Buffalo 10 Worcester 12
Somerset 12 New Hampshire 5
Vancouver 4 Eugene 0
Dunedin 3 Clearwater 4 - 10 innings
Three Stars
Third Star - Joey Loperfido
Second Star - Victor Arias
First Star - Khal Stephen
NOTES
The recently traded Jordan Hicks started for Worcester against Buffalo. Joey Loperfido took a 96 mph fastball over the wall for a two run home run. Hicks didn't get through the first inning. Later on Yohendrick Pinango and Michael Stefanic also homered, Stefanic's was a grand slam. Rainer Nunez had three hits.
Sunday can be a tough day for a starting pitcher. If the team goes with a five man rotation then the starter faces the same lineup for the second time in six days. Lazaro Estrada had that task on Sunday and it didn't go well. He didn't get through three innings with four runs in. Hunter Gregory was tagged for seven runs.
Charles McAdoo is warming up. He singled and homered for NH. Edinson Paulino also had two hits.
Rafael Sanchez pitched two innings in relief four days so his task was not as tough as Estrada. Nevertheless he gave up five runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings. All five pitchers were scored upon.
Khal Stephen went six shutout innings for the win for Vancouver. He just had three K's though. Colby Martin made his high A debut with a clean inning.
For the offense Jevon Ward and Sean Keys homered. Victor Arias had three hits.
Dunedin lost to a walk off in extra innings. Silvano Hechavarria took the loss as he was pitching in his fifth inning. Colby Holcombe had started and he went four innings.
Just five hits for the offense, Bryce Arnold hit a two run home run.
MID SEASON REPORT CARD
It's the halfway point for most of the affiliates so that makes it a good time to look at how the top 30, or 40, are faring through the first half. As usual I am basing my grades on the old expectation that one third of your prospects will improve, one third will drop their performance and one third will stay as-is. The numbers after the names show the Batters Box ranking and I added in some of BA's top 40 towards the end.
THE RISERS
Arjun Nimmala (#1): Nimmala had an excellent start, is doing just OK recently but still great for a 19 year old.
Trey Yesavage (#2): Yesavage has plowed through the lower levels to get to AA half way through his first season.
Alan Roden (#4): Roden has made it to the majors and while results there are mixed, his AAA performances have been excellent
Khal Stephen (#12): Stephen has made it to Vancouver and if he holds on to his two plus ERA, he should be in NH before the end of the season.
Johnny King (#14): King is younger than Yesavage or Stephen and he has only thrown 19 innings so far this season. But all signs are up.
Jonatan Clase (#15): Clase is holding his own in MLB.
Juaron Watts-Brown (#17): JWB has upped his performance this year compared to last and is doing well in AA
Victor Arias (#19): Arias is hitting well but has just four home runs. He played well in April, struggled in May, but is back to hitting well in June.
Mason Fluharty (#30): Doing well in MLB
THE MUSHY MIDDLE
Ricky Tiedemann (#5): Still injured
Josh Kasevich (#7): Mostly injured
Adam Macko (#8): Spent time on the IL, now recently back in AAA
Kendry Rojas (#9): Mostly injured
RJ Schreck (#22): Hit well in AA and now is in AAA but on the IL.
Lazaro Estrada (#23): Didn't do great in AAA to start but has been doing better recently.
Ryan Jennings (#24): Earned a promotion to AAA but hasn't found his groove there yet.
Grant Rogers (#28): Rogers did well in Vancouver and is doing OK in NH but 26 K's in 31 innings is a little light.
THE NOT SO GOODS
Orelvis Martinez (#2): Hasn't hit
Jake Bloss (#6): Tommy John
Charles McAdoo (#10): Hasn't hit but showing some recent signs of life
Fernando Perez (#11): Pitching like an average pitcher in Vancouver but the strikeouts are just not there
Jace Bohrofen (#13): Hitting .211 in AA
Landen Maroudis (#16): Working his way back from Tommy John but velo is down
TJ Brock (#18): TJ for TJ
Carson Messina (#20): seems to be injured
Adrian Pinto (#21): Injury prone player has just played 19 games this season
Brandon Barriera (#25): Slow coming back from TJ.
Peyton Williams (#26): Hasn't hit enough in AA
Dasan Brown (#27): same as Williams
Cutter Coffey (#29): Hitting OK but has a 30% plus K rate
THE OTHERS
From the Baseball America players they had in their top 40, Yohendrick Pinango has played better than expected. Connor Cooke, Nolan Perry, Dahian Santos and Carson Peirce have been injured. None of Devereaux Harrison, Jackson Wentworth, Eddie Micheletti, Edinson Paulino or Christopher Polaco have done much to push up the rankings.
Among the unranked players Gage Stanifer has been excellent over the first half. Edward Duran has played good offense and good defense in Dunedin. Sam Shaw has hit well also in A ball. There are several relievers doing OK.
BOTTOM LINE
If we refer back to the expectation laid out at the start, I count nine players who are up, eight in the middle and 13 down. This is not quite up to expectation. The Jays are helped by the performers in the major leagues and the fact that several prospects appear to be really good top 100 prospects. All of the elbow surgeries and the terrible hitting of Orelvis Martinez are hurting the system. When you look at the records of Buffalo and New Hampshire, they both are losing more than winning, and its not a great reflection on the system. The Jays system should move up from last years ranking, and the Jays do have a high draft pick in July, but I don't think the system will get into the top ten.
I have a final question for minor league followers. After Nimmala and Yesavage, who are the Jays number three and fourth prospects? Assume Roden, Clase and Fluharty are no longer eligible. I think Stephen should be in there but who else?
