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New Hampshire and Lansing are headed to the playoffs and both won. Vancouver lost and their playoff spot is up for grabs. Dunedin split a doubleheader while Buffalo are not going to the playoffs and seem to be ready for the off-season.

Buffalo

Buffalo are limping to the finish line and lost 6-1 in a quiet contest. Mike Hauschild, the one time Blue Jay, had 12 base runners in six innings. That led to six runs. Justin Shafer is back in town and got the last two outs.

The Bisons had just five hits. Anthony Alford had two and drove in the only run. Vlad Jr. did not play.


New Hampshire

The Fisher Cats won 4-2. Bo Bichette is finishing strong. He went 3-4 with a walk and two RBI on Thursday for his fifth multi-hit game in a row. Over those five games Bo is 12-19 with 5 walks. Jon Berti hit for the cycle earlier this week and was a home run short of the cycle on Thursday. Harold Ramirez had two hits, Santiago Espinal was 3-3 with a walk.

Hector Perez pitched well throwing 54 strikes and 26 balls among his 80 pitches. He went five innings, allowing four hits and just one walk. He struck out seven. This was the good Perez, the Jays are looking for Vince Horsman, the pitching coach, to work his magic on Perez. Josh DeGraaf followed Perez, pitched three shutout innings with six strikeouts. Corey Copping pitched the ninth but walked two.


Dunedin

Dunedin split a doubleheader. In game one they came back from 2-1 down to win 3-2. They scored a run in the seventh and another in the eighth. Riley Adams started the comeback with a single. He later scored the tying run when Ivan Castillo singled. In the bottom of the eighth Brock Lundquist singled in the designated runner for the walk-off win. Those three hitters, Adams, Castillo and Ludquist each had two hits. Patrick Murphy pitched five innings with two runs allowed on four hits. One of the runs was unearned because of an error by Josh Donaldson. Donaldson also homered.

Dunedin lost game two 4-1 and had just six hits, one hit by six different hitters. Kevin Smith homered for the only Jays run. Conner Eller started and was hit around and charged with three runs.


Lansing

Lansing won 10-2 in a game where both teams had 12 hits. Ryan Noda had one hit, his 20th home run. The rest of the offense was distributed, Chavez Young had two hits and drove in two runs, Freddy Rodriguez had two hits and three RBI. Reggie Pruitt and Bryan Lizardo also chipped in two hits.

Jordan Barrett pitched six shutout innings, continuing his good end to the season. His ERA is now down to 3.18.



Vancouver

The C's lost 8-1 and their lead in the division is down to one game with four games left. And to compound matters, today they face Hisashi Iwakuma making a rehab appearance. The C's had a one run lead in the third when Mc Gregory Contreras made an error to lead off the inning. Contreras's defense is a "work in process". That was followed by a string of hits leading to five runs and the removal of starter Jose Espada.

Vancouver had just six hits and couldn't get back into the game. Three of their six hits were triples. Tanner Kirwer had two of them and Contreras had the other, one of his two hits.



Three Stars

Third Star - Jordan Barrett

Second Star - Santiago Espinal

First Star - Bo Bichette


Boxes

Bo is Finishing Hot | 55 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Shoeless Joe - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 09:48 AM EDT (#364670) #
It is nice to see Perez pitching with at least some level of control. Outside of Pearson and Sean Reid-Foley he likely has the most upside on any pitcher in full season ball.
Mike Green - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 09:59 AM EDT (#364671) #
Espinal is now hitting .279/.353/.390 with a 14/21 W/K in 150 PAs in double A.  He turns 24 in November, so he is not a great prospect but there is a nice balance of skills there. 
PeterG - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 10:02 AM EDT (#364672) #
I too like what we are seeing from Perez. I think that Patrick Murphy is another high upside pitching prospect in full season ball.
Shoeless Joe - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 10:06 AM EDT (#364673) #
Espinal has the chance to be a pretty good all around utility infielder, and I like him better in that role than Urena. His combination of low groundball rate and low strikeout rate is a pretty appealing combination.
ayjackson - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 10:34 AM EDT (#364677) #
I like Maximo and Yensy as well, when talking about high upside pitchers in full season ball.
John Northey - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 10:57 AM EDT (#364678) #
Poor Vlad has slumped in AAA from 402/449/671 to a lousy 333/423/548.  Slacker.  Now down to 382/441/635 overall.  I think the 400 chase is done.  Maybe he'll pick it up again in the majors next year :)

