Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - The Hechavarria Era Begins

Adeiny Hechavarria made his debut Friday night and went 1-5, his only hit was an infield hit. But Dunedin did win as did New Hampshire and Lansing. Ryan Tepera and Luis Perez had good starts and Adam Calderone carried the offense for the Fisher Cats. Calderone had half the teams hits, scored half the teams runs, and drove in half of the runs too. Las Vegas were blown out as Bobby Ray, Jesse Carlson, Merkin Valdez and Jeremy Accardo all had a rough game.

Iowa 13 Las Vegas 6

Bobby Ray pitched a complete game last time out but this start wasn't as good. Ray gave up five runs, four earned in 5.2 innings. Ray allowed nine hits and two walks in those 5.2 innings. The ex-Toronto relievers did worse. Jesse Carlson gave up two runs in 1.1 innings. Merkin Valdez gave up four runs in .1 of an inning and Jeremy Accardo allowed two runs in an inning.

Jarrett Hoffpauir led off the first with a home run for the second time this week. He had three hits to lead the 51's. Jesus Merchan had two hits including a home run and Raul Chavez also had two hits.

Portland 3 New Hampshire 4

This game was scoreless through five innings, each team had two hits at that stage. Luis Perez gave up a run in the sixth on an infield single and a double. But in the bottom of the sixth Adam Calderone doubled in a two runs and then Eric Thames singled in Calderone and the Fisher Cats led 3-1.

Perez pitched seven innings and gave up one run on four hits and four walks. Tim Collins pitched the eighth with one single and two strikeouts. Adam Calderone added a run in the eighth, he walked and then scored all the way from first on a pickoff error by the pitcher. Danny Farquhar had a three run lead to work with in the ninth and he needed it as he surrendered a two run home run.

New Hampshire had six hits, Calderone had three of them, scored two runs and drove in two.

Clearwater 2 Dunedin 8

Joel Carreno started and pitched five innings, he gave up two runs and left the game down 2-1. Dunedin scored their first run in the fifth, Yan Gomes doubled in Kevin Ahrens who had singled. Edwin Encarnacion tied the game with a home run in the sixth. Dunedin took the lead in the seventh, Al Quintana scored on a double by Wellinton Ramirez.

Dunedin scored five runs in the eighth, all unearned. A two out error opened the floodgates and a second error added to the damage. Ramirez had a two run triple to drive in two runs.

Van Kirk, Shoffit, Quintana and Ramirez had two hits each. Encarnacion was 1-4 with a walk. Hechavarria was 1-5. His at-bats went fly out to centre; ground out to second; strike out swinging; fly out to centre; and single to pitcher. Tyler Pastornicky played second base.

Lansing 4 Bowling Green 1

Ryan Tepera gave up a run in the first inning on two hits. Then he shut down Bowling Green for five innings, his second strong start in a row. Tepera finished with seven K's.

Lansing took the lead with two runs in the second inning. Brad McElroy and Sean Ochinko started off the inning with singles and both later scored, McElroy on a double play ball and Ochinko on a single by Oliver Dominguez. The Lugnuts added two insurance runs in the sixth, Brad Glenn hit a two run triple.

The Luggies had 8 hits. Ochinko and Goins had two each.

Three Stars

3rd star - Luis Perez
2nd star - Ryan Tepera
1st star - Adam Calderone

Posted by Gerry on Saturday, May 15 2010 @ 10:05 AM EDT.

The Hechavarria Era Begins | 16 comments | Create New Account

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Krylian19 - Saturday, May 15 2010 @ 10:20 AM EDT (#215079) #

From what I've been reading it sounds like the Jays plan on being pretty aggressive with A-Hech's development...apparently he'll be in A+ for only a short time then off to new Hampshire and a possible September call-up after that. Now, I understand that most of that has to do with his own performance but AA has also said that he expects Wallace to spend the whole year at AAA.

Wondering if a fast track to the majors was an 'under the table handshake' kind of thing that went along with the contract to ensure he signed with us.

Or am I just thinking too much...

China fan - Saturday, May 15 2010 @ 10:49 AM EDT (#215080) #

His at-bats went fly out to centre; ground out to second; strike out singing....

Aaron Hill described him as a five-tool player, but apparently he's a six-tool player.... Or at least he remains cheerful in the face of adversity....

Gerry - Saturday, May 15 2010 @ 11:31 AM EDT (#215081) #

Or at least he remains cheerful in the face of adversity

Of course he is happy, he is finally playing his first professional game! Wouldn't you be happy too?

Good catch.

Denoit - Saturday, May 15 2010 @ 12:20 PM EDT (#215084) #

Wondering if a fast track to the majors was an 'under the table handshake' kind of thing that went along with the contract to ensure he signed with us.

It probably has alot to do with it. Im sure one of their selling points to him was that they will give him a chance to play in the Majors quickly. If other high end free agents see an organization giving Hechevarria a legitimate chance to play in the Majors when they promised him that it looks good on the organization. It will only help Toronto sign these type of players in the future if they treat them right.

Sano - Saturday, May 15 2010 @ 02:17 PM EDT (#215087) #

I think that it wouldn't have been so much the fact that he'd get to the majors sooner with Toronto so much as the fact that Toronto has no one at the major league level that's blocking him. That was apparently his concern with signing for NY, as Jeter recently re-upped for another contract.

