Today I started thinking about the Blue Jays top 30 prospects, and it's not going to be easy. We have too many prospects....to easily fit into a top 30 list. On the field Buffalo won, despite an oh-for from Vlad. Vancouver, the GCL and DSL Jays also won.
I know many of you maintain an active top 30 prospect list. I do not. But with the season running down, I took a pad and wrote down which players would be under consideration for this years top 30 list. Before too long the members of the Batters Box minor league crew will have to input our top 30 lists to generate our consolidated official list so I was getting a jump on that.
When I looked at my list the first thought I had was that the top ten or so prospects were not too hard to rank but after that things got murky. My second thought was that the system did indeed have a lot of depth, I had 60 names on my possible list without much effort. Now I would caution that probably 45 of those sixty have significant issues to overcome before they get to top ten status. They might be very young with a limited track record, or they might be advanced in AA or AAA with a spotted record or questions about their ability to succeed in the major leagues. Picking the back half of this years top 30 will be a challenge.
We could start in AAA where we have a bucket load of outfielders. Is Dwight Smith still a prospect? Anthony Alford has had a down year, he is still a prospect but lower ranked than last year. How many have passed him by? Dalton Pompey has missed so much time to injuries but he has hit well when he has played. Billy McKinney is the newest shiny object but he has questions too. Jonathan Davis hit well in AA and to start in AAA but has cooled off, does he get a chance? And if we go down to AA, how does Harold Ramirez fit in? And what about another new guy, Forrest Wall? Brock Lundquist hit well in Lansing and Dunedin, can he get onto a top 30 list? Has Chavez Young done enought to get a look? And don;t forget on of the stars of this report, Mc Gregory Contreras who has played well in the second half of the season.
Looking at the middle infield, is Richard Urena still top 30 worthy? How about Logan Warmoth? Has Santiago Espinal passed them both? How does Samad Taylor rank after not hitting as expected in Lansing? There are lots of younger players with high expectations. Is Otto Lopez a guy? Luis De Los Santos hasn't had a great season but Rafael Lantigua has. Leonardo Jimenez is only 17, he is eight months younger than Miguel Hiraldo but playing at a higher level for most of the year. Addison Bargar was a sixth round draft pick this year, does that get him on the list?
On the pitching side the Jays brought in several pitchers with question marks. Hector Perez, Jacob Waguespack, David Paulino and Corey Copping. They join the Jays question mark group including Jordan Romano, Angel Perdomo, Zach Logue, Maximo Castillo, Yenssy Diaz and several 18 year olds in the lower levels.
Even at catcher do you rate a Gabriel Moreno or a Hagen Danner, playing in the lower levels, higher than a Reese McGuire or a Max Pentecost, playing at the higher levels. What about Riley Adams?
In these paragraphs I have name checked over 30 prospects who could stake a claim to the top 30, and I avoided the top 15 or so. I also didn't cover all the positions on the field. As I said at the start, picking the top 30 this year will be a challenge.
And also returning to a point I made above, the Jays have a very deep system but they don't have a top 15 without some significant questions. Prospects are always to prone to failure but the Jays, even in the top ten or top 15, do have players with issues. Some evaluators rate top systems based on the number of can't miss prospects, the cream at the top. Others will look at depth. I believe the Jays are not a top system based on the cream, but are very deep. Yes they have Vlad and Bo but when you get past those you don't see guaranteed stars. Based on where the Jays are in their cycle, looking to a rebuild with kids, having that depth should be a good thing and create a continuous flow of prospects ready for promotion over the next several years.
Buffalo
Buffalo won 4-2. Vlad Jr. was 0-5 and has just one hit in the last three games. His average is down to .372. Rowdy Tellez had two more hits plus a walk. Matt Tracey started and pitched five shutout innings although that took him over 100 pitches. Billy McKinney homered, his 16th of the season.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire lost 3-2. The hot hitters at the top of the lineup all were shut down, Harold Ramirez, Cavan Biggio and Bo Bichette were a combined 0-14. Forrest Wall doubled and scored a run. Max Pentecost hit a solo home run. Hector Perez had an excellent start, six innings, no walks and seven K's. He did give up a run on a solo home run. Was it a one-off or could he have found something this quickly? It's most likely a one off but we will see.
Dunedin
Dunedin lost 6-5 in ten innings. Aaron Sanchez started and pitched 3.2 innings. He was a bit wild and walked four. Bryan Baker made his first appearance and recorded four outs. Angel Perdomo gave up three runs but only one was earned. He hasn't pitched well as a reliever, his WHIP in relief is 1.77.
Lansing
Lansing blew a 4-0 lead and lost 7-6. Maximo Castillo had a decent start, two earned runs in six innings with eight K's but Matt Shannon gave it back and took the loss. Reggie Pruitt homered. Samad Taylor had two more hits, he has played very well since the beginning of August.
Vancouver
Vancouver won 5-2. McGregory Contreras went 4-4 with a double. Contreras has had a good second half, his OPS in the second half is .981. That sets up the 19 year old for Lansing next season. Tanner Kirwer and Otto Lopez homered. Joey Murray started and had five strikeouts in two innings.
Bluefield
Bluefield had a scheduled day off.
GCL Jays
The GCL Jays won 6-4. Joseph Reyes was the star, he was 3-4 with four RBI. Rafael Monsion went five innings, gave up two runs, but didn't record a K. Francisco Rios pitched two shutout innings of relief. That was his fourth appearance in the GCL, he should be on his way to New Hampshire soon.
DSL Jays
The DSL Jays won 2-1 on a walkoff in the bottom of the tenth. They had just three hits. Santos Moreno had a good start, he threw 6.2 shutout innings with seven K's.
3 Stars
3rd star: Joseph Reyes
2nd star: Mc Gregory Contreras
1st star: Hector Perez
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20180815151939710