It has been an unusual year for Dunedin. Prospects have come and gone faster than a Grade 7 romance. Zach Jackson, Dustin McGowan, David Purcey, Casey Janssen, Ryan Roberts, Clint Johnston, Chip Cannon. Thanks for the memories. It was real. Still, the Baby Jays find themselves in early August in a race for the second-half division title, 1/2 game behind first-half champ Lakeland and a game ahead of the hard-charging Fort Myers Miracle.

This time, we will take a closer look at two prospects who have been with the club all season long- Adam Lind and Davis Romero, who were hotter than July last month. Lind and Romero were the Florida State League player and pitcher of the week for the last week of the month.

Adam Lind

Adam Lind turned 22 years old in July. Here is his picture and bio. He was drafted out of the University of South Alabama by the Jays in the 3rd round of the 2004 draft. He was primarily a first baseman in college. Here, courtesy of Pistol's 2004 draft article, were the comments made by him by MLB and Baseball America when he was drafted:

MLB: Comment: tall, well prop build. Broad shoulders. Room to fill out. Built like todd helton. Upright, slightly spread out at plate. Gets bat head through the zone. Shows power to all fields. Nice set-up at plate. Arm is playable w/ some carry. Better runner underway.

BA: Lind is a draft-eligible sophomore who will go as far as his bat takes him. He's put together a consistent career for South Alabama,showing a fluid stroke with good bat speed and raw power potential. His swing played well with wood last summer as he hit .269 (well above league average) in the Cape Cod League. Lind isn't a great athlete, making him a fringy defender in left field and better suited for first base.

The Jays have made him a leftfielder. He played there in Auburn in 2004, and again in Dunedin this year. Informal reports concerning his fielding have confirmed the BA description of his defence in left field as "fringy". His bat has remained constant throughout his collegiate and pro career to date. He hits for a good average and doesn't strike out much. He walks a little less than you might like, and has medium range pop. He has gone on a power binge since the second week of July, after starting off the season very slowly in this department. Whether this is a sign of developing power or simply a power hot streak remains to be seen.

Here are his collegiate and pro statistics:

Year            ABs	Ave	Obp	Slg        W   K   2B   HR
2003-college	209	0.349	0.398	0.555      18  24  15   8
2004-college	183	0.355	0.423	0.579      26  21  22   12
2004-Auburn     266     0.312   0.371   0.477      24  36  23   7
2005-Dunedin    403     0.313   0.373   0.484      39  67  33   10

This will be counted as a solid season for Lind. He has been able to maintain his performance despite skipping low-A ball. The question remains whether he will hit enough bearing in mind his defensive limitations. He does not need to have explosive development, but simply to slowly and surely add a little bit more power without losing his other skills.

Davis Romero

Lefty Davis Romero was signed by the Jays in 1999 as a 16 year old out of Panama. He is 5'10" and under 160 pounds, and turned 22 in March. He started his minor league career with 2 years in the DSL, and has followed it up with stops in Medicine Hat, Auburn, Charleston and this year, Dunedin. He has been used as a swingman by the organization, with 27 starts in 62 appearances over the past 2 years.

Romero has always been very effective, blowing away lower minor league hitters at an impressive rate, while maintaining good control. This season, he started off pitching mostly out of the pen, but with the promotion of Janssen and Purcey in July, he has had six consecutive starts and made the most of them. What has been most interesting is his G/F rate:

starts   G    F
last 3   29    9
prev 3   16    14

Here are Romero's career stats:

Year-League  IP    ERA   GS  HR  W   K
2000-DSL     34.0  2.65  2   1   10  45
2001-DSL     51.0  2.47  9   1   12  85
2002-Pio     50.1  5.19  4   7   18  76
2003-NYPL    41.2  2.38  0   1   8   53
2004-SAL     103.1 2.53  14  6   30  108
2005-FSL     96.2  3.44  13  9   28  107

Next month, it will be time for the end-of-season prospect review, as well as, hopefully, a review of another playoff season for the D-Jays.