With less than three weeks left in the season, I thought it would be a good idea to check out the playoff picture for each team. On the field, Eric Pardinho was perfect through six and a third and was generally outstanding. Cavan Biggio had two home runs, including a walk off, to give him 26 for the season. I think Andy McGuire doesn't get enough attention. Shohei Ohtani gets lots of attention but McGuire is hitting over .300 while holding opposition hitters to a batting average of .100. Sounds Ohtani like to me, or is that Ohtani-light?
Buffalo are toast, their elimination number is three as of Thursday afternoon. New Hampshire will almost definitely make the playoffs, they are 10 games ahead of the third place team with the top two making it.
Dunedin are the first of the split season leagues. They did not qualify out of the first half and might lose out in the second half too. They have gone 1-9 in their last ten games to fall out of a playoff spot and rest 4.5 games out. They need a winning streak to get back into contention. Lansing did qualify out of their first half. In the first half Bowling Green were first and Lansing second. In the second half the standing are the same. Lansing are playing well despite losing guys like Kevin Smith, Brock Lundquist, Zach Logue and Yenssy Diaz to Dunedin. Vancouver just missed out on qualifying from the first half, they currently have a two game lead in the second half.
Bluefield are in second place which would get them into the playoffs but they are just 2.5 games ahead of the third place team. The GCL Jays will not make the playoffs, neither will the DSL Jays.
So, in summary, it looks like the Jays will have between two and four teams in the playoffs. New Hampshire and Lansing look secure, Vancouver and Bluefield have leads.
Buffalo
Buffalo lost 4-2 and are almost eliminated from the playoffs. The Bisons had just four hits, Vlad Jr. hadtwo of them, plus a walk, to reverse his mini-skid. Tim Lopes had the other two hits.
New Hampshire
The Fisher Cats won 7-6 with a walk off home run from Cavan Biggio. He had two home runs, numbers 25 and 26 for the season,plus a double and a walk. He drove in three. Max Pentecost doubled in two runs.
TJ Zeuch just went four innings and was charged with five runs.
Dunedin
Dunedin's skid continued with another loss as Maverik Buffo was hit all over the park. Kevin Smith and Rodrogo Orozco each had two hits, Ivan Castillo homered.
Lansing
Lansing won 3-2 despite having just five hits. The winning run came through two errors in the same inning. Graham Spraker went seven innings with two runs allowed.
Vancouver
The C's lost 6-0 and had just four singles. There was little notable about this game.
Bluefield
Eric Pardinho was perfect through 6.1 innings before giving up a hit. He retired the next two hitters for a seven inning one hitter with six strikeouts. Andy McGuire is an interesting player. He was 3-4 playing first base. Those hits bumped his average to .314. When not hitting he has a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings. He has only given up six hits in those 18 innings. Also, according to his bio, he was born in Rabat, Morocco. Alejandro Kirk had two hits and two RBI.
GCL Blue Jays
The Jays lost 4-2. Joseph Reyes, who has been hot, homered. Jordan Groshans was 1-4.
DSL Blue Jays
The DSL Jays won. Pedro Ventura, a 21 year old who is new to the team, had three hits and four RBI. Erickvi Celedonio, Alberto Rodriguez and Geyber Jimenez had two hits each.
The starter was Lazardo Estrada had ten K's in six innings. Estrada has been the best of the DSL starters. The 19 year old Cuban will hope to get some time in the US next year.
Three Stars
Third Star - Andy McGuire
Second Star - Cavan Biggio
First Star - Eric Pardinho
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