Pitcher development does not move in a straight line. When a pitcher dominates start after start it could be time to think of a promotion but when a pitcher is new to a level, or trying to learn something new, progress is uneven. It was that way for several prospect pitchers over the weekend. Meanwhile, the hitters keep on hitting. For those of you who took a break from the minors over the weekend Vladimir Guerrero tweaked his knee in a run down on Friday. It is not thought to be serious but he has not played since.

The Jays limp home looking for their first back to back wins of the season. I am sure they would settle for winning two of three in this series without winning back to back. The bats are a little better than they were but not firing on all cylinders. The pitching is hit and miss, now its the bullpen that's coughing up games. This is the last weekend of April, May arrives on Monday. Slow April's can be recovered from, but the team needs to get off to a good May start and they can get ready for that by playing well against the Rays.

After yesterday’s debacle some good news from down on the farm. The affiliates were 3-1 highlighted by a come from behind victory down in High A.

Only one win in six games for the affiliates. Some of the hot hitters are cooling off and batting averages are returning to normal levels. The affiliates defense was poor on Wednesday. Each of Jon Harris, Francisco Rios and TJ Zeuch were not helped by their defense and had unearned runs allowed. The error rolls for Wednesday included Anthony Alford, Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, Tim Lopes, Brad Jones, Ryan Hissey and Emilio Guerrero.

Another .500 night on the farm with Dunedin getting into the win column. Buffalo's doubleheader in Norfolk and New Hampshire's home date against Trenton were washed out.

The Blue Jays visit the St. Louis Cardinals in their first interleague road series of 2017.

New Hampshire lost a one-run game. Lansing won big.

Four wins on Sunday made for a good day on the farm. The affiliates at this stage of the season have played between 15 and 18 games. Some of the hitters have gaudy numbers, when can we say it's for real and not just a hot streak? At the end of April, 20-25 games in, a hitter could still be on a hot streak. A hitter could have a weakness and it might not be until the second time though the league that the weakness gets exploited. If April is still a small sample size, what about May? A hot streak that extends until the end of May is good and probably 80% to 90% for real. There have been hitters who had a big first half and tailed off in the second half. It doesn't happen too often but it can. To me a streak that goes to mid-June is getting to 95% real. It could earn the hitter a mid-season promotion.

Pitcher evaluation can happen a little bit faster, the one game sample size is bigger and opposing teams can adjust mid game. A pitcher who stays hot through the end of May is real for me.

Looking at the kids on the farm I got to thinking about what draft is the best for the Jays and how one would rate it? I'll do a few methods just for fun.

A weekend set against the Angels. A 7-10 team so hopefully the Jays keep them sub-500 this weekend by winning at least 1 of the 4 games.

The affiliates won just one of three Thursday. The Bisons were rained out.

Max Pentecost had the banner evening on the farm, while pitching prospects Francisco Rios and T.J. Zeuch had so-so outings.

The parent club is too depressing to watch so let's look at the Top 30 prospects in the Toronto Blue Jays system according to Baseball America.


Baseball America ranks 2016 first-round pick T.J. Zeuch as the #8 prospect in the Blue Jays system.

The affiliates were 2-2 on Wednesday with two extra innings games. A couple of pitching prospects had their best starts of 2017, Conner Greene and Angel Perdomo both looked like what we hoped they would.

The affiliates dropped three out of four Tuesday.