All four affiliates had day games scheduled and three of them won and one was rained out. These games are scheduled for school groups to come in and get a day at the park. The teams clean up on the concessions while the players try to wake up when they normally sleep. The affiliates won behind good pitching. The three starters conceded one run between them, Sean Reid-Foley, Cesar Valdez and Angel Perdomo all pitched well. Chris Rowley also turned some heads with his pitching out of the bullpen.

The Lansing Lugnuts slugged their way to another victory. That was the only 'W' the affiliates came up with in four tries Tuesday.

The affiliates had a .500 night with Buffalo and Lansing getting into the win column.

The Edwing returns!


Edwin Encarnacion makes his first appearance in Toronto with Cleveland batting just .217/.349/.377 with five home runs and 11 runs batted in. (Image from Metro News)

A few weeks ago I talked about it still being early when looking at stats. The affiliates have now played around 30 games and while its not early any more its also not far enough into the season to be definitive about stats lines. However, a few players have been so consistent that it does look like they are taking the next step. I am speaking of Max Pentecost, Danny Jansen, Bo Bichette and Vlad Guerrero. They have hit in most games with rarely a let down. Other hitters who started hot like Dwight Smith and Anthony Alford have had down periods where you wonder will the hot or not lead the way.

Two wins and two rain delays down on the farm (Thursday night). Connor Panas hot a walk off homer and the Fisher Cats overcame a rough Sean Reid-Foley start.

The Blue Jays visit their 14th favourite American League ballpark for the Cinco de Mayo weekend - Tropicana Field.

Casey Lawrence is back in AAA and he pitched five good innings. Lawrence's start helped Buffalo split a double header. New Hampshire lost, again. Dunedin's hot bats were cooled off while the Lugnuts participated in another slugfest.

The affiliates won just one of three on Tuesday. Buffalo's game against Rochester was rained out. They will play two today at Coca-Cola Field.

A good start to the month of May on the farm as both affiliates put one in the win column. Buffalo and Lansing had the night off.

The Blue Jays are in New York to play the Yankees for the first time in 2017.


Image from Canada.com.

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.