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Rodrigo Orozco has played over 100 games for Dunedin this season but he had to wait until Thursday to hit his first home run of the season. Dunedin won. Every other team in the system lost.

Buffalo

Buffalo, who are officially eliminated from the playoffs, lost 7-3. Jacob Waguespack started and went five innings. He was charged with four runs on seven hits. He had just two strikeouts. Luis Santos gave up the other three runs.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was 2-4 with a walk and drove in two runs. He has been hitting well on rehab and should be back with the Jays on Friday. Vlad Jr. was 2-5, one an infield hit. Since his hot start in Buffalo he has not been hitting as well recently. His average over the last nine games is just over .250. Those experienced AAA pitchers are likely showing him their tricks. Rowdy Tellez hasn't played in five days, Reese McGuire hasn't played in a couple. Even though McGuire is not on the DL, the Jays called up Alberto Mineo from Dunedin to give them some backup at catcher so McGuire likely has a minor knock of some kind.


New Hampshire

New Hampshire were shutout 6-0. Bo Bichette got back on track with two hits. Forrest Wall had the only extra base hit, a double.

Jon Harris had a Harrisy start. He allowed eight hits in five innings with four runs. Zack Jackson pitched two good innings. Jackson doesn't allow many hits but he walks a lot of hitters. If we look at the monthly track record, he hasn't shown much development in his command this season.


Dunedin

Dunedin won 4-1. Rodrigo Orozco hit his first home run of the season and drove in three runs. Orozco had two hits and three RBI. Six other hitters had one hit each.

Patrick Murphy went five shutout innings with five K's. He was pulled after throwing 73 pitches. Murphy had thrown around 40 innings more than last season. The Jays are likely managing his workload to get to the end of the season.


Lansing

Lansing lost 7-3. The Lugnuts did have two solo home runs from Ryan Gold and Ryan Noda. For Noda it was number 18, for Gold number two. Noda, Gold and Andres Sotillo had two hits each.

The Lugnuts used a tandem start. Donnie Sellers gave up two runs in four innings with eight strikeouts. Matt Gunter also pitched four innings, but he was hit around for five runs.


Vancouver

Vancouver lost 3-2. With the loss the C's lead is down to one game. Jose Espada gave up one hit, but it was a three run home run and the difference in the game. Espada's control was off, he walked five but he did have seven K's. Fitz Stadler and Marcus Reyes pitched well in relief.

The C's first run was a walk that came around to score on a double play ball. The second run was scored by Nick Podkul who doubled. Tanner Kirwer singled him in. The C's had just three hits.


Bluefield

Bluefield lost 8-3. Pitching let the Jays down. Adams Cuevas allowed four of the runs on ten hits. Josh Almonte is still trying to figure out this pitching thing, he gave up the other four runs and has an ERA of 9. The Jays made four errors but only two of the runs were unearned.

Cal Stevenson had the night off. Alejandro Kirk celebrated being an all-star by hitting his ninth home run and driving in two runs. DJ Daniels also had two hits. Jordan Groshans had another hitless day. We should not forget that for high school draftees this is the most baseball they have played and they are likely getting tired at this time of the season.


GCL Jays

The GCL Jays lost 4-1 in a game where each teams had five hits. The Jays lineup featured eight hitters from Latino countries, including Puerto Rico, and both pitchers were also Latino. The one exception was catcher Troy Squires, I hope he knows some Spanish. Miguel Hiraldo doubled and scored the only run.

Rafael Monsion went six innings with just one K. He did concede all four runs on four hits.


DSL Jays

The DSL Jays lost 7-6 in eleven innings. The winning run scored on a wild pitch. Pedro Hurtado was 4-6 and drove in a run. Alberto Rodriguez, Jhon Solarte and Erickvi Celedonio each picked up two hits. Solarte drove in two runs. Alexis Carmona had a decent start, he threw 5.2 innings with seven K's. He was charged with two of the runs.


