Prospects To Watch

Friday, October 05 2007 @ 10:02 AM EDT

Evaluating prospects is an uncertain pastime. Players are hindered by injuries, some obvious, some hidden to the fans and some hidden from the organization. Position players can often show little until they mature, sometimes around age 21. Pitchers can be helped by a new pitch or better mechanics that improve their control. In 2007 Brian Wolfe pitched well in the bullpen for the Jays even though he was not rated as a top 30 prospect by Batters Box or Baseball America.

In that spirit here are some players to watch who just missed our top 30 list. There is very little reason to differentiate between the bottom half of Blue Jay prospects this year. An argument could be made for any of these players to be in the top 30.

Chad Blackwell, RHP
Born January 7, 1983. Selected in the 6th round by Kansas City in the 2004 amateur draft.

Year	Age	Level	G	GS	IP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	K/9	ERA
2005	22	A(KC)	48	0	68.2	8.13	0.52	3.54	9.70	2.23
2005	22	A+(KC)	1	0	2.0	18.00	4.50	0.00	22.50	13.50
2006	23	AA(PIT)	4	0	35.1	10.95	0.25	4.58	6.88	5.35
2006	23	A+(PIT)	19	0	6.0	12.00	0.00	3.00	9.00	7.50
2007	24	A+	15	0	23.2	8.37	1.14	1.52	7.23	2.28

The former South Carolina closer made an impressive debut in the Royals system. After leaving NCAA Division I in saves with 20 in 2004, Blackwell punched out 46 batters in 33 innings and racked up 7 saves with Idaho Falls in the Pioneer League. He followed that up with a 2.23 ERA with Burlington in 2005 while continuing his K an inning pace. He earned a brief call-up to the hitters haven known as High Desert where he got knocked around in his lone appearance. He was expected to move fast in the Royals system where he was pegged to be a setup man. However, Blackwell was sent to Pittsburgh as part of a trade for eventual former Jays farmhand Mark Redman. Arm problems delayed his debut in the Bucs organization. Listing Jack Black as his favourite actor, Blackwell's performance in the Pirates system could be compared to "Nacho Libre", where he struggled in Double A with Altoona before being sent down to Lynchburg, where he struggled some more.

Blackwell was soon released and he began 2007 out of affiliated baseball. He hooked up with the Gary SouthShore Rail Cats of the independent Northern League where his performance was more like the "School of Rock". He went 4-0 with an ERA of 1.09 and his WHIP was below 1.00 which is quite an accomplishment as the Northern League is considered to be a hitters league. That convinced the Jays to give him another shot at affiliated ball where he fjoined up with Dunedin. At 24, Blackwell has to move quickly to prove himself. Scouting reports say he has a funky, low three-quarters delivery with an odd leg kick. He tops out at 90 MPH with his fastball and also throws a slider and change with good command. Blackwell and fellow Dunedin pitcher Jeremy Zick were lured out of the independent leagues this season with Zick coming from Long Beach of the Golden League after spending time with the St. Louis organization. It'll be interesting to see if the Jays continue to tap into the unaffiliated minors for more prospects in the future.

Scott Campbell, 2B
Born September 25, 1984, selected in the 10th round of the 2006 draft

Graham Godfrey, RHP
Born August 9, 1984. Selected in the 34th round of the 2006 amateur draft.

Graham Godfrey was a fifth to tenth round talent who lasted until the 34th round because he could go back to school. The Jays persuaded Godfrey to sign a pro contract and he began 2007 in extended spring training. Godfrey was called up to Lansing in May and was a fixture in the rotation the rest of the way. Godfrey features a low nineties fastball, a slider and a change-up. The numbers show Godfrey doesn't miss enough bats and allows a few too many hits. The slider and change-up are works-in-process and need to be improved for Godfrey to progress.

Josh Kreuzer, 1B
Born September 28, 1982. Signed as a minor league free agent in 2006.

Year	Age	Level	AB	2B	3B	HR	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2004	21	A	362	34	3	10	53	87	2	0	.265	.359	.459
2005	22	A+	400	25	1	11	49	89	3	2	.260	.364	.410
2006	23	A+	187	19	0	7	21	46	1	0	.257	.352	.471
2007	24	A+	404	34	0	20	62	82	1	2	.309	.431	.542

Robert (formerly Scott) Leffler was a catcher at the University of Tampa until converted to relief early in 2007. He was throwing 94, and had an interesting slurve, when drafted, but his control was a work in progress. He seems to have made some headway on this in his first pro season, and shone in the playoffs for Auburn. These late conversions to relief sometimes pay off big-time (see Hoffman, Trevor). Leffler will likely begin 2008 in Lansing.

Michael Macdonald came to organization without a lot of fanfare. He was a relatively late round pick, no hype, no big bonus, and stuff that doesn't 'wow' you. But Macdonald just goes out there and pitches effectively, moves up to the next level and pitches nearly as effectively at that level. If he makes it to Toronto it will almost certainly be in the bullpen, but someone that generates a lot of groundballs could be pretty effective with McDonald and Hill in the middle infield.

Darin Mastroianni
Born August 26, 1985. Selected in the 16th round of the 2007 amateur draft.

Aaron Mathews, OF
Born May 10, 1982. Selected in the 19th round of the 2004 amateur draft.

The good news for Aaron Mathews is he increased all his averages while moving up a level to AA. Through June Mathews looked like the second coming of Reed Johnson but Mathews hit .239 in July and .246 in August to end his season on a down note. Mathews has been pretty consistent through his four years as a Blue Jay could make it as a Reed Johnson type if he can find that first half of 2007 form when he starts 2008.

Seth Overbey, RHP
Born April 30th, 1984. Selected in the 15th round of the 2004 amateur draft.

It took a few months to find a challenge for Seth Overbey. He started out in Lansing and after 24.2 scoreless innings was promoted to Dunedin where he only gave up 1 run in 10 innings. New Hampshire was another matter as AA hitters were able to handle Overbey's stuff. Like Mike Macdonald, Overbey is a groundball pitcher. He'll likely get another crack at pitching in New Hampshire next year.

Joe Wice, LHP
Born September 1, 1985. Selected in the 22nd round of the 2004 amateur draft.

Year	Age	Level	G	GS	IP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	K/9	ERA
2005	19	R	10	10	45.0	11.00	3.00	2.00	7.00	5.40
2006	20	R	20	1	36.0	8.75	0.50	2.25	10.50	3.75
2006	20	A	1	0	2.0	0.00	0.00	0.00	9.00	0.00
2007	21	A-	23	1	40.1	9.15	0.22	0.67	11.38	3.12

Named Auburn's relief pitcher of the year for 2007, the 6-6 lefty from the junior college ranks in Utah posted an absolutely stellar K/BB ratio of 51-3 in 40.1 innings of work for the NY Penn League champion Doubledays this season. He also contributed with a perfect 4-0 record and notched a half-dozen saves. His final line would've been more impressive if it weren't for a couple of rough outings to begin his season in June when he gave up 5 runs in 5.1 innings.

Wice began his pro career as a starter in Pulaski in 2005 but wound up straining the ulnar collateral ligment in his elbow. He returned to Pulaski in '06 and found more success as a reliever, winning 4 of 5 decisions while posting a K/BB ratio of 42-9 in 36 innings. That earned him a one game call-up to Lansing, where he punched out a couple of batters over 2 perfect innings. Wice, who is described as a crafty lefty who throws an 88-89 MPH fastball with an above-average curve, slider and change, should be able to make a return visit to Oldsmobile Park in Lansing in 2008.

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