Batter's Box Interactive Magazine

Brandon League made his 2007 debut breaking it down for the D-Jays as the affiliates went 3-1 on the night.

Norfolk 5 at Syracuse 9

The Chiefs banged out 16 hits last night. Wayne Lydon led the way with 4 singles from the leadoff spot. Curtis Thigpen had two singles & a double and Russ Adams had 2 hits including a HR.

Victor Zambrano got the start for Syracuse. He cruised through 5 scoreless innings before hitting the wall in the 6th where he gave up all 5 runs. Houston, James and Neal pitched 3.1 scoreless innings to close out the win.

Trenton 3 at New Hampshire 4

Trenton scored 3 runs in the first 3 innings off of Kurt Isenberg before settling down and pitching into the 8th inning. Isenberg struck out 3, walked 3 and gave up 5 hits, including a HR. Tracey Thorpe got the final 5 outs for the win.

The Fishercats scored 3 in the 7th to tie the game up. Diaz led off with a double and Santos walked. Cannon sac flied Diaz to 3rd before Ryan Patterson knocked him in with a single. Dustin Majewski singled to load the bases. After a Mayorson pop up Ryan Klosterman drove in the next run with a walk. Juan Peralta thought that was a good idea so he walked as well for the 3rd NH run of the inning.

With the game tied at 3 in the 9th Ryan Klosterman doubled with 2 outs. Juan Peralta was intentionally walked and then Rob Cosby came up and hit a single to right field to complete the comeback win.

Dunedin 1 at Clearwater 3

Brandon League is the big story of the night in Florida. He pitched two scoreless innings, striking out 3 and giving up just one baserunner on a single.

The D-Jay bats were quiet, getting just four hits on the night. Anthony Hatch had the only notable hit with a HR.

Lansing 6 at West Michigan 2

Graham Godfrey got the start and pitched 5 innings giving up 2 runs. He struck out 4, walked 2, and gave up 6 hits. Keng then came on and pitched 3 scoreless innings to pick up a quality hold.

At the plate Matt Lane led the way with 3 hits, including a double. Yuber Rodriguez continued his hot streak with another 2 hits. He's 21-48 in his last 10 games, including 11 extra base hits.

Travis Snider was back in RF for the Nuts and went 0-4 with a walk.

3 Stars!
3 - Matt Lane
2 - Curtis Thigpen
1 - Wayne Lydon

Posted by Pistol on Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 08:45 AM EDT.

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Mike Green - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 09:34 AM EDT (#168819) #

John Thomson gets a rehab start tonight for the Chiefs.

Rey Olmedo went 1-2 with 2 walks last night. The switch-hitter has a positive W/K against right-handed pitchers, and with Clayton out with an injury, might be a more valuable contributor to the big club than Brian Wolfe. Just saying.

Curtis Thigpen has now proved that he can hit triple A pitching about as well as he has hit all other kinds of pitching. The best thing for him would be to spend 1/2 a season playing from time to time, and learning the defensive side of the game from Gregg Zaun. With Zaun's lost time due to injury, he should be good for 250 PAs in the second half and that works perfectly with Thigpen's development needs.

Things could get very interesting here by the end of next month. It's easy to see a very good club if League recovers to 2006 form.

zeppelinkm - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 09:43 AM EDT (#168820) #

Hey folks, long time no post (my computer is out of order).

I was curious though, any idea of what League's velocity is like? He back in the mid to upper 90's? Or is he still a work in progress?

I am very interested in seeing where he's at!

portnoy - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 10:07 AM EDT (#168825) #

JP says League is back throwing 94 mph, and his movement is getting there too.....good news:

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070529&content_id=1992601&vkey=news_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor

ayjackson - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 10:24 AM EDT (#168828) #

I'd really like to see League back in a few weeks and Janssen inserted as the fifth starter when next needed (June 23). A rotation of Doc, AJ, Dusty, Shaun and Casey would surely go .700 the rest of the way (Mylegacy's enthusiasm is contagious). I think Gus is headed for the knife.

tstaddon - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 10:39 AM EDT (#168832) #

Things are really starting to turn for the better. *Knocks on wood*

In the next month or so, we'll have Halladay and Zaun back, with Johnson and League likely returning for July. Sparky's addition will also make it easier to rest Glaus periodically, because Rios' bat can be shifted into a power slot. In the minors, Adams is starting to come on and Thomson should be able to push Ohka almost immediately. Plus, if Clayton's banged up, perhaps the Jays call up both Olmedo and Adams during interleague action. Under that premise, the mathematics are extremely encouraging:

Add: Halladay, League, Zaun, Johnson, Olmedo/Adams
Subtract: Litsch, Wolfe, Fasano, Lind, Vermilyea

Any of the bats get hurt, Lind (who looks like he's turning a corner) comes back and bats low in the order. Get Wells or Thomas swinging it and that's a good ball club.

