Demi Orimoloye hit two home runs. Justin Ammons had four hits with three doubles. Anthony Kay became the third Bisons pitcher in a row to pitch shutout baseball. TJ Zeuch, Nate Pearson and Kay are each staking a claim on a promotion. Adam Kloffenstein pitched well. It has been a good week for Blue Jay pitching prospects.
It was a good night for the affiliates with six wins and two losses. Vancouver had the most exciting win, getting a run in the tenth to win 1-0. The GCL Jays took an 8-1 lead to the bottom of the ninth and had to hang on to win 8-7.
Buffalo 7 Rochester 4
New Hampshire 0 Trenton 4
Daytona 4 Dunedin 5
Lansing 2 South Bend 3
Vancouver 1 Tri-City 0 - 10 innings
Bluefield 7 Princeton 2
GCL Jays 8 GCL Phillies 7
DSL Blue Jays 5 DSL Reds 1
Here are some things I noted from Wednesdays games:
Anthony Kay's first start with Buffalo wasn't good but in his last three starts he has pitched 16 innings, just allowed 9 hits, but he has walked 11 and has 22 strikeouts. So excellent on hits allowed and K's, not so good on the walks. His Buffalo ERA, even including the bad start, is 3.05.
Jordan Romano gave up three hits and a run in an inning. It seems like he is still trying to get back in the groove after his IL stint.
In case you missed it, Travis Bergen is back with the Jays, or more precisely, the Bisons.
Kevin Smith in August has a 482 OPS. He has 25 K's in 62 at-bats. That July hot streak has faded.
I noted last week that Demi Orimoloye was having a poor August. He homered on Tuesday and hit two on Wednesday, as part of a three hit game.
Otto Lopez had his 19 game hit streak ended on Tuesday. Lopez got right back on the wagon on Wednesday with three more hits. Lopez is second in the league in hitting.
Adam Kloffenstein pitched seven shutout innings with seven K's. He allowed five hits and two walks. Kloffenstein got off to a slow start, his ERA in June was over 4. But it is under two for each of July and August. His WHIP in August is 1.06 and he has 23 K's in 22 innings.
Luke Gillingham pitched the last three innings and got the win for Vancouver. Gillingham is 25 and just getting his baseball career started due to his military service but he has a WHIP under one and 38 K's in 28 innings.
Justin Ammons had four hits on Wednesday, three of them were doubles. Ammons is a non drafted free agent who didn't sign until well after the draft. He has made up for it by hitting well in the GCL and now in the Appy League. Ammons is a fast runner who can play centre field. The odds are against him but he has a chance it seems. If he keeps on hitting .395 he has a chance.
Michael Dominguez stayed hot. He pitched three shutout innings, no hits, two walks, three K's. His ERA is 1.29 over 21 innings with 29 K's.
The other best pitcher on the GCL Jays is Rafael Monsion. He gave up one run in four innings. His ERA is 1.77 and he has 33 K's in 35 innings.
Alberto Rodriguez is an 18 year old Dominican who plays right field. Rodriguez has noted previously in July when he hit .300 for the month. With two more hits on Wednesday he is hitting .340 for August. His OPS for the month is at 925.
Two more hits for Orelvis Martinez. He has been in and out of the lineup this season but his numbers are excellent.
Emmanuel Sanchez, an 18 year old shortstop, had three hits in the DSL. Sanchez had an OK June, a poor July and an excellent August so far. In August his OPS is 901, he has five extra base hits, not a lot I know, but that equals his total from the previous two months. Hw only has four K's in 50 at-bats and has walked six times. It can be tough to extrapolate a lot from a small sample but he should be tracked.
Juan Pizarro had an excellent July that got him some attention. But he has struggled in August. He has three hits in the last two games as he tries to get back on track.
3 Stars
3rd star: Justin Ammons
2nd star: Anthony Kay
1st star: Demi Orimoloye
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