3 Stars

3rd star: Alejandro Kirk

2nd star: Patrick Murphy

1st star: Rodrigo Orozco


Boxes

It's Never Too Late | 48 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Jonny German - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 09:05 AM EDT (#364197) #
Murphy went up to AA for one start on May 27 (6 IP, 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks, 6 K). Since then, back in Dunedin:

16 starts
93 IP
1.83 ERA
.532 OPS against
6.2 H/9
8.8 K/9
3.0 BB/9
0.4 HR/9
Mike Green - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 09:19 AM EDT (#364200) #
Murphy has now thrown 147 innings in 26 starts (i.e. just under 6 innings per start).  It's good that he has retained his effectiveness. 
Mike Green - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 11:25 AM EDT (#364209) #
I am wondering if there has been a better hitting prospect in terms of age, statistics and scouting over the last 60 years than Vladimir Guerrero Jr.  Alex Rodriguez might have been comparable, although frankly I prefer Guerrero's superior contact ability and strike zone judgment to Rodriguez' somewhat more developed power.  I have thought about Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Trout, Pujols and so on.  Is there somebody I am missing- a player who at age 19 had demonstrated all three elements of hitting- contact ability, power and strike zone judgment- at the highest levels in the minor leagues?  Maybe a flameout that I never heard of?
uglyone - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 11:50 AM EDT (#364210) #
I have searched a few times but haven't found one yet.
Marc Hulet - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 12:30 PM EDT (#364211) #
Wander Franco (Tampa Bay) may be in Guerrero's class before long. He's actually having a better season in the Appy League at 17 then Guerrero did... and making more contact with more power.
hypobole - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 01:17 PM EDT (#364213) #
Cal Stevenson has had as good a season as Wander and Cal's only four and a half years older.
bpoz - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 01:39 PM EDT (#364214) #
Wander is good. SS 5'10.
Vlad is bigger but plays 3B and may not last there. Vlad is expected to hit some very long HRs.
So how about Alejandro Kirk. Similar numbers. C 5'9". But about 2 and half years older than Wander.

I suppose the thing to watch is if Wander and Alejandro can match Vlad's performance this year when their turn comes up in 2 years.


Another thing would be Wander and Alejandro in the top 10 of the top 100 at the end of next year.
bpoz - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 01:51 PM EDT (#364215) #
Wander was very highly ranked on the Int'l market and signed for $75,000 less than Vlad.
hypobole - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 02:06 PM EDT (#364216) #
Juan Meza, the $1.6 million J2 signing back in 2014, was released last week.
Mike Green - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 03:44 PM EDT (#364220) #
Cesar Cedeno would have to be in the conversation.  At age 19, he hit .373/.402/.691 in half a season in the American Association and played the rest of the year in the Show with decent success.  Different kind of hitter though- his control of the strike zone was less sure but he was, of course, a lot faster. 
John Northey - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 04:03 PM EDT (#364221) #
For a teenager I'd say Griffey Jr was the last one hyped this much.  One could argue Bryce Harper too.  A-Rod had hype but nowhere this much probably because of Griffey being on the same team and already up.  Seattle did a great job with those #1 overall picks didn't they?
Jonny German - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 04:26 PM EDT (#364222) #
How about Juan Soto for a comp? Very very short track record, but he’s also 19 this year.
Mike Green - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 04:52 PM EDT (#364224) #
Soto had a strange path.  He dominated the Sally League in 2017 briefly, and the club started him out there again in 2018 for 16 games, moved him up to the Carolina League where he dominated for 15 games and then to the Eastern League for 8 games where he was very good, but a substantially lesser hitter than Guerrero Jr.  They then called him up where he has hit extremely well.  It's kind of like a Pujols situation, but at a younger age.  I wouldn't say he was as good a hitting prospect.

Ted Williams at age 19 was in the American Association.  We don't have his W/K but he hit .366 and slugged .703.  Let's guess that his W/K was pretty fabulous.  I'll wildly hypothesize that he was a better hitting prospect than Guerrero Jr.!

