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It was a .500 day on the farm with the affiliates going 3-3. There were some solid performances but nothing that really stood out.


Las Vegas - Off Day

New Hampshire 5 Portland 4

Robert Ray had a solid outing with just one earned run allowed (two overall) in six innings of work. He allowed five hits, no walks, and struck out six batters. Yohan Pino allowed two runs in as many innings but he struck out five batters and did not issue a walk. Bobby Korecky was awarded the win after a scoreless ninth inning. On offense, Anthony Gose's recent hot streak continued with another two hits. Travis d'Arnaud also had two base knocks, including a double and a homer. Unfortunately, he struggled on 'D' and allowed a pass ball and also made a throwing error. Justin Jackson went 1-for-3 and stole a base. John Tolisano went deep with a solo shot.

Palm Beach 1 Dunedin 0 (Game 1)


In Game 1 of the double-header, Dustin McGowan received the start and allowed one run over two innings of work. He gave up two hits, no walks and struck out one batter. Nestor Molina picked him up and went the final four innings. He allowed three hits, no walks and struck out six batters. Ryan Goins, recently back from injury, was the only batter to get a hit. Kevin Nolan was 0-for-3 with two Ks.

Dunedin 5 Palm Beach 1 (Game 2)

Ryan Tepera had a nice outing and did not allow a run in five innings. He gave up four hits, one walk and struck out three batters. He also induced seven ground-ball outs and none in the air. Tepera is going to have to find a way to combat left-handed hitters. So far this season, he's given up 56 hits in 37.2 cummulative innings against them. Matt Wright and Wes Etheridge both worked scoreless innings. The base runners exploited a weakness on the Palm Beach squad with five steals: Chris Hopkins (2), Ivan Contreras (2) and Ryan Schimpf (1). Kevin Nolan had two hits, including a double and a solo homer. Ryan Goins went 2-for-3 with a walk. Brad Glenn was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. Schimpf went 1-for-2 with a triple, a walk, a run scored and a RBI.

Lansing 7 Lake County 1

Egan Smith struck out seven batters in five innings. He gave up seven hits, though, which led to just one run. Tyler Powell worked three scoreless innings of relief with two Ks. Danny Barnes finished up the game with a scoreless inning and two Ks. Michael Crouse paced the offense with two hits, including a double, and two steals. Lance Durham, Carlos Perez, and K.C. Hobson each had two hits. Jake Marisnick had one hit in five tries and also stole a base. Marcus Knecht had a rare 0-fer with two Ks.

Spokane 12 Vancouver 8

It was a day to forget for starter Blake McFarland, who last just one-third of an inning but gave up eight runs on five hits and three walks. Nick Purdy was not sharp either, as he gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks over three innings. Brandon Kaye provided some relief with 2.2 shutout innings. Alex Pepe and Drew Permison also kept the Indians off the board. The offense clawed back to make a game of it with five runs in the six inning but the hole was too deep to climb out of on this night. Almost all the offense came from batters six-through-nine. Stephen McQuail went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Pierce Rankin was 2-for-3 with three runs scored, a double, and a stolen base. Shane Optiz went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Jon Berti went 3-for-4 with a stolen base and two RBI.

Danville 6 Bluefield 2

Ajay Meyer struck out seven batters in 5.0 innings but gave up three runs on five hits. Les Williams was touched up for three runs in two-thirds of an inning. He walked three batters and gave up two hits. Tyler Ybarra, Milciades Santana and Ian Kadish pitched well enough to keep the Braves off the board. The offense managed just five hits. Leo Hernandez went 1-for-2 with a two-run homer. Carlos Ramirez went 1-for-3 with a triple. Chris Hawkins, Chris Schaeffer, and Andy Fermin (hitting .339) each had a single base hit. Kevin Pillar went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

