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Yesterday was the first day of the minor league season. Somebody forgot to tell the weather, Buffalo, New Hampshire and Lansing all had their games rained or snowed out. Dunedin started the season on a winning note.

Clearwater 2 Dunedin 6


Conner Greene started and he wasn't very sharp. Greene pitched five innings and conceded two runs on six hits and a walk. He had two K's. Reports from Dunedin said he was up in the zone and missing his spots, although his velocity was good, in the mid-90's with his fastball. Luis Santos and Tim Mayza each pitched two innings in relief

Anthony Alford scored the first two runs of the Jays season, without a hit. He walked in the first inning and scored on a ground out. In the sixth he reached on an error and scored when JD (not DJ) Davis singled. There was a play at the plate when Alford scored, the catcher had to jump for the ball and when he came down he landed on Alford's leg. Alford was removed for what were called precautionary reasons. DJ Davis followed with a two run single. In the seventh Richard Urena hit a two run home run to seal the win. The jays had five hits on the night, Urena's homer was the only extra base hit.


The northern teams are hoping for better weather tonight. If the weather is good Lansing will play two.

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The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
China fan - Friday, April 08 2016 @ 11:01 AM EDT (#320660) #
Great to see Urena flashing some slugging power, on top of all his other skills.  From watching him this spring, it's clear that his defense is already close to major-league ready.  His hitting will take longer to progress, but there are lots of indications that he has power and won't be merely a singles hitter like some defense-first shortstops.
Mike Green - Friday, April 08 2016 @ 11:44 AM EDT (#320661) #
I will be watching Urena's W/K this year.  His step backwards in that department last year more than offset the increase in power.  He had a fine game yesterday, a homer, single and sacrifice and no Ks in four PAs. 

He is 20 years old in the FSL, so a solid season (i.e. .275/.330/.420 with a 2/1 K/W rate say) will put him nicely on course.
uglyone - Friday, April 08 2016 @ 12:30 PM EDT (#320663) #
it was seriously encouraging seeing Urena's seemingly plus D in spring training this year, given that there had ben questions raised about his ability to stick there. I liked him already, but like him even more now.
China fan - Friday, April 08 2016 @ 02:25 PM EDT (#320672) #
Opening lineup for the Bisons tonight has an outfield of Ceciliani, Brown and Lake -- and Montero at DH -- which means Pompey is on the bench.  Ben Wagner says Pompey had "jammed his toes" on a slide last week.  I hope that's all it is.

The lineup also has Burns leading off and playing 2B, while Mier is the starting SS.   The starting catcher is Quintero.  The bench infielders are Adams and Casilla.

China fan - Friday, April 08 2016 @ 02:37 PM EDT (#320674) #
Also, the Buffalo closer will be Aardsma, while Tepera will have a 1 or 2 inning set-up role, Wagner reports.
China fan - Saturday, April 09 2016 @ 08:50 AM EDT (#320717) #
Two more hits by Urena last night. 

Hutchison looked great in his Buffalo start -- 9 strikeouts in 5 innings.  Unfortunately there's still no obvious vacancy anywhere in the Jays rotation, but it's a nice luxury to have a 6th starer who is capable of stepping into the rotation any day they need him.

Thomas - Saturday, April 09 2016 @ 08:01 PM EDT (#320747) #
The Jays have reportedly sold Scott Copeland to a team in Korea. I don't know yet who will replace him in Buffalo's rotation.
cybercavalier - Sunday, April 10 2016 @ 09:47 AM EDT (#320756) #
Looking at Bisons' lineup, Ceciliani is cold in hitting, in contrast to his spring training performance; and so is Kotchman who is playing well ? My question is whether higher minor league lineups -- Triple-A and Double-A -- shuffle the slots of batters as each batter tune performance differently to regular season games.

cybercavalier - Sunday, April 10 2016 @ 04:35 PM EDT (#320781) #
For the Bisons, Ceciliani, Montero, Kotchman, Lake provided much offense today. So how about for next match, CF Ceciliani 1B Kotchman DH Montero LF Lake as 2,3,4,5. Against LHSP 2B Burns leads off, RF Brown, 3B Dominguez, C Sanchez/Quintero, SS Casilla/Mier as 6,7,8,9. RF Brown leads off against RHSP, 2B Adams, 3B Burns, C Sanchez, SS Casilla/Mier as 6,7,8,9.

Whereabout is Robinzon Diaz ?
scottt - Sunday, April 10 2016 @ 05:22 PM EDT (#320782) #
Venditte has retired the 6 hitters he's faced so far, but he's only used his right arm doing so.
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