ComebyDeanChance - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 05:26 PM EDT (#364227) #
And the Yankees had some guy in the early 50's who at 19 was also in the American Association. Hit .361/.445/.651. I think he played centre.
scottt - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 05:34 PM EDT (#364228) #
Wander Samuel Franco (with the Rays) has a brother named, Wander Javier Franco, 23 (with the Royals) and another named Wander Alexander Franco, 21 (with the Astros).

Maybe it's something to do with  birth certificates?
Vlad Jr has a Canadian birth certificate, so at least there are no doubts on that point.


Gerry - Friday, August 24 2018 @ 10:30 PM EDT (#364237) #
The umpire in the Bluefield game tonight must be related to Eric Gregg. Bluefield struck out 20 Pulaski hitters while 18 Jays struck out. Thats 38 K's out of 54 outs.
dan gordon - Saturday, August 25 2018 @ 03:17 AM EDT (#364240) #
Vladdy's 3 for 4 today raised his season average to .394. He has a shot at having a .400 season overall, something that hasn't happened in a season of pro ball including all levels played, for something like 57 years, not counting the very low minors.

Nice game for Domenic Abbadessa for Bluefield today - a single, 2 doubles and a triple. He's now hitting .307, has been playing CF, and has a good stolen base % as well. Would be nice to see a few more walks and/or some power, but there's time for that to develop, he's only 20. Also in the Bluefield game, Joel Espinal, who was handed an 80 game suspension this spring, was terrific with 10 K's in 5 innings, allowing just 2 hits and no walks.
scottt - Saturday, August 25 2018 @ 06:53 AM EDT (#364242) #
Speaking of game suspensions, Sport Illustrated has excerpts from Base Cop: The Dark Side of America's Pastime.

https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/08/23/baseball-cop-book-excerpt-eddie-dominguez-anthony-bosch-mlb-drug-testing-ryan-bauer

I really appreciate the characterization of Ryan Braun by Bosch, the Biogenesis guy.

Braun had gummy bears which were testoterones activators and he was supposed to use 1 per game.
They were handed out in 30 packs.

-How many did you take?

-I took five. I took six.

-How much did you take?

-Okay. I took the whole thing.

85bluejay - Saturday, August 25 2018 @ 10:21 AM EDT (#364244) #
In 1999, Erubiel Durazo hit .404 in AA/AAA in 409PA

As Gerry noted, Espinal K's may have had more to do with the umpire.
85bluejay - Saturday, August 25 2018 @ 10:39 AM EDT (#364246) #
Of course if you include Durazo 1999 ML stint, he falls below the .400 level
bpoz - Saturday, August 25 2018 @ 01:41 PM EDT (#364254) #
Birthday boy A Kloffenstein pitched 1 inning today.
dan gordon - Saturday, August 25 2018 @ 03:56 PM EDT (#364265) #
Yes, the Durazo season is why the reports I was reading all stated "including all levels". Would be great to see Vladdy accomplish something not done for almost 6 decades, after Gurriel came fairly close to setting an all time record.
hypobole - Saturday, August 25 2018 @ 10:16 PM EDT (#364285) #
Groshans with his 1st Appy HR.

Kirk with his 10th. He's having an awesome season at 19, both offensively and even defensively.
dan gordon - Sunday, August 26 2018 @ 01:10 AM EDT (#364292) #
Pentecost at it again today, 3 for 5 with a HR, now 36 for 90 (.400) since July 25th, with 5 HR's. Abbadessa had 2 singles, a double and a walk, and has reached base 8 times in 2 games. That's 2 games in a row with a HR for Kirk, who now has an OPS just over 1.000. He's DH'd in almost half of his games, and caught in the rest. I don't know much about his defense, but he has thrown out 12 of 28 would-be base stealers, and has just 1 passed ball. Pardinho was pretty good, with 7 K's in 4 IP, although he walked 3. Winckowski struck out 6 in 4 IP, now has 28 K's in his last 23 1/3 IP.
John Northey - Sunday, August 26 2018 @ 01:15 AM EDT (#364293) #
Heck of a year for baby Jays.  Gurriel with his multi-hit game streak, Vlad with his chase for 400, Jansen hitting 385/433/692 so far (26 AB), McKinney 350/480/800 (20 AB).

