The New Hampshire Fisher Cats have put RHP Vince Perkins on the DL retroactive to 5/12. Because they had yesterday off, his spot in the rotation will be skipped and the other 4 starters will be moved up to fill in. Vince may be able to make his next scheduled appearance on 5/22 vs. Reading in New Hampshire.

Jonny, your minor league recap really takes the cake!

*ducks*

it's interesting to speculate on Gaudin. His youth and results at an advanced level show very well. At 5'11" and 165 lbs with less than overpowering stuff... well, history has a different opinion, although I'm sure there are some exceptions.

on another point, the steady play of JF Griffin has been a surprise. Every game he seems to throw up a hit and a walk at least, although apparently somewhat at the expense of his power (though numbers are still good). For a player that seemed destined for oblivion, it's fun to see him resurrect. Anyone have any insight on how his game may have changed?

Here's a nice shot of Gaudin from yesterday.

There's more good pitching on tap tonight as Francisco Rosario starts for the Sky Chiefs, while Josh Banks throws for the Fisher Cats. Of course, Josh Towers against Johan Santana will have most of our attention.

But is Chad going to heaven, or to hell?

Maybe its a bit sheepish of me to suggest that with a couple more of those starts itll be heaven.

I apologize for the pathetic cake reference.

Last night, most Clipper hitters felt all alone -- all alone! -- all alone in their time of need.

Curtis Thigpen is off to a nice start with the bat, walking more than he strikes out, and hitting for a solid average. But, his defence needs work; the 8 passed balls are indication enough of that.

Is it just me, or does Wideman have a really short stride which he lengthens out just above the ground? Am I reading these wrong?

Is anyone else concerned that the expected emphasis on organizational plate discipline (ie. as an organizational teaching point) seems to be non-existent at at least the AA and AAA levels? Players with historically high walk totals like Hill and Vito are behaving like hackers. Even Crozier and Gross are well below previous walk rates. I know Hill is having a good season but he'll have to hit .300+ to be a good offensive player with that walk rate.

The camera angle is a little deceiving, Craig. While his stride isn't overly long, it's not short either. He is only 5'10" or 11".

Craig,

I think that you may be reading these wrong. Wideman has pretty good pitching mechanics as far as I can see.

Mike,
Thigpen is picking it up offensively. There are a couple of things that concern me about his catching though. 1 is the passed balls, 2 is the number of wild pitches he gives up. He needs to work on dropping down, squaring up and blocking the balls in the dirt. He doesn't do that well. The third thing that concerns me a little is that runners steal on him at will. His percentage of throwing runners out is ~30%.

As far as Keng's performance last night, it was impressive, but I did notice something that kind of concerned me. His fastball topped out at 81 last night, and I didn't notice much breaking stuff last night. He stuck pretty much to change up / fastball and had excellent command, so it all worked out, but there is a part of me that thinks his arm is still bothering him a bit.

The Nuts started at 10:30 this morning and are playing in front of 10,000 screaming kids today. There were 130 buses coming for the game. Kyle Yates is throwing today.

I forgot the last thing that concerns me about Thigpen. He is a small guy. I think he may be too small to be an MLB catcher. I would like to see him moved somewhere (perhaps third).

"Is anyone else concerned that the expected emphasis on organizational plate discipline (ie. as an organizational teaching point) seems to be non-existent at at least the AA and AAA levels?"

I doubt that the emphasis is any less at a higher level. I imagine declines in walk &/or strikeout rate at a higher level has more to do with facing better competition.

Of course Hill going from 63 BBs in 480 ABs at AA to 4 BBs in 145 ABs in AAA does seem odd.

Actually, I see what it is now. He does have a short stride, even a very short stride. (Will Carroll, who's becoming quite the expert on pitching mechanics, says that ideal stride length is just about exactly 3/4 of height).

If you look at pictures 2 and 3, you'll note that Wideman is driving his leg down, rather than out toward the hitter. It wouldn't surprise me if there's more velocity to be had from AJ if he can be encouraged to lengthen his stride and thereby gain more power from his legs.

Thanks, Lugnut Fan.

The Jays have an interesting decision with respect to Thigpen. He's young and he is somewhat challenged as a catcher, although the organization definitely needs them.

He is quite a hitter, and I am concerned that his struggles to learn the position and the punishment he'll take behind the plate will interfere with his development as a hitter. It's a difficult call, but I would probably move him now.

