Earlier this week, there was a post on Fangraphs that mentioned contending teams will have high prices to pay for reinforcements at the trade deadline, and that they may have to be content with their minor leaguers. This week’s minor league update will take a peak at who could help the Blue Jays.
A Charlotte 4 @ BUFFALO 5
Caleb Gindl (2-4) was the hero in this one. With the Bisons trailing 4-2, he hit a three run home run in the bottom of the 7th to give the Bisons the lead. He and Matt Hague (2-2, 2 BB) were the offensive standouts for the day. The Bisons hitters are now mostly AAAA guys who aren’t likely to get much of an opportunity in the big leagues because the Blue Jays bench hitters have been very good this season. Justin Smoak, Danny Valencia, Chris Collabello, (and to some extent Dioner Navarro) have all warranted at bats at 1B/DH (wherever Edwin isn’t playing). If any of these hitters are injured, then there might be an opening for one of the veterans in Buffalo, but fingers crossed it won’t come to that.
The pitching side is something else entirely. Daniel Norris started this one, and must have been similar to the Norris we’ve seen most of the year. The good news is he struck out 6 hitters. But he could only last 4 innings. He allowed 4 runs, though only 2 were earned because he and Steve Tolleson made errors. The Knights bunched 7 hits and 3 walks, as well as a hit by pitch, so perhaps Norris was fortunate to only allow 4. Backing him up were 3 shutout innings from Chad Jenkins and 2 from Todd Redmond. The best possible short and long term solution for the Jays would be Norris getting it together and finishing the season strong, but there are also a few arms that are at least spare parts for Alex Anthopoulos. With a AAA debut from Matt Boyd to come, the Bisons have a few arms to watch.
New Hampshire 5 @ ALTOONA 8
Just when you think he’s out, Dalton Pompey (1-5) hits his 4th home run in 7 games and pulls you back in. His second demotion of the season seems to have given Pompey a spark. The Blue Jays could really use a competent outfielder right now, and Michael Saunders will get a chance to provide some stability when he returns. But don’t completely count Pompey out of the 2015 plans yet. I don’t see much else in terms of prospects on the Fisher Cats, with Dwight Smith Jr. (2-4, 2K) being the exception. If I had to guess, I’d say he is Michael Saunders insurance in 2016.
John Anderson started and didn’t fare very well. The bullpen didn’t do much better. The Fisher Cats could have some interesting options pitching for them towards the end of the season, but that will depend on how things go in Dunedin.
Lakeland 4 @ DUNEDIN 12 (game 1)
Lots of strong offensive days here. Everyone except Roemon Fields (1-5, 3K, SB) reached twice, and everyone had a hit except Jorge Saez who was 0-0 with 2 RBIs on 2 sac flys and 2 walks. Mitch Nay (2-4), Dawel Lugo (2-4), and J.D. Davis (2-3, 4 RBI, SF) all had a pair of doubles.
Lakeland 4 @ DUNEDIN 5 (game 2)
Presumably feeling inadequate, Fields (2-4, 3B, SB) recovered in the back half of the double header. Another double for JD Davis, and Matt Dean had his second 2-4 game, this time with a home run. Four players had triples, including Lugo, Boomer Collins, and Martin Medina.
Jairo Labourt had a poor start, walking 5 and allowing 3 hits in 4.2 innings to allow 3 runs to score. Matt Smoral came on in relief and allowed 3 hits and 2 walks against his 1 out. It seems like the D-Jays have a lot of big name pitching prospects who haven’t yet figured it out. In Vancouver last year, Tirado and Labourt were inconsistent, but boasted heavy fastballs. Jeff Hoffman hasn’t quite hit the ground runnings, and Smoral continues to search for the strike zone. The good news is there are a lot of intriguing arms. The bad news is they haven’t yet shown they’re ready for the next (big) step in their development. I’ll be watching Dunedin closely.
Lansing 1 @ CEDAR RAPIDS 3
Another intriguing arm is Jesus Tinoco. Here’s how his day started: Triple, single, double, single, wild pitch and his own missed catch error to allow the runner to advance to third. K. K. K. After the first, he allowed only 4 more hits, and struck out 7 more. His line 7 IP, 8H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 10 K, HBP, WP. He induced 7 ground ball outs against 3 flyouts. For a young 20 year old, Tinoco has handled Lansing reasonably well, striking out more than a batter an inning and allowing only 12 walks in 42.1 innings. He’s on the radar.
Unfortunately for Tinoco, the Lansing hitters were MIA in this one. Rowdy Tellez had two hits and a walk. The rest of the Lugnuts had 1 hit and 2 walks total. A major bonus to organizational depth could be coming as Max Pentecost resumed baseball activities and 2015 first rounder Jon Harris is quick to sign.
3 Stars
3rd star: Dawel Lugo (3-7, 2 2B, 3B, 2 R) Dunedin
2nd star: J.D. Davis (3-6, BB, 3 2B, 5 RBI, K), Dunedin
1st star: Jesus Tinoco (7 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 10 K), Lansing
