Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Asher, Zach, and Drew- Oh My!

Three top pitching prospects delivered top performances on a 2-3 day.

Nine hits produced nada on the scoreboard as the Brett Lawrie-less 51s were easily taken care of by the Padres. David Cooper and Brian Jeroloman each had a double and two hits while Travis Snider was 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.

Scott Richmond got knocked around to the tune of six runs in five innings.

Bowie 2 New Hampshire 8

A typical victory for the Fisher Cats: a few doubles, a homer, and a ton of stolen bases. Travis D'Arnaud continued his hot season with his 6th HR and a double. Adeiny Hechavarria singled, stole two bases (13) and scored twice while Anthony Gose doubled (his 6th- I thought he'd have more), singled, drove in a run, and stole his 28th bag. Finally, John Tolisano missed the cycle by a homer and drove in a pair.

Zach Stewart has had a rough year but he was on form on Thursday going six innings and allowing a run on five hits and two walks against six strikeouts. He also picked off a runner. Apropos of nothing, there were three balks in the game. Bob Davidson was not behind the plate.

Dunedin 0 Brevard County 2

This one will be quick. Dunedin had two hits. Kevin Nolan and Jon Talley. Both singles. Eight walks, though. Three by Nolan. So there was that.

Asher Wojciechowski continued the trend of struggling starters turning in fine performances by going seven and allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits. He didn't walk anybody and struck out five.

Lansing 2 Quad Cities 0

Again with little offense. But this time it was enough. Jake Marisnick tripled and drove in a run while Marcus Knecht had the other RBI on a double. Markus Brisker stole his 16th and was caught for the 2nd time.

The strongest pitching performance of the night came from Drew Hutchison who went six innings and allowed three singles. That's it. He struck out nine.

DSL Blue Jays 2 DSL Braves 4

Catcher Kervin Santiago led the way in this one with a 3-for-3 performance. Luis Martin had a double. I've really got to familiarize myself with these guys.

Edgar Calatayud took the hill for the DSL Jays and went four, allowing four runs (one earned) on three hits. He walked one and struck out four.

Three Stars:

3rd Star: Asher Wojciechowski- 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

2nd Star: Zach Stewart- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

1st Star: Drew Hutchison- 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K

Posted by braden on Friday, June 10 2011 @ 11:01 AM EDT.

Asher, Zach, and Drew- Oh My! | 16 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Lylemcr - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 01:11 PM EDT (#236477) #

Nice performance by Hutchinson. 9 SO! I keep on seeing his name up here.

I hear that Jays signed Joe Musgrove already. They are not going to mess around this time.

finch - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 01:46 PM EDT (#236478) #

Speaking of Drew Hutchison, he made BAs Hot Prospect Sheet this morning, with this write up:

No. 6 DREW HUTCHISON, RHP
BLUE JAYS

Team: low Class A Lansing (Midwest)
Age: 20
Why He's Here: 2-0, 0.00, 2 GS, 12 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 18 SO
The Scoop: We highlighted Hutchison as the Helium prospect of our first Hot Sheet of the season. It's time he graduated to the regular Hot Sheet. If you're unhappy with your team's first five picks, do remember that guys like Hutchison are lurking in the later rounds. The Blue Jays drafted him in the 15th round two years ago, then induced him to give up his commitment to Stetson for $400,000. His stuff has gotten better and now profiles as at least middle-of-the-rotation quality. He has the repeatable delivery to go with it, which explains how he got through two starts without a walk.

Hodgie - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 01:53 PM EDT (#236479) #

Some intriguing pitching performances as of late. My apologies if this has already been mentioned, but apparently (as reported by 1BlueJaysWay) in his last start Henderson Alvarez had his fastball consistently hitting 96-98 MPH and he even reached 101 MPH once in the fourth inning. Having just turned 21 in April, he is the second youngest pitcher in the Eastern League and through his first four starts is pitching every bit as well as much more heralded AA prospects Manny Banuelos, Randall Delgado and Martin Perez.

Maldoff - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 02:25 PM EDT (#236481) #

Alvarez throws hard, but I would like to see his strikeout rates come up a bit before really jumping on the bandwagon. Last year, his K/9 was 6.2 in Dunedin, and has been 6.4 thus far in New Hampshire.

TamRa - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 02:34 PM EDT (#236482) #

Casey Lawrence tweets he's on his way to Dunedin, so i guess he got Jenkins' spot.

That leaves 3 active starters in Lansing (unless Diaz goes back to the rotation) so i wonder if we don't see a pitcher or two from extended (Sanchez please! Syndergaard? Murphy?) added to that roster.