MatO, as you probably know, the hitting coach in double A left quickly at the start of this season, and the hitters have been struggling generally. As for triple A, Dwayne Murphy is the hitting coach there. If he coaches like he hit, plate discipline will be emphasized.

Raul Tablado said that New Hampshire is the farthest north he's ever been to play. Last year he played in the hot FSL and this year he's playing in an "igloo". It's been much colder than normal for this time of year in New Hampshire and many of the hitters, Tablado included, are confident the averages will go up as the temperatures do.

OK, I took a look at some other pics which Jonny sent me. Forget what I said; Wideman looks to have a good stride going in those shots.

Gross and Crozier are repeating the level and their walk rates are down: Gross 2004: 53BB in 377AB 2005: 11BB in 124AB Crozier 2004: 52BB in 390AB 2005: 9BB in 116AB. Dwayne Murphy was a low BA and high OBP player so it's dificult to understand what is happening in AAA.

It's Cake-fest at the Box! Let's see... if Gaudin keeps this up, he'll laugh, he'll make money, he'll have a gold watch... er... better stop before this gets out of hand...

Back on topic, here's another photo of Wideman delivering, his stride looks much longer in this one.

Update from Lansing. 9-2 Wisconsin heading into the top of the fifth. It's looking like a long day in Lansing. I can't get the game to work here at work, so I'm tracking it via the minor league baseball website.

Chad's got wheels of polished steel...

Anyway, I have a question regarding option years vs. outrighting someone.
In the instance of Matt Whiteside, he obviously didn't have any options remaining. How were the Jays able to send him down? Whiteside had to consent to the move, correct?
And if that's the case, wouldn't they be able to send Gaudin down in the coming seasons (if he struggles) despite his lack of options?

Also, I'm kind of surprised that there's been no talk about Ryan Glynn being sent (or given) to the A's.
I remember some were hopeful about him due to his work last year.

Quick update from Lansing. Wisconsin 11 Lansing 2 in the bottom of the fifth.

I'm kind of surprised that there's been no talk about Ryan Glynn being sent (or given) to the A's

Well, if you don't count yesterday's Minor League Thread.

The Luggies are making a comeback. 11-6 heading into the top of the 6th.

And if that's the case, wouldn't they be able to send Gaudin down in the coming seasons (if he struggles) despite his lack of options?

He would have to clear waivers before being sent down. As for Whiteside, he has the service time to refuse assignment.

NY, Once a player is out of options they have to be outrighted off the 40 man roster to be sent to the minors. The first step in that process requires the player to pass through waivers without another team claming them. Then, there are two cases where a player can refuse assignment and elect free agency. The first is for players who have played 3 full seasons in the majors, which Whiteside has not. The second is for those who have already been outrighted at least once before, which Whiteside has.

So yes, Whiteside had to consent to being sent down. Most of the time, the players do accept assignment because no other team wants them in the majors (otherwise they would have been claimed). It's possible that they could pass Gaudin through waivers at some point next year (as they did with Miller last year) but it's not a sure bet. The Jays are absolutely doing the right thing by holding him back to absolutely make sure he's ready for good.

I dont want to alarm anyone, but ZackJack is currently sporting a nifty 6-1 record, and nice peripherals (1.16 WHIP, nearly 6:1 K/BB).

Purcey doesnt look like he's doing that badly, but his nice-looking ERA hides the fact that nearly half his runs have been unearned, and his K/BB ratio is a kinda ugly 40:25

The first is for players who have played 3 full seasons in the majors, which Whiteside has not.

Does "3 full seasons" in this context mean three complete seasons or ~513 days, the equivalent of three years of service time? Whiteside must have more than 500 days in the majors, since he appeared in 284 games prior to this year.

There's an interesting statistic for relief pitchers -- Games Played divided by Days of Service Time. Whiteside v.2005 would be, what, 0.1052?

I got bored at work, and since John Sickels is checking back in on his top 20 lists for the various teams, I thought I'd look at his list of the Jays' top prospects.

