I'm going to the Friday Canadians game.  Who am I likely to see start?

Based on a typical 5 day rotation, Sundays starter will start on Friday.  Sunday's starter was Blake McFarland but he was followed by Justin Nicolino.  That would be my guess.

I notice that mcgowan is pitching tonight on the same night mills is pitching for the jays.

i believe dustin was on a 65-75 pitch limit last start, which might mean he's on an 80+ limit tonight.

might mcgowan be closer to the bigs than we think?

Barring a setback McGowan will make 4-6 starts for the club come September. He really is back, for now.

How about come next week?

Going back to yesterdays conversation about the Vancouver Canadians and the playoffs I was mistaken.  i was looking at the full season standings and not the second half ones.  Vancouver will probably not be in the playoffs.

I had kind of mentally given up on Hechavarria, but if he can hit, I mean really hit, then that's huge for the Jays. I hope it comes true.

Unlikely. He threw only 40-45 pitches in his first 4 innings start because they were so efficient. He still needs to be built up a little more to see how he reacts to the workload. Waiting until the rosters expand makes it easier to only get 4-5 innings from McGowan per start at the MLB level too. I expect them to give him another start of 4 innings and then two where he's shooting for 5 before they call him up but anything's possible.

What happened to our prospects last night? No Snider or Cooper in the Vegas game, no Knecht or Perez (and with Crouse already on the DL) with Lansing?

the very earlist McGowan could return would be after two more starts (60 pitches and 75) and my guess is they will do 60 twice before they move to 75 - then he'll either start Aug. 31 in AA or September 1 in Toronto.

BUT

Don't rule out the possibility that they will keep him with the 'Cats through the playoffs - if they did that it would be mid-September. but I'm not sure how that would play with the 30 day rehab assignment, they may HAVE to recall him by September 5. If they do, I think giving him the 9/1 start against Baltimore would be a good idea to let him get his feet wet before he has to pitch to the Red Sox.

Is it me or is Hechavarria making a run to be called up in Sept?  I see his name often when we talk about the minors. 

Does he get some starts at second?  (and potentially answer a question about who our starting 2nd baseman is next year)

AA recently noted that Hech would atleast start 2012 in LV, but if he were to keep up his current hot-start then they'd have to think about promoting him come Sept, or atleast let him compete in 2012 for a job. Given he's already on the 40man roster, they lose nothing seeing if he's ready (if, and only if, he keeps his current streak going for 4-6 weeks). 

Actually AA said that the Jays want to give Hech a full year at Las Vegas, which would mean that he won't compete for a major-league job until 2013 at the earliest.  And AA was also careful to point out that Hech has option years until 2014, implying that he might be kept in the minors until then.  However, regardless of what AA says, the reality is that Hech could force their hand if he hits strongly at Las Vegas for the rest of this year and the first part of next season.  If 2B remains a huge sinkhole in 2012 and Hech is chomping at the bit with excellent hitting at Las Vegas, it would be hard to imagine that the Jays would keep him on the farm for the full season.

You want to give Hechevarria a good long look in triple A, unless he's truly destroying the league (and I don't mean that he is batting .330).  If he evens out the W/K, hits .350 and hits for more pop than he did in triple A, then you want to think about it.  For now, he's hitting a lot of ground balls that are going for singles and doubles which were formerly outs. 

Well, so far Hechavarria is hitting 529/579/706 in AAA. I'd say that is destroying it :)

Of course, that is also just 19 PA. An 0 for 4 drops him to a 409 for average, 0 for 8 to 360.

Still, it is fun to see and dream isn't it?

I think it was mentioned in another thread, but Hechavarria was paired again this year with hitting coach Justin Mashore at AA who was the hitting coach in Dunedin for Hech's brief, rather underwhelming stint there last year. Hech was then promoted to AA where he worked with Luis Rivera and co. and produced better numbers than he did in High-A in 2010 and AA this year with Mashore. Now up with Las Vegas (small sample size indeed), Hech is producing. Curious indeed.

If there is in fact something there, maybe player and coach don't see eye to eye, or Hech maybe just didn't take to Mashore's hitting philosophy, it is no knock on either. Sometimes player and coach just don't work, and in this case, both have proven to some extent that they can succeed. Mashore is at least some what responsible for d'Arnaud's stellar season at the plate, and the continued improvement of Gose, McDade, and Sierra. Hech is hitting the ball well in AAA and had a fairly successful stint in AA in 2010.

It'll be interesting to follow the position of hitting coach at all levels in the organization this offseason. As has also been mentioned, there are some who think the Jays should re-evaluate Dwayne Murphy's status with the club.

