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Dunedin was the only affiliate who showed up on the first day of class. The rest of our affiliates skipped out due to "weather." Nonetheless, our revamped MLU is up and running.

“Inclement weather” is the theme of our first revised Minor League Update. Buffalo, New Hampshire, and Lansing were hit with weather unbecoming for baseball. As Gerry noted, Lansing will play two tomorrow, while the other affiliates will be on their regular scheduled programming.

Dunedin probably wishes it too did not play. Dunedin was bounced 3-1. Danny Jansen tallied all three hits for the Baby Jays, while Ryan Borucki was solid until being derailed by a Matt Dean error in the fourth. He settled for five innings of three run (two earned) baseball.

Looking at the lineup, Dunedin is a bit of an island of misfit toys. There’s a ton of bonus money down there, but not a lot of prospects. Max Pentecost continues to DH—I don’t think he’s been behind the plate for a couple years now. They’ve gotten aggressive with Cavan Biggio. I saw him in Vancouver last year and wasn’t all that impressed. There weren’t a lot of loud tools in our draft last year and Biggio probably exemplifies that for me. D.J. Davis, the man everyone needed to know had big hands at draft time, continues with the organization. Davis is in his sixth year with the organization and still has tools you can’t teach. My recommendation for those following Dunedin this year, don’t get your hopes up and be happy if any of those guys show improvements.

Three Stars

3. Justin Shafer

2. Ryan Borucki

1. Danny Jansen

Box Scores

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The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
uglyone - Friday, April 07 2017 @ 06:41 AM EDT (#340365) #
Every year i think will be Danny Jansen's healthy, breakout year.

nice start.
dan gordon - Friday, April 07 2017 @ 12:19 PM EDT (#340371) #
I imagine Biggio is filling in for the injured Gurriel and LaPrise at Dunedin, and will be going back to Lansing as soon as they are healthy. Biggio was good but not great in Vancouver last year, and struggled in a brief appearance at Lansing, so I doubt they want him to skip a level.
Gerry - Friday, April 07 2017 @ 02:13 PM EDT (#340373) #
The first Lansing lineup of the season has Bradley Jones playing second base. He played last season at first base.
Gerry - Friday, April 07 2017 @ 02:20 PM EDT (#340374) #
Doing some research....BA says Jones was a corner outfielder and first baseman in college. However they note he played some shortstop in summer leagues. Some older sites also list him as a third baseman.

Whether that will mean he can play second in the major leagues is a different issue but this gets him some at-bats and lets another bat cover first base. It sounds like an experiment for now.
Gerry - Friday, April 07 2017 @ 04:13 PM EDT (#340377) #
We have Lansing baseball. Bo Bichette drives in JB Woodman with the first run in the top of the first inning. Both singled. Brad Jones also singled in the first.
ramone - Friday, April 07 2017 @ 06:45 PM EDT (#340387) #
I watched the Lugs on MiLB.tv and it was awesome. Vlad Jr and Bichette both went deep to the opposite field. Maese was pretty good, everything down in the zone, heard some 93 and 94 mph from the announcers, also as I was listening to the opposing teams play by play, they were raving about the Lugs team.
PeterG - Friday, April 07 2017 @ 06:51 PM EDT (#340388) #
And I assume that Palacios will soon be added to that lineup as will Biggio when injured Dunedin infielders return.
uglyone - Friday, April 07 2017 @ 09:48 PM EDT (#340395) #
nice to hear maese looked good, ramone! our most underrated prospect imo. for me he's just a tick behind our top 5 at the moment.

and vladdy and bichette both excelling as teenagers in A ball would be pretty damn sweet.
Nigel - Friday, April 07 2017 @ 10:52 PM EDT (#340401) #
Agreed on Maese. I am very high on his potential. The FB is a real plus pitch. Not high 90's but consistently '92-93 with heavy sink and both good command and control. I honestly cannot fathom prospect reports that put Harris above Maese, unless Harris has transformed himself completely since leaving Vancouver. Harris had trouble finding a collection of average offerings let alone a plus offering.
uglyone - Friday, April 07 2017 @ 10:55 PM EDT (#340402) #
couldn't agree more. if any gm values harris like the interweb scouts do he'd be a good trade candidate, because i really don't think he's an mlber.
SK in NJ - Friday, April 07 2017 @ 11:12 PM EDT (#340403) #
Guerrero and Bichette are going to be fun to keep track of all year.
uglyone - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 12:22 PM EDT (#340411) #
vladdy hr video: http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=1261876683&sid=milb
Gerry - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 01:36 PM EDT (#340414) #
Home run Rowdy Tellez in his first AAA at-bat.
Gerry - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 02:16 PM EDT (#340416) #
Home run Rowdy Tellez in his second AAA at-bat. One to left, one to right.
Mike Green - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 02:31 PM EDT (#340418) #
Not a bad start.
ramone - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 02:31 PM EDT (#340419) #
I am watching as well Gerry, that one to right had to have some serious exit velocity
uglyone - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 03:02 PM EDT (#340420) #
talking about underrated prospects.....
uglyone - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 03:11 PM EDT (#340421) #
AAA vet callup notes....

Coghlan is leading off and in LF (1/1, 2BB so far).
Ohlman is DH, not C (graterol starts).
SK in NJ - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 03:45 PM EDT (#340422) #
Keith Law is not amused.
bpoz - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 05:43 PM EDT (#340424) #
I am very pumped about our top hitting prospects. SSS of course but a fabulous start for. Vlad Jr, Rowdy and Bo.

