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.

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.

Two slugfests, one pitching duel. Two losses, one win.

There was only one game on Easter Sunday, a loss by Buffalo, so here are some notes from around the system.

Extra-inning heartbreak at two levels as a couple high-end prospects stay hot.

All of the affiliates won on Wednesday with Lansing also suffering a loss in a doubleheader. Standout performers include Gunnar Heidt who hit a three run home run for New Hampshire; Matt Dermody, who struck out all five hitters he faced; and Andy Ravel who pitched five shutout innings. DJ Davis also had a good day. Sean Reid-Foley was disappointing.

The affiliates went 0-for-3 Tuesday.

The affiliates went 1-3 on Monday with the lone win coming from the Buffalo Bisons.

The most tempting thing, early in the season, is to over-react to small sample sizes. The Blue Jays are 1-5, panic! Similarly the minor leagues have many players hitting over .500, or zero, and pitchers with good or bad starts. I am going to ignore those for now. Buffalo and Lansing have started with three and four wins respectively. Dunedin are 2-2 and New Hampshire 1-2.

Dunedin was the only affiliate who showed up on the first day of class. The rest of our affiliates skipped out due to "weather." Nonetheless, our revamped MLU is up and running.