The affiliates rebounded with three wins on Wednesday. Anthony Alford and Socrates Brito led Buffalo to a win. Tampa helped the Dunedin Jays win but Nick Allgeyer was very good again. Josh Winkowski pitched well for Lansing. New Hampshire couldn't make it a sweep with a close loss.
I also decided to take a look at some stats, specifically the leaders in OPS for hitters and WHIP for pitchers. I was surprised by one thing, namely the amount of promotions that have already happened this season. Normally we wait until this time of the season, after the draft and when the short season teams start, to see who is promoted. But when you look at the top performers in the minors, many of them have already been promoted. It's also time for a pop quiz question. Among Blue Jays hitters with at least 100 at-bats, who has the fewest strikeouts?
Syracuse 4 Buffalo 6
Andrew Sopko was charged with all four runs even though he just allowed two hits. Both hits were home runs, and he also walked five. Jordan Romano had a bad start to the season, his ERA was over 9 on May 14th. Since then he has pitched four times, seven innings, three hits, ten K's. It's a small sample but worthy of following. He does still have issues with left handed hitters, he has to solve that before he could get promoted.
Anthony Alford had two doubles, he has turned around from a poor April. Socrates Brito continues to dominate AAA, he homered and drove in three runs. Andy Burns was 2-3.
Looking at some stats in Buffalo, five of the top six in OPS are in Toronto. They are Vlad, Biggio, Davis, Gurriel and Sogard. The only one not in the majors is Socrates Brito. The only one of the top eight in OPS not to feature in the majors is Andy Burns. Vlad is blocking him although Burns can play in several positions. Burns got off to a slow start but has hit well in May.
On the pitching side, if we limit our look to those with ten innings or more, Derek Law and Tayler Saucedo have the best WHIP. Law is in the majors and Saucedo back in AA. Dusty Isaacs and Justin Shafer (promoted) have also pitched well. Ryan Feierabend is the best of the starters. In general, the Jays have promoted their best performers in AAA. That seems like good motivation.
New Hampshire 4 Harrisburg 5
Zach Logue left the game with a 3-2 lead but Jake Fishman and Bryan Baker gave up three runs. Logue needed almost 100 pitches to get through five innings. He had just one strikeout. Offensively, Forrest Wall and Kevin Smith hit solo home runs. Riley Adams drove in the other two runs with a double. Adams and Santiago Espinal each had two hits.
Looking at the stats for the New Hampshire hitters doesn't make for great reading. Patrick Kivlehan is way ahead, but in only 16 at-bats, and he now in AAA. Riley Adams and Forrest Wall are the only two over an 800 OPS. The pitching stats in New Hampshire are much better than in Buffalo. Kirby Snead and Andrew Sopko lead in WHIP, they are both now in AAA. Danny Young and Ty Tice are close behind. Patrick Murphy is at 1.05, very good and better than Nate Pearson's 1.08.
Tampa 1 Dunedin 4
The Jays win a second in a row against a tough Tampa Yankee team. The Yankees helped the Jays by hitting three batters in a row before a couple of hits led the Jays to four runs. Cal Stevenson and Chavez Young each had two hits, Stevenson drove in two runs. Nick Allgeyer pitched six innings, four hits, one run, seven K's. Allgeyer's ERA is now 2.44. Allgeyer doesn't dominate with "stuff", he doesn't throw particularly hard, but he has sveral pitches and knows how to use them. AA is the big test for this kind of pitcher.
The leaders in OPS in Dunedin are Alejandro Kirk (just promoted), Riley Adams (just promoted), Cullen Large and Luis De Los Santos (just demoted). They are the only ones over 800. On the pitching side, Nate Pearson and William Ouellette lead in WHIP, both have been promoted. Brad Wilson is next, he has been pitching well for a 2018 draft pick. He has a WHIP of .8 and 25 K's in 21 innings.
Lansing 3 Dayton 1
Lansing had just four hits, three of them in the inning where they scored all their runs. Reggie Pruitt doubled, Griffin Conine singled him in, then Jake Brodt homered. It was Brodt's seventh home run. Josh Winkowski pitched seven shutout innings, four hits, eight strikeouts. His ERA is 2.10.
Gabriel Moreno and Alejandro Kirk top the OPS charts in Lansing. Jordan Groshans is third with Jake Brodt fourth. In case you haven't been following Jackson Rees has been having a fantastic season for Lansing. His WHIP is .75 and he has 40 K's in 22 innings. Four of the starting pitchers are bunched between 1.30 and 1.32 WHIP.
STATS
The answer to the strikeout question is Alejandro Kirk with 15 K's in 126 AB's, before tonights game. Roemon Fields is next. I also looked at the walk to strikeout relationship. Alejandro Kirk and Cavan Biggio lead the way with 26 walks and 15 K's and 34 walks and 28 K's respectively. Amonmg the players with almost as many walks as strikeouts are Forrest Wall (26/35); Cal Stevenson (22/26); Nick Podkul (27/29); Andy Burns (18/22); Roemon Fields and Nash Knight.
3 Stars
3rd star: Anthony Alford
2nd star: Nick Allgeyer
1st star: Josh Winkowski
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