The only possible "differnce maker" for sometime this year from that list is Purcey. Like McG he has stuff in places most pitchers don't even have places...but like McG he has control issues. If he has "clicked" he'll be up by the All-Star break...like McG he's 25 already. 

Halladay, AJ, McG, Purcey, Janssen. I would be HAPPY to watch those guys even if they were losing. At least they offer HOPE.

Why did romero leave after only 2.2 IP ? Is it an injury ?

Kevin Gray's Union-Leader column indicates that Romero left due to leg discomfort.  The column also contains comments about Jesse Litsch's stuff and David Purcey's promotion possibilities.

FIP deity? What does that mean?

Fielding Independant Pitching.  Ignoring defense his numbers are great.  That is, his Ks, BBs, and HRs allowed.

Minor League stats are now available at Baseball Reference, including an organization view.

Cool.  BBRef just gets better and better.  It would be nice if there were links to firstinning.com for career records for minor leaguers. 

I hope Romero's leg injury is nothing more than discomfort. I really thought that he was turning the corner at AA, and was going to put up a great season there and at AAA.

It is a little depressing looking at Mike's list of pitching prospects.  First there are a lot of injuries.  Second there are doubts over every prospect there, Purcey's command; Romero's stuff; Bank's home runs; Litsch's stuff; etc.  None of them, except maybe for Purcey and Litsch have moved upwards a lot this year.  Litsch is a control type pitcher and they often face their biggest test at AAA.  Keith Law had a comment on Purcey in a chat yesterday, basically said he had made two starts against weaker teams and he was still waiting to see how he did as the season continues. Brandon Magee has struggled and I haven't paid much attention to the Lansing guys yet.

We need someone to heat up with the weather and dominate.

Nice nights for John Thomson and Sergio Santos.

One of the key points about the Lansing guys (Dials, Ginley, Lirette) is that they are young and doing quite well.  Keeping them healthy would be nice.

Questions about pitching prospects are completely normal.  The top pitching prospects in baseball according to Baseball America in 1997 were, in order, Kerry Wood, Kris Benson, Bartolo Colon, Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright, Roy Halladay, Matt Morris, Chris Carpenter, Braden Looper, Mike Drumright, Kevin McGlinchy, John Patterson, Felix Heredia, Brian Rose, Joe Fontenot, Chris Reitsma, Willie Martinez,  Valerio de los Santos,  Seth Greisinger, Jim Pittsley .  (that takes us down to #56 overall).  In hindsight, BA did a pretty good job of picking the best, but really there were legitimate questions about every single one of them.  The A pitching prospect is usually a bit of a mirage.

We need someone to heat up with the weather and dominate.

You mean like this kind of domination?

You mean like this kind of domination?

Yep, where can I get me one of those?

No one in this system is going to strike out 12 per 9IP.  Purcey can be very, very good though, and I am optimistic about his durability. (knocks on wood, crosses fingers and toes)

I think we need to step back a bit about Purcey. He started last year hot, too.

By the way, tonight, he has thrown 3 innings, giving up 5 hits, 3 ER, 1 walk and striking out 2.

Let's take a look at how some of the Jays' prospects faired in April 2007 compared to April 2006:

Pitchers: ERA  IP  H  BB-K
Hitters:  AVG  OBA  SLG  HR  BB-K

Syracuse
Josh Banks
3.54  28.0  25  4-23  (Syracuse-2006)
4.44  24.1  25  3-11  (Syracuse-2007)

Strikeouts are down, which is worrisome considering they were low to begin with.

Curtis Thigpen
.195  .298  .390  1  6-12  (New Hampshire-2006)
.269  .339  .500  3  4-7   (Syracuse-2007) 

Thigpen's power seems to be improving, as is his ability to make consistent contact.

John-Ford Griffin
.218  .253  .402  2    3-18 (Syracuse)
.264  .365  .528  5  12-22 (Syracuse)

A heathly Griffin is certainly capable of putting up better power numbers than he showed in 2006. Strikeouts are still high.


New Hampshire
David Purcey
1.99  22.2  12  17-20 (Syracuse)
2.81  25.2  13   4-28  (New Hampshire)

Aside from his control, Purcey actually had as good or better of a start to the season last year, considering he did it in Triple-A. This is a good example of why people should not get too excited yet about Purcey's start to the 2007 season.

Mike MacDonald
3.74  21.2  21  2-16  (New Hampshire)
2.19  24.2  23  4-10  (New Hampshire)

MacDonald really shouldn't be in Double-A, but the numbers game bit him like a number of other players in the system. He has the chance to be a solid sinker/slider reliever, but he won't start in the majors.

Jesse Litsch
4.28  27.1  27  4-26  (Dunedin)
1.19  22.2  17  5-15  (New Hampshire)

Litsch throws a little bit harder than MacDonald but he is another sinker/slider pitcher whom scouts project as a major league reliever. Hopefully he'll see Syracuse be mid-season if he keeps pitching like this.

Ryan Klosterman
.233  .296  .411  4    7-25  (Dunedin)
.143  .304  .179  0  10-10  (New Hampshire)

Klosterman has had a slow start to the season the last two years. The 2007 numbers look pretty bad, but he has significantly reduced his strikeouts and raised his walk total, which are both good signs. It would be interesting to see his BABIP as he could be having bad luck on a lot of his batted balls.

