Batter's Box Interactive Magazine

Four losses, two starting pitchers were shelled, two pitched well. Ricky Romero continued his spiral as he allowed seventeen baserunners in 5.2 innings. Kyle Ginley didn't get an out in the second inning as he was hit hard. Bill Murphy took the loss for the Chiefs in a parent club-like loss despite pitching well. Gregg Zaun homered to account for the Chiefs only run. Trystan Magnuson pitched well for Lansing but Chi-Hung Cheng took the loss. Lansing is still two games ahead of two teams for the first half title with four games left.

Syracuse 1 Columbus 2

Gregg Zaun accounted for half of Syracuse's hits as he went 2-4 on his rehab. Zaun homered in the first inning to deliver all the Chiefs runs.

Bill Murphy pitched well enough to win, two runs allowed in seven innings. One of the Columbus runs was a steal of home by Alex Escobar.

New Hampshire 2 Akron 8

This game was scoreless through four. Ricky Romero dodged a few bullets through four, he gave up five hits and three walks but stranded eight runners. In the fifth Romero left the bases loaded but unfortunately three runs scored as he gave up six singles in the inning. In the sixth Romero walked a couple before allowing a three runs home run. Romero allowed 17 baserunners in 5.2 innings.

New Hampshire scored one run in the fifth with singles by Kyle Phillips, Brian Jeroloman and Scott Campbell. New Hampshire scored another in the sixth when Jacob Butler homered.

New Hampshire had seven hits, Phillips and Campbell had two each. Campbell also walked.

Daytona 10 Dunedin 6

Kyle Ginley was bombed in this game and was gone in the second inning having allowed seven runs. Ginley gave up six hits including one triple, four doubles and a single so he wasn't fooling anyone. Here's hoping there is no physical injury. Paul Phillips followed and allowed three runs to put Dunedin down 10-1 after three innings. Dunedin scored five late runs to make it look closer than it was, JP Arencibia hit his thirteenth home run off Papelbon, Jeremy that is. JP was 2-5 and is hitting .316 on the season. Nate Starner pitched four good innings in relief.

Lansing 1 West Michigan 4

Lansing lost a key game to rival West Michigan. Lansing did score first when Justin Jackson led off with a much needed double and scored on a fielders choice. Trystan Mugnuson started and pitched well, he allowed one run in four innings. Magnuson's June is his best month of the year so far, a mildly promising sign. Chi-Hung Cheng followed Magnuson and immediately walked the first hitter followed by a single and both runners ultimately scored. Cheng gave up another run in the seventh. Lansing were unable to score another run.

Lansing had five hits, no-one had two. Jackson was 1-2 with two walks and a hit by pitch.

3 star selection

3rd star - Bill Murphy
2nd star - Scott Campbell
1st star - JP Arencibia

Posted by Gerry on Wednesday, June 11 2008 @ 10:24 PM EDT.

Pass The Mescaline | 19 comments | Create New Account

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

Sneeps - Wednesday, June 11 2008 @ 10:31 PM EDT (#187071) #

Arencibia would make New Hampshire's lineup look pretty deadly.

Campbell
Mathews
Snider
Arencibia
Patterson
Butler
Hatch
Jeroloman
Klosterman

Also, what to do wtih Ricky Romero? Does sending him down make any sense? How about a move to the pen.. does he hold any value there?

Mike Green - Wednesday, June 11 2008 @ 10:55 PM EDT (#187075) #

The main question with Romero is whether he is healthy. He did have success in 10 starts in the FSL in 2006, but has had a whole boatland of trouble in double A since. He is only 23, so there is still time to adjust if it isn't a health issue.

Sneeps - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 09:13 AM EDT (#187082) #

An article about Kenny Wilson and why the Jays picked him:

http://blogs.tampabay.com/preps/2008/06/inside-the-draf.html

MatO - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 11:45 AM EDT (#187089) #

I noticed that Arencibia hit yesterday's HR to RF so I decided to check if this was normal. Here is the breakdown of his HR's for the year:

LF-4 LCF-1 CF-3 RCF-1 RF-4

How's that for symmetry? I guess this explains his success against RHP. The tendency is to pitch power hitters away but Arencibia just goes with the pitch and drives it.

ayjackson - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 01:31 PM EDT (#187091) #

Scott Campbell's June numbers are something to behold. 9 games, 9 walks, 3 strikeouts. .438/.571/.563.

For the season, he's on base 44% of the time.

John Northey - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 02:04 PM EDT (#187092) #

Just for fun I checked Travis Snider AA only
273-370-455
On pace for ... per 162 games
28 HR & 28 2B's
103 R
121 RBI
221 Strikeouts (ouch!)
90 Walks

Well, I guess it is extremely obvious what he has to work on eh?

