The Futures game was played on Sunday featuring Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. Vlad and Bo were the two youngest players in the game, most of the players are older and are playing on AAA or AA teams. Vlad and Bo could be asked back again next year. Vlad had two hits, the first was on a 99 mph fastball that he lined to left. The second was a grounder up the middle. Vlad also struck out and fouled out. Bo started on the bench and had two at-bats. In the first he hit a fly ball to right field. In the second he struck out facing former Jay, Jairo Labourt. Bo swung at two pitches that were off the plate away. We don't know if he was over eager, not seeing the pitcher well or was it his approach.
On the diamond the Jays affiliates went 1-5. The only win came in Dunedin, a walk off thanks to an error. At the top of the system the hitters are not hitting. In the lower levels the hitters are hitting but the pitchers are not going well.
Buffalo
Buffalo has five outfielders. Dalton Pompey, Dwight Smith, Ian Parmley, Roemon Fields and Michael Saunders. Pompey only played one game on the weekend. Dwight Smith came out of Saturdays game early and did not play Sunday. Saunders is only hitting .147. Fields at .316 has the best batting average of the five.
Rowdy Tellez was 3-12 for the weekend.
Luis Santos had the best pitching performance, seven shutout innings with four hits allowed. Chris Rowley gave up three runs on eight hits over six innings.
New Hampshire
The Fisher Cats lost all three of their weekend games. On Sunday Sean Reid-Foley was hit around some, he only went 4.1 innings and conceded five earned runs. Francisco Rios had a decent start, three hits allowed in 5.2 innings. But he did walk four.
Carlos Ramirez missed all of May and June. But he has now pitched three times in July and his numbers are excellent. He has pitched eleven innings with just three hits and three walks allowed in that span. He also has 15 strikeouts.
The hitters were quiet all weekend. Jonathan Davis, Richard Urena and Harold Ramirez had three hits in three games. Danny Jansen had two in two.
Andrew Guillotte had a blistering May but has now cooled off. His OPS was average in June and he is off to a slow start in July.
Dunedin
The Jays had some good pitching performances. Ryan Borucki went seven innings, one earned run, six K's. Jordan Romano was not as strong as he usually is, he gave up three runs in seven innings but just five hits. Josh DeGraaf also went seven innings and he just gave up one run.
Max Pentecost is back and went 1-4 and 2-5 in two games. Most of the hitting was in Fridays game, Juan Kelly had four, Connor Panas had three including a home run. Several players had two including Cavan Biggio, Lourdes Gurriel, DJ Davis and Michael De La Cruz.
Lansing
Edward Olivares is a 21 year old outfielder from Venezuela. Following the departures of Bo and Vlad, Olivares has stepped up and taken over as the star of the offense. Over the weekend Olivares went 8-13 with three doubles and a home run. His average is up to .287. Yeltsin Gudino is also playing well, he had two hits in each of the two games he played. Josh Palacios had ten hits in three games a few days ago but then sat out four games, presumably because of a minor knock. He returned on Sunday and was hitless but it seems like every time he starts to get hot he gets injured. They do say that staying healthy is a skill.
Lansing did not get good pitching, both Yenssy Diaz and Gino Encina were hit around a bit.
On the other hand, Osman Gutierrez definitely did not get hit around. In four innings Osman walked six and struck out six. He gave up one hit, a pop up to himself.
Vancouver
The Canadians used lots of pitchers over the weekend. Juan Nunez started on Sunday and pitched four innings, walking six. He was the only pitcher to pitch more than three innings over the weekend. Jose Espada made one of the starts and was hit around for seven hits in three innings.
The hitters were on their game rapping out 33 hits. Kacy Clemens, Kevin Vicuna and Cullen Large had five hits each. Three of Clemens' hits were doubles and one a triple. Reggie Pruitt had four hits and stole a couple of bases. Riley Adams had four knocks in two games.
Bluefield
Bluefield's pitchers followed a similar path to Vancouver's with just two pitchers pitching four innings. Elio Silva went four, allowing just one unearned run, but he had just one K. Joel Espinal surrendered two runs in his four innings, he punched out three.
The opposing pitchers could be getting wary of Ryan Noda already. He was 5-9 with five walks over the weekend. Chavez Young and Kevin Smith each were 5-13. Young had two doubles and a triple. Yorman Rodriguez was 4-8 in two games while Tanner Kirwer, Canadian, went 4-10.
GCL Blue Jays
The GCL Jays only played one game and they were two hit by the Yankees. Jol Concepcion took the loss by giving up two runs in four inning. Concepcion had a little trouble finding the plate, he walked four.
Three Stars
Third Star - Mike Reeves and Mitch Nay
Second Star - Josh DeGraaf
First Star - Kevin Smith
