Some strong pitching performances overshadowed a lacklustre night for the affiliates hitters. A few players who have been in the MLB had nights to show that they may be back before long. There were several close games, though only one that seemed particularly exciting. Here is your minor league update.
On a housekeeping note, I’ve moved days from my Wednesday games update to Saturday games. This year I moved to St. John’s from Vancouver, and now that I’ve found employment, I’m finding it too difficult to stay up late enough or wake up early enough to do the updates during the week. So the weekend is likely the only time I can contribute.
Rochester 2 @ BUFFALO 3
Former major leaguers were the story in this one, as a rehabbing Felix Doubront took the hill for the Bisons. Doubront has made 4 starts for the Bisons, and the results are encouraging. He went 7 innings, allowed his first 2 earned runs of the season on 6 hits and 2 walks. He got 5 outs of the strikeout variety, 8 on the ground, and 4 in the air. If you squint, the Blue Jays might actually have some back of the rotation depth right now. Hard to believe after the first month of the season. Velocity is going to be important for Doubront, so I expect the Jays will be patient with him, but the results have been good so far. He has 15 K’s in 22 innings against 6 walks and 14 hits.
For the hitters, Dioner Navarro (2-4), caught his fellow Venezuelan, and managed to put two runs on the board in the first with a home run. He’ll bolster the Jays bench soon. After the home run, it was a quiet night for the Bisons who faced Tommy Milone. So quiet, that the game was tied at 2 until the 9th inning, when Brad Glenn (2-3, BB, K) hit a walk off home run to deliver the win to the home team. Dalton Pompey was 0-4 with 2 strikeouts.
New Hampshire 5 @ NEW BRITAIN 6
The Fisher Cats lost this one in the bottom of the 12th inning. After Taylor Cole allowed 5 runs in 4.2 innings (2 earned), the bullpen locked things down until the heartbreak in the 12th. The box score indicates they didn’t make any errors, so I’m skeptical as to how accurate anything here is. And frankly, there isn’t much to like. Dwight Smith Jr (0-1) walked twice. Melky Mesa (3-6) hit a double.
TAMPA 5 @ Dunedin 2
Six hits is all the D-Jays could muster. Two doubles each for Matt Dean (2-4) and DJ Thon (2-3, K). So not much to like here.
On the pitching side, Jeremy Gabryszwski (I swear he pitches every time I write a MLU) went 7 innings and allowed all 5 runs. This game was pretty meh.
LANSING 4 @ Dayton 0
Finally, a big outing for a touted pitching prospect. Sean Reid-Foley dazzled for 5 and 2/3 innings, striking out 10 batters. He walked one and allowed a single. SRF has now struck out 50 in 34.1 innings. Would look a whole lot better if he could cut back on his 26 walks, though. Inspiring stuff, either way.
For the hitters, 7 hits were bunched together to manufacture 4 runs. Anthony Alford (1-4) stole his 9th base, but was also picked off later in the game. While much has been made of Alford’s tools, what impresses me is his 33 walks on the season. Wouldn’t have expected a raw player to walk greater than 20% of the time. Do the Jays have something special?
3 Stars
3rd star: Brad Glenn (2-3, BB, walk-off HR), Buffalo
2nd star: Felix Doubront (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), Buffalo
1st star: Sean Reid Foley (5.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K), Lansing
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20150531133006478