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Minor League Update Kendall Graveman Brilliant for the Herd
On Sunday the affiliates were 2-4, with 5 of the 6 games being determined by a run differential.  There was lots of strong pitching in the minors on Sunday, except for another disappointing start from Zak Wasilewski in Vancouver.


Buffalo 2 – Lehigh Valley 3

Kendall Graveman continued to be one of the biggest surprises of the 2014 Jays Minor League season.  Kendall was fantastic today pitching 7 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits, with no walks, and 4 strikeouts.  Sergio Santos had a scoreless 8th, but Bobby Korecky had a rough 9th inning allowing 3 runs including a walk-off Home Run to Phillies prospect Maikel Franco.

Ryan Goins scored in the 4th off a Cole Gillespie single, and George Kottaras scored in the 5th off a Darin Mastroianni single.

Akron 2 – New Hampshire 3

Austin Bibens-Dirkx was solid again for New Hampshire finishing with a line of 6IP 2R 2ER 0BB 5SO.

New Hampshire only had 4 hits, but scored 3 runs in the 6th.  Two of the runs came from a Cory Aldrige single, and the other run came from a Mike McDade bases loaded walk.

Brevard County 3 – Dunedin 2

Matt Boyd allowed one earned over 5 innings, and reliever Chad Girodo allowed 2 runs in the 6th.

LB Dantzler had a solo HR in the 4th inning, and Dwight Smith doubled home Christian Lopes in the first.

Lansing 2 – South Bend 3

Mitch Nay was 2-4 with a double, while Derick Loveless and David Harris each had a solo HR in a losing cause.

Starlyn Suriel was solid again for Lansing, but unfortunately was given another loss dropping his record to 1-3 after 4.2IP 5H 2R 1ER 1BB 3SO.

Vancouver 8 – Everett 7

Usually 7 runs would be enough, but not on this night as some poor pitching, and poor defense lead to the Canadians loss.  Zak Wasilewski continued to struggle with another poor starts allowing 6 runs (5 earned) over 4.2 innings, which brought his era to 7.25.

Vancouver had 6 doubles, including 2 from 3B Alexis Maldonado.  The other doubles came from the #2-6 hitters in the lineup Tim Locastro, Franklin Barreto, Chris Carlson, and Ryan McBroom who all had one a piece.

Bluefield 1 – Burlington 3

Conner Greene had a solid start in which he allowed one earned over 6 innings, but unfortunately Tim Mayza allowed 2 earned over the next 1.1 innings.

The only Bluefield run was scored in the 8th inning when a sacrifice fly from Angel Rojas scored Jesus Gonzalez.

Three Stars

1.  Kendall Graveman

2.  Austin Bibens-Dirkx

3.  Conner Greene

Posted by tercet on Monday, August 18 2014 @ 11:19 AM EDT.
Kendall Graveman Brilliant for the Herd | 10 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Beyonder - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 11:33 AM EDT (#292181) #
The Vancouver Canadians won.
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China fan - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 01:09 PM EDT (#292185) #
An excerpt from a TSN blog today: 

In total, Graveman has pitched 155 innings this season. He has built a 12-6 record with a sparkling 1.68 ERA. Opponents have only managed to hit .223 off of him and he has surrendered only two home runs in total.

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PeterG - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 02:00 PM EDT (#292186) #
I look forward to getting a better look a Graveman in ST 2015..
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Mike Green - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 02:20 PM EDT (#292188) #
Sean Reid-Foley had a nice outing in Rookie ball today- 3 scoreless innings, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts. 
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MatO - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 03:08 PM EDT (#292190) #
I've heard on a podcast that Dan Jansen has a left knee injury and is probably out for the rest of the season since there are only a couple of weeks left. It didn't sound serious but knee injuries are always a concern for catchers. It's too bad because he was really on a tear. His last nine games BA OBP SLG were .345 .472 .724. He had 5 BB 2 HBP and 0 SO in those games. Have to love power and patience. On a side note, Urena's numbers against lefties have improved so maybe his move to switch-hitting is responsible.
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Gerry - Monday, August 18 2014 @ 07:30 PM EDT (#292210) #
Grayson Huffman has pitched really well in the GCL. In 27 innings he has allowed 7 hits and has a 1.00 ERA. Huffman has now been promoted to Bluefield and is due to start tonight.

If Huffman turns into a good prospect we will have to differentiate between Huffman and Hoffman.
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DJRob - Tuesday, August 19 2014 @ 04:36 AM EDT (#292219) #
One will be known as Huffman, the other will be 'The Hoff'. It's inevitable.
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Spifficus - Tuesday, August 19 2014 @ 08:17 AM EDT (#292220) #
Agreed on The Hoff, but I'd be too tempted to say Guffman for Grayson. Of course, I can't resist a Christopher Guest reference.
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Mike Green - Tuesday, August 19 2014 @ 08:44 AM EDT (#292221) #
Rhayson Guffman?  Perfect, spifficus spoonerificus.
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John Northey - Tuesday, August 19 2014 @ 09:48 AM EDT (#292226) #
Nice for a 6th round pick to start off well, especially a 19 year old.  Grayson Huffman has the lowest ERA in the Jays system for a teenager (1.20 in 30 innings now) but his 4.8 BB/9 and 8.1 K/9 figures need to improve.

Right now in the system there are 3 17 year olds (none doing that well), 7 18 year olds (Evan Smith doing best with a 3.02 ERA in rookie ball, 8.3 K/9 2.6 BB/9), and 20 19 year olds (Huffman, Miguel Burgos 1.69 ERA in 16 IP, Osman Gutierrez 1.91 ERA in 47 IP, Roberto Osuna the only one up to A+ ball). 

For hitters there is a 16 year old (Bryan Lizardo, switch hitter, 762 OPS at 3B), 5 17 year olds (all OPS'ing under 700), 8 18 year olds ( Franklin Barreto 902 OPS in Vancouver at SS, 2 Dominican OF with OPS in the 800's, Richard Urena at SS 811 OPS), and 22 19 year olds (Dan Jansen 874 OPS as a catcher in Bluefield). 

So a few interesting kids there, but only Osuna is at A+ and the rest are many years away.  Normal for teens, but you always hope to see someone who could climb quick.  Barreto looks like the best bet for a quick climb, should be in full season ball next year and at 20 could be in AA if he does well with a shot at the majors by 21 (again, if all goes well which is a MAJOR assumption).
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