Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Everett get Guillotte-ined

The all-star break continued for the AAA and AA teams. Bluefield were rained out leaving four teams in action. Lansing had a nice come from behind win. Vancouver took the lead in the first inning, lost it, but won late. The GCL Jays won in a rain shortened game. Dunedin took the only loss as they were shut out.

Buffalo - All-Star Break

In the all-star game Matt Hague was 1-3. Gregory Infante got two outs.

New Hampshire - All-Star Break

In the all-star game Dwight Smith was 1-3 with a run scored. KC Hobson and Jack Murphy were 0-2 each. Danny Barnes pitched a perfect inning with 2 K's.

Dunedin 0 St Lucie 2

Conner Greene had a good start even though he took the loss. Greene pitched five innings and gave up both runs. All seven singles off Greene were ground balls. The two runs came from three straight ground ball singles in the fourth inning followed by a sac fly. Brad Allen pitched three perfect innings.

The hitters had just four hits, three of them doubles. Matt Dean doubled twice, LB Dantzler once. Anthony Alford had the only single.

South Bend 4 Lansing 6

Jesus Tinoco dodged a lot of trouble, he did pitch six innings but he allowed 8 hits and two walks and left a lot of runners in scoring position. He was charged with four runs but just two earned. Dusty Isaacs pitched three shutout innings in relief.

The Lugnuts trailed 2-0 in the second. In that inning six of the seven hitters singled but two were thrown out at the plate. Ryan McBroom led off with a single, continuing his hot streak. Unfortunately that was McBroom's only hit of the night. Lansing played from behind most of the night. Trailing 4-3 in the seventh Josh Almonte doubled to lead off the inning. With two outs Jason Leblebijian singled in Almonte to tie the game. In the eighth DJ Davis singled and Alex Maldonado walked. Michael De La Cruz singled in one run and the other run came in on a wild pitch. Leblebijian, De La Cruz and Davis had two hits each.

Vancouver 5 Everett 4

Vancouver scored three runs in their first at-bat. Andrew Guillotte singled, Justin Atkinson and Lane Thomas both doubled and a wild pitch scored the third run. Everett came back to tie the game and it remained tied until the eighth inning. In that inning Carl Wise led off with a double and scored on a single from Sean Hurley. Vancouver doubled their lead in the ninth when Gabriel Cenas tripled and Andrew Guillotte singled him in. Guillotte had three hits to push his BA to .400. Justin Atkinson had two doubles and Kevin Garcia had two singles.

Vancouver used four pitchers. Francisco Rios started and went three innings an allowed an unearned run. Everett scored two off Josh DeGraaf in one inning. Brandon Hinkle went three shutout innings. Andrew Case pitched the last innings but gave up a run in the ninth but he did leave the bases empty so the win was reasonably assured.

Bluefield at Bristol - rained out

Doubleheader Thursday

GCL Jays 4 GCL Tigers 2

This game was called in the sixth, by that time the Jays had scored four runs on three hits. In the second inning Jake Thomas singled and moved around on a passed ball and an error. He scored on a sac fly. In the third Reggie Pruitt doubled in Juandy Mendoza although an error helped the process. In a tied game in the fourth Lance Jones reached on an error, Bryan Lizardo singled and Nash Knight reached on an error. A walk and a wild pitch scored the two runs that were the margin of victory.

Tom Robson made the start and pitched 1.2 innings. He did surrender a two run home run and four hits in total. His catcher was Derrick Chung working his own way back from injury. Luis Sanchez pitched 3.1 shutout innings and picked up the win.

3 Stars

3rd star: DJ Davis

2nd star: Michael De La Cruz

1st star: Andrew Guillotte

Boxes

Posted by Gerry on Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 09:26 AM EDT.

Everett get Guillotte-ined | 45 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

bpoz - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 09:57 AM EDT (#305140) #

I am really glad to see Derrick Chung back. I had thought that he would make a big move up this year.

Maldoff - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 10:55 AM EDT (#305143) #

Speaking of injured catchers, has there been any reports on the progress of Max Pentecost? This is looking more and more like a lost year....

finch - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 11:45 AM EDT (#305146) #

John Sickels released his mid season top 75 prospect list and there were a few Blue Jays:

12. Daniel Norris
38. Jeff Hoffman
45. Dalton Pompey

In the comments section, someone asked about Sean Reid-Foley, Anthony Alford, Jario Labourt, Tirado and Boyd.

