The Home Run Derby is tonight, which means at least 60 minutes of being subjected to Chris Berman saying back back back. Robinson Cano and Adrian Gonzalez whooped everyone last year, with Cano taking the crown by a single dinger (bonus points if you remembered that).

Who will win this year? Let's have at it.

The affiliates combined for a losing record on Sunday but there were come notable hitting and pitching performances from the likes of Noah Syndergaard, Christian Lopes, and Chris Hawkins.

Five wins in nine tries for the affiliates were highlighted by two dominant (and encouraging) starts.

The Jays head to the Windy City for the second of three series they'll play against the White Sox, after which we head into the All-Star break. Toronto took two of three from the South Siders in their first matchup, but face one of baseball's hottest teams coming off a sweep of the Rangers. Plus, Youk!

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In a night lacking any other common theme, I'm going to go with the  tenuous thread which ties together the debut of Jake Marisnick and Jon Berti with their new teams, with a nod towards Koby Clemens' big night at his new position.

There were five wins on the farm yesterday with the losses coming at the ends, in Las Vegas and in the Gulf Coast League. However, the one star earned by a pitcher came in one of those two losses. New Hampshire won a walk-off game despite allowing two runs in the top of the 11th and Lansing had a big bottom of the eighth inning for a late come-from-behind victory.

The affiliates were 6-1 Tuesday night with the only blemishes being a rainout and a come from ahead loss.

The shortstops at the top two levels in the Blue Jays system had good nights with their bats but only one of them enjoyed a victory on Monday.  Two affiliates blew huge leads, two lost in extra innings and there were two blowouts.  Another game boiled down to a play at the plate in a 2-6 Monday on the farm.

We're pretty close to mid-season, and since I didn't feel like Advance Scouting the Royals, let's review the Jays offense over the first half of the season (all numbers prior to Monday's game, except where noted).

The right-hander prospect lowered his ERA to 0.63 in 16 appearances and showed improved control in his start against Arizona's A-ball squad.

Victories were posted in the states of Nevada and Florida in a 3-4 night for the affiliates that included a rainout north of the border.

The 2012 All-Star Game Rosters have been announced. Perhaps a little surprisingly, only one Jay made the cut this year (I'll let you guess who). Brandon Morrow might have had a case if he hadn't been injured, and if the game was a month later so too might Colby Rasmus and Brett Lawrie. But it's not. Edwin Encarnacion is probably the only Jay with a legitimate gripe - his performance has basically been equal to that of the three reserve 1B chosen (Konerko, Cabrera - I'm assuming technically a 3B - and Trumbo), the reserve DH (Butler) and far superior to starter Prince Fielder; nevertheless he was the odd man out. Blame Canada I guess. The full line-ups, and a couple of quick thoughts after the break.

Happy Canada Day!  Today's POTD looks at some of the Canadian-born players in the big leagues in 2012 and some others who hope to get there one day.

The Blue Jays host the Los Angeles Angels in this year's July 1 game at the Dome.  Lefty Aaron Laffey is scheduled to throw the first pitch at 3:07 p.m. ET.  The Jays minor league affiliate, the Vancouver Canadians, are also home to take on the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, San Francisco's affiliate, in a 7:05 p.m. PT start at Nat Bailey Stadium.

Dunedin used the long ball five times to overcome a seven-run deficit on the road in a game that boiled down to the last play.  Las Vegas and Vancouver got six shutout innings from their starters to earn victories and Bluefield had a nice game with the bats.  New Hampshire saw a game get away from them in the late innings, Lansing was totally outclassed and the GCL boys lost despite the best efforts of a first round pick.

On a typically unspectacular Thursday on the farm, the teams combined to record as many runs as the allowed which reflected fairly well on the hitters (averaging six runs a game) and not so much on the pitchers.