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Even though the batters barely showed up, Lansing managed the only win on the night thanks to some great pitching from a trio of left-handers. All the other affiliates disappointed.


Pawtucket 6 Syracuse 5

Lefty reliever Mike Gosling gave up the winning run in the ninth inning. Davis Romero pitched the first two innings of the game and allowed four runs on six hits. Bill Murphy worked three hitless innings and struck out seven batters. Brian Tallet worked a scoreless rehab inning. Russ Adams (yes, Russ) was the offensive star with three hits in four at-bats. Travis Snider went 2-for-3 with an RBI and is now hitting .455. Buck Coats also had two hits.

Harrisburg 13 New Hampshire 11

Starter Brandon Magee had yet another bad pitching performance and allowed eight runs in 2.1 innings on seven hits and three walks. Orlando Roman was almost as bad, allowing five runs in 2.1 innings. Jo Matumoto kept Harrisburg off the board for 4.1 innings. Scott Campbell was 1-for-2 with a run scored. Erik Kratz, normally a catcher, came into the game to play third base and went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Kyle Phillips was 1-for-5 with a homer and three RBI. Chris Gutierrez was 3-for-5 with two RBI.


Dunedin Rained Out


Lansing 1 West Michigan 0

Lansing received a wonderful pitching performance from a trio of southpaw pitchers that combined on a shutout. Brian Letko pitched the first six and allowed just three hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Joe Wice worked the next two and struck out a pair. Edgar Estanga saved his ninth game with a hitless inning. The hitters managed just three base knocks with Manny Rodriguez, C.J. Ebarb and Moises Sierra doing the honors.


Brooklyn 9 Auburn 1

Auburn hitters, like those in Lansing, managed only three hits. Brian Van Kirk had two hits, while Chris Demons had the other one. Catcher Karim Turkamani went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. Jared Wells was roughed up for four runs in three innings on six hits and one walk. He also struck out four batters. Evan Crawford allowed on earned run over 2.1 innings, while Matt Daly allowed one unearned run in 1.2 innings. Justin Cryer's struggles continued as he allowed six hits, two walks and three runs in two innings.

Gulf Coast Indians 3 Gulf Coast Jays 2 (11 innings)

The bullpen blew it in the 11th when Willi Mendez was unable to get an out and Corey Bachman allowed two inherited runners to score. Ryan Page started off the game with five scoreless innings. John Anderson held the Indians scoreless for three relief innings. Offensively, infielders Justin McClanahan and Kyle Gilligan had three hits each. Markus Brisker added two hits. 2008 second round pick Kenny Wilson continued to struggle and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and is now hitting .179 with 54 strikeouts in 134 at-bats.


Three Stars (Lansing pitchers deserve it all):
3. Edgar Estanga for one shutout inning, his ninth save which secured the only win of the night
2. Joe Wice for two shutout innings
1. Brian Letko for six shutout innings


A Sorry Thursday Night on the Farm | 22 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
David Paul - Thursday, August 14 2008 @ 11:55 PM EDT (#190695) #
I think you maybe went to bed too early? Syracuse rallied in the 9th with Snider batting in the winning run.
Lucky - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 07:42 AM EDT (#190698) #
Anybody know what happened to Campbell and why he left the game?
Sister - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 08:14 AM EDT (#190699) #

Here is my addendum to Marc’s Syracuse – Pawtucket game recap.

 

Syracuse closer Rick Bauer was brought into to hold the 1-run lead in the top of the ninth and promptly walked the leadoff hitter Joe Thurston. This was followed by a pitching change to bring in lefty Mike Gosling to face right Keith Ginter (huh? -- who hits lefties extremely well), who promptly deposited a homerun to right field giving Pawtucket the 1-run lead.  Gosling managed to make it out of the 9th without any further damage.

This brings us to the heroic bottom of the 9th when Bosox closer Chris Smith was brought into the game to finish things off for Pawtucket. Happily for Syracuse fans he did a lousy job. Bucky Coats started the inning off with a single. After a fly out by Sandoval, Russ Adams took a walk. Hector Luna then grounded into a force out at second moving Coats to third. Then up steps might Travis. The fear he invokes at the plate was felt early as Chris Smith made an errant pickoff throw to allow Buck Coats to score and tie the game, and Luna to move up to second. Shortly after mighty Travis took a Smith offering and singled to right allowing Luna to plate the winning run.  Syracuse 7, Pawtucket 6.

whiterasta80 - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 09:51 AM EDT (#190701) #
That makes me smile.  A blue jays prospect performing in the clutch.  Now just keep him away from Wells (and to a lesser extent Rios).
John Northey - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 11:04 AM EDT (#190703) #
So, who else thinks Snider can taste the big leagues and is just about to force the Jays to promote him? 
A+: 279/333/557
AA: 262/357/461
AAA: 478/500/696

His K rate is scary high: 146 over 446 AB's, or 196 over 600 AB's.  His walks are mediocre at 57 total so far (none in AAA) but not terrible (over 1 per 10 PA's). 