Sickels said Boyd would rank in the 80-100 range, Reid-Foley in the 80s. He wants to see Alford do what he's doing for the rest of the season (should be Top 100). Tirado won't be ranked because of his relief role and Labourt isn't consistent enough but like his stuff.

Gerry - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 12:32 PM EDT (#305148) #

Pompey is being promoted to Buffalo today.

Mike Green - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 12:54 PM EDT (#305150) #

Pompey is being promoted to Buffalo today.

Time is marching on. Evidently management is of the view that a Carrera/Valencia/Colabello situation is all right temporarily. It's not what I would do.

uglyone - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 12:59 PM EDT (#305151) #

If Alford was in the yanks or red sox organization he would be on all these lists already. His combination of upside, surface numbers, and underlying numbers can be matched by only a very very few prospects.

Very glad to see pompey heading to AAA first. I want to see him rake there again before coming back up.

uglyone - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 01:02 PM EDT (#305152) #

and Labourt really is an afterthought at this point. He's not much of a prospect anymore. se have a ton of more interesring lower level arms including reidfoley, hollon, borucki, harris, and more. Not to mention the top arms osuna sanchez norris hoffman castro boyd.

uglyone - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 01:08 PM EDT (#305153) #

U-25 Pitchers, my rank

1. Stroman 24
2. Osuna 20
3. Norris 22
4. Sanchez 22
5. Hoffman 22
6. Castro 20
7. Reid-Foley 19
8. Harris 21
9. Hollon 20
10. Borucki 21

Position players:

1. 2B Travis 24
2. CF Pompey 22
3. CF Alford 20
4. SS Urena 19
5. 1B Tellez 20
6. C Pentecost 22
7. C Jansen 20
8. CF Davis 20*
9. LF Smith 22*
10. 3B Nay 21*

* - these last 3 are just filling out the top 10. imo they are very borderline prospects at this point. but all 10 of those pitchers are legit guys imo.

finch - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 01:18 PM EDT (#305154) #

Uglyone, I agree with your comment regarding Anthony Alford. He would be Top 50 if he was with the Yankees, Red Sox or LA Dodgers. I think AA hit a home run with this gamble. His ability to draw walks, steal bases and play stellar defense already makes him valuable. Then add his high OBP plus his power potential and ability to hit for average. He's got a chance to be special. If I had a comparable player to Alford, I say he reminds me of Rondell White in his peak years or if the power develops, Justin Upton but with more speed.

finch - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 01:20 PM EDT (#305155) #

and I would add Vladimir Guerrero Jr on that list as well, on the back end of it.

uglyone - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 01:28 PM EDT (#305157) #

d'oh.

vladdy jr. definitely is in my top 10, pushing out Nay, but i'm not sure where i'd slot him. given age and lack of defensive versatility, i probably slot him 7th for now.

finch - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 01:35 PM EDT (#305158) #

Keith Law released his mid season top 50:

15. Daniel Norris
39. Anthony Alford

No mention of Dalton Pompey or Jeff Hoffman. In his chat, thinks Hoffman is overrated as he does not have hit-and-miss stuff. Says he lacks movement on his fastball and is straight.

uglyone - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 01:56 PM EDT (#305159) #

krikey, i agree with keith law!?!?!?!

i feel dirty.

ayjackson - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 02:07 PM EDT (#305160) #

does not have "hit and miss" stuff?

So is it hit stuff or miss stuff?

Mike Green - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 02:17 PM EDT (#305161) #

It's a short-form for hit-and run, swing-and-miss stuff! Two outs for the price of one.

ramone - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 02:30 PM EDT (#305163) #

From Fangraphs today on Hoffman, they think the Jays tweaking his delivery has downgraded his curve considerably

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/hoffman-and-reyes-among-minors-most-intriguing-arms/

Nigel - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 02:36 PM EDT (#305164) #

I have no problem with the notion that Labourt is struggling right now and isn't a top 10 prospect for the Jays but there is no universe in which he should be an afterthought. He's only just turned 21 and he's in high A. He is the only LH pitcher that I have seen in Vancouver that you can say truly sits at 95 and can go up to 97 (and it looks really really easy). Both his CH and his SL are really inconsistent but both can be dominant pitches. He has historically given up far fewer hits than innings pitched because even when you know he has to throw a FB (because of his control issues) his FB is just really hard to make good contact on. His command and control are both poor so he has major issues to work on, but if he found some measure of control he would be a top 5 Jays prospect. He's the very definition of high risk high reward.