1. Brandon League. RHP. 5.73 ERA and 9/8 K/BB 22IP in Syracuse. I think we all hoped that he'd be doing better at this point. Still obviously struggling with his control.
2. David Purcey. LHP. 2.41 ERA and 40/25 K/BB in 37.1IP in Dunedin. As I mentioned in my other comment, that ERA is hiding a lot of unearned runs, and that K/BB is just downright unhealthy.
3. Aaron Hill. SS. .317/.348/.476 in 145AB in Syracuse. The lack of walks seem to be a concern, but he's only struck out 14 times so far.
4. Josh Banks. RHP. 2.72 ERA and 38/3 K/BB in 43IP in New Hampshire. The only thing not to like is the HR (6 so far).
5. Francisco Rosario. RHP. 3.55 ERA and 33/18 K/BB in 38IP in Syracuse. It seems like a theme, but yet it seems that either the Jay pitching prospects have really, really good control, or meh. Not so much. 2:1 K/BB isnt that bad, but the raw number of walks strikes me as still too high.
6. Zach Jackson. LHP. 3.53 ERA 33/6 K/BB in 43IP in Dunedin. And back to Mr. Good Control.
7. Russ Adams. SS. .250/.316/.432 in 88 AB in Toronto. Its early, and while the SLG is nice, he's still scuffling to get on base.
8. Guillermo Quiroz. C. injured.
9. Dustin McGowan. RHP. injured.
10. Shaun Marcum. RHP. 2.55 ERA 30/4 K/BB in 42.1IP in New Hampshire. Obviously slacking off, as he doesnt even lead his own team in K/BB, let alone the entire system. Definately needs to pick it up :)
11. Jamie Vermiliyea. RHP. 1.71 ERA 19/6 K/BB in 21IP in New Hampshire. Personally. I was a little surprised that he started in NH this year. Seems to be doing well tho.
12. Gabe Gross. OF. .234/.296/.331 in 124AB in Syracuse. So much for doing well the 2nd time thru a given level. Hopefully he'll come around.
13. John 'The Guam Bomb' Hattig. 3B. .381/.440/.429 in 21AB in Dunedin. Just coming back from injury.
14. Adam Lind. OF. .295/.357/.423 in 149AB in Dunedin. Cooled off from a hot start, but still doing well.
15. Ismael Ramirez. RHP. 4.08 ERA 22/9 K/BB in 39.2IP in NH. Also susceptible to the long ball (6 HR so far).
16. Vince Perkins. RHP. 4.11 ERA 31/17 K/BB in 35IP in NH. Less than 2:1 K/BB just isnt going to cut it for a guy with his stuff. I believe he was just placed on the DL.
17. Gustavo Chacin. LHP. 3.35 ERA 26/18 K/BB in 48IP in Toronto. I have no idea how he's doing it, but we're all happy that he is.
18. Pigpen Thigpen. C. .271/.390/.403 in 129AB in Lansing. As Lugnut Fan points out, he's been heating up as of late.
19. Davis Romero. LHP. 4.67 ERA 44/9 K/BB in 34.2IP in Dunedin. Nice K rate hides the ugly 1.59 WHIP. Moved to the bullpen with Janssen being promoted.
20. Yuber Rodriguez. CF. .192/.262/.254 in 130AB in Lansing. Obviously disappointing given his results from last year. Hopefully he'll warm up as the weather does.

I guess that it just wasn't a pitchers kind of day in Lansing today. The game just went final. The final score was Wisconsin 17, the Lugnuts 8. The number of runs scored on the Luggies is a season high. The previous high was 14. Thankfully, they have an off day tomorrow and then they hit the road on an extremly long bus ride. 45 minutes to Southwest Michigan for four games. I'm planning tentatively to go on Saturday and see the boys on the road. Their road record is better than their home record, so here's to hoping it holds up as they play their next 12 games away from Old's Park.

Adams has been unlucky so far (as has Menenchino). Chacin has been somewhat lucky, and he's done very well pitching up, getting lots of pop-ups and not many homers. That's a repeatable skill.

It's been a good year so far for the "performance" prospects, and not so good for the "tools" ones.

"Purcey doesnt look like he's doing that badly, but his nice-looking ERA hides the fact that nearly half his runs have been unearned, and his K/BB ratio is a kinda ugly 40:25"

And there's been a bunch of hit batters and wild pitches as well (I believe 4 of each).

I'd like to see Gaudin up with the Show asap, now, in fact.
He's the missing piece in the puzzle, and '05 was always supposed to be the year the Blue Jays went for it.

Some BB radio of Syracuse vs. Toledo.

