It was a mixed bag on the farm. Buffalo split a doubleheader with Patrick Kivlehan hitting a home run in both games. Nate Pearson was pulled early in New Hampshire's loss. Dunedin made it exciting but Cullen Large and Cal Stevenson delivered an extra innings win. Lansing won, the sad sack Vancouver Canadians lost. Bluefield put up 14 runs for the second night in a row.
Lehigh Valley 5 Buffalo 4 - Game 1, 8 innings
Lehigh Valley 6 Buffalo 4 - Game 2
New Hampshire 6 Reading 8
Florida 11 Dunedin 12, ten innings
Lansing 6 Great Lakes 4
Hillsboro 6 Vancouver 0
Bluefield 14 Danville 5
GCL Jays at GCL Phillies, game postponed in third inning with the Jays leading 6-1.
DSL Diamondbacks 2 DSL Jays 5
Here are some things I noted from Wednesdays games:
In case you missed it, Dalton Pompey is back playing with two at-bats in the GCL game.
TJ Zeuch started for Buffalo in game one. The first thing to note is that his ground ball outs to fly ball outs ratio was 9:1. Zeuch doesn't get many K's but he does get ground balls. The issue always is, how will that play in the big leagues? Sinker, slider pitchers can get hit around these days in the majors with all the uppercut swings. Zeuch will need pin-point control to succeed.
Also back was Edwin Jackson. He pitched an inning in relief and surrendered a two run home run. There has been some suggestion that if and when he returns to the Jays it will be in relief.
Patrick Kivlehan has hit well for the Jays in AA and in AAA. On Wednesday he went 2-3 with a homer in game one and 2-4 in game two with a double and another home run. I wonder if the 29 year old will get a look if there are injuries or trades this season.
I mentioned Taylor Saucedo last week and his good numbers. He pitched three innings in game two, three shutout innings with just one hit allowed. Pitchers take strange routes to the majors but Saucedo still gets no respect from the front office. I am not suggesting he should, but the old saying is the hitters let you know. And they are letting the Jays know that he is pitching well.
Nate Pearson just pitched into the second inning and was pulled. He could have been pulled because he is coming off a stint on the IL. Or, he is scheduled to pitch in the futures game on Sunday where he will pitch on three days rest. Reportedly, once he is back from the futures game the reins will be off and he will be finished with his two inning, five inning rotation.
The Dunedin Jays had a 9-4 lead after four but had to score three in the tenth to win 12-11. Cullen Large can hit and he was 4-6 with three RBI. If he can stay healthy he can move on up.
Cal Stevenson was 3-5, he has ten hits in his last six games.
Vancouver are 5-15, which is very unexpected after their success of the last few years. They need hitting, they need Philip Clarke and Alek Manoah.
The Bluefield game featured a rare Barger vs. Barger matchup. The Jays Barger, Addison, is off to a slow start but had three hits in this game. He needed a name-sake battle to get going. Bluefield scored 14 runs for the second night in a row and have won six of seven. Quite the contrast with Vancouver.
Lazaro Estrada, "The Cuban", pitched five innings without recording a strikeout.
Riley Adams was 2-4 with a double, a triple and 3 RBI. Riley swings from cold to hot, I am still hopeful.
A couple of hitters that I don't know a lot about hit well in the DSL. Lead-off hitter Adrian Montero went 4-4. Montero signed last July 2nd out of Panama. He has kept his average in and around .300 this season. The second hitter, Juan Pizarro, also signed last July out of Columbia. He went 3-3 to give him five hits in the last two games. In the process he boosted his average from .259 to .311.
3 Stars
3rd star: Adrian Montero
2nd star: Cullen Large
1st star: Patrick Kivlehan
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20190703165348459