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5 of the 6 affiliates scored at least 8 runs last night as the teams went 3-3.  Brian Dopriak continued his hot streak with 2 more HRs.


Syracuse 8 at Louisville 3

David Purcey started and pitched quite effectively.  He gave up 2 runs (1 unearned) in 6 innings, striking out 7 and walking none.  The down side to that is that it took 102 pitches to get through those 6 innings.  Anyway, his AAA ERA is now 2.69 for the year.  In 117 innings he's struck out 121 and walked 34, allowing only 8 HRs.  Not bad; now he needs to be able to translate that at the next level.  He's a good example of why you don't give up on talented pitchers, despite how much they struggle.

The Chiefs put up 12 hits on the night.  Coats had three, while Lydon, Luna, and Watson had two.


Trenton 9 at New Hampshire 8

Scott 'Utley' Campbell had 3 hits including 2 doubles and two walks.  Travis Snider walked in his first 4 PAs last night.  He then got tired of that and hit a HR in his 6th AB.  Jeroloman and Phillips also walked twice.  You know who didn't walk, despite the team getting 12 walks last night?  Ryan Klosterman.  Oh, and Arencibia too.  Arencibia's AA walkless streak is now at 117 ABs and he's now managed to get his average above his OBP - not an easy thing to accomplish!

It was a rough night for Kenny Rodriguez as he gave up 5 runs and couldn't make it out of the first inning.


Palm Beach 1 at Dunedin 14

Brian Dopriak is hot.  He had 2 HRs last night to give him 6 in his last 4 games.  Patton and Robbie Diaz also homered as they had 2 and 3 hits respectively.

Brad Mills continues to show that he deserved to be pitching in Dunedin well before he did.  He pitched 6.1 scoreless innings last night striking out 7 and walk 3 while only allowing 3 hits.  In 5 starts Mills has a 1.15 ERA and excellent supporting numbers across the board (except maybe a flyball tendency right now).


Lansing 8 at Kane County 9

Lansing banged out 15 hits in this one (and allowed 17).  Rodriguez, Tolisano, and Chavez each homered for the Nuts.  Tolisano had 3 hits on the night, as did David F Cooper (who now has a 1.064 OPS in 50 Lansing ABs).  Liuzza, Rodriguez, and Chavez each had two hits.


Batavia 2 at Auburn 0

Just 6 hits on the night for the Doubledays.  Nicholas and Mike McDade each had 2.  Since his demotion, McDade (do they call him McDaddy?  They should if they don't.) is hitting .357/.391/.452.  He probably started out a little higher than he should have this year (said in retrospect), but he'll likely get another shot at Lansing next year.

Marcus Walden had a strong start, giving up just one run over six innings while striking out 9 against no walks.


GCL Yankees 5 at GCL Jays 10

  • Big Balbino Fuenmayor had a big day going 4-5 with a double.  The 18 year old is starting to heat up as he's hitting .317 over his last 10 games. 
  • The Jays 6th round pick this year,  HS'er Marcus Brisker, went 2-4.   The CF has surprised, hitting .322/.344/.390 so far, which is more impressive when you consider how much all the Jays HS picks struggled last year. 
  • Lefty hitting catcher Jon Talley went 2-4 with a double and HR.  He was the Jays 13th round pick last year out of high school and is now hitting .322/.364/.508.  He might be able to make the jump to Lansing next year.
  • SS Tyler Pastronicky went 2-5.  The Jays 5th rounder out of HS this year is now hitting .250/.329/.368.

3 Stars!:
3 - John Tolisano
2 - Robbie Diaz
1 - Brian Dopriak
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Mike Green - Tuesday, July 22 2008 @ 10:30 AM EDT (#189199) #
This is probably obvious, but seeing as the GM made the comparison between Campbell and Utley, here goes. 

Utley was a different hitter entirely from Campbell in the minor leagues.  Much more pop, significantly poorer strike zone control. Utley has obviously progressed much more than usual for a prospect.  What you might realistically hope for with Campbell is .290/.365/.430.  That is useful.

jerjapan - Tuesday, July 22 2008 @ 11:51 AM EDT (#189203) #
Lefty hitting catcher Jon Talley went 2-4 with a double and HR.  He was the Jays 13th round pick last year out of high school and is now hitting .322/.364/.508.  He might be able to make the jump to Lansing next year.

Excellent - ANOTHER catching prospect.  We are absolutely loaded behind the plate. 
MatO - Tuesday, July 22 2008 @ 12:36 PM EDT (#189205) #

On top of that, it looks like the best Blue Jay prospect in the DSL is a 17 year old catcher named Carlos Perez (now that's a baseball name!) out of Venezuela.  He has an OBP of .451 with a K/W of .53.

GregJP - Tuesday, July 22 2008 @ 03:41 PM EDT (#189225) #
Between Texas and Toronto you've got almost enough catching prospects to populate an entire league.

It'll be interesting to see who actually pans out. 

Helpmates - Tuesday, July 22 2008 @ 04:24 PM EDT (#189229) #
Talley might be too big to stay at catcher...sounds/looks like he's a first baseman in the making.  We'll see...
TamRa - Tuesday, July 22 2008 @ 05:38 PM EDT (#189237) #
Despite his slow start, I think Jimminez is supposed to be a plus defender behind the plate too...

Great to see Balbino finally find his stroke!

Mills needs to be in NH, so does Dopirak.....maybe when Cooper is promoted to Dunedin Dopirak will get the call

I hope those who are so willing to write off Rickey-Ro are paying attention to the lessons of Purcey.




Olerud363 - Tuesday, July 22 2008 @ 05:40 PM EDT (#189239) #

Utley isn't a great match for Campbell. 

So who is???   How common is it to find a young hitter who controls the strike zone well then explodes to win a minor league batting title??   You know who is a good match, Wade Boggs.   Didn't make the majors to he was 24, very good control of the strike zone as a young player then had a great year in triple aaa at 23, similar to Campbell but a level ahead.

Another way to find comparables is look at the Eastern League batting champs.  Who are they and what happens to them??  Which ones are good matches for Campbell??  I glanced over the list and there is a real mix of guys I never heard of to monsters like Vlad and Manny.   Alex Rios at 22 is a good match to Campbell at 23... different swings and body types though.

http://www.easternleague.com/el-BattingChamps.htm

Nigel - Tuesday, July 22 2008 @ 06:56 PM EDT (#189241) #
I think Brian Roberts (minus the speed/SB's) is a good comp for Campbell - although to be fair to Campbell, Roberts never put up a year in the minors quite like Campbell has this year.  Good average, good plate discipline and some extra base pop - will take you a long long way, offensively, as a middle infielder.  As someone suggested yesterday, Campbell is the Jays' first prospect who truly profiles as a leadoff hitter since ... well I don't know when - maybe Shannon Stewart.
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