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Minor League Update This Time It's For Real. Unfortunately.
Well that wasn't exactly how you want to kick off a season. One affiliate couldn't get their field in order while the other three should have followed suit. Let's try it again tomorrow, shall we?


Las Vegas 1    Fresno  11

It's not often that the star of an 11-1 defeat is a pitcher but Brad Mills had nothing to do with the carnage in Fresno. Mills went seven strong allowing two runs (1 earned) on seven hits while striking out seven. And then: wow. Josh Roenicke and Chad Cordero combined to allow nine runs on two hits in the eighth. Nine runs. Two hits. Nine. Two. 9. 2. Process that. There were also five walks and a hit batsman. They all scored.

David Cooper took a liking to the PCL by collecting two hits. Chris Woodward did the same. Brett Lawrie had a hit but also struck out and made a fielding error. Adam Loewen was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.



Trenton 5    New Hampshire 1

Zach Stewart responded to being protected from the Pacific Coast League by putting up a PCL-esque line. Stewart went 5.1 innings and allowed four runs on seven hits and three walks against just a pair of strikeouts. Joel Carreno went two innings in relief allowing an unearned run while striking out a pair and Alan Farina struck out the side in the ninth.

The Fisher Cats managed just four hits on the day with two coming off the bat of Mike McDade. Anthony Gose was 1-for-3 with a strikeout and his first two stolen bases. Adeiny Hechavarria and Travis D'Arnaud were each 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Hech added an error to boot.



Clearwater 10    Dunedin 1

If you were concerned about Brandon Morrow's 'forearm strain', today's performance probably didn't do much to alleviate those fears. Morrow lasted just 2.1 innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits and a walk. He struck out two. That said, he must have been rusty. So let's see how it goes next week. On the flip side, first round pick Deck McGuire went four shutout innings and struck out five against a walk and three hits. Frank Francisco allowed two runs on a hit and a walk in his one rehab inning.

Like The Fisher Cats, the D-Jays managed but four hits. Two came from Sean Ochinko. Justin Jackson had one and a walk but also made an error. Kevin Ahrens was 0-for-3 with a strikeout and two errors. Some things never change.



West Michigan @ Lansing- POSTPONED

Unplayable field, apparently. I guess seven months isn't enough time to get things in order.



Three Stars:

3rd Star: Anthony Gose- 1-for-3, 2 SB
2nd Star: Brad Mills- 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
1st Star: Deck McGuire- 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K

Posted by braden on Thursday, April 07 2011 @ 10:52 PM EDT.
This Time It's For Real. Unfortunately. | 16 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Magpie - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 11:22 AM EDT (#232373) #
Morrow tweeted (what did we do before Twitter) after the game "Arm felt great tonight, location was another story."
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Chuck - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 02:37 PM EDT (#232385) #

what did we do before Twitter

Read the classics?

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Mick Doherty - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 02:52 PM EDT (#232386) #

Read the classics?

Nah. We watched "Laverne and Shirley" and "BJ and the Bear."

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Sano - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 03:01 PM EDT (#232387) #
What's McDade's actual ceiling? It seems like he's done very well at every stop so far and yet he's rarely mentioned when the Jays top prospects are being discussed. Is it a lack of power or projectability?
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ayjackson - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 03:50 PM EDT (#232388) #
McDade's lack of pedigree, "bad body" and poor k/bb rate have impacted his status as a prospect.  All seem to have improved in the past 8 months.
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MatO - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 03:52 PM EDT (#232389) #

What's McDade's actual ceiling? It seems like he's done very well at every stop so far and yet he's rarely mentioned when the Jays top prospects are being discussed. Is it a lack of power or projectability?

I wouldn't agree that he's done well at every stop.  His biggest problem has been a high K rate and a career K/W of almost 4.  Those kinds of things don't bode well for him having a major league career.  The one bright spot is that he's been young for the levels that he's played and still has a chance to improve.  2011 is a big year for him.

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Mike Green - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 04:04 PM EDT (#232390) #
What's McDade's actual ceiling?

Very tacky stucco, but I won't hold it against him. 

I agree with MatO that 2011 is a very important year for him. Ideally, the W/K improvement seen in the AFL can be sustained in double A.
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Mike Green - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 05:50 PM EDT (#232394) #
The Lugnuts were postponed again today.  Same issue as yesterday, LF?
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Lugnut Fan - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 06:26 PM EDT (#232396) #

Well, I am assuming it is the same issue as yesterday.  I wasn't planning on going to the ball park because my job gets in the way of a 5:00 start.  Seriously though, it rained most of the morning and when your field inexplicably floods on a dry day, it doesn't exactly fix the quick sand playing surface that they had there.

Im betting the Tigers are paying the Lugnuts to call the games early.  I don't think they are overly excited about Nick Castellanos stading in quick sand at thrid (just kidding kind of)

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ayjackson - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 06:31 PM EDT (#232397) #

If the field isn`t in good condition, they should have switched the series to West Michigan.

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bpoz - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 06:36 PM EDT (#232398) #
Janssen goes to LV to make room for Dotel. When does he have to report, I mean in regard to him using up his option.

According to Farrell Dotel looked good in an inter squad game on Wed April 6th. He must have seen the video. I believe R Langford is the rehab pitching coach, so it must be his judgement.
There is a time limit on the rehab of Morrow & FF, is it a max of 3 weeks. Morrow probably gets 2-3 more minor league starts, hopefully he has everything working in his last rehab start. FF probably needs an outing every other day and then 2 in a row, maybe even in a save situation before he is promoted.

Langford's job is critical to the Jay's success.
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Lugnut Fan - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 06:46 PM EDT (#232399) #

Well, the thing is that the field was fine on Tuesday in Lansing when they played the game against Michigan State.  Yesterday I guess the guys took infield at 2:00 and everything was fine.  They came back out at 3;30 and then guys started sinking in and for some reason the infield was soaked.  I really wonder if they split a water line for a sprinkler or for the hose.  In order to check that though, you have to do a lot of digging and would put the field in a very bad state.

The series with WM goes to WM on Sunday.  They will try a double header again tomorrow.

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ayjackson - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 07:20 PM EDT (#232400) #

Is it not a little early in the year for sprinkler systems to be primed with water?

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Waveburner - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 07:28 PM EDT (#232401) #

Two errrors for Ahrens already? What I find amazing about the lack of progress from Ahrens and Jackson is both were originially touted as potenial plus defenders. So not only have they never improved their hitting, but their fielding numbers seem to get worse every year too.

I stll hold a glimmer of hope for Ahrens, but it is fading.

 

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Lugnut Fan - Friday, April 08 2011 @ 07:35 PM EDT (#232402) #
That's a good point ay, but the water is on as they squirt the infield before every game.  I just read in the Lansing State Journal that the did check the irrigation system for leaks and apparently found nothing.  The Lugnuts organization is  guessing it is just the frost coming out of the ground. 
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hypobole - Saturday, April 09 2011 @ 03:38 AM EDT (#232407) #
One thing I've wondered for a while with Ahrens. Most pre-draft prospect lists had him in the range of where the Jays took him with the 16th pick. But KLaw didn't even have him in his top 50 2007 draft prospects (he's actually nowhere on KLaw's archived top 100 list, but it's missing a few names in the mid-50's). Does anyone remember KLaw ever being asked what were the red flags that caused him to consider Ahrens so much lower a prospect than nearly everybody else??
[ Reply to This ]
This Time It's For Real. Unfortunately. | 16 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.