Gulf Coast Jays - Off Day

DSL Jays - Off Day

Three Stars:
3. Robert Ray, one run in 6.0 innings
2. Egan Smith, one run, seven Ks in 5.0 innings
1. Ryan Tepera, 5.0 shutout innings
Another Day at the Office | 12 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Mike Green - Monday, July 11 2011 @ 10:41 AM EDT (#238439) #
Nestor Molina's W/K is now 8/93 in 83 innings, with similar rates against both right-handed hitters and left-handed hitters.  He's 22 in the FSL, but is new to starting.  The Jays do have an opening or three in the high-leverage relief department; there is reason to believe that he could see succeed there.  I'd like to see him get a shot at higher levels in this role, but this is not really consistent with the organizational philosophy.
Matthew E - Monday, July 11 2011 @ 11:26 AM EDT (#238444) #
Brett Lawrie just tweeted - if I understand him correctly - that he's been cleared to play by the doctors.
Jonny German - Monday, July 11 2011 @ 12:04 PM EDT (#238447) #
The key is the #yabuddy tag. And the tweet from an hour ago that said he was at the doctor's office hoping to get cleared.
BlueJayWay - Monday, July 11 2011 @ 12:14 PM EDT (#238448) #
Ladies and gentlemen we've reached our goal " let's play ball " #yabuddy

Definitely sounds like he's good to go.
greenfrog - Monday, July 11 2011 @ 12:30 PM EDT (#238449) #
Although Bryce Harper went 0-4 in the Futures Games, he apparently had a monster BP session. According to Kevin Goldstein, one scout called it "simply awesome."

Also (and of relevance to Jays fans), another BP article examined the evidence of a possible "curse" afflicting players who participate in the HR derby. The article concludes that there is "absolutely no evidence to suggest it’s real. In fact, between the two studies, I think it’s clear that, on the whole, it does not exist."
mamboon - Monday, July 11 2011 @ 12:51 PM EDT (#238451) #
I Notice that Gustavo Pierre had another error for the Bluefield bunch yesterday.  His fourth since being sent down.  Including his Lansing Faux Pas, that brings his total  this year to a sobering 40 errors in 76 games.  Was wondering, is anybody working with him? Talk previously was that he had a bit of promise and had a bright future.  His lines for Lansing and Bluefield respectively:  .264/.326/.738 and .187/.274/.592.  But with 40 boots and bad throws, can he be saved?
Lugnut Fan - Monday, July 11 2011 @ 06:35 PM EDT (#238480) #

I can't answer what the Bluefield staff is doing with Pierre, but in his time in Lansing, they worked with him a ton.  During the hour or so BP session, they would hit balls exclusively to him at short and make him throw to first.  In a BP situation, the kid is phenominal.  The Blue Jays also had an instructor in Lansing for awhile working with Pierre exclusively.

I would not give up on the kid yet.  He is only 19 and from what I understand, he never played competitively until he was professional, so he is very inexperienced.  Earlier in the season, he back handed everything.  He wouldn't get in front of balls, he would just back hand everything.  That appears to have been fixed.  The problem now is for him to relax and make good throws to first.  In a BP situation where there isn't a runner going down the line, he makes every throw.  When he sees a runner going down the line he seems to panic.  He needs to relax and the only way to get him to relax is to put him out there and have him feel it through.  His arm is absolutely amazing, so if you are sitting anywhere behind first base and Pierre is at short, my advice at this time would be bring a glove and make sure you pay attention.

dan gordon - Monday, July 11 2011 @ 06:52 PM EDT (#238481) #

Interesting interview with K. Law on The Fan 590 this afternoon.  He mentioned the Jays farm system is #2 in baseball according to him, and when asked to name 2 guys that are really catching his attention, he mentioned D'Arnaud and Alvarez.  Says Alvarez just needs to get his curveball up to major league average, to go with his fastball and change.  He said that on the days when his curve is working, he'd be able to pitch in the bigs right now.  He sees D'Arnaud as the regular catcher in the not too distant future, and that Arencibia would be "too valuable" to use as the backup, especially since he figures D'Arnaud will be a 140 game player.  Says the Jays would probably try to deal JP for something of considerable value when D'Arnaud comes up, or just before then, as JP has a lot of value, being a regular catcher making near the minimum.  He thinks that the Jays relievers probably have very little trade value due to poor pitching lately.  Other teams' scouts would have filed reports on Rauch, Francisco, etc. saying to stay away.  Also said the Jays future closer would probably come from one of the starting prospects that for one reason or another don't succeed as starters - he mentioned Alvarez, Hutchison, Sanchez, maybe one or two others, but then quickly said Hutchison will probably be a starter.

