Nate Pearson surrendered five runs today and couldn't complete five innings. In consecutive "scheduled for five inning" starts, he has given up seven hits. This is not the Pearson we signed up for! We don't know what Pearson is working on, whether he is trialing some new grips, or approaches, and therefore it's hard to pass judgement on what is going on. I am confident he will return to normal results in short order. Pearson is not he only player to panic over. Kevin Smith is hitting .170, that is made up of .200 in April and .140 in May. He struck out 25 times in April and 31 times in May. Whatever he is trying doesn't seem to be working. At some point the Jays might have to look at a drop down to Dunedin to get his confidence back.

On the field, the top two teams lost easily although Forrest Wall and Riley Adams just keep hitting. Dunedin and Lansing won easily, Griffin Conine had a big day including two home runs. Another high pick, Logan Warmoth also hit well.

The affiliates rebounded with three wins on Wednesday. Anthony Alford and Socrates Brito led Buffalo to a win. Tampa helped the Dunedin Jays win but Nick Allgeyer was very good again. Josh Winkowski pitched well for Lansing. New Hampshire couldn't make it a sweep with a close loss.

I also decided to take a look at some stats, specifically the leaders in OPS for hitters and WHIP for pitchers. I was surprised by one thing, namely the amount of promotions that have already happened this season. Normally we wait until this time of the season, after the draft and when the short season teams start, to see who is promoted. But when you look at the top performers in the minors, many of them have already been promoted. It's also time for a pop quiz question. Among Blue Jays hitters with at least 100 at-bats, who has the fewest strikeouts?

The Blue Jays affiliates lost three of four Tuesday. #LetsGoBlueJays

A shutout loss, a blowout victory and a one-run win happened on Memorial Day Monday for the Blue Jays affiliates. Dunedin had the day off. #LetsGoBlueJays

The Jekyl and Hyde Jays head into Tampa for a three game set. Today is memorial day in the US so the game is a 1pm start. There is a flu bug going through the clubhouse so it remains unknown who will be effected, other than Cavan Biggio who was moved from 2B to DH because he has been ill.

Even though the Jays are just plodding along, there are some reasons to tune in this weekend. On the Blue Jay side Cavan Biggio will make his debut and will play second base on Friday night. We will see if his patient approach works or if the Padre pitchers challenge him. His father Craig should be in town for the big day. Lourdes Gurriel is back too, although he won't be at second base tonight. He played more second base than outfield in Buffalo so any outfield exposure would still be classified as experimental. Zac Rosscup will make his Blue Jay debut as a Mayza alternative for lefty hitters and another lefty, Thomas Pannone, is back to provide some long relief.

Andy Burns drove in the winning runs in the ninth inning of the Bisons game. It was one of the five times he reached base. That made a winner of Sean Reid-Foley who pitched eight innings. Another winning pitcher was Patrick Murphy who dominated Altoona. Forrest Wall also reach base five times. Chavez Young hit a go ahead three run home run in the eighth to lead Dunedin to victory. Tanner Kirwer hit his three run home run in the first inning and Lansing never looked back. It was an org sweep night!

Hector Perez had pitched only 16 innings in AA before he was traded to the Jays last summer. So it is understandable if he has taken a while to find his feet at that level, he is still just 22 years old. He pitched well on Wednesday leading New Hampshire to the win. Dunedin racked up eleven runs, Chavez Young broke out with three hits, including a home run. Buffalo and Lansing lost.

The Blue Jays affiliates split their four games Tuesday night. They were on the right side twice in three shutout affairs. #LetsGoBlueJays

A doubleheader sweep lifted the Blue Jays affiliates to a winning Monday night to offset an extra-innings loss. Buffalo and New Hampshire had the night off.

The Red Sox are in town for four. #LetsGoBlueJays.

Just one win on the farm, a 1-0 win for Dunedin, thanks to a walk off single by Kacy Clemens. Lansing and Buffalo were hammered. New Hampshire lost a close one, and their 13 hits was the best part of the night.

It's rematch time. As is usual in MLB these days, the Jays and White Sox face off one week after their previous get together. It will be a different Jays team tonight as Richard Urena is back and Teoscar Hernandez is down in Buffalo. There could be another move before Saturday. The Jays are in a part of the schedule where they need five starters. Daniel Hudson is listed as Saturdays starter, we will see if that comes to happen. Clayton Richard is in Chicago and speculation is that he will start on Saturday.

Alberto Mineo and Gabriel Moreno had big games on Wednesday, both homered leading their teams to wins. Patrick Murphy was dealing. Elsewhere the Bisons pitchers gave up five home runs and Buffalo unsurprisingly lost. Dunedin split a pair as their offense went cold. Ryan Noda ended the second game in the ninth with a walk off grand slam scoring a designated runner and two walks.