Richard Urena hit a game winning home run in extra innings for Bluefield. John Anderson had a great start to gain a split of a doubleheader for New Hampshire. Mitch Nay drove in two runs in Lansing's win. Buffalo, Vancouver and the GCL Jays lost. Dunedin were rained out. Chase De Jong, Joey Aquino and Angel Perdomo each pitched well.
Durham 7 Buffalo 2
- Cory Aldridge is a 35 year old outfielder signed out of the Mexican League. He had two hits on Saturday including a home run and has a 1115 OPS in AAA. It will be hard for a 35 year old to get a 40 man roster spot but he is pushing the envelope.
- Ryan Goins had two hits and is now hitting .289. He is back to the player he was last year when the Jays decided he was their second baseman of the future. Will he get another shot?
- PJ Walters started and was charged with all seven runs. When Walters was first promoted from AA he made 3 very good starts. But this is his second stinker in a row.
New Hampshire 2 Portland 5 - game 1
- Radhames Liz had a rare bad start. Portland scored four in the third inning and in that inning he hit three batters and walked one. If this was kids baseball he would have had to be pulled.
- Michael Crouse hit his seventh homer and walked. His OPS for the season is 776 but it is 934 in July.
New Hampshire 2 Portland 0 - game 2
- John Anderson had an outstanding start, 5 innings, 1 hit, 8 K's. Anderson began the season in the bullpen but he has now made three starts.
- New Hampshire native Kevin Nolan had two hits. Nolan had a decent year last year in AA but rather than build on it he slipped back this year and was hitting under 200 earlier in the season. Nolan hit under 200 in both April and May but since then he has got back to his old form. In June he hit .279 with a 723 OPS. In July so far he is hitting over .350 with an OPS over 1000.
Dunedin at Fort Myers - postponed rain
- Game to be played Sunday as part of a doubleheader
Lansing 3 Bowling Green 1
- Chase De Jong had a decent start with just one run conceded over five innings. De Jong's ERA is now 4.86. De Jong's issue this season has been giving up too many hits, in 74 innings he has allowed 86 hits. As Dane Johnson said recently De Jong's fastball is too stright and he needs to keep it down.
- Mitch Nay had two more hits and drove in two of the runs. Nay has been hitting very well in July. He hit well in June too after a poor May. In July Nay is hitting almost .400. His doubles numbers are up although the home runs are missing. Nay is 20 so he has time to add more bulk.
- Matt Dean had a hit and he, like Nay, is hitting well in July. An average of .370 and an OPS over 1100 will hopefully lead to a strong finish and a setup for Dunedin next season.
Everett 11 Vancouver 4
- Franklin Barreto is hitting .312 with an OPS of 827. Barreto is 18. Looking at his plate control Barreto has 23 K's in 109 AB's. That is reasonable, just over a 20% K rate. Barreto also has 12 walks, again reasonable.
- Zak Wasilewski took the loss with 3 runs allowed in 5.1 innings. Wasilewski has a WHIP over 1.5 and has 19 K's in 30 innings.
- Looking at strikeouts per inning, here are the three leaders in strikeouts who have more K's than IP: Miguel Castro 29 K's in 28.1 IP; Jairo Labourt 29 in 24; Yeyfry Del Rosario 15 in 11.
Bluefield 4 Princeton 3 - 11 innings
- Joey Aquino went five innings with just one hit, a home run, allowed. Aquino is from Hawaii and has a 2.25 ERA. However he has just 9 K's in 20 innings. Aquino has a very good breaking ball which stops the hitters from making good contact.
- Richard Urena hit the game winning home run in the 11th. Urena is 18 years old and is hitting .302. Urena is another shortstop from the Dominican, in this case San Francisco De Macoris.
- Josh Almonte had three more hits. The New Yorker is hitting .313. He doesn't walk much yet but he is one to watch.
GCL Yankees 6 GCL Jays 3
- Angel Perdomo went five shutout innings in relief with just one hit allowed, recording 6 K's. In 18 innings Perdomo has 24 K's and a WHIP of 1. Perdomo is 20 so he would be expected to do well in the GCL.
- Lane Thomas had three hits and was a home run short of the cycle. It is refreshing to see the Jays draft a hitter who hits the ground running. Thomas is hitting .292 and has an OPS over 800. Pretty good for an 18 year old.
- Max Pentecost was hitless. He has been shutout in four games and picked up 8 hits in his other two games. He is hitting .364.
3 Stars
3rd star: Lane Thomas
2nd star: John Anderson
1st star: Richard Urena