I picked Bischette to start in Lansing. I must admit it was a long shot and I expected it not to happen. But if a guy is good enough...then let him have a shot at 450 ABs in full season rather than 250 ABS in short season.
Waveburner - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 06:37 PM EDT (#340428) #
Sean Reid-Foley removed after just 1.2 innings today. He wasn't terrible or anything. I am hoping it was just a high pitch count inning and not a sign of injury.
PeterG - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 07:07 PM EDT (#340429) #
anyone listening to or watching NH game have an update on reason for SRF early departure? I tried to tune in to the broadcast but it is not connecting properly.
dan gordon - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 07:11 PM EDT (#340431) #
Reid-Foley threw only 37 pitches, so likely some kind of injury. It's pretty cool, just 44 F, maybe his arm tightened up a bit. Urena 2 for 2 so far today.

In AAA, D.Barnes pitched 1 1/3 clean innings for the save. Girodo 1 2/3 clean innings for the hold. In addition to Tellez, D.Smith also had 2 hits. They had Rowdy in the 5 spot in the order, with Ohlman hitting cleanup and Ceciliani 3rd.
mendocino - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 07:14 PM EDT (#340432) #
no injury on pitch count team idle for nearly a week
John Northey - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 10:58 PM EDT (#340446) #
Could Reid-Foley be getting his first ML action tomorrow? After Lawrence was used today and Leone not being allowed back up that quickly.

Hrm, doubt it given he isn't on the 40 man yet. Still it is possible as I doubt the Jays would want to use Lawrence 2 days in a row despite the low pitch count given he has always been a starter.
Gerry - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 11:03 PM EDT (#340448) #
SRF pitched today...he would not be ready.
dan gordon - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 11:44 PM EDT (#340450) #
I don't know that the above comment about a pitch count for Reid-Foley is accurate - Greene pithed the 2nd game of the DH today, and he threw 84 pitches, more than double the number Reid-Foley threw. Something must have happened for Reid-Foley to come out after only 37 pitches. Hope it's nothing serious. Tim Mayza had a rough go of it in game 2 - he threw only 1/3 of an inning and surrendered 6 hits. Greene had a shutout going into the 5th, but then ran into some trouble. Ended with 4 1/3 IP and only 1 hit allowed, but 5 walks and 3 earned runs. Dusty Isaacs gave up 3 hits and 3 walks in 2 IP in his 1st taste of AA ball.
dan gordon - Saturday, April 08 2017 @ 11:49 PM EDT (#340451) #
Another starter came out early today, T.J. Zeuch exited after just 1 inning. The article about the game says he has a "lower body injury".
PeterG - Sunday, April 09 2017 @ 11:04 AM EDT (#340458) #
I share Dan's suspicion about SRF and the fact that no info is available deepens that feeling. Really hope I'm wrong.
jerjapan - Sunday, April 09 2017 @ 12:22 PM EDT (#340460) #
Any word on if / when / how often Max Pentacost is going to catch?  He's DHed twice and played first in three games so far. 

Looks like Cecilliani is the option in CF for Buffalo.  I guess it will be Zeke if Pillar needs a day off, but neither option is inspiring. 

What minor league teams / stories are you guys most interested in following this year?  The FO ultimately did a good job building veteran depth in Buffalo, and the Bisons' pen will be interesting as we sort out the depth chart, but it's AA and down where the prospects live.  New Hampshire has a stacked rotation and five of our top ten prospects.  Harold Ramirez is arguably the 7th or 8th best prospect on the team - that's a lot of young talent. 

Past Buffalo, it's a pretty deep system overall.  Very curious to see if the FO changes their approach to drafting.  If we are lacking in anything, it's elite front-end prospects, so I hope we continue with the aggressive approach to drafting guys with helium / loud tools / signability issues. 

mendocino - Sunday, April 09 2017 @ 01:42 PM EDT (#340462) #
ouch .. I know I don't post often .. my interests are mostly the minors and draft .. but I have been around quite some time and do respect the box and would not pass on BS. I was watching the game and announcers said because of layoff he was on pitch count so he wouldn't miss next start
mendocino - Sunday, April 09 2017 @ 01:48 PM EDT (#340463) #
https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/850832531775782913
PeterG - Sunday, April 09 2017 @ 01:49 PM EDT (#340464) #
Thank you for the clarification. I guess Connor Greene had a higher pitch count because he was in major league spring training and had a higher count established as a result.
Waveburner - Sunday, April 09 2017 @ 02:20 PM EDT (#340465) #
I don't think SRF hit an overall game pitch count. My guess is he threw too many pitches in the 2nd inning. The Jays did this a few times last year, pulling pitchers early in starts if they happened to throw 30 pitches in an inning. I wonder if due to the cold weather, the rain delays pushing his start back, etc the team just decided to have a lower pitch/inning threshold. No sense pushing a young arm in the first start of the season in cold weather.
PeterG - Sunday, April 09 2017 @ 05:55 PM EDT (#340468) #
some hot starts:

Dwight Smith--6 for 9
Anthony Alford--7 for 10
Vlad Guerrero--5 for 12
Bo Bichette - 6 for 15

Lansing 4-0
Buffalo 3-0
bpoz - Sunday, April 09 2017 @ 07:14 PM EDT (#340475) #
jerejapan, thank you for trying to stimulate a discussion on the minor leagues.
I am following our hot shot pitchers and the elite hitters as I see them. Bo, Vlad Jr and Rowdy.

We also need 4th OFs and Utility IFs. Also bullpen arms. This is for next year because we need cheap depth and a cheap pen.
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