Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Griffin Gets the Call, Capping a Big Day

Griffin Gets the Call, Capping a Big Day

It was a big day for John-Ford Griffin, culminating with the news he will be recalled by the Jays after today's game. Earlier Griffin hit his 30th home run and with it, moved over 100 RBI's for the season. Dunedin and Auburn prepared for the playoffs while everyone else is playing out the schedule. Ryan Patterson and Chip Cannon continued their fine seasons.

Buffalo 7 Syracuse 5 - 11 innings

The Chiefs are playing out the string but yesterday was a big day for John-Ford Griffin. In the third inning Griffin hit his 30th home run of the season, driving in runs 100 and 101. After the game Chiefs manager Marty Pevey told Griffin he was heading to join the Jays after today's game. Another September call-up, Ken Huckaby, hit a two run home run in the sixth to give the Chiefs a 5-3 lead, but Buffalo tied it off three relievers in the eighth. Francisco Rosario worked a scoreless tenth but allowed a home run and then a walk and a double in the eleventh. Kevin Barker went 3-5 to get his average back over .300. Huckaby and Solano had two hits each. Chad Gaudin started and his line was 7 7 3 3 1 5. His season ending ERA will be 3.35.

Box Score

New Hampshire 6 Norwich 7

New Hampshire trailed 4-2 heading into the eighth inning when Chip Cannon came through with a three run home run to give the Cats a 5-4 lead. But the usually reliable Ryan Houston gave up a couple of ground ball hits, followed by a couple of line drive hits, and three runs later the Cats trailed 7-5. New Hampshire had three straight hits with two out in the ninth to score a run but the rally ended there. Miguel Negron went 3-5 to raise his average to .260. Curtis Thigpen went 2-3 with a walk to raise his average to .275, a good average for a catcher one year removed from the draft. Chip Cannon went 2-4 with the home run to bring his average up to .253. Anthony Sanders also had two hits. Vince Perkins started and his line was 5.2 8 4 4 2 3. His season ending ERA is 4.03.

Box Score

Kevin Gray, from the New Hampshire Union Leader, looks back on the 2005 season.

Clearwater 11 Dunedin 5

A meaningless game for Dunedin who start their playoffs against Lakeland on Tuesday. Kyle Yates only pitched one inning, maybe getting ready for pitching in the playoffs? Justin James followed him and was roughed up for six runs in 2.2 innings. Manny Mayerson was the only Jays with two hits. Adam Lind finished the season with a .313 average, David Smith fell just short at .294.

Box Score

West Michigan 2 Lansing 6

Jordan Timm got the spot start and was excellent, 5 innings, 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk, with 7 K's. Timm's ERA is now 2.94. Lansing scored five runs in the second inning on six hits, three of them doubles by Ryan Klosterman, David Hicks and Joshua Lex. Klosterman and Lex had two hits each.

Box Score

Mahoning Valley 2 Auburn 6

Eric Fowler started and pitched four innings of one hit, shutout ball. Auburn scored a run in the third on a wild pitch, two in the fourth on triples by Ryan Patterson and Josh Bell, and four more in the sixth on a couple of errors and a double by Patterson. Ryan Patterson was the leading hitter, again, 2-4 with a double and a triple.

Box Score

Your Three Star Selection

Third star - Chip Cannon2-4, 3 run HR

Second Star - Ryan Patterson, 2-4, double, triple

First Star - John Ford Griffin, seasonal award for his 30th home run and 100th RBI

Standings Update

Two teams, Dunedin and Auburn, are in the playoffs. Two teams, Auburn and Pulaski, have finished their regular season schedule. All others finish today except for Auburn who have a few games left. Four of the six teams will have winning records for the full season, the two losers are at AAA and AA. Combined the Jays minor league teams are 365-332, 33 games over .500, with about 6 games left. Last year, on this same date, the Jays minor league teams were 398-298, one hindred games over .500.

Syracuse record is 70-73. The Chiefs are in fourth place, twelve games back of Buffalo. Syracuse had hoped for a winning season but they will fall short.

The Fisher Cats are 68-73, and are in fifth place, eight games back of Portland.

Dunedin finish the second half 41-29. The results were the same as the first half, second place with Lakeland in first. Playoffs start Tuesday in a best of three series.

The Lugnuts are 33-36, and are in fourth place, ten games back of South Bend.

Auburn are 42-29, in first place with a seven game winning streak, and are nine games ahead of Batavia.

Pulaski finished at 34-32, in third place, thirteen games behind Danville.

Posted by Gerry on Monday, September 05 2005 @ 10:19 AM EDT.

Griffin Gets the Call, Capping a Big Day | 18 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Thomas - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 11:18 AM EDT (#127406) #

While I appreciate Griffin getting the call, as he is one of the most deserving hitters at Triple-A and the Jays need to figure out if and how he fits into their future plans, they will certainly be hard-pressed to get at-bats for him with a logjam at outfield (usually two of Cat, Johnson, Rios and Gross sit each game the latter two certainly should be playing more often than not) and amongst the corner infield/DH spot (already one of Koskie, Hinske, Hillenbrand, Hill sits every day).