Top 1st Kenny Baugh pitching for the mudhens.

French bunts back to the pitcher for the 1st out.
Nelson singles down the RF line.
Hill grounds into an inning ending Double play.

Update one hundred times better than BB Radio. If you go to Mudhens.com you can watch the game live with media player. I can't figure out the sound yet, but seeing Rosario pitch on TV is much more exciting than listening to it.

Bottom 1st. Rosario pitching for the Skychiefs. He has a record of 1-3 with an era of 3.55. In 38 innings pitched he has surrendered 28 hits and stuck out 33.

Wise reaches on an error by Crozier, then is thrown out trying to steal second.
Granderson grounds out.
Shelton flies out to RF for the third out.

Well, there goes my hour of free time. Live from Toledo, it's Gabe Gross drawing a walk!

You can play the radio broadcast at the same time using Real Player, but they aren't in sync, so it's not perfect.

Top 2

Griffin walks.
Depastino pops out to SS. 1 out.
Gross walks on 4 pitches. Runners on 1st & 2nd.
Matos flies out to CF. Both runners hold their position.
Crozier strikes out looking at an 0-2 fastball to end the inning.

Still scoreless after 1 and a half.

Bottom of 2nd

Hannahan grounds out to Crozier.
Hessman flies out to RF.
Gomez strikes out swinging on the high heat from Rosario.

Correction from the 1st inning, Wise was credited with a hit (not an error to Crozier). With no sound, it looked like a play he should have made.

Top 3. (missed a piece of it because my computer crapped out).

French hits a one out double down the 1st base line.
Nelson grounds out.
Hill (not sure what happened but he recorded an out to end the inning).

Bottom 3.

Martinez grounds out weakly to 3rd.
Raburn hits an infield single to 1st base. (Crozier got a glove on it and knocked it down).
Dawkins pops out to SS on what looked like a good changeup to my untrained eye for the 2nd out.
DeWayne Wise pops out to 2nd to end the inning.

It's funny how things work out, but Wise would make a pretty good 25th man for the Jays right now. Good Speed, Good defense, adequate option with the bat.

Top 4

Griffin (hitting .295 with 6HR and 29RBI's) grounds out to 1st.
Depastino flies out to CF.
Gross grounds out to 1st.

A quick 3 up 3 down inning. Still scoreless.

Bottom 4. For those of you wondering at home what a mudhen looks like. If the mascot is any indication, it looks just like big bird with orange socks.

Granderson grounds out to 2nd.
Shelton pounds one to deep CF and the speedy Anton French runs it down. (nice play)
Hannahan walks on 4 pitches.
Hessman strikes out swinging.

From my amatuer view, when Rosario is missing he's over throwing the ball. And when he misses the strike zone he gets his money's worth and misses by a lot. It's either a strike or it's 18 inches out of the strike zone.

Top 5.

Matos lines out to the LF, who makes a nice play to track it down.
Crozier strikes out looking on a full-count (it was ball 4, bad call by the ump.)
Singleton walks.
French grounds to the SS but Singleton beats it out at the bag.
Both runners advance on a wild pitch.
Nelson pops out to end the inning.

Still scoreless.

I have to go.

We pick up the Fisher Cat game in the top of the 4th, 2 outs, runners on 1st and 2nd.

Big Vito walks on 4 pitches, bases loaded, 2 out.
Eric Kratz flies out lazily to center.

0-0 after 3 and 1/2.

NH at Trenton- bottom of 4:

Josh Banks is dealing, 41 pitches through 3 innings. 3 strikeouts.

Kevin Thompson lines a single to center, the Thunder's first baserunner of the game. No Gaudin thrills tonight.

Gabe Lopez lines a shot down the left-field line for a RBI double.

Melky Cabrera lines a single to right. Lopez holds at third, and pitching coach Dave Laroche makes a quick trip to the mound.

Shelley Duncan bounces a single under Big Vito's glove. Lopez scores and Cabrera moves to third. 2 runs in, runners on first and third, nobody out.

Hot prospect Eric Duncan takes a called strike on the inside corner.

Dee Brown runs the count to 2-2 and fouls one off, and hits a ball way, way over the right field wall for a 3 run homer. 5 runs in for the Thunder.

Josh Banks is called, and Bubbie Buzachero is in to replace him.

Having taken a perfect game, and transformed it into a laugher, I'll take my ungracious leave.