This kid can rake and will be in Toronto in 2009 at some point, probably at some point in April.  I'd be very tempted to leave him down in the minors for September though as he won't take up a 40 man slot unless he is promoted.  Still, if your main concern is doing well in 2009 then calling him up for a look-see in September might be worth more than the 40th man protected would be (Russ Adams?).

At this point I'm betting on the outfield/DH being a bit of a rotation where Snider gets the bulk of DH time but also spells off the outfielders by playing some LF and RF, with Rios alternating between CF/RF and Wells CF/DH and Lind LF/DH.  Stairs being around as a 5th outfielder, or being released and putting Coats (286/349/414 14 SB 7 CS) or another guy who can play defense in that role.

92-93 - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 01:35 PM EDT (#190708) #
"Now just keep him away from Wells (and to a lesser extent Rios)."

Yes, he suffered through a very poor 2007 plagued by a shoulder injury. But to imply that you prefer Rios over him makes me cringe. First of all, Vernon's the better CF (but let's not argue that, because it doesn't get anywhere, although I wonder if the last few games have changed any of your stances). Secondly, Rios has had 220 more plate appearances this year than Wells, but Vernon has 2 more HR and only 1 less RBI. His season extrapolated would be a fine 24hr-115rbi year. At this point in 2008, I'd much rather see Wells coming up to the plate in a big spot than Rios - at least Wells' infield poppers don't induce double plays, like what happens often when Rios pounds the ball into the ground at the SS.


China fan - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 01:57 PM EDT (#190710) #
If I'm not mistaken, the Syracuse season will end in early September.  (In fact it ends on Sept. 1, if I'm reading the schedule properly.)   And they won't make the playoffs, right?    So you can't really "leave Snider in the minors" during September.   He'd just be sitting idle.  Might as well promote him to Toronto for September and give him a small taste of the majors, so that he'll have an easier adjustment in 2009.
92-93 - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 02:03 PM EDT (#190711) #
"Might as well promote him to Toronto for September and give him a small taste of the majors, so that he'll have an easier adjustment in 2009."

Except that you ignore the cost of doing so - games Snider plays as a 20 year old could take away from the amount of games you get from him in his prime years, as a 27 year old. You also make it more likely that those prime years come when Snider is eligible for free agency, as opposed to the team being able to control those years in arbitration.

Travis Snider has zero business being called up unless they are in a serious WC race (2 or 3 games back) and his bat could actually make the difference in playing meaningful baseball this year.
Dave Rutt - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 02:25 PM EDT (#190713) #
First of all, Vernon's the better CF (but let's not argue that, because it doesn't get anywhere, although I wonder if the last few games have changed any of your stances)

Well, I'll have to disagree - not on Vernon being the better CF necessarily, but on arguing not getting us anywhere. Between last year and this year, Rios has played almost half a season in CF, so the numbers are starting to become significant. Here are the numbers I usually like to look at when evaluating defense, all available at THT:

RZR - Revised Zone Rating is the proportion of balls hit into a fielder's zone that he successfully converted into an out.
OOZ - Out Of Zone, or the total number of outs made by a fielder on balls hit outside of his zone. I look at OOZ per 9 innings, since Vernon obviously has many more innings in center.
R/200 - this is THT's measure of arm effectiveness, the methodology is here.
Year   Inn-V    Inn-R    RZR-V    RZR-R    OOZ/9inn-V    OOZ/9inn-R    R/200-V    R/200-R
2007   1279      161      0.878    0.909    0.225          0.224        -2.3      12.6
2008   593       470      0.860    0.952    0.304          0.479        no data   no data
This data indicates that Rios gets to more balls in the zone, more balls out of the zone, and has a better arm. There isn't really much else to outfield defense. You can go back farther in the data, and not much changes (other than Rios not having any data for CF).

Briefly glancing through the leaders from the past 2 years, it seems that CF and RF have about the same RZR on average, while CF make more OOZ plays - this gives us a basis for comparing older data when Rios was only playing RF. The result: Rios has always had a higher RZR than Wells, and has made about the same or even slightly more OOZ plays per season despite playing in the corner. Rios has also always had one of the top rated arms, while Wells' has generally been slightly below average.

