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Blue Jays' farm clubs went 2-2 on the night with eye-popping results in New Hampshire, expected results in Lansing, and troubling news from Las Vegas of the deja-vu variety.


Las Vegas 4, Tacoma 6

Aaron "may he never pitch in Toronto" Laffey put the 51's behind the eight-ball in the first inning, giving up five runs before his hitters ever got to bat. Two walks, five singles, and an error by Yan Gomes fueled the scoring. He and the bullpen would only give up a single run in the rest of the game but the damage was already done.

One time Jays hot-prospect Guillermo Quiroz had one of his two hits during that first inning outburst.

Offensively, the Las Vegas squad did not embarrass themselves. Every 51's hitter who played the whole game got a hit, save Gomes. David Cooper was 4/5 with two doubles and a walk. Travis d'Arnaud also scored posted two doubles in a 2/4 outing.

More important to Jays fans than the game, was the news that Travis Snider left the game after spraining a wrist diving for a ball. no word on how serious the injury is but man, can this guy not catch a break or what?

New Hampshire 16, Binghamton 3

On the mound, unheralded journeyman Yohan Pino continues to excel when called upon to start. Over six innings he gave up 2 earned runs and struck out eight without walking a batter.

But the real story was at the plate, of course, where the F'Cat's busted out the lumber for a season high 16 runs (the previous high scoring game this year was 6 runs).

The charge was led by shortstop Ryan Goins, who went 4 for 6, and stroked two doubles and a triple leading to 3 RBI, Brad Glenn who contributed a 3 run homer, and Mark Sobolewski who homered twice in his five at bats, driving in six runs. AJ Jimenez went 3/4 and chipped in a solo shot homer of his own.

Dunedin 6, Lakeland 9


Rehabbing RHP Randy Boone made his second appearance for the D'Jays this year and the results were not at all like those in his first outing. This time he got knocked around to the tune of 7 earned runs in 4.1 innings. This put the team offense in a hole they would never recover from.

Said offense was led by Jake Marisnick, who went 3 for 4 with a homer (Marisnick is finding his stride now, he has a .913 OPS over the last 10 games). Gabe Jacobo was 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles. Six other hitters had at least one hit.

Lansing 6, Kane County 0


Landing's starting pitcher, DeSynderfani, was predictably dominant again. First Noah Syndergaard threw 3 one-hit shutout innings, then Anthony DeSclafani threw three innings of one-hit shutout ball. Between them they struck out 4 and walked no one. So far seven pitchers have started a game for the Lugnuts,, if you except Marcus Walden (and his high walk rate) the other six have combined for 97.1 IP, 72 H, 12 ER, 28 walks, and 103 strikeouts (that's an ERA of 1.11)

At the plate, Marcus Brisker had three singles, and Andrew Burns also had three hits but one of those was a triple. Jon Berti was 2 for 2 with a walk. Otherwise it was an uneventful night on offense.

No time for the week in review bit this time, I got started too late.

Third Star: David Cooper - 3/4 2 doubles, a walk, and an RBI

Second Star: Mark Sobolewski - 2/5 two homers, six RBI

First Star: Ryan Goins - 4/6 two doubles and a triple and 3 RBI


F'Cats bust loose | 15 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
D. King - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 08:44 AM EDT (#255229) #
Some guys have all the luck. Dustin McGowan and Travs Snider do not appear to be those guys.

If I were a GM, I think that I would blame all of my stress on injuries. Give me performance streaks, development challenges and prospect busts any day. I just don't want to see injury reports coming my way.
bpoz - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 10:39 AM EDT (#255239) #
I agree with you D King. Luck is playing a major role it seems.

Thames is doing OK. But if a change is due for any reason, Sierra may be the big winner. If so will he take advantage?

Hutchison seems to be taking advantage of his good luck.
John Northey - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 10:40 AM EDT (#255240) #
Watching Lansing's results one does wonder how long until a ML team decides to go with tandem pitchers. Ideally plan on 3 each game 3 IP each, 3 game rotation covers 9 pitchers with the remaining 3 being your backups to cover when one of the 3 for the day is having a really bad day or extra innings occur. Pitch limit would be in the 40 ballpark I'd figure.