Scott Campbell though is...
356-444-500
12 HR
41 2B
109 R
94 Walks
85 Strikeouts

Outside of his defense, which I don't have a measure of, there isn't much for him to do in AA anymore. Perhaps work on increasing power?

For fun, the DSL Blue Jays 2 have a SS named Daniel Arcila who is hitting 152-408-152 - guess he thinks you can walk off the island!

S P - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 03:19 PM EDT (#187093) #

Arencibia clearly doesn't think much of the high-A competition. I'm guessing the only reason he's not at AA or AAA right now is because of Jeroloman playing every day in NH and Diaz, Kratz, and Thigpen are at Syracuse. All of a sudden this organization has some serious catching depth. Does anyone know anything about Kratz's potential--is he a AAAAer? He is 28 after all.

slitheringslider - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 03:31 PM EDT (#187094) #

I don't think Kratz is in the Jays future plans. I think the minor league catchers are ranked in this order:

J.P. Arencibia
Brian Jeroloman
Robinson Diaz
Curtis Thigpen

It is going to be hard for Kratz, a 28 year old, to overtake these players on the depth chart. I don't really think Diaz and Thigpen's future is going to be with the jays. I think if all works out, Arencibia and Jeroloman can be a pretty lethal tandem behind the plate. Arencibia will be the starter while Jeroloman will be the defensive replacement, which is what I believe he projects to be in the first place anyway. Any offence we get from him is gravy.

Sneeps - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 03:39 PM EDT (#187096) #

Rumour has it that the Jays have signed the 7th ranked Latino prospect (according to Baseball America) for $700,000.

Gustavo Pierre, a 6'2",16 year old short stop out of the Dominican Republic.

quote from BA -- Comment: Many scouts suggest Pierre's big frame (6-2) could cause teams to move him to third base early in his career. An agile player with a great swing, he has looked better in batting practice than in games. Rumors say he may have agreed to a deal with Toronto for almost $700,000.

Sounds good to me.

Marc Hulet - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 06:25 PM EDT (#187103) #

The signing period for Latin prospects does not begin until July 2, so the Jays cannot have signed him... Regardless, I haven't seen that info at BA. Can you give a direct link, Sneeps?

mendocino - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 06:37 PM EDT (#187104) #

it's from ESPN

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3433834

7 Gustavo Pierre SS 16 (N/A) Dominican Republic Comment: Many scouts suggest Pierre's big frame (6-2) could cause teams to move him to third base early in his career. An agile player with a great swing, he has looked better in batting practice than in games. Rumors say he may have agreed to a deal with Toronto for almost $700,000.

"Meanwhile, Dominican outfielder Juan Duran (Cincinnati/$2.0 million) and Betancourt (Atlanta/$600,000) already have been signed because they turned 17 before July 2. "

Sneeps - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 06:57 PM EDT (#187107) #

Sorry I meant ESPN. Sorry for the confusion.

John Northey - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 07:47 PM EDT (#187110) #

With catching there are two depth charts.

Who can help us long term
This is where JP Arencibia & Brian Jeroloman land, with Diaz #3 and Thigpen #4 and dropping fast
Who can help us if Zaun/Barajas get hurt, play everyday or backup next year
Diaz leads here, once healthy, and Thigpen was #2 but might be slipping to #3 due to Kratz. Kratz is hitting well at AAA while Thigpen... best left unsaid

Arencibia is just in high A, hitting 316-345-566 at age 22. He won't see any major league playing time until next year at the absolute earliest and most likely no shot at being a regular until 2011 at age 25.

Jeroloman is in AA, hitting 255-376-389 at age 23. He could see playing time in September but I seriously doubt it. Most likely he'll be in AAA with Diaz in the majors and a AAAA guy like Kratz playing with him while Thigpen becomes a super utility guy (CA-2B-3B-1B-LF) or moves elsewhere.

Diaz will be 25 next year (hmm... a trend, all 3 top prospects are scheduled to be everyday major leaguers at 25) and was hitting 286-317-411 before getting hurt. Hopefully he returns soon as he hasn't played since May 2nd and if he is out much longer I suspect he'll not be starting in the majors next year.

2009 should be interesting behind the plate as Zaun and Barajas are free agents and decision time for Diaz and Thigpen will be here. If you are JP what do you do? Sign Zaun and/or Barajas? Count on Diaz and Thigpen? Trade or sign a free agent?