Biggio at 257/394/513
Bo: 289/348/458
Gerry - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 01:27 PM EDT (#364686) #
Josh Winkowski has been named pitcher of the year in the Northwest League. Otto Lopez was voted onto the all-star team.
SK in NJ - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 01:58 PM EDT (#364693) #
Agreed about Espinal. If he can play all over the infield then he has utility IF potential. Maybe a Maicer Izturis (pre-Blue Jays) type, which is a solid/useful player.
PeterG - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 04:24 PM EDT (#364699) #
Sean Reid-Foley will be a September call-up, set to start Sunday for #BlueJays.
scottt - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 04:49 PM EDT (#364703) #
Great. I'd rather watch SRF than Estrada.
Gerry - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 06:13 PM EDT (#364709) #
Pardinho getting bombed in his first playoff start. Two walks to start the game. Two home runs to start the second, two more walks follow. He is struggling.
Gerry - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 06:17 PM EDT (#364710) #
And Pardinho is done. Three outs, three hits, two home runs, four walks.
hypobole - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 07:03 PM EDT (#364712) #
Quite the game considering the starters were Pardinho and Shane Baz. 7-7 after 2. Baz did manage a 4th out.
dan gordon - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 07:24 PM EDT (#364713) #
Cal Stevenson with 2 singles and a HR in his 1st 3 AB's in that playoff game.
Gerry - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 07:25 PM EDT (#364714) #
Vancouver lost their afternoon game today,reducing their lead to a half game with Spokane to play later.
eldarion - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 07:27 PM EDT (#364715) #
I mean, it's kinda hard to see Pardinho's line tonight and not smile a little knowingly: nerves clearly got to him in his first playoff start. That line is not remotely reflective of his talent or his season. Poor kid. Hopefully, he has a chance to redeem himself in the post-season!
greenfrog - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 08:23 PM EDT (#364723) #
Hot post-ASB performers for Dunedin:

Castillo: .309/.364/.484 plus 2/3 with a triple tonight
Lundquist: .333/.401/.464 plus 1/3 with a double tonight
Palacios: .302/.366/.456 plus 2/2 with a double and a walk tonight
Orozco: .330/.386/.426 with 11:2 SB:CS
Murphy: 6-1, 2.00 ERA, 76.1 IP, 50 H, 17 ER, 4 HR, 22:75 BB:K

Riley Adams is also doing fairly well, with decent post-ASB numbers (.271/.386/.381) plus three more walks tonight.

Smith has cooled a bit in the second half but is still having a solid year overall.
hypobole - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 08:48 PM EDT (#364724) #
Chavez Young has a hit and walk and stolen 2 bases. Lugnuts now have 2 guys with 40+ SB's, Chavez with 41, Samad 44.
hypobole - Friday, August 31 2018 @ 09:22 PM EDT (#364735) #
Bluefield wins game 1 12-7. 6.2 innings of shutout relief by Medina and McGuire. Lots of great hitting, including 4 guys with 3 hits each.
dan gordon - Saturday, September 01 2018 @ 12:12 AM EDT (#364759) #
Harold Ramirez really wants back on that 40-man roster. Three more hits today, plus 2 steals and an OF assist, raising the average to .319 and the OPS to .836, along with 15 for 17 in steal attempts, 11 HR's and 37 doubles. A very nice season in AA and he's still just 23. I hope they don't lose him.
uglyone - Saturday, September 01 2018 @ 02:53 AM EDT (#364774) #
btw medina may be something
hypobole - Saturday, September 01 2018 @ 07:11 AM EDT (#364782) #
Yeah, I was looking at Medina as well. 18 yr old - he's listed as 5' 10", but he's a lefty, so maybe....

Wonder if he's stretched out as a starter next year.
PeterG - Saturday, September 01 2018 @ 07:27 PM EDT (#364872) #
Cavan Biggio has been named the double-A Eastern League MVP.

His manager John Schneider, a 2019 #BlueJays managerial candidate, has been named Manager of the Year.
ayjackson - Sunday, September 02 2018 @ 09:21 AM EDT (#364902) #
How many league MVPs or Pitcher of the Year is that now?
uglyone - Sunday, September 02 2018 @ 09:33 AM EDT (#364906) #
When someone says "MILB league mvp" I hear "Team kept him down at that level too long", to be honest.
ayjackson - Sunday, September 02 2018 @ 10:01 AM EDT (#364912) #
Is that because you're a cynic? :)

Well Vlad won't win MVP, so there's some truth in the cynicism.
ayjackson - Sunday, September 02 2018 @ 10:08 AM EDT (#364914) #
I am increasingly intrigued by our group of A ball outfielders that look like solid C+ starters: Lunquist, Orozco, Palacios, Castillo, Young and now Demi. (Might even hang a B- on one or two). Looking forward to seeing if one of them can have a breakout year next year and become a clear Top 10 prospect.

