On my first day in Dunedin there were three lower level games being played. The Dunedin squad and the Lansing squad played their Philadelphia equivalents. The GCL level team played the Long Island Storm, a semi-pro or senior team of some sort.
The Dunedin game was started by Asher Wojciechowski. The teams in the spring are somewhat hints at who might start where. But with several players still at major league camp there will be some settling to be done. Jake Marisnick and KC Hobson were playing for Dunedin but they are unlikely yo start the season there. When Gose and Cooper come back, the centrefielders and first basemen will drop down.
In any event Marisnick led off the game with a home run and I saw Hobson get a couple of hits.
Woj is a big guy, not huge but solid. I haven't checked the stats but I would guess 6'3" and 240 pounds. He threw what could be called a heavy fastball at 91-93 mph with a slider and a change-up which were inconsistent. Wojo went five innings. One scout I spoke with still isn't convinced Wojo will be a starter but the Jays will give him a long look as one. Deck McGuire and Chad Jenkins were on the Dunedin bench so they would likely start there too.
I uploaded a short video of Wojo to Vimeo.
Henderson Alvarez will now probably start at AA. I heard that he has matured since last season and is pitching better.
I also confirmed that Bobby Bell has retired. Bell was a smart guy, like Chuck Huggins, and he had other options he could pursue. Who knew the Jays biggest problem was smart kids, they have to stop drafting those. ;-)
The Lansing game was started by Justin Nicolino. I didn't see a lot of him, he only pitched two innings. I did see a fastball at 89-90 and a slurvy breaking ball. A Dominican pitcher, last name Vargas, followed. He was a shorter lefty with good stuff but he was wild. The final pitcher was Alex Pepe who shwed promise in 2009 but missed all of 2010. Pepe looked like a LOOGY, he threw almost sidearm from the left hand side.
Gustavo Pierre, Marcus Knecht and Marcus Crouse were among the players. I did ask one front office person who had impressed so far in the spring and Pierre was his answer. He thought he had lost some pounds and had matured, that word again. One thing you only see in the spring was Mike Mordecai, the Jays minor league infield instructor, crouching down about five metres behind Pierre instructing him as the game was played.
One player who got in the game was Kellen Sweeney who looked good at the plate.
I also asked about Justin Jackson, he will be a super utility guy this year, playing both the infield and outfield. I was told he has looked good in the outfield, he is fast and has been getting good breaks.
The third game was started by Mitchell Taylor, the Jays seventh round pick in 2010. Taylor is another lefty with a big leg kick and he was throwing around 87-88 with another slurvy pitch. Again I did not see a lot of him. Also in the line up was Chris Hawkins, the Jays third round pick last season. Hawkins is a solid player, he looks around six feet but has a big upper body and shoulders. I did see him run out a ground ball and he looked to have good speed, he did play some outfield last season.
One deep sleeper of a pitcher was Milcaides Santana who pitched in relief. Santana looked very raw, I don't think he has been pitching for a long time. Santana has a big pitcher's body and was throwing fastballs at 93 mph. Santana just turned 22 so he has to move quickly, but if he was able to pull it together he could be a sleeper.
Finally there were several Canadians playing today. Michael Crouse, Marcus Knecht, Dalton Pompey and Randy Schwartz all saw action.
That's it for today. The AAA and AA teams are at home tomorrow.