Taking all that account is enough to convince me that the Jays should switch Rios and Wells sooner rather than later. The fact that Vernon seems to be more injury prone, and his latest injury resulted simply from running, only supports that idea.
whiterasta80 - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 02:37 PM EDT (#190714) #

Now that comment I agree with. In fact, I dont' want to see him until this time next season (maybe late June if we're competing)

92-93 - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 02:49 PM EDT (#190715) #
The arm strength should be more of a reason to keep it as Wells in CF and Rios in RF, not less.

RZR and OOZ have quite a few deficiencies, but again, I didn't want to turn this into a defensive metrics argument. It's just puzzling to me how some of you can watch Rios over the past couple of weeks and not be horrified by his defense. He gets awful first steps on terrible reads. Sure, he has all the tools in the world - but he has no idea what he's doing out there, and there's only so much his speed can compensate for. I think Vernon's instincts, baseball awareness, and ability to track balls off the crack of a bat more than make up for Rios' speed advantage. I'm glad that at least Cito (and Gibbons) agrees with me that the team is better served for now with Wells in centre and Rios in right.
whiterasta80 - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 02:51 PM EDT (#190716) #

Seems my previous post was lost.  92-93 I couldn't agree less with your assumption that Vernon's the better CF, though Dave already beat me to the rationale as to why.

My contention that Wells is less clutch than Rios was based on a longer history of choking. That's not even getting into the issue of their respective contracts.

As for who's been really "less clutch" this season, then I guess it depends on your definition.  Rios dramatically outslugs Wells in close and late while Wells dramatically outslugs Rios with RISP.

My point wasn't to compare the two though, it was simply meant to express optimism at the notion that Snider might change the culture of this team. I don't think anyone would argue with me on that.

whiterasta80 - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 02:56 PM EDT (#190717) #

Looks like it will be a defensive argument.

There's no doubt that Rios' mentality prevents him from being an elite defender, but I'll give you another baseball hypothetical.

Two prospects run to first base, one with perfect form and one with terrible form, and they both arrive at the same time.  Who do you draft?

You draft the one with horrible form because if you can teach him good form he'll outperform the first prospect every time.

Despite all of the deficiencies that you outline in Rios' game, he has still been functionally a better CF than Wells (at least IMO) and would clearly be a better CF than Wells if he ever got his head in the game (which is possible).

Chuck - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 02:58 PM EDT (#190718) #

My point wasn't to compare the two though, it was simply meant to express optimism at the notion that Snider might change the culture of this team. I don't think anyone would argue with me on that.

Change the "culture" of this team? Sounds too nebulous to argue against.

whiterasta80 - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 04:36 PM EDT (#190722) #
Hehe... you'd be arguing against the optimism, not the change in culture itself.
lexomatic - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 07:56 PM EDT (#190727) #
I'd be tempted to send Snider down to Dunedin for their playoffs and tell him to kick butt (or maybe even work specifically on take & rake or something similar). Then bring him to Toronto, unofficially, to sit on the bench and watch and get a feel for things. That would be just as useful as far as exposure without the future cost. If it wasn't clear, by "unofficially", I mean not promote him but just give him the plane ticket and have him stay with Halladay or some other positive influence.
Dave Rutt - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 08:04 PM EDT (#190728) #
Davis Romero seems to be stuck in some sort of weird time vortex. He's apparently pitching again tonight (at least according to milb.com Gameday), and has given up 4 runs on 6 hits in 2 innings.
MatO - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 08:47 PM EDT (#190730) #
I keep checking Gameday and yesterday's bocscore and they both keep showing it as David Romero.  Ricky hasn't pitched since August 8 so either he's missed his start for some reason or they're confusing him and Davis.
MatO - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 08:49 PM EDT (#190731) #
That's Davis not David.
92-93 - Friday, August 15 2008 @ 10:01 PM EDT (#190733) #
It's listed as Ricky Romero now - 6ip 5r 7h 3bb 3k 2hr
TamRa - Saturday, August 16 2008 @ 05:08 AM EDT (#190735) #
September call-ups do not start the service time clock.

However, according to Bastian, he's going back to the AFL so the discussion is moot for now concerning TS.


Magpie - Saturday, August 16 2008 @ 07:23 PM EDT (#190760) #
September call-ups do not start the service time clock.

Au contraire, mon ami. Service time is credited for "each day the player appears on an active roster or major league disabled list or a suspended list." The active roster can be expanded to 40 on September 1, but everyone on it is doing major league service. This is why Josh Banks had 27 days of service time going into this season, and Adam Lind had 31 days going into 2007.

However, September time does not start the RoY clock - the at bats or innings pitched do count and could disqualify a player, but not the days spent sitting on the bench. (One of the qualifications for RoY is less than 45 days on the active roster during the period of the 25-man limit.)
A Sorry Thursday Night on the Farm | 22 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.