Pitchers - Pannone 1.59 ERA in 11 1/3 IP, Boruki 4.12 in 11 starts, Gaviglio 4.94 in 18 starts, Reid Foley reaching the majors, lots to hope for.

I see promise abound in the system for 2019 and beyond.  Lets hope the current management handles it better than the mid-90's team did (Wells, Rios, Stewart, Delgado, Halladay, Carpenter, Escobar, etc. and never sniffed the playoffs).
hypobole - Sunday, August 26 2018 @ 01:59 AM EDT (#364294) #
I don't know much about his defense, but he has thrown out 12 of 28 would-be base stealers, and has just 1 passed ball.

dan, this site is far from perfect, but it's the best available for minor league defence and gives a good idea of which players have played well or poorly. Kirk is a +9, the highest mark on the team at any position.

http://claydavenport.com/stats/webpages/2018/2018pageTORrealALL.shtml

CeeBee - Sunday, August 26 2018 @ 09:38 AM EDT (#364298) #
If Pentecost keeps improvingwith his bat would his powwer play at first base or left field? There's always DH as well I suppose.
hypobole - Sunday, August 26 2018 @ 09:49 AM EDT (#364299) #
I would guess the only way Pentacost projects as a major leaguer is as a catcher.

2080 has a new Jays scouting report up. Not one of the guys I was hoping for, but here's DJ Neal.

https://2080baseball.com/spotlight/dj-neal/

85bluejay - Sunday, August 26 2018 @ 10:18 AM EDT (#364301) #
Aledmys Diaz has had a decent season, is cheap & 4 more years of control but since I don't think he should be the SS on a team with a strong groundball rotation, I hope the Jays shop him hard now (if cleared waivers) or this winter - we have Travis (no value),Drury,Guirrel, maybe Tulo,Martin, Guerrero (end of April) & we need to add a plus defender at SS with below average defenders at 2B/3B or this rotation is in trouble.
hypobole - Sunday, August 26 2018 @ 11:11 AM EDT (#364303) #
Checking out Sunday Notes at FG. Almost always has a few interesting items.

"Cal Stevenson, a 21-year-old outfielder with the Bluefield Blue Jays in the rookie-level Appalachian League, leads the minor leagues with a .520 on-base percentage. Toronto’s 10th-round pick has a 1.040 OPS in 256 plate appearances."

Also gave a link to a CBS Sports item on scouting reports. A few of my favourite scouts comments from there:

On a brutal-fielding call-up: "Looked like he had never played before. Upon further review he had … wow."

"Slow? Slower than slow," one scout wrote. "But the best part: It takes him zero time to stop."

On a players poor decision-making on the basepaths: "run the bases like he thinks he's invisible."
Nigel - Sunday, August 26 2018 @ 02:46 PM EDT (#364310) #
Palacios is having another good game today. He remains an interesting prospect to me. He does all the non-hitting things well such that he may be yet another 4th OF prospect. He can really field and he hits LH so that gives him a leg up on a few of the other candidates.
dan gordon - Sunday, August 26 2018 @ 04:14 PM EDT (#364313) #
Hypobole, thanks for the claydavenport link - interesting.
hypobole - Sunday, August 26 2018 @ 09:15 PM EDT (#364321) #
Here's video of Kloff's 2nd start with velo notes

https://twitter.com/JasonAtTheGame/status/1033439406965882883

And a brief scout note on Hiraldo, with a gif

https://twitter.com/JasonAtTheGame/status/1033364849873616899
dan gordon - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 03:27 AM EDT (#364328) #
Riley Adams has had quite a strong 4 game stretch, going 9 for 14 with 2 walks, raising his OPS to .718, a pretty good performance, considering he's skipping a level this year at Dunedin.

Another great relief performance for Jose Fernandez in Buffalo, and for Zach Jackson in New Hampshire. Especially nice to see Jackson strike out 3 without walking anybody.
ayjackson - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 10:26 AM EDT (#364343) #
Except for May, Adams' OPS has improved each month. I wonder if his bat speed is improving along with it. His August OPS is around .950 (if my short term memory serves).
Gerry - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 10:45 AM EDT (#364347) #
No day time minor league baseball today. The DSL and GCL Jays have finished their seasons.