I don't think we should rush him too much. I would be perfectly happy to see him get to AA this year, spend some time at AAA next year and possibly be a September call-up.

92-93 - Saturday, May 15 2010 @ 03:15 PM EDT (#215090) #

Mills & Ray seem like reliable guys to hand the ball to if you need some innings, which makes the Blue Jays SP depth all the more impressive when you consider Rzep & Litsch are right around the corner. Ray had some poise on the MLB mound last year and I wouldn't mind seeing him at some point later in the year.

tstaddon - Saturday, May 15 2010 @ 03:44 PM EDT (#215093) #

Josh Roenicke presents an interesting case right now. Last night, and perhaps during that debacle in Boston on Monday, are the only examples that show his control isn't quite there yet. Otherwise, he's been pretty solid. Age-wise, it's about time we see what we have in him - at 27, he's not getting any younger. But if he struggles and doesn't stick, the other options are somewhat intriguing:

- you could let him learn at the major league level a la Morrow, as it seems there's not much more for him to accomplish in AAA
-you could put Tallet in the 'pen upon his return, optioning Roenicke
-you could install Litsch in the rotation upon his return and move Eveland to the 'pen (my preference -- he's nails vs. lefties)
-or, you could get a look at another minor league arm.

Interesting that of all of the pitchers we have in the minors, Trystan Magnuson looks most ready to assume a bullpen job, even if it'd be more ideal to debut him in July/August.

jgadfly - Saturday, May 15 2010 @ 10:22 PM EDT (#215100) #

The Jays now have 43 names listed on their 40 man roster with 4 players (Litsch, Hayhurst, Richmond, & McGowan) on the 60 day injury list. Litsch won't affect the 40 man roster when he is activated but most additions from Dble A roster would ( the exception being Luis Perez ) which means subtracting the usual suspects . I was surprised to see that Hechavarria is on the 40 so that calling him up in September is probably a given . None of the Jays' other 'top 5 prospects' are on the 40 man so there will be movement by September if not earlier.

scottt - Sunday, May 16 2010 @ 07:02 AM EDT (#215105) #

Where did Hechavarria bat? Is he being groomed as a lead off hitter?

tstaddon - Sunday, May 16 2010 @ 09:28 AM EDT (#215108) #

There's really no shortage of droppable dudes on the 40 currently. I don't see other teams rushing out to grab Accardo, Rey Gonzalez or Jeremy Reed. Similar players are clearing waivers no problem right now. Hard to believe another team would really make a big push on David Purcey or Brian Dopirak either. Both of them have the same problems today that have held them back their entire careers.

Thomas - Sunday, May 16 2010 @ 12:55 PM EDT (#215120) #

I think both Purcey and Dopirak would be picked up by other teams if they were dropped. While both players have issues they have struggled with their whole careers, they both also have particular strengths and the potential to be useful ballplayers. If I were a GM with space (or a placeholder) on my team's 40-man roster, I'd grab either guy if they were passed through waivers.

I do agree that the Jays could lose Gonzalez or Reed without it hurting too much.

TamRa - Sunday, May 16 2010 @ 04:17 PM EDT (#215129) #

Where did Hechavarria bat? Is he being groomed as a lead off hitter?

He's leading off again today, and I think that's where he fits best as we look ahead to, for instance, the 2012 team...

but also keep in mind he might be leading off just to be sure he gets the most possible at-bats too.

scottt - Sunday, May 16 2010 @ 04:19 PM EDT (#215130) #

Lewis has taken over for Reed. EE is going back to third eventually and Bautista will probably go back in the outfield at some point.

Sano - Sunday, May 16 2010 @ 04:57 PM EDT (#215131) #

I would much rather see Bautista remain the regular third baseman. It seems that in EE's absence the team's really begun to play well. The outfield of Lewis, Wells and Snider are meshing well and Bautista's defense at third is an asset. His bat has also been winning us ballgames. I wouldn't mind seeing EE take over from Ruiz in that DH/3b spot-starter role.

greenfrog - Sunday, May 16 2010 @ 06:01 PM EDT (#215132) #

Pretty hard to take Bautista out of the lineup at the moment. Not only is he slugging up a storm, but his defense is also stronger than EE's. For now, I'm guessing Cito keeps Lewis and Bautista in the lineup, and spot-starts Ruiz and EE.

Great game all around for the Jays today. Morrow righted the ship nicely, and the 'pen did a solid job.

earlweaverfan - Sunday, May 16 2010 @ 07:31 PM EDT (#215133) #

My ideal scenario is that EE is given a handful of starts in New Hampshire and Vegas, and puts a bit of a hitting streak together to look like an asset. Then the Jays trade him and a couple of middling prospects(of the Jerolman level) to, say, the White Sox, for Santos or Thornton. (They need a major upgrade on Teahen). If we could get one more highly dependable bullpen guy, we could be a team to contend with.

Best of all, the Jays wouldn't then be tempted to give Lewis or Bautista fewer at-bats.

My most likely scenario is that Encarnacion slumps his way up to the big club, impressing no one, and then they send Ruiz down, because they owe him less money and they could pretend to play EE, the way they pretend to play Ruiz, now.

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