Sergio Santos
.212  .224  .242  0  1-12  (Syracuse)
.277  .333  .692  6  4-11  (New Hampshire)

Santos' power is up significantly but it could be due to his home ball park, as he is hitting .349 at home and .133 on the road. Five of his seven home runs have some in New Hampshire.

Chip Cannon
.243  .333  .419  3    6-23 (New Hampshire)
.194  .313  .388  3  11-31

Cannon does not perform well in the cold, as witnessed by two lousy Aprils. This year is really bad though, as he seems to be going for broke: homer or strikeout. He needs to shake his head and start looking to simply drive the ball hard.

Aaron Mathews
.194  .275  .222  0  4-7  (Dunedin)
.323  .397  .462  1  7-9  (New Hampshire)

Mathews had a solid April, especially compared to last year when his playing time was inconsistent.


Dunedin
Cory Patton
.296  .355  .531  3    9-18  (Lansing)
.325  .413  .500  1  10-13  (Dunedin)

Patton seems to like hitting in April and the cold in Lansing in 2006 did not seem to affect his numbers. His age is becoming an issue so the Jays should challenge him. His lack of power, as a corner outfielder, is a concern.

Jacob Butler
.202  .256  .369  3    4-29  (Lansing)
.296  .398  .543  5  13-10  (Dunedin)

Butler having a great start to 2007 but he, like Patton, is getting older and needs to be challenged. You really have to be impressed with the improvements in his BB and K.


Lansing
Sean Shoffit
.321  .400  .405  0  11-24  (Lansing)
.296  .397  .463  0    9-18  (Lansing)

Hopefully Shoffit can avoid the dreadful slump that he got into last year. His biggest issue, though, is his defence. His best infield position is 1B and he will never play that position at the MLB level, as he has no power. He needs to put more effort into his defence and improve at 2B, SS and 3B, where he's been below average.

Brian Pettway
.269  .322  .526  4  4-28  (Lansing)
.254  .295  .549  5  4-29  (Lansing)

Pettway's numbers are really not impressive for a soon-to-be 24-year-old at the lowest level of full-season ball. He has shown very little, if any, improvement over 2006.

Hi folks,

Ricky Romero actually has shoulder tendonitis and will be shut down for the next 10 days. I talked with him tonight, and he said the MRI showed some inflammation. He did not seem too distraught and considered this positive news ... As for the original "leg injury" report, that information was from another writer who was at the Trenton game on Thursday. Sorry for the confusion....Oh, and by the way, Mike MacDonald has just received news he'll be heading to Syracuse this weekend. No word yet on which game he'll start. He was scheduled to start Sunday for New Hampshire. -- Kevin Gray

Thanks, Kevin.  Please pass on our congratulations to Mike MacDonald.

Mike G,

I've seen McGowan pitch on several occasions but I've never seen Purcey pitch, I've only read scouting reports.  What is it about Purcey that has you optimistic about his development? 

 

Lets see... Syracuse starters: Josh Banks; Geremi Gonzalez; Ismael Ramirez; Jason Scobie and John Thomson.  Mike MacDonald could be joing the bullpen, if he will start it's either injury related or Ismael Ramirez is getting pulled from the rotation.

I have never seen Purcey in person, but just watched video.  Subjectively, I like the deceptiveness of his delivery and his sturdiness. Objectively, the combination of good K rates and emerging control is a very good one.  The main thing is that his arm has been healthy.

He had another so-so start today, but Sergio Santos hit another 2 homers, including another game-winning job.

I wonder if Ramirez is heading down.  From what I'm aware of, we've currently got 5 starters in AAA (Ramirez, Banks, Gonzalez, Taubenheim, and Thomson).

Ramirez hasn't looked good so far, but I can also see them send Thomson down (they just seem to want him get innings/starts) or Gonzalez (on the same token as Thomson - they already know what Gonzalez will give you at the ML level, so they might just want him to throw, regardless where it is).

Seems strange with Romero out to promote someone from AA though, because they need two starters now.  Maybe they decide to promote Isenberg and see if he has time to make his way up?  By the way, he's not really a prospect anymore, but has anyone noticed the start he's off to?  Almost regardless what you like, he's doing it well (9.35 K/9, just over 1/3 HR/9, 1.31 WHIP, 3.81 ERA, and he's a lefty - only blemish is just over 5 IP/S).

It's true, CJF, that Isenberg has been pitching well.  Maybe I will add him to the chart next time. 
He's 25, but the timetable for pitching prospects is not quite so rigid as it is for hitters.  And, who knows, maybe he will be taking MacDonald's spot in the Fisher Cat rotation?

Thanks Mike,

health is a major issue I often fail to consider.  I love McGowan's stuff, his mechanics look good and he seems solid physically, but he has had TJ which is a strike against him.  Injuries notwithstanding,  I feel that Romero is the safest bet of all of the 1st round pitching prospects in the upper levels of the Jays' farm system.  However, this will be the third time he's been off with an arm injury over the past couple of seasons which worries me. 

I hope you're right about Purcey.  It's been a tough season so far and I'd love to see some good news come out of the minors.  I'm not joining the strike, but I don't know how much longer I can stomach watching the Jays' current starting pitching.  I'm still crossing my fingers with McGowan and I cross my fingers before looking up the box scores on nights when Purcey and Romero are pitching.