Free agent catchers 2008-2009 winter.
Rod Barajas TOR
Henry Blanco * CHC Option for $3 mil
Johnny Estrada MIL
Toby Hall * CWS Option for $2.25 mil
Adam Melhuse TEX
Mike Redmond * MIN Option for $0.95 mil
Ivan Rodriguez DET
David Ross * CIN Option for $3.5 mil
Javier Valentin CIN
Jason Varitek BOS
Vance Wilson DET
Gregg Zaun * TOR Option for $3.75 mil

ChicagoJaysFan - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 08:19 PM EDT (#187113) #

2009 should be interesting behind the plate as Zaun and Barajas are free agents and decision time for Diaz and Thigpen will be here. If you are JP what do you do? Sign Zaun and/or Barajas? Count on Diaz and Thigpen? Trade or sign a free agent?

I believe this is the key offseason. Zaun and Barajas both have option years for 2009. Zaun's vests if he hits a certain # of PAs or games this year. With his injury and the way Barajas is playing this year, I think it'll be tough to meet any targets. I don't think there's any guarantee he'd re-sign - playing time was a big issue for him last time and didn't JP say he wouldn't have signed Zaun if he were a free agent post-Mitchell report?

Barajas' 2009 is also an option year - I don't know whose option it is, but believe it's a Jays option. Either way, they've got to make those same decisions as you list.

ayjackson - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 08:22 PM EDT (#187114) #

The Jays have a club option for Barajas at net $2 million (salary less buyout). Zaun's option is a vesting option for $3.75 million if he reaches 270 games last year and this.

Zaun cannot reach his vesting threshold having played 151 games, with 96 remaining.

greenfrog - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 10:50 PM EDT (#187117) #

Barajas in 2009 for $2M looks pretty good, at least right now. I think it makes sense to have at least one veteran catcher on the team. Besides, he's doing it all: hitting, throwing runners out, calling a good game (the pitchers seem to like him a lot). I don't expect the hitting stats to hold up, but he still makes sense at that price.

Interesting article on Hill's head injury in today's G&M. It actually sounds somewhat serious, in that as recently as Monday the symptoms (headaches and lightheadedness) were still showing up when he exerted himself. I think the Jays should take extreme caution with Hill's health--this is one player you don't want to rush back because the team is struggling. To the Jays' credit (so far), the team hasn't pushed for a speedy return.

John Northey - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 10:50 PM EDT (#187118) #

Thanks ay. Didn't notice Barajas' option there. At $2.5 million for Barajas or $3.75 plus $500k for Zaun ($500k to release Barajas) I think it is an easy decision for the money makers at Rogers.

Thus I'd bet very, very strongly that 2009 will start with Barajas as the #1 catcher and Diaz as the #2. The Jays will sign a AAAA catcher for AAA and probably a second one for AA to backup Jeroloman and Arencibia respectively. Kratz is probably #1 on that AAAA list, with a promise of being first in line for injuries, especially given he is a lifetime Jay (7 seasons now). Thigpen will end up in a utility role in Syracuse as he won't have enough experience to be a minor league free agent yet (5 seasons in the minors) unless he is lost in the rule 5 draft.

So I guess the next big question is what to do about shortstop as Eckstein is a free agent and McDonald seems to have lost the little bit of hitting talent he had. AAA is a wasteland of AAAA guys, and AA isn't much better. Scutaro and Inglett are not everyday guys at short. Ugh.

greenfrog - Thursday, June 12 2008 @ 11:28 PM EDT (#187125) #

"McDonald seems to have lost the little bit of hitting talent he had."

Well, he's only had 27 AB in 21 games, which makes any kind of reasonable assessment impossible. My guess is that McDonald is more or less the hitter he always was: 238/278/314. Which isn't enough to make it as a starter, even for someone as skilled defensively as J-Mac.

I wonder if the Jays could pull off a blockbuster that would land them a good young SS (and maybe another position player, like a power-hitting LF). It's too bad Rios is having an off-year, because with Snider and Lind on the horizon, they could conceivably have offered a power-hitting Rios + pitching in return.

Obviously these trades are nearly impossible to pull off, and the Jays minor-league system, while showing some promise at the lower levels, lacks depth (making a trade even harder). And realistically, such a trade would have to include Marcum or McGowan. But it would be nice to see the Jays find a way (without giving up either starter) to address a longstanding need in decisive fashion.

peiscooter - Friday, June 13 2008 @ 06:24 AM EDT (#187128) #

Just a note to add to the Jays decision process with respect to their catchers in 2009.

Robinzon Diaz will be out of options after this season, so next spring the Jays will have to either keep him at the major league level or risk the high probability of losing him.

Pass The Mescaline | 19 comments | Create New Account

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