Ryan Day - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 02:59 PM EDT (#305165) #

In his chat, thinks Hoffman is overrated ...

So Hoffman for RoY 2016, then?

uglyone - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 03:28 PM EDT (#305167) #

"From Fangraphs today on Hoffman, they think the Jays tweaking his delivery has downgraded his curve considerably"

kiley has no evidence that the jays for some reason decided to ruin a top prospect's delivery for no reason.

uglyone - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 03:30 PM EDT (#305168) #

nigel - fair enough on his tools. but the kid has nevervshoen he can pitch, at all.

PeterG - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 03:37 PM EDT (#305169) #

You cannot judge a pitcher in his first half season after TJ. I disregard anything said about Hoffman until next season. I think Labourt is still a prospect, moreso than Borucki. Castro has lost ground imo. Reid-Foley is top 5 among pitchers. The one who has really fallen off the edge of the earth is Smoral.

Considering, his limited pro experience, age and level of performance already at the A level, I will go out on a limb and suggest that Alford should easily be considered one of the top 20 prospects in all of baseball. He has a much higher ceiling than Pompey imo. I don't think the Jays are going to trade any prospects of note by the 31st, but if they do, I think Pompey and Ney are the most likely candidates.

PeterG - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 03:51 PM EDT (#305171) #

another pitcher that should be in the top 10 is Conner Greene.

short - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 04:36 PM EDT (#305172) #

Pompey is in the AA lineup today according to Twitter.

China fan - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 04:37 PM EDT (#305173) #

The Dominican summer league has announced its mid-season all-stars. There are two Jays on the American League team: 20-year-old Mexican outfielder Norberto Obeso and 19-year-old Venezuelan pitcher Yonardo Herdenez. Given their ages, neither is an actual prospect, although both are having good seasons, so congratulations to both. The all-star game is on Sunday.

I watched the DSL Jays playing the DSL Reds this morning in Boca Chica, where most MLB teams have their Dominican training complexes these days. (It's about 30 kilometres from Santo Domingo.) I was impressed by 17-year-old Venezuelan shortstop Kevin Vicuna, who has better hitting skills than I expected. He's a skinny kid who is seen as defence-first, but his bat seemed fine. He cranked one hit over third base and down the left-field line, and later hit a fly-out to fairly deep RF. Vicuna was ranked as the number 30 international prospect last year and was given a six-figure bonus when he signed with the Jays. Defensively, he's got a cannon of an arm. I didn't see him make a lot of plays at SS, however, because there don't seem to be a lot of ground balls to shortstop in the Dominican game -- or at least today there weren't. The typical hit, it seemed, was a duck snort to shallow right field, dropping in front of the outfielders. There were also several HRs and many other flies, but not a lot of ground balls, oddly enough. Vicuna seemed fine on the few balls that were hit to him.

I was also watching Jesus Navarro, another 17-year-old infielder who got a $200,000 signing bonus last year. He's playing 2B, rather than SS, so the Jays presumably think he ranks behind Vicuna. He was less impressive than Vicuna. At one point, he flubbed a slow grounder that bounced right past him. On another groundball, he made it look more difficult than it should have been, fell down, recovered, threw to 1B from a prone position and didn't get the runner.

More reports from the DR later.

Mike Green - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 04:41 PM EDT (#305174) #

Thanks, CF.

China fan - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 04:50 PM EDT (#305175) #

Vicuna, by the way, started off slowly this season but is hitting at a .341 clip over the past 10 days (not including today). He does look very comfortable at the plate, but perhaps not very patient. In his final at-bat today, he fouled off the first two pitches and then struck out on the 3rd pitch. But that impatience seems to apply to much of the league. Everyone seems to go down swinging. I think I saw only one walk in the entire game.

uglyone - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 06:08 PM EDT (#305176) #

"another pitcher that should be in the top 10 is Conner Greene."

agreed. i have him right there with borucki.