It would be worthwhile for a team like the Pirates or Royals or other sad sack to at least give a shot to. Heck, 15+ years of futility (sub-500 with 1 exception between them) should be enough to push you to try something new.
ramone - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 11:18 AM EDT (#255241) #
I'm seeing some reports on twitter that Kevin Howard has been promoted to Vegas, I would assume that means Snider is going to the DL.
Gerry - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 01:10 PM EDT (#255245) #
Another win for the Lugnuts. David Rollins was effective and stayed away from trouble. Andy Burns and KC Hobson hit no doubt about it home runs and the Luggies got two more runs when the Lake County right fielder let a ball get by him.

For those who had been asking Avendano did pitch one inning. I saw a 87-88 mph fastball and a good curve. He didn't overuse the curve and his outs were on fastballs.
doc_alex - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 01:35 PM EDT (#255247) #
What is David Rollins deal? I see he was drafted last year and has done very well everywhere he's pitched, but I'm assuming he's too old for his level? Does he have a chance to make it to the bigs?
Gerry - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 01:44 PM EDT (#255250) #
Rollins would be a long shot to make the major leagues, as are all 24th round picks. His "deal" is that he can throw strikes with a 90 mph fastball and a decent change-up.

I will have a full scouting report next week after I return.
Maldoff - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 02:56 PM EDT (#255252) #
Gerry, any thoughts on Jon Berti? He hit well last season and seems to have carried it over.
Gerry - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 03:13 PM EDT (#255253) #
Scouting report next week but Berti is a short guy who is getting the most out of his skills. It's tough for a second baseman to make it unless he hits a lot, many 2B's in the majors are converted shortstops.
Mike Green - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 03:14 PM EDT (#255254) #
Thanks, Gerry, for the scouting report from Lansing and welcome, John N, to the Tandem Pitching Club.  Meetings are monthly, but you have to bring a new member or two to each meeting. 

Both Jimenez and d'Arnaud are starting to wake up after very slow starts with the bats.  Jake Marisnick's .266/.372/.481 line sounds pretty good, but in the FSL, that would make him one of the top 15 hitters in the league.

92-93 - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 03:24 PM EDT (#255256) #
I was comparing Marisnick's numbers earlier today to the rest of the FSL. The only prospects having better seasons than him down there thus far are Wilmer Flores and Nick Castellanos; anyone else hitting better than Jake is much older, like our own Jon Talley.
vonwafer234 - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 04:25 PM EDT (#255258) #
Thanks on the update on Avendano Gerry! So from what you saw from him, would you call him a control artist? What other impressions did you have from him?
Gerry - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 04:37 PM EDT (#255260) #
I wouldn't call Avendano a control artist. There are guys who have pitched in the majors with a 88 MPH fastball and a good curve, but they are few. He is only 21 and he has a big frame so maybe he could get his FB up to 90. But he would need a good change-up and I didn't see that.

This is one reason why so many big league relievers came through the system as starters. Avendano pitched one inning in relief today, trying to preserve a lead. So he threw his two best pitches, his FB and his curve and maybe he threw 12-15 pitches total. He had no opportunity to use his change today. In general he would likely only throw a change-up if it was already a plus pitch, or if the hitter had fouled off enough of his other two pitches.

As a starter you get 50, 70 and eventually 90 pitches to try and perfect that third pitch.
doc_alex - Friday, April 27 2012 @ 07:10 PM EDT (#255265) #
Thanks for the reply on Rollins. I was wondering if he was an overslot guy or something, but I guess there's not too much to get excited about there.
vonwafer234 - Saturday, April 28 2012 @ 12:53 AM EDT (#255284) #
Oh I see. Thanks Gerry for all the insight! Yeah who knows, maybe we're banking on him adding a few more MPH on that fastball. As for David Rollins, well he is left handed  doc_alex so there is some upside there with Rollins. If he keeps pitching the way he has, a quick promotion to Dunedin will be in order.
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