Gerry - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 02:49 PM EDT (#236484) #

Another candidate would be Jesse Hernandez, an undrafted free agent who pitched well in Auburn last season. Also John Anderson has been on the DL, if he comes off the DL he will fill the spot.

Kelekin - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 02:50 PM EDT (#236485) #

I agree on Alvarez - he can throw as fast as he wants, and he was throwing fast last year too, but at this point I still see him as someone just throwing the ball and not someone who knows how to pitch well.

I hope they leave him in AA for quite a while to figure that out.

jester00 - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 03:00 PM EDT (#236486) #

I believe that Egan Smith and Misual (spelling?) Diaz are also on the DL in Lansing and have both had starts for them this year. Lots of options for the Lugnuts. How about Lugnut fan, any thoughts?

Schad - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 03:16 PM EDT (#236487) #

With his fantastic ground ball rates and above-average control, he doesn't necessarily need to be an 8 K/9 guy to do well, though. If he ratchets that up we might well have an ace on our hands...if he doesn't, and basically has to get by on fastballs down in the zone and his change-up, we still have in all likelihood a well above-average third starter.

I'd imagine that he will finish out the year in New Hampshire, but he's definitely in the mix for a spot in the Jays' rotation in 2012.

Lugnut Fan - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 03:19 PM EDT (#236488) #

Diaz has really struggled in his starts with Lansing this year. I am not sure if he will return to the rotation or not. I'm not sure where Smith is in his injury either. I'm not sure anything was really wrong with Diaz, I think he was originally put on the DL to make room for some other guys. Personally, I'm hoping for Anderson to come off the DL and return to the rotation.

I think this is just the start of the promotions from Lansing. There are three other guys at a minimum that I think are going to be gone from Lansing right after the MWL all star game (Turnbull, Knecht and Hutchinson). Two of those three are pitchers. My guess is that some folks that were originally slated for Vancouver may be coming north to Michigan instead of BC.

jester00 - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 03:30 PM EDT (#236489) #

Thx LF. Any opinion on Egan Smith? Had 8 starts before going on the 7 day DL, and his numbers looked pretty good.

Dave Rutt - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 04:26 PM EDT (#236491) #

Kelekin - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 04:48 PM EDT (#236494) #

How long until Mills gets the call-up he deserves? Reyes and Drabek have, overall, been bad - in fact, Drabek has been terrible. A 1.7 WHIP, let alone that BB:K rate. I was one of those in favour of sending him and Stewart to AAA to start the year, and I think it might be smart for them to do so at some point here. Mills should at least be called up to take Villanueva's rotation spot - I like Villanueva but he has never been a solid starter in his career.

Mills is, by advanced metrics, the top pitcher left in the PCL. He has had above-average numbers for the PCL for 3 years. He may only be a #4-5 in the majors, but we need one of those right now.

aaforpm - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 05:23 PM EDT (#236496) #

I don't think Mills has the stuff to be a successful starter in our division. I think he succeeds in AAA because he can locate and get the breaking ball over and most AAA hitters aren't used to dealing with pitchers that do that. Guys in the AL East face pitchers who can do that on a regular basis, so it takes more than that to get them out (that's just my opinion...I wouldn't complain if Mills proved me wrong).

I think they're grooming him for the bullpen next year - once our 1 year rentals leave and hopefully bring us back draft picks

TamRa - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 07:37 PM EDT (#236505) #

I believe that Egan Smith and Misual (spelling?) Diaz are also on the DL in Lansing and have both had starts for them this year. Lots of options for the Lugnuts. How about Lugnut fan, any thoughts?

Forgot about Smith - he and Anderson both pitched much better than diaz.

but I've no idea the nature of the injuries or when they might be expected back.

Schad - Friday, June 10 2011 @ 07:57 PM EDT (#236508) #

Yeah, I'm with Schad. Alvarez does enough things very well (control and GB rate, as mentioned), that he could be successful without the strikeouts. I say as long as he maintains those positive elements of his game he should follow a normal development path (~1 season per level). If so, he could reach the majors by 2013, still presumably getting by on ground balls and good control, at which point we would hope for him to grow into the strikeouts.

I'm not saying an increased focus on strikeouts shouldn't be part of his coaching, but if the results aren't there and he continues to pitch well regardless, I don't think he should be held back.

On missing bats, I saw a bit of film of Alvarez last year, and it looks in part like his arm angle makes it difficult for him to disguise his breaking ball...his delivery was noticeably different when throwing one, and it doesn't appear to have the greatest depth. Assuming his hands are large enough, I'd love to see him add a hard splitter to his arsenal; the fastball//splitter/straight change combination is utterly lethal when you're backing up 94+ mph heat, and he has already proven that he can maintain his arm action on the change-up.

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