(Although Demi reminds me of the you toolsy trio of Ahrens, Jackson and Tolisano that just kept putting up the sub-.700 OPS and never realized their potential.)
ayjackson - Sunday, September 02 2018 @ 10:10 AM EDT (#364915) #
*obviously meant prospects, not starters
uglyone - Sunday, September 02 2018 @ 10:19 AM EDT (#364916) #
For me, Young is a cut above those other guys. He could well turn into a top 10 guy with another strong year. He's very toolsy and now he's performing well too, without any glaring weak spots.

The other guys shouldn't be dismissed either but I don't think they're at that kind of levelm
ayjackson - Sunday, September 02 2018 @ 10:25 AM EDT (#364917) #
Yeah...felt they are a Biggio-type breakout away.
Gerry - Sunday, September 02 2018 @ 02:39 PM EDT (#364930) #
Looks like Nash Knight is going to play all nine positions today on the Dunedin Jays last game of the season.
Gerry - Sunday, September 02 2018 @ 02:58 PM EDT (#364932) #
Josh Norris from BA posted a short video clip of Alejandro Kirk hitting. Lets say he makes Vlad Jr. look skinny.
Shoeless Joe - Sunday, September 02 2018 @ 03:33 PM EDT (#364933) #
After going 4-5 yesterday Logan Warmoth went 3-4 today, so it's nice to see a strong finisher to a tough year for the guy.
hypobole - Sunday, September 02 2018 @ 07:29 PM EDT (#364951) #
Bluefield just took a 5-4 lead in the 7th inning of deciding game. Rays team started 1st round picks Baz, Liberatore and McClanahan in the 3 games. Groshans with a 3 run shot in the 1st, and Kirk a solo in the 3rd. Both having an excellent playoffs.
Marc Hulet - Sunday, September 02 2018 @ 08:01 PM EDT (#364952) #
Looking at the Warmoth finish makes me wonder a bit... he's clearly focused on finishing strong but where was this focus throughout the year...
Gerry - Sunday, September 02 2018 @ 10:48 PM EDT (#364956) #
Bluefield's season is over, they lost their deciding playoff game tonight. Unfortunately the tying and go ahead runs were unearned.

Vancouver have missed the playoffs, they needed to win today but they lost.
greenfrog - Monday, September 03 2018 @ 09:34 AM EDT (#364979) #
Nice game for Groshans, though (throwing error aside): 3/4 with a HR and BB and 3 RBI.
Shoeless Joe - Monday, September 03 2018 @ 09:58 AM EDT (#364984) #
Should we expect Groshans is Lansing next season? Bichette played full season the year after he was drafted, and Hagen Danner did not. There are two pretty different levels of production there but I expect Groshans will make the jump. His draft comparable prospect Nolan Gorman already was promoted to full season A ball for a brief disasterous cameo.

jerjapan - Monday, September 03 2018 @ 11:09 AM EDT (#364990) #
Is Harold Ramirez a prospect again?  He is red-hot right now, a .419 batting average over his last ten, another steal since Dan G mentioned him upthread, a wRC+ of 132 for the season.  The .371 BABIP might be a red flag, but he's often had a high BABIP - aside from last year, his lowest as a pro, and the season in which he lost his prospect status.  His speed score at Fangraphs has him as average this season, below average last year and well above average prior to 2017. 

I've been super down on the guy's prospect status since we acquired him, but his hit tool might actually be enough to earn him a spot on a bench in the bigs, or against righties in a platoon given his clear reverse splits.   
uglyone - Monday, September 03 2018 @ 11:35 AM EDT (#364993) #
imo probably not. his underlying numbers don't look much better than last year - more pop but way more swing and miss along with it, with babip being the prime mover this year.

still, he's only slightly old for the level and 132wrc+ is no joke, so I wouldn't dismiss him completely until we see what he does at AAA.
Super Bluto - Monday, September 03 2018 @ 03:21 PM EDT (#365010) #
Today's Bison's game ended in 1h55. Bisons pitchers threw 107 pitches. Syracuse pitchers threw 101. Total walks in the game: 1.

