Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine
Ismael Munguia racked up five hits over two games of a doubleheader. The big question is is this a new level of performance or a career year? Buffalo split the DH. Dunedin also won as Jojo Parker and Blaine Bullard stayed hot. Vancouver had a bad loss, New Hampshire's also lost.

Buffalo 1 Lehigh Valley 0 - game one

Buffalo 3 Lehigh Valley 5 - game two

New Hampshire 5 Hartford 10

Spokane 9 Vancouver 7

St Lucie 3 Dunedin 6


Three Stars

Third Star - Hedbert Perez

Second Star - Jojo Parker

First Star - Ismael Munguia


Boxes


NOTES


In their first game Buffalo scored a run in the first inning and that was the winning run. Ismael Munguia singled to third base and later scored when Charles McAdoo singled to third. Munguia and Carlos Mendoza had two hits.


Grant Rogers went three shutout innings. He left the game after three innings due to a rain delay. Three relievers took it home.


Munguia had three more hits in game two, making it five for the doubleheader. Rudy Martin Jr had two hits. Both Munguia and Martin were caught stealing. Munguia is Nicaraguan and is 27 years old. He first made it to AAA in the Giants org in 2024 where he hit .250 in 50 games. He moved to Scranton in the International League for 2025 and hit .246 there. So this years .341 looks like a career year at 27 years old. But...its just 31 games in AAA as he was injured for six weeks. He is a contact hitter who walks more than he strikes out and doesn't have much power. His profile looks a lot like Rudy Martin who is 30 now.


Richard Gallardo started game two and took the loss.


New Hampshire were cruising along until the bottom of the fourth inning when Hartford scored five off Chris McElvain. That was the end of the night for McElvain. NH trailed by five until the seventh inning where they scored four to make it a one run game. But Hartford immediately scored four off TJ Brock, making his first appearance this season in AA.


The Fisher Cats did have 12 hits, the same as Hartford. Hartford hit three home runs, the Cats just one by Dub Gleed. Hedbert Perez was 3-3 with a walk. Arjun Nimmala, Eddie Micheletti and Cade Doughty had two hits each.


Vancouver took a 7-4 lead to the ninth inning with Gilberto Batista on the mound. Six hits and five runs later the C's were down 9-7 and that was the final score. Thats a tough loss. The C's had eight hits, Alexis Hernandez singled and doubled.


Nine hits and six runs for the Dunedin Jays. No home runs tonight but Jojo Parker tripled and singled and drove in two runs. Parkers triple was measured at 109.7 mph. Blaine Bullard had three hits, Juan Sanchez a double. Jake Cook walked twice.


Giacomo Taschin went 3.2 innings, he gave up two runs, one earned. The interestingly named Edrwin Veras went 3.1 innings in relief.


Call Me Ismael | 18 comments | Create New Account
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Glevin - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 10:14 AM EDT (#481158) #
I am starting to find Hedbert Perez pretty intriguing. He's striking out a little less than he did in high A last year, walking more, and hitting the ball better. Would love to see him in AAA later in the year to see how he fares there.

Mungia not super interesting because of his skill set and age (not much power or speed) but I do love what Fangraphs wrote about him a couple of years ago: "Munguia is a spark plug little outfielder who plays his ass off and makes a lot of contact." If Jays do sell, he'd probably be a fun guy to watch.

uglyone - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 11:13 AM EDT (#481164) #
That lack of high end skillset might be the actual explanation for Munguia's older age, tbh. The numbers say he could easily have gotten real looks by now, even though he's been old for his levels.


Age Appropriate:

A (20): 427pa, 5.6b%, 9.6k%, .317bip, .286avg, .090iso, 116wrc+

Slightly Old For Level (covid wiped out his 21 yr old season, and then he missed his whole 23yr old season for some reason, maybe injury?):

A+ (22): 357pa, 3.6b%, 7.6k%, .342bip, .336avg, .165iso, 133wrc+
AA (24): 335pa, 7.2b%, 13.4k%, .314bip, .282avg, .109iso, 111wrc+

Old for Level:

AA (25): 194pa, 7.7b%, 7.2k%, .322bip, .317avg, .144iso, 152wrc+
AAA (25): 178pa, 12.4b%, 12.9k%, .281bip, .250avg, .118iso, 103wrc+

And then he had his first actual bad season:

AAA (26): 315pa, 7.0b%, 7.9k%, .255bip, .246avg, .096iso, 77wrc+

But then bounced right back this year:

AA (27): 68pa, 11.8b%, 10.3k%, .360bip, .345avg, .109iso, 131wrc+
AAA (27): 129pa, 13.2b%, 5.4k%, .357bip, .349avg, .113iso, 148wrc+


And this season he even missed a month to injury, and came back even hotter than he was before.