"You cannot judge a pitcher in his first half season after TJ. I disregard anything said about Hoffman until next season."

that's not really true. pitchers don't take 2yrs to get back to normal.

we have easy examples to compare with:

midseason TJ returns:

Hutch (22, A+/AA): 16.1ip, 33.4k%, 12.5bb%, 2.06fip
Hoffman (22, A+): 56.0ip, 16.7k%, 6.6bb%, 3.72fip
Osuna (19, A+): 22.0ip, 29.7k%, 8.9bb%, 4.07fip

and osuna was outright dominant over the last half of those innings.

Hoffman's gonna get a good 100ip in this year - you can't just write them off as meaningless. especially given that his colelge career wasn't exactly dominant either.

"Castro has lost ground imo."

I think we forget that Castro was knocking on the door of top 100 lists last offseason with the expectation that he's be in A ball this year. the fact that he deservedly won an mlb spot this year, where he performed not-horribly, has to move him up, not down, imo. especially since he was unhittable in his brief rehab in A+.

Spifficus - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 06:26 PM EDT (#305177) #

Of course, the one detail absent above is that Osuna had 85 pro innings over 2 years before surgery, and Hutchison had 292 innings over 3 years. Hoffman is dealing with his first pro season, while simultaneously making his comeback from TJS 14 months ago.

bpoz - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 06:55 PM EDT (#305179) #

I feel very sure that Osuna is going to be good. He has the stuff and has produced good results.
Everyone else has a negative or two. They are all young and/or inexperienced.
Boyd and Labourt struggle when promoted.
J Espada is out pitching J Harris. Actually Espada has been incredible and Harris has 9 bb in 10 IP.

Overall I see great progress.

PeterG - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 07:04 PM EDT (#305180) #

Harris could simply be tired after a full college season. Espada looks like a real sleeper pick so far.

ayjackson - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 07:53 PM EDT (#305181) #

6'5" 19 year-old, Nick Wells, having a "don't forget about me" start for Bluefield tonight.

uglyone - Thursday, July 16 2015 @ 10:55 PM EDT (#305184) #

huh, hadn't really looked at this year's class other than harris. i did not know espada was off to such a torrid start. he keeps that up and yeah he might leap over the rest of the low-A/rk pack.

anyone heard anythjng on him since the draft?

finch - Friday, July 17 2015 @ 01:22 AM EDT (#305186) #

I know Singer hasn't signed yet and I hope he doesn't. I'm kind of meh about him. I would rather have the Jays recoup that pick next season. Let's hope they qualify Buerhle and gain another pick. I would love to see what AA does with another big pool of slot money.

PeterG - Friday, July 17 2015 @ 09:06 AM EDT (#305189) #

I don't think they would qualify Buerhle. It wouldn't be cricket. He wants to retire or finish up at home with St.Louis and Cards would not give up a pick to sign up. He has been good influence while here and is much respected. I can see the Jays agreeing not to qualify him if he agrees not to sign in AL if he does decide to pitch in 2016.

TangledUpInBlue - Friday, July 17 2015 @ 09:12 AM EDT (#305190) #

First of all, PeterG, you've taught me a new expression. Hadn't heard this cricket thing before. Now that I've looked it up, though, I can't say I agree. The Blue Jays will do what's in their interest, and that means making a qualifying offer to Buehrle. He's worth the $15M (or whatever) if nothing else.

TangledUpInBlue - Friday, July 17 2015 @ 09:18 AM EDT (#305192) #

Oh... and as I look at the time stamp on PeterG's comment, I'm thinking, "Wait. Six minutes ago? I thought I'd read this cricket thing earlier." Well, OK, now I've checked the other threads and see that it was CBDC who made the same comment. And when I say same, I mean same -- same context of not making a qualifying offer to Buehrle. So I guess I disagree with both of you. Have there been any other cases of teams not doing this as a favour to a player?