Cynicalguy - Monday, July 11 2011 @ 08:02 PM EDT (#238485) #
I wouldn't take anything Law predicts seriously. He criticized the Bautista signing just a couple of months ago saying the guy has fluke written all over him. And last year with the Escobar trade which he also criticized saying how Escobar's range is becoming increasingly limited.
Spifficus - Monday, July 11 2011 @ 08:12 PM EDT (#238486) #

I wouldn't take anything Law predicts seriously. He criticized the Bautista signing just a couple of months ago saying the guy has fluke written all over him. And last year with the Escobar trade which he also criticized saying how Escobar's range is becoming increasingly limited.

Because obviously Law is biased against the Jays... *sigh*. (not sure if this is what you're thinking with your comment, but I've seen too much of this silliness on this site)

If you're looking at it from a distance, Bautista had significant fluke potential coming into the year. Thankfully, that hasn't materialized. Escobar has huge-broad shoulders, and if I remember right, he doesn't think that frame can keep enough weight off to stay at short. That, too, hasn't become an issue yet (and may be moot if/when it begins to, if he moves to 2b).

Gerry - Monday, July 11 2011 @ 11:24 PM EDT (#238493) #

Vancouver and Spokane had a brawl tonight.  Video here.

It seems that the Spokane runner started the brawl after Shane Opitz said something to him about his slide.  It doesn't appear that anyone was ejected at that time but Opitz and Berti were removed by manager John Schneider, presumably to avoid further escalation.

TamRa - Tuesday, July 12 2011 @ 03:12 AM EDT (#238499) #
Also said the Jays future closer would probably come from one of the starting prospects that for one reason or another don't succeed as starters - he mentioned Alvarez, Hutchison, Sanchez, maybe one or two others, but then quickly said Hutchison will probably be a starter.

For all their consistant development plans, I really don't see how, just on logistics, that that ends up being anyone besides Stewart unless Stewart fails.

First and foremost, he's the one a lot of observers have said could be a top shelf guy in that role out of all the various rotation candidates.

if we assume everyone is healthy and there's no setbacks (like Drabek going down Ankiel Road) then the depth chart next spring (if they were all still here which they won't be) would look something like this:

1. Romero
2. Morrow
3. McGowan
4. Drabek
5. Cecil
6. Stewart
7. Litsch
8. Reyes
9. Villinaueva (only this low because he's just as good in the 'pen)
10. Mills
(the above assumes they are sticking with Zep in relief for the same reasons)

Best case, Stewart isn't in the top five  - and he goes back to Vegas? SO not an optimal plan.

Now assuming for the sake of argument that one of the top 5 has a setback, yes, you can use Stewart as the fifth of course, but had you rather have him there and uncertainty as a closer or plug in one of 7-9 in the fifth slot and have an excellent closer? laying aside the debate about 180 innings v. 60 innings, my hunch is the jays would put Stewart in relief and a lesser guy in the #5 slot.

If for no other reason than whoever that #5 is will face a challenge from Alvarez, Jenkins, or even McGuire before the year is over or at least in 2013. if the #5 were Stewart (or, arguably, Cecil) then at that point you still are pushing aside a very good (we hope) starter.

A lot of complexity and speculation but I'm just trying to illustrate that it seems to me that unless we have considerable attrition, if the closer is a guy who is crowded out of the rotation - it will be Stewart.

For a dark horse - assuming he's not having a fluke year - I wouldn't be stunned if Villianueva ended up with the job.

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