Nick - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 11:41 AM EDT (#127407) #

Thomas - while I can appreciate that point, look at it another way - Toronto's offense has been absolutely abysmal lately. That's putting it kindly. I understand the point about getting young players at bats, but JFG had 30 HR and this team needs power badly. If some others have to sit out more, then so be it. Give JFG a week playing every day and see if it sparks anything. It certainly can't hurt, and I'm not going to shed a tear if any of the players you mentioned miss time. Most, if not all, of them have not earned any right to playing time with this team's terrible performance lately. I understand someone like Rios is developing and only 24, but for 2 seasons he has been a below average hitter. How many seasons do we have to give him before we give up? Do you want one more season of an RF with an OBP near 300 and a SLG below 400? Or will he break out? What sign has he shown that he will break out? Those are questions JP has to figure out this offseason.

Pistol - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 11:42 AM EDT (#127408) #

I think Griffin's callup is more of a reward for his season than the team expecting to get him regular playing time. It'll probably be similar to Crozier last year.

Thomas - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 12:05 PM EDT (#127411) #

Nick, I have to disagree with your point. Rios is still developing and has been awful this last month. Gibbons has been playing him less and less and I think that he's young enough that he should be playing everyday, or at least 5-6 times a week. I'd much rather give him a full September than 8 games in the month, because hopefully a) he'll rebound and have a good month, and that's much better going forward for the offseason than him sitting on the bench because he was slumping and b) if he doesn't rebound and has a second crap month in a row, then the Jays need to look into it and judge if they ever think he will develop. I don't think sitting him in September is going to help us avoid another year of Rios mediocrity in any manner.

Secondly, Gross is in the exact same position as Griffin, and I'd like to see him gets lots of playing time.

Pistol, point taken.

JayFan0912 - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 01:02 PM EDT (#127414) #

The team is slumping in the last mongth because the #3,4 hitters have OPSs of 670 and 700. The first inning yesterday was very typical, two hits from #1,2 and then seeing #3,4 making easy outs, not scoring any runs in a situation where you have runners on 2nd and 3rd and no one out.

I sure wouldn't mind seeing the rookies play instead of a bunch of the veteran hitters ... I mean the jays have nothing to gain from getting the veteran players out of a slump( maybe hinske is the exception ), for the rookies it's at least a learning experience.

Keith Talent - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 01:07 PM EDT (#127415) #

Isn't the AAA season almost over anyway? I sure think he can benefit more in the Majors, limited playing time and all.

"He needs at bats everyday" - that would be ideal, but these guys aren't Labrador Retreivers who "need a good run everyday". They're not going to tear the carpet to shreds and whizz all over the drywall if they miss a few days in the sun.

At this point, the season is over for the Blue Jays. Play the reserves and see what they got. I'm more likely to tune in and hope to see a JF Griffin rather than see the same old gang scratch out 1 or 2 runs through 9 innings.

Some call me Tim - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 01:50 PM EDT (#127417) #

"He needs at bats everyday" - that would be ideal, but these guys aren't Labrador Retreivers who "need a good run everyday". They're not going to tear the carpet to shreds and whizz all over the drywall if they miss a few days in the sun.

LMAO. Absolutely hilarious.

Personally, I would like to see Griffin get some playing time. His power potential is promising for a team that is so lacking in power. More to the point though, he still has massive trouble with strikeouts. The Jays need to see how badly this problem is exacerbated at the major league level.

Nick - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 02:02 PM EDT (#127419) #

Thomas - I think you make valid points as well, but it is hard for me to maintain any patience at this point. Yet I know that sometimes patience is the prudent course of action. As a fan, it is difficult to keep the emotion of disdain for the Jays' offense out of my thinking of who should play right now. That's why they get to make the decisions and we get to play Monday morning quarterback! My guess is they have an opinion on Rios right now and how well he does in his next 100 AB's or so shouldn't sway them too much. At this point, I think the Jays have so many young players and young players, by nature, are an unknown because of a lack of MLB track record. Next year, the Jays need at least a couple of proven bats in their lineup. Of course, that is stating the obvious. I am not calling for mediocre known quantities. I am speaking of the oft-discussed-but-much easier-said-than-done trades for players such as Adam Dunn and Carlos Lee. The Jays need to take the risk of trading of what might be a future star for someone who already is a star. Lord knows the free agent market won't be offering that, save for Brian Giles who I think will want to stay out West. The Jays' timing for the need for big bats at reasonable prices couldn't come at a worse time. The current supply available is so low that it certainly will drive up the price in terms of $ and players. JP had better get creative this offseason. I'm sure he knows that. It won't be easy to get in Toronto what the club needs, but that is his job. He has to come through this winter. This team needs to take a big step forward next season and I think the players that can take the Jays there currently play for other teams.