The big question of the day is, will Josh Donaldson play for Dunedin tonight?
Mike Green - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 11:11 AM EDT (#364351) #
Adams turned 22 in late June.  He started off the season horribly in April, but has had decent W/K and doubles power since then.  He has earned a trip to New Hampshire next spring, right on target for development you like to see. 

Alejandro Kirk is 19 and will turn 20 in November.  He is 5'9", 220 lbs.  He looks like a good receiver and has a powerful but smooth swing on the 2080 baseball video.  He has absolutely destroyed the Appalachian League (21 extra-base hits including 10 homers, 30 walks, 20 strikeouts in 230 PAs). 

Between the two of them, Hagen Danner, and Gabriel Moreno, the club has excellent depth behind the plate. 


85bluejay - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 11:24 AM EDT (#364352) #
I think both the Jays & Donaldson would like him to play and be traded by Aug. 31 - but the body may not be ready as I saw notes indicating he would play monday night, later amended to the next 48 Hrs. - I think the Jays FO have probably talked to teams and have a good idea of the marketplace so a deal could probably come together quickly.
85bluejay - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 11:33 AM EDT (#364354) #
Yes the Jays do seem to have good catching depth but you can't have too many - just a few years ago, posters were agonizing about what the Jays were going to do with all that catching talent - Travis D'Arnaud,Carlos Perez,J.P Arencibia,Yan Gomes,Santiago Nessy,A.J. Jimenez etc. - we know how that turned out.
Nigel - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 11:45 AM EDT (#364356) #
I agree about C's and it's weird to look at that list and realize that its Gomes who has actually worked out.

Adams may have a slow bat (although I have to admit I didn't notice that last year in Vancouver) but he certainly has an unusual hitch or load to his swing (which may or may not be an issue). I'm pretty high on Adams, particularly as I thought his K% might go off the charts this year. I think there are signs of real progress there.

Mike - can Kirk catch? I was under the impression that he was in the Juan Kelly/Yorman Rodriquez wing of prospects.
Mike Green - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 12:05 PM EDT (#364359) #
I don't know about Kirk, Nigel.  He looks natural out there in the video.  Maybe he's from the Ernie Lombardi group of catchers (minus the schnozz).

He looks like he might hit enough to be a first baseman. 
Nigel - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 12:13 PM EDT (#364361) #
Mike, I agree that his bat looks very promising for a first baseman. I just don't know that a 5'9" 1B is going to work in the long run. Plus, minor league heights and weights for players at the extremes are pretty unreliable and inflated (or deflated) to the norms. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Kirk was actually an inch or two less than 5'9". As but one example, Warmoth isn't close to either his listed height or weight.
Mike Green - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 12:43 PM EDT (#364363) #
It would help if he had as much vertical as Ray Durham (who outjumped Michael Jordan), but that is a longshot!
Nigel - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 04:59 PM EDT (#364384) #
In Friday's Fringe Five report on Biggio it mentions that the advanced metrics on his defence grade him out as solidly average at 2B. Now, caution needs to be had with respect to minor league advanced defensive metrics. However, I would say that those metrics would generally match the eye test from his days in Vancouver.
John Northey - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 05:33 PM EDT (#364396) #
If Biggio can be average on defense to go with the offense he has shown this year that'd be amazing.  The more crowded and talented the infield the better.
hypobole - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 07:36 PM EDT (#364407) #
the advanced metrics on his defence grade him out as solidly average at 2B.

Aren't those advanced metrics the Clay Davenport link I posted for Dan upthread?
hypobole - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 08:05 PM EDT (#364410) #
Pompey back after 16 days on the DL. Still no Rowdy, though.

Oh, and that Vlad kid with HR #5.
hypobole - Monday, August 27 2018 @ 09:00 PM EDT (#364413) #
Yennsy 7 shutout innings, 2 H, 1BB, 4K.

Bo with his 40th double for NH. The 1st ever FisherCat to 40.
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