John Northey - Friday, July 17 2015 @ 09:30 AM EDT (#305193) #

If Buehrle was like Halladay - a long time Jay who did tons here and now wants a final shot at a ring while the team rebuilds, or really wants to play with his kid (ala Raines when the Expos sent him to Baltimore) or something like that I could see them saying 'ok no draft pick, we'll be nice'. But he has only been here a couple of years while making tons of money and was part of a very expensive trade. No way the Jays are that generous unless they really feel he isn't worth the QO.

Mike Green - Friday, July 17 2015 @ 09:43 AM EDT (#305195) #

Aaron Sanchez' outing in Buffalo last night was a little disappointing- 45 pitches, 3 and 1/3 IP, 2 walks and 1 HBP and 2 runs. I wonder if the club will change gears and prep him for the bullpen.

PeteMoss - Friday, July 17 2015 @ 10:29 AM EDT (#305199) #

I'd hope they don't change gears because of one rehab start. Whatever the plan is... this outing shouldn't change anything.

uglyone - Friday, July 17 2015 @ 11:04 AM EDT (#305201) #

not a sanchez defender but apparently he had a rough 1st and then quickly sorted it out.

Mike Green - Friday, July 17 2015 @ 12:06 PM EDT (#305202) #

Apparently Sanchez started the second inning with 7 straight balls- he threw 50% strikes for the outing. Allenson said that he needs more time. Sanchez has thrown 8 innings in his 3 rehab starts, giving up 5 runs with 5 walks and 6 strikeouts. If you really want to throw him back into the rotation, I think that he needs at least 2 more rehab outings and hopefully he has one decent one.

jerjapan - Friday, July 17 2015 @ 12:19 PM EDT (#305203) #

Buehrle gets the QO for sure. Perhaps the gentleman's agreement is that he gets traded to a contender if the team is out in 2016, but why would the team give up a first round pick to accomodate the wishes of a guy with career earnings of over 100$ million? what worries me is that he retires and we get nothing.

What kind of stuff does Conner Greene have? impressive projectability and age for his level, but the K rates aren't great.

and what does 'cricket' mean?

Mike Green - Friday, July 17 2015 @ 12:21 PM EDT (#305204) #

"It isn't cricket" means "it isn't fair". I guess that historically it was a "gentleman's game".

cybercavalier - Friday, July 17 2015 @ 01:17 PM EDT (#305206) #

A question of a tweak about minor league baseball roster transaction:

Declining performances of MLB players in their late 30's age are usually assumed to due to age; However, would their experience in the MLB and professional baseball help prospects to develop ? So are they worth acquiring and sent to the lower level of minor league team(s). Their rosters allow non-prospect or players who has pasted their prospect status to play. Is an imaginary trade an example, in which Steve Tolleson to the Mariners for Willie Bloomquist, or to the Padres for Clint Barmes ? Both Bloomquist and Barmes are more or less only holding a roster spot: Bloomquist has already been DFA'ed and released. Tolleson's last season showed 0.6 oWAR and 0.7dWAR but he is about 6 years younger and stuck in Buffalo virtually without a chance back to Toronto. Both Bloomquist or Barmes playing in New Hamsphire might help more than just show how a MLB veteran play to the local baseball spectators - would young players learn something about performance while playing as teammate ? The cost to get either one is very low, probably just about the minimum major league contract cost to 1 and 2M; giving Tolleson another chance with another team would both take him off the Jays roster management and also contribute to a reputation that the organization does care about player chances to the MLB. Recalling, EE and maybe JoeyBats pushed for Ricardo Nanita to play in Toronto. Players from double A and triple A would like a chance to play in the MLB while their performances are just above replacement level. Barmes' performance has been known for defensive prowess where the Padres' ballpark favors pitching over hitting. His performance this season shows anomoly in 0.9 oWAR over 0.1 dWAR, and shall get to normal and decline given his age. His trademark defense soon goes below replacement level shall it decline. So getting the Padres to pay part or remaining Barmes salary of 2M/this year of the 1 year contract would be easy because Barmes would likely not get his team option pick up in 2016. Would a Padres' JohnnyMac help that team ?

PeterG - Friday, July 17 2015 @ 01:28 PM EDT (#305208) #

Buerhle does not intend to pitch in 2016 unless it is in St.Louis...certainly not in TO. I still say he will not get QO.

cricket essentially means fair.

Everett get Guillotte-ined | 45 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.