Jordan - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 03:35 PM EDT (#127430) #

Gotta say, I never would have imagined John-Ford Griffin going 30-100 for Syracuse before the season started. Throw in 61 walks in 500 AB and you've got a pretty good-looking package. Unfortunately, he also batted .252, whiffed a ton, and turns 27(!) in November. As I said earlier, John Vander Wal's career would look good for Griffin right now. Whatever became of the .400 hitter in college? I just don't know.

Rios has a whole lot of raw talent, and I don't think anyone's questioned his dedication or efforts to improve himself. But he's now been a below-average right fielder for Toronto two straight years, and despite a couple of hot streaks, he hasn't been able to consistently raise his game to the next level. I don't think the Jays are ready to give up on him, by any means -- but if they were to make him available, they would very likely find a lot of interest from a lot of teams. If Jim Bowden, who loves toolsy outfielders, wanted to make Brad Wilkerson available for Rios, I'd sure want to think about that.

Jordan - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 03:37 PM EDT (#127431) #

Also, and I would need to see the final splits to confirm this, but I think Chip Cannon has finished the season pretty strongly for New Hampshire after slumping upon his AA promotion.

mcpherv - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 03:54 PM EDT (#127432) #

Griffin'll be 26 in November, not 27 - lets not age the guy prematurely:
http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/teams/players/bio/?id=3627&hubname=mlb-blue_jays

I hope he can do some damage for the Jays as well. Those Ks are an issue, obviously, though.

Gerry - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 05:46 PM EDT (#127435) #

According to Spencer Fordin, Shaun Marcum is getting called up as well. Chad Gaudin therefore is getting passed over for September.

XooM - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 06:19 PM EDT (#127438) #

You know what I don't understant is how quick people jump on struggling players. When Rios came up everyone was so high on him. When he was smacking doubles and extra base hits everyone was singing him praises. When he gets into a a horrible slump people suddenly start questioning his talent. Jordan has a valid point that Rios has been below average for 2 years now and has been very inconsistent. But isn't that what all young players go through? Maybe we expected too much out of Rios when he came up and rightfully so, he plays in a premium position and the Jays are going to need more out of Rios if they hope to continue closing the gap on BOS and NY.. but then again wasn't he somewhat rushed to the bigs 2 seasons ago?

I would prefer giving Rios time to develop because we just dont know what kind of player he'll end up in the next couple of years. Additionally, with JP's strategy of drafting college players, it might be a while until we have someone in the system who has this much upside. We've lost a lot of young talent (which speaks highly of our depth) who have become pretty good players (eg. F. Lopez, Izturis, M. Young, etc.). As much as I am tired of the Jays losing crucial games, it sucks losing players who subsequently go on to do greater things with other teams. I think in this case, Rios is going to be worth the wait.

greenfrog - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 06:37 PM EDT (#127439) #

I think XooM is right. Trading Rios would be selling low and buying high. Sometimes young players like Lopez and Izturis move laterally for a while, even a couple of years, then "get it" and take off. Rios just turned 24 and is playing his first full season in the bigs. Gotta give him another year at least. Besides, the Jays aren't contenders yet, and there isn't a lot of slugging talent available on the trade market, so why not see where we're at in a year?

John Northey - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 07:51 PM EDT (#127442) #

I think Rios will stay in the Jays outfield unless he doesn't.

By that I mean the Jays will look for a top quality offensive player and if that player is an outfielder and/or the cost is Rios the Jays will not hesitate to let Rios go. However, if they don't find that top quality hitter or they can get one without losing Rios then Rios starts again in 2006.

Gee, what insight eh? :)

Rios will not lose his job to Green or Griffen, but could be traded. He won't be a bench or AAA player, just everyday here or elsewhere.

King Ryan - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 07:52 PM EDT (#127443) #

Is Cesar Izturis the most overrated player on this site? I understand he's a great fielder, but he still hits like he did with Toronto!

Felipe Lopez has also cooled off considerably after a hot start to the season.

I don't have any data to back this up, but I would guess that young players that are bad for the first two years end up staying bad more often than not.

rtcaino - Monday, September 05 2005 @ 08:18 PM EDT (#127444) #

I'm looking forward to getting a look at Marcum. Is it safe to assume he'll be used as a long man out of the pen?

R Billie - Tuesday, September 06 2005 @ 05:49 PM EDT (#127497) #

I'm happy that Griffin has finally been able to stay healthy and put up some good counting stats and show some good power. I'm still concerned about how much he can help the Jays though. He can hit the ball hard but the low average and high strikeouts make me wonder how much time he would need to adapt to the big league level.

Especially when the team wants a distinct improvement in onfield performance with the payroll going up quite significantly in the next two years. I'm guessing from $50m this year to about $70-75m in 2006 and $85-90m in 2007.

Griffin Gets the Call, Capping a Big Day | 18 comments | Create New Account

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