Jordan - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 10:43 AM EDT (#168833) #

Ricciardi said he didn't believe Chacin's injury would be season-ending, but he believed the lefty's return might take "a little longer than maybe we expected."

Based on JP's track record in this regard, we should expect to see Gus in spring training 2009.

christaylor - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 11:19 AM EDT (#168839) #

I am not so sure about Casey Janssen being in the rotation... he seems much better suited to the bullpen and even if 2006 League returns (doubtful) I'd still like to see him in the pen. Even if Gus goes under and is done for 2007, Janssen in the pen and youngster in the rotation (I'm not sold on Litsch, but him or whomever is fine by me) is what I'd like to see.

Mike Green - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 11:55 AM EDT (#168844) #

There's a first half playoff race in the Midwest League and the Lugnuts are right there. They're playing their rivals West Michigan this morning, and it's scoreless through 3 innings. Kyle Ginley has uncharacteristically few strikeouts, but has allowed only 1 hit, DIPS be damned.

jeff mcl - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 12:09 PM EDT (#168848) #

I for one don't want to see Janssen moved to the rotation simply because he looks too comfortable in his present role coming out of the bullpen, unlike poor Marcum who's always been a starter at heart. Knocking on wood in unison with the rest of you, I don't really think there's any great pressure to have him revert to starting if Doc is coming back, Dusty is turning a corner and Marcum is becoming a very viable back end of the rotation guy. I guess I'm ok with letting Thomson having a short audition at the fifth starter spot...

But, ya, get rid of Towers already, then Ohka and his cloud of depression. And then we go on a roll!

timpinder - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 12:59 PM EDT (#168855) #

I'm not convinced that League will be back at his 2006 level. His velocity is still down about 5 MPH and he has to be considered an injury risk now. I understand the desire to see Janssen in the rotation, but I don't think he'd be the same pitcher if he was starting. I don't see him throwing 94 MPH over 7 innings like he has giving it all in just a single inning out of the bullpen. An ERA of 4.50-4.75 is probably a realistic estimate for him in the rotation, which is fine for a 4th or 5th starter, but he might be better in the bullpen if their are other options available for the rotation.

ayjackson - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 01:08 PM EDT (#168857) #

Obviously if League and/or Frasor can't step into Janssen's role adequately, then he should be left there. But if they can, then Janssen's talent would be wasted out there, when he represents a marked improvement over Ohka in the rotation, in my opinion. He has four pitches, he can throw them for strikes. He should be given a shot at the rotation.

John Northey - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 01:24 PM EDT (#168860) #

So, if we are to have Towers and Ohka removed via trade who would want them?

Towers - 5.63 ERA, 80 ERA+ after last years horror
Ohka - 5.30 ERA, 85 ERA+ after no one wanted him as a free agent

Teams within 5 games of first who have at least one gapping hole in rotation...

Boston - worst is as god as Towers/Ohka

Cleveland - after big 3 they really suck. The 3 who have started outside of their big 3 have ERA+'s of 68, 73 and (brr) 54 over at least 6 starts (the 68 has 10 starts). Sounds like they could really use some depth, even of the Ohka/Towers kind.

Detroit - ERA+ of 86 is as bad as it gets for starting 5 with two others who started and allowed a total of 2 ER over 12 1/3 IP

Angles - 2 77's but also have two others who have started 2 & 3 games apiece with ERA+ over 200.

Seattle - Have 2 guys with ERA+ over 92 (way over), a guy at 91, then 3 others used who are at 73 (Batista), 64, and, over 6 starts and 22 IP - ERA+ of 29 out of Jeff Weaver. Ouch. Makes Towers in 2006 (56 ERA+) look good.

Mets - Have 5 guys with ERA+ of 109 or better plus 5 in pen with ERA+ of 114+ (3 at 250+). Moving on.

Atlanta - Has a big 3 then... ugh... 73,35,52,45 Wow, now that really, really stinks.

Milwaukee - Just 3 guys on entire staff are below 100. David Bush (67) and their 7th & 8th guys in the pen. Noticed Cordero as their closer is at 963 (0.43 ERA)

Dodgers - Issues in the 5 hole with Tomko at 72 and Jason Schmidt at 57 but doubt they are in the market right now with 4 guys at 116+ and 6 at 100+ in the pen.

Arizona - 6 starters at 96+, worst is Randy Johnson

San Diego - Top 4 are 82 or better, 5th slot has a 51 but someone else has moved in (4 starts) with a 359 ERA+.