Last game of the year maybe?

aarne13 - Monday, September 03 2018 @ 03:40 PM EDT (#365012) #
Josh Palacios is playing in NH. 0-2 so far.
hypobole - Wednesday, September 05 2018 @ 07:04 AM EDT (#365098) #
In addition to Pearson and Kloff (2 innings each) in the Lansing exhibition game Tuesday, Paulino pitched an inning, and Joi Concepcion (suspended 80 games for PED's) pitched 2 innings as well.

The one guy that seems to have fallen off the face of the earth is Travis Hosterman, who has missed all of the past 2 minor league seasons.
scottt - Wednesday, September 05 2018 @ 08:45 AM EDT (#365105) #
He's lost speed and is now compensating with a higher launch angle resulting in more pop and higher strikeout?
Sometimes BABIP is just the ability to hit the ball in the holes intentionally.
I'd be concerned if he's just pulling more.

hypobole - Wednesday, September 05 2018 @ 09:07 AM EDT (#365109) #
Sometimes BABIP is just the ability to hit the ball in the holes intentionally.

Don't think hitters can do that. Maybe in slo-pitch

Higher BABIP's determinates - plus speed, hitting balls hard vs poor fielders, non-shiftable hitters, randomness.

Mike Green - Wednesday, September 05 2018 @ 09:48 AM EDT (#365119) #
Other BABIP determinate- LD and pop-up rates.
Mike Green - Wednesday, September 05 2018 @ 09:50 AM EDT (#365120) #
John Lott reports on twitter that Nate Pearson hit 102 in the exhibition game.  He struck out 4 of the 7 batters he faced after an HBP (ouch!).
hypobole - Wednesday, September 05 2018 @ 12:43 PM EDT (#365139) #
" Norris from BA posted a short video clip of Alejandro Kirk hitting. Lets say he makes Vlad Jr. look skinny."

Finally got around to checking it out, Gerry. The tweet prior showed Groshans HR.

2080 also has Kirk video of his PA's from a July series, followed by his receiving behind the plate. About 2 1/2 minutes total.

https://2080baseball.com/draft-prospect-video/alejandro-kirk/
CeeBee - Wednesday, September 05 2018 @ 03:04 PM EDT (#365143) #
Apparently Keith Law isn't overly imprressed by the Jays farm system. Go figure!
https://www.tsn.ca/law-on-jays-it-s-not-a-top-10-system-1.1168004
Mike Green - Wednesday, September 05 2018 @ 03:16 PM EDT (#365145) #
I don't agree with Keith Law at all about the depth of the Jay minor league system. 
dan gordon - Wednesday, September 05 2018 @ 03:57 PM EDT (#365148) #
Yes, it's been a very long time since I've been this optimistic about the Jays farm system. There are dozens of guys that I think have significant potential.
hypobole - Wednesday, September 05 2018 @ 06:15 PM EDT (#365155) #
Atkins is prone to hyperbole (I imagine him finding meatloaf for supper "exciting"). But not this time - he was correct, BA did rank our system #3. The few sites I know of all had us Top 10. FG shows us with plenty of depth, despite KLaw's assertions.

On the other hand, the Pipeline #5 ranking the article quoted had only something to do with the system and nothing to to with system depth. Just used a point system for Top 100 prospects. That was shoddy work on the part of the TSN staff.
scottt - Wednesday, September 05 2018 @ 08:32 PM EDT (#365176) #
Somehow, I doubt that Law thinks Guerrero, Bichette and Jansen are the
only 3 good prospects in the Jays system. Just like he didn't think
Travis was a prospect he's already written off a bunch of guys and I
don't know that Bichette and Jansen are sure things. There's not enough
actual info here besides that he doesn't like the Jays system and that's
from a guy who doesn't like anything Blue Jays.
scottt - Wednesday, September 05 2018 @ 08:49 PM EDT (#365181) #
I was thinking along the lines of a Lile Overbay 50 doubles, .350 BABIP line.
You can't be hitting a lot of fly balls that stay in the park and keep a BABIP like that, especially if you can't run fast enough for infield singles.

scottt - Wednesday, September 05 2018 @ 10:30 PM EDT (#365208) #
Law also mentions that there is nothing for Guerrero to learn in Arizona.
Shapiro says he's not going there to learn to hit, he's going there to keep working on his defense.

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