Jose Bautista credits Murphy and Cito Gaston for their work in helping turn his career around. Murphy has preached a "grip-it-and-rip-it" philosophy with Jays hitters, in which hitters go up to the plate with a pitch in mind that they would like to hit and upon seeing that pitch swing as hard as they can. While such a philosophy has produced wonderful results for some(see Bautista and Buck), others seem to have regressed (Hill, Snider). Now, baseball is a funny business, and there is really no way of proving regression due to hitting coach. After all, players are the ones doing the playing, but both Hill and Snider showed plenty of promise, but now seem to be failed players, especially Snider.

Snider, has now twice gone down to the hitters paradise known as the PCL and hit well under the tutelage of Chad Mottola. He has been recalled on separate occasions and mechanically seemed completely out of wack. What gives? Maybe it's Mottola? Eric Thames, Adam Loewen, David Cooper, Brett Lawrie, and now Adeiny Hechavarria are tearing the cover off the ball in AAA Las Vegas. Lawrie, and to a lesser extent, Thames have continued to hit well with the big club, Cooper and Snider haven't. One thing to note, all players have solid obp numbers, something which AA has said will be telling factor in player promotions going forward.

Any ways, it's taken me a bit to get to my point, but the Jays have employed an organizational brand to pitching, pitchers need to command the strike zone and be able to throw a change-up. It's throughout the organization, with Bruce Walton being a big proponent. The Jays have talked about a Jays brand of offense, one which preaches obp, strike zone control, and athleticism. However, it seems like this clashes somewhat with Murphy's brand of hitting, no? The two certainly can be reconciled, as Jose Bautista has certainly proven, but for some less gifted, waiting for that one pitch just might not be the best strategy.

I think the question Jays management will consider, among others, should the Jays let Murphy go, not because of his shortcomings--of which, he has very little IMO--but because they would like their hitters, vis-a-vis their hitting coach, to approach the offensive side of the game a bit differently. If they so choose, wouldn't Mottola be a good guy to promote? Or would the Jays, in keeping with Farrell's MO to hire the best, and most talented baseball person, go outside the organization?

Dustin McGowan pitched 4 shutout innings tonight for NH. He gave up 3 hits and one walk with four K's.

I heard Sal Fasano say that McGowan's fastball was good but his breaking balls needed to sharpen up.

I think the question Jays management will consider, among others, should the Jays let Murphy go, not because of his shortcomings--of which, he has very little IMO--but because they would like their hitters, vis-a-vis their hitting coach, to approach the offensive side of the game a bit differently. Fascinating. The Jays do seem to have more of an organizational philosophy for pitching, or a more clearly enacted one. I could see the next big league coach being Mottola, or someone with a similar approach. It would be great to keep a strong hitting coach in the minors too (especially at AAA, where pitchers are punished, rather than developed...)

i believe dustin was on a 65-75 pitch limit last start, which might mean he's on an 80+ limit tonight.

43 last time (very efficent as it turned out) and 57 today - also a very tidy outing, 4 shutout innings, 3 hits, 1 BB and 3 K

So...likely 70-75 next time one would assume.

in other news, Hech was 3/5 AGAIN - he's now 12/22 - and this in Tennessee!

Jayson Lane threw 4 shutout innings, walking none and striking out 4

Meanwhile, Brad Mills is proving being the best pitcher in the PCL doesn't count for much. I wonder if Villanueva can be ready in five more days?

I see Lyle Overbay got sweet revenge on his former teammate Halladay tonight - 3 hits & all 3 rbi as Zona won 3-2 despite 14 doc K 

McGowan has been pitching since January. I think the Jays will give him a courtesy start early September and then shut him down.

....I wonder if Villanueva can be ready in five more days?

There's talk that Perez might get the next start instead of Mills.  In which case, Perez and Mills might simply flip roles, with Mills going to the bullpen.  Perez pitched 4 innings last night and could be ready for 5 or 6 innings in five days.

Jason Lane for closer.

Re: Hech/Snider/whoever hitting.

I do think that hitting coaches can make a difference helping players make certain adjustments, or strategizing better overall, but I seems a bit improbably to me that this would be instantaneous or so marked. These guys have been hitting all their lives, 10 days with a different hitting coach probably isn't enough to change anything; I would imagine it's a fair amount of PCL inflation and random chance.

any real reason not to give McGowan the next turn in the big club's rotation instead of Mills?

Sure he's only good for 5ip, but you could say the same about Mills or any other option.

Yeah, if he's not ready yet. That would be a good reason.

I don't know if he's ready or not. I hope the Jays do.