I talked with the Lugnuts new first-year manager Mike Redmond at the start of this month when I was in Lansing.  Redmond played parts of thirteen years in the big leagues and retired with a lifetime .287 batting average.  Redmond was never a starter, his maximum at-bats in any one season was 272.  But he was on the Marlins team that won the world series in 2003.

The 2011 draft is less than two weeks away and, as usual, there is no hint of who the Jays might take.  The Jays first pick at number 21, then in the supplemental first round they pick at number 35 (Scott Downs); 46 (John Buck); 53 (Kevin Gregg); and 57 (Miguel Olivo).  The Jays also pick twice in the second round, with another Scott Downs related pick added to their regular selection.

The mock drafts are out in force. 

So, it looks like we might finally have a good Molina.

The Houston Astros took two of three from the good guys last weekend and save for a Clint Barmes error in the second game, they might have had a sweep.   Today's POTD looks at the series finale at the Dome Sunday.

The Houston Astros logo appears on the left field scoreboard prior to the introduction of the starting lineups.

The two Travises (or should it be Travi?) sparked the Blue Jays affiliates to a 3-1 night on the farm.  Find out which of the Travi made the cut in the three star selections of today's MLU.

Mystiqued.

The farm went 2-2 and even went 25-25 in terms of runs on Monday night. The evening featured more of the same stuff we've come to expect from the farm: offense from Las Vegas and errors from Gustavo Pierre.

There's a young pitcher in North Texas who is starting to cement front-rumner status for 2011 AL Rookie of the Year -- except I'm not sure if Alexi Ogando is eligible, after pitching 41.2 innings out of the bullpen last year.

When Neftali Feliz was temporarily moved to the Ranger starting rotation during Spring Training, the club felt they could make the move in part because Ogando was around as a dominant setup man who could close for a pennant-defending squad in Arlington.

Then, the Rangers re-thought that move, left the '10-dominant Feliz in the closer's role, and moved Ogando to the rotation instead. Monday night in Arlington, Ogando tossed a five-hit shutout against the White Sox to move to 5-0 with a 1.81 ERA and a 43/14 K/BB ratio over 59.2 innings in eight starts.

When I was in Lansing I took some shots of Garis Pena showing how to play shortstop.  I added in a shot of Scott Gracey to congratulate him on his promotion.  Finally I link to videos of Drew Hutchison; Sean Nolin; Egan Smith; and Misaul Diaz with two of the plate appearances ending in fly balls to Jake Marisnick in centre-field.

The day the universe changed.

The affiliates went 3-2 on the May 2-4 Sunday. Southpaw John Anderson, who missed all of 2010 due to injury, put on a pitching clinic in Lansing during his first start since 2009.

Another day, another sweep for the scorching affiliates. And for good measure, all three won in comeback fashion.

ESPN New York has reported that the greatest catcher in the history of MLB in Canada, former Montreal Expo Gary  "The Kid" Carter, was diagnosed today with four small brain tumors.

 

The Blue Jays farm system made us proud on Friday night, sweeping every opponent.  From Las Vegas to Lansing (except Dunedin) pitching was great for the good guys.  Batting was run productive for everybody, led by Dunedin, who needed to put 11 on the board to best Bradenton.

The Blue Jays have placed Jesse Litsch on the 15-day DL with right shoulder impingement, retroactive to May 19. He'll miss two turns in the rotation. Carlos Villanueva will spot start Monday at Yankee Stadium, and if he makes it through five innings there I will be hugely impressed. And rejoice, for the eight-man bullpen is in remission: Mike McCoy has been called up to take Litsch's place. McCoy should be on the Jays' bench today.