 30 List bumping off 5 Blue Jays underachievers. Ross Atkins has done very well thus far. I can’t wait to see what’s next.

More Woodell:

The Jays 2018 1st round pick has huge raw power. He is a big kid with a projectable frame. He doesn’t look 18 and he doesn’t hit like a teenager. His size may move him to 3rd base, where his athleticism plays up. I don’t often pick scouts’ brains on players but when a scout asked me if I had seen him yet and then gushed about him, my ears perk up. Take this with a grain a salt, but this one scout in particular mentioned Jeter several times. From Groshan’s size and his ability to drive the ball to RCF to the way he moves defensively, Groshans is impressive specimen. Quite frankly, I dont think it’s fair to hype any young player with a Jeter comp, but if Groshans is a fraction of Jeter, the Jays got a steal.

Kirwer is hitting .315 and has 19 stolen bases. Only behind Contreras in OPS.
Contreras has better number than Conine and his 2 years younger. 4 errors though.
Johnson is kinda like the closer and has pitched well, although maybe not as lucky as Marcus Reyes who has an ERA of 0;84 in the pen.

3-4 with a home run for Groshans today. His start has been very encouraging.

I'm a little surprised that some of the newcomers are rated that high. I have slotted them all onto my list, and I have each one lower than those placings. Maybe a bit of bias towards our existing prospects on my part. Agree that the pipeline is looking great.

Vlad was walked his 1st PA. Then with Buffalo down 8-0 (Tepech was awful), 2 out and a man on, the Pig pitcher walked Vlad again, on 4 pitches, to a chorus of boos from the Bison fans. Deservedly, the next batter, Danny Jansen clubbed a 3 run HR.

Yah, Vladdy ended with 3 walks and a sac fly. The guys on the radio were saying that he hadn't played a game in AAA yet and the other teams were already afraid of him.

I'm starting to change my mind on Harold Ramirez a bit. He hit another HR today and now has 8 for the season. He also stole a base and is 11 for 13 in stealing. He was considered a guy who gives you batting average and nothing else, and then had a rough 2017, but 8 HR's in roughly 330 AA at bats indicates there may be some power there, and 11 for 13 is a really nice stolen base %. The average is over .300 and the OPS is over .800, and he's still just 23. That's the thing about really young guys - they can have a bit of a rough stretch and still have time to regain their prospect status. If he has a good year in Buffalo next year, he's got possibilities.

Arden Zwelling has an excellent article on Vlad in Buffalo, and in New Hampshire too.

Having seen any reports if Vlad improved his fitness level(my major concern about Vlad) during his injury recovery or whether he had any interactions with Donaldson who was also rehabbing in Dunedin.

Having seen any reports if Vlad improved his fitness level(my major concern about Vlad) during his injury recovery or whether he had any interactions with Donaldson who was also rehabbing in Dunedin.
My follow-up question: if Vlad interacts with Donaldson while both were playing in Dunedin, can this incident imply a general case? Young players learn from veteran when both are playing for the same team for various reason. Better, veterans who have been contemplating coaching in future after retirement would be signed to the minors at various minor league levels to play with young players and prospects.

NH is on the field leading 7-0 after 1 inning.

Jordan Groshans and his ridiculous .380 .439 .593 1.032 line is not in the GCL lineup for either game of the double header today.

Off day for him, or promotion?

No Groshans in either game of a doubleheader today. He came out of yesterdays game so he likely tweaked something. There is no need for the DL in the GCL so we don't know how serious it is until he is back.

Biggio has two home runs today, Bichette two doubles, Forrest Wall, three hits. And that is in the fourth inning.

It could also be added that Jon Harris is pitching a gem through 5 innings giving up only one hit with 5 K's. Santiago Espinal is now hitting .300.

This FO keeps adding players. The latest is a recently released LHP, HS round 19 2011 Cleveland draft pick. Shawn Morimando. He just got off the DL. He pitched today for our GCL team. Got as high as #15 Cleveland prospect when they were a V good team.

Harris having a good start as well through 5 innings.

Biggio having a day today. Double to go with 2 HR, 2 more RBI for a total of 5 on the day. In the 5th inning

Harris hit a wall in the 6th inning unfortunately

Harris had to wait around while our offense dominated. That could have affected the 6th inning. But he completed 7 innings. Good game.

Here is some of tomorrow's minor league update today.

It was a hit fest for New Hampshire on Wednesday. As a team they racked up 17 hits. Bo Bichette had three hits, two doubles. Cavan Biggio also had three hits, a double and two home runs. That gives Biggio 23 home runs for the season. Forrest Wall also had three hits as did Andrew Guillotte. Harold Ramirez who has been hot had on 0-3. Santiago Espinal got off to a slow start in AA, he was hitting .182 five games ago. Since then he has gone 9-16 to jump his average to .310.

Jon Harris was outstanding through five, wobbled and gave up three runs in the sixth, but came back out for the seventh. Harris has been inconsistent all year so it is hard to tell what this start means.

And the GCL...

The GCL Jays played a doubleheader and split, they won 5-3 in the first game and lost 6-5 in the second by coughing up the lead and a chance to sweep. In game one each team had six hits. Gabriel Moreno was 1-1 with a walk and a hit by pitch. But the offensive star was Joseph Reyes who had two doubles and three RBI. Adrian Ramos was 3-3 at the top of the order with two runs scored. It is nice to see some lesser known names feature in this report. Shawn Morimando started and pitched one inning. He is a 25 year old starter who has pitched in AAA for a couple of years now. He is from NY state so he could be a local boy headed to Buffalo. Juan Diaz, a normal starter, went five innings with eight K's. He did concede three runs.

In game two Joseph Reyes stayed hot with a two run home run. Wernel Valdez also hit a two run home run, his first of the year. Steward Berroa had three hits. Starter Anderson Nunez was average over three innings. Williams Moreno took the loss.

Thanks Gerry. I am going to gush over Biggio and Bo.

Vlad with his 1st AAA hit today.

Kevin Smith smacks a 3 run shot off top 100 prospect Matt Manning. Gives Smith 20 HR on the season (7 Lansing, 13 Dunedin) joining Biggio in the Jays 20 HR club.