So, from that I see that Atlanta, Seattle and Cleveland should all be desperate enough to take one or more of Towers/Ohka. Seattle is a surprise team so odds are they won't do much this year in trades until they are certain it is all for real. Cleveland and Atlanta though could be willing to take on the contracts at least in hopes of getting lucky.

ayjackson - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 01:37 PM EDT (#168861) #

Nice analysis, John. Without looking closely at the other teams in the league, I would suggest that Washington may have an interest too. They have been struck by the injury bug and have been starting just about anybody that can walk and chew gum (with some success, too). I've been of the mind for about a year that Josh should be pitching in the low stress, low run environment provided by RFK. The Nationals surely could poney up the $2.9 bones. If we eat any salary, it just improves the prospect coming back. But then, Washington has the worst prospects in the league.

Pistol - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 01:43 PM EDT (#168862) #

There's no reason why the Nationals would trade any of their prospects to any team.

Seattle is a surprise team so odds are they won't do much this year in trades until they are certain it is all for real.

Didn't Seattle make a few moves last year when they weren't even that close? Plus with a shaky GM he might be one to talk with. But expecting anyone worth anything in return for Ohka or Towers is probably unrealistic. But tightening up the bench couldn't hurt.

Marc Hulet - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 01:49 PM EDT (#168864) #

For those hard-core minor league fans out there, the Jays have brought five new Dominican Summer League players over this season to play in the New York Penn League and the Gulf Coast League:

Luis Perez LHP
Born: 1/85
2006: 1.38 ERA, 85 IP, 47 H, 23-107 BB-K

Joel Carreno RHP
Born: 3/87
2006: 1.53 ERA, 82.1 IP, 48 H, 28-86 BB-K

Carlos Vasquez IF
Born: 5/86
2006: .250/.352/.300, 1 HR, 26-42 BB-K, 17 SB

Bartolo Nicolas OF
Born: 8/84
2006: .280/.356/.371, 3 HR, 25-55 BB-K, 14 SB

Moises Sierra OF
Born: 9/88
2006: .253/.345/.376, 4 HR, 24-50 BB-K, 17 SB

Sierra is the biggest name, having been signed to a six-figure dea two years ago. Perez was the Jays' DSL player of the year for 2006.

John Northey - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 02:19 PM EDT (#168866) #

Marc, is the DSL an extreme pitchers league or is it just the nature of the guys the Jays brought over? No Slg% in the 400+ range, but two guys with ERA's sub 2. Perez and Nicolas have to show something quick to stay as prospects given they are in the very low minors. Sierra I would hope would show something this year to give us hope he could become a star (imo you gotta reach the majors by your early 20's if you are going to be a star level player, ie: multiple AS games, MVP shot, etc)

MatO - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 02:34 PM EDT (#168868) #

I'm not convinced that League will be back at his 2006 level. His velocity is still down about 5 MPH and he has to be considered an injury risk now.

My recollection is that 94 mph is where he sat last year when he was called up. Location and movement are far more important than velocity and I think pulling back a bit helped him become successful last year.

Marc Hulet - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 02:39 PM EDT (#168871) #

If you hit 10 homers in the DSL, you are a major slugger. Low SLG numbers are common and all three hitters listed have a fair amount of speed. There is also a wide range of talent, which is why the ERAs are so low (and a lot of unearned runs due to errors). Many of the top Latin players skip the DSL altogether.

ayjackson - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 03:11 PM EDT (#168873) #

There's no reason why the Nationals would trade any of their prospects to any team.

Of course there is - most of there prospects aren't worth keeping.

jgadfly - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 03:29 PM EDT (#168875) #

Lansing Lugnut Yuber Rodriguez was named player of the week in the Midwest (Low A ) League and New Hampshire righty Kyle Yates was named pitcher of the week in the Eastern (AA) League. Congrats !

jgadfly - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 04:36 PM EDT (#168882) #

Yuber link ... http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070529&content_id=250072&vkey=news_l118&fext=.jsp&sid=l118

Kyle link ... http://www.nhfishercats.com/index.php?hid=34

Hopefully this works!

CaramonLS - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 10:20 PM EDT (#168903) #

Cleveland - after big 3 they really suck. The 3 who have started outside of their big 3 have ERA+'s of 68, 73 and (brr) 54 over at least 6 starts (the 68 has 10 starts). Sounds like they could really use some depth, even of the Ohka/Towers kind.

Not a chance.

Westbrook, Sowers, Lee, Sabathia, Byrd, Carmona.

I can't see them even blinking at taking one of those 6 out in favor of Josh Towers/Tomo. Maybe Sowers, but Carmona has his spot locked down if they decide to take him out of the rotation, Even though Westbrook/Lee Have bad ERA right now, they aren't going to be seeing the pen any time soon.

Atlanta? Ok, I can see that happening, they seem to be desperate enough for warm bodies, I guess Towers or Ohka couldn't be any worse than what they have.

ChicagoJaysFan - Wednesday, May 30 2007 @ 10:33 PM EDT (#168906) #

What happened to the sentiment a few weeks ago where Towers was a great pitcher?

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