I wouldn't be surprised at all if his hitting skillset turned into around a league average bat in mlb tbh.
Glevin - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 11:26 AM EDT (#481166) #
Yes, I can see him being a Nathan Lukes type of guy (slightly above average offense, solid D, not much power) which is why I'd like to give him a look in the majors if Jays sell. While, there is a chance he is be able to become a decent major leaguer and help the team a lot, I just don't find that profile very exciting because there is almost no chance of him being an impact player which is what Jays really need.
hypobole - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 11:39 AM EDT (#481169) #
Posted this 4 days ago right before one of ugly's massive OCD posts, which means probably no one saw mine:

If Varsho is dealt, the player I'd like to see, for novelty value alone, is Ismael Munguia. 2 hits and a walk today raised his average to 330/436/443 in Buffalo.

First, the not good. He's a LHH 27 yr old 5'8" journeyman who has never sniffed the majors. He has 2 HR's, .115 ISO over 120 PA's (106.8 max EV) and has 1 SB/4 CS with Buffalo. He's playing CF, I'm guessing serviceable like Nathan Lukes in CF.

Here's his scouting report "Munguia is a scrappy spark plug little outfielder who plays his ass off and makes a lot of contact."

So what's the interest? A 32% LD rate with an OK 89.7 EV. A low 23% O-Zone chase, a tiny 3% SwStr rate and an amazing 99% Zone Contact rate. That's Arraez/Kwan territory.
uglyone - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 11:51 AM EDT (#481170) #
I saw it!
mathesond - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 12:09 PM EDT (#481176) #
As did I.
99BlueJaysWay - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 12:21 PM EDT (#481177) #
Love the title, Gerry!

I saw it too, hypno. You get to call first!1!1!
hypobole - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 12:30 PM EDT (#481178) #
Spent quite a bit of effort researching that post, so was a bit disappointed no one bothered to comment at the time.
uglyone - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 12:38 PM EDT (#481179) #
I was gonna comment but apparently i comment too much and i didn't want to steal your thunder!
mendocino - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 01:19 PM EDT (#481183) #
BA's FCL Top 20

19. Angel Rivero, RHP, Blue Jays
Rivero was the clear-cut best pitching prospect on the Blue Jays’ FCL squad. The righthander has a smaller frame but still brings his heater into the mid 90s and complements it with a snappy slider in the low 80s and a curveball a few ticks lower. He also throws a mid-80s changeup, but it was rarely used and the feel for the pitch needs lots of improvement.

Rivero’s velocity and natural ability to spin the ball give him a chance at a back-end starter’s role, but his more likely path is in the bullpen.
Dr B - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 03:27 PM EDT (#481192) #
Posted this 4 days ago right before one of ugly's massive OCD posts, which means probably no one saw mine:

I've been meaning to thank Uglyone for his "OCD" posts. I rather like the ones ranking people by age, such as a post in this thread. So thanks, Uglyone. Keep it up.
bpoz - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 03:40 PM EDT (#481193) #
I too want to thank UO for his posts. That is a lot of hard work. Does anyone have an easy way to check 1 run won/loss record?

I expect the Jays to be sellers. I also think (not impossible) they may squeeze into the playoffs.

Would like to see them get under the luxury tax threshold. Also bring up a lot of prospects like they did in 2018 after the trade deadline. Give them some experience. Some names are Kasevich, Macko, Eatrada, Dallas.

uglyone - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 05:23 PM EDT (#481204) #
Aw shucks. thanks for coddling my OCD, guys!
Glevin - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 07:26 PM EDT (#481210) #
I like the age things Ugly does too for the minors. Just a nice quick glance at the state of things.
TamRa - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 10:24 PM EDT (#481230) #
Thinking my guy Messina needs to take in scenic Vancouver before the season is over.

Conversely Gage Stanifer is just killing his value right now. There's nothing there saying "I'm ready for AAA"
metafour - Friday, July 31 2026 @ 10:36 PM EDT (#481231) #
Messina looked VERY good today. He posted a 35% whiff rate. His FB has top-tier shape (averaged 19" of IVP today) and he can spin multiple distinct breaking balls.
Doom Service - Saturday, August 01 2026 @ 01:47 PM EDT (#481270) #
1-run records are part of ESPN's "Expanded" standings presentation. Blue jays are 13-17 in one-run games, and 4-4 in extra innings.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/standings/_/view/expanded

bpoz - Saturday, August 01 2026 @ 04:31 PM EDT (#481289) #
Thanks Doom Service.
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