Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - You Can't Explain Baseball

Justin Dillon has started four games for Dunedin this year and sports a 4.82 ERA. So when Buffalo needed pitching help with all the Blue Jays moves, they called on Dillon and he was thrown into his first AAA game to protect a 2-0 lead. Dillon pitched 2.2 innings, didn't allow a hit or a walk, and his first five outs came via the strikeout. Three pitchers combined on a shutout, including another newbie, Conor Fisk, up from AA. Jon Harris had another tough start and New Hampshire lost, despite another home run from Vlad Jr. Dunedin lost despite a good start from TJ Zeuch. Lansing won behind a strong outing by Maverik Buffo.

Buffalo

Three Buffalo pitchers combined on a four hit shutout. It was a bullpen game with Biagini in Toronto along with Luis Santos and Tim Mayza. Taylor Guerreri started and pitched three innings of one hit ball. Newly promoted Conor Fisk went 3.1 innings, he gave up three hits. Justin Dillon got the last eight outs with five strikeouts.

Danny Jansen drove in two runs. In the first inning Dalton Pompey doubled and scored on a Jansen single. Later a sac fly by Jansen scored Tim Lopes. Darnell Sweeney homered for the third run. The Bisons had eight hits, Tim Lopes, of course, had two.

New Hampshire

Jon Harris had another poor outing, Tim Tebow took him deep for a three run home run in the second inning. He gave up four more in the fifth. Two errors by Vlad Jr. didn't help. Danny Young relieved Harris and let up three runs of his own in the seventh.

New Hampshire outhit Binghamton 11-10. Juan Kelly and Vlad Guerrero homered. Vlad also singled in a 2-5 night. Bo Bichette sat out to start the game but came in midway, he singled and walked. Harold Ramirez and Gunnar Heidt had two hits each.

Dunedin

Dunedin had four hits and three errors and lost 2-0. Ivan Castillo had 50% of the hits, 2 of 4, and made all three errors. The Jays had only four strikeouts so they had 4 hits on 27 balls in play, roughly a .150 BABIP.

TJ Zeuch pitched well, six hits over six innings with five K's. All 13 of his outs were ground balls.

Lansing

Lansing came from 5-2 behind to win 6-5. Donnie Sellers continued his hot and cold season by giving up five runs in five innings. The winning pitcher was Maverik Buffo who threw four innings of one hit shutout ball.

The Lugnuts spread the offense around. Kevin Vicuna had two hits and two RBI. Samad Taylor had two hits as well. Kacy Clemens and Samad Taylor doubled in runs. Its obligatory to mention Kevin Smith , he had one hit, a double.

Three Stars

Third Star - Danny Jansen

Second Star - Maverik Buffo

First Star - Justin Dillon

Boxes

Posted by Gerry on Thursday, May 03 2018 @ 11:34 PM EDT.

You Can't Explain Baseball | 19 comments | Create New Account

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

uglyone - Thursday, May 03 2018 @ 11:43 PM EDT (#357348) #

the sights - and SOUNDS - of young vladdy continue to amaze:

https://twitter.com/SDLOVE77/status/992214250109235201

Mike Green - Friday, May 04 2018 @ 11:51 AM EDT (#357368) #

The Fringe Five for today over at Fangraphs has an interesting chart on the new Matt Carpenters- players who combine a low swinging strike rate with a low ground ball rate. Cavan Biggio is right near the top.

Carpenter was a late bloomer too. At age 23, he was in A ball where he dominated the NYPL, hit well in the Midwest League and struggled in the FSL. At age 24, he .316/.412/.487 in the Texas League. He didn't really arrive in the big leagues until age 26.

diamonds38 - Friday, May 04 2018 @ 01:18 PM EDT (#357375) #

After a month of watching bits and pieces of Jays minor league teams, the following have stood out to me in a good way.

Pitchers - Reid-Foley, Shafer, Fisk, Tice (hard throwers with sharp breaking stuff, and good command in the games I've seen). I only saw a bit of one game with Yennys Diaz and he also looked good.

Hitters - Vlad, Biggio, Pompey - also solid have been Bichette and Lopes

Underwhelmed so far with Borucki, Tepesch, Breslow, Santos, Zach Jackson, and especially Harris and Case

I am interested to see if less-talked-about guys like Shafer, Fisk, and Tice can continue to climb the ladder. I know Shafer is a bit older so his window of opportunity might be small.

dan gordon - Saturday, May 05 2018 @ 01:10 AM EDT (#357415) #

Some good hitting once again for Lansing in today's 8-7 loss. Kevin Smith had 2 doubles, a single and a steal, giving him a line of .346/.395/.606/.1.001, and he's 7 for 7 in SB's. Kacy Clemens had a HR, single and 2 walks, upping his line to .314/.473/.663/1.136, and giving him 6 HR's in his last 8 games. Samad Taylor had a double, HR and steal (his 11th, with only 1 CS). Norberto Obeso had a HR, 2 walks and a steal. Maximo Castillo pitched 5 scoreless innings in relief.

For the Bisons, Danny Jansen had a walk, single, double and triple, pushing his line up to .316/.412/.526/938.

jerjapan - Saturday, May 05 2018 @ 12:08 PM EDT (#357417) #

Castillo's outing came on his 19th birthday. He's young for his league and for a relatively unheralded guy - signed for a 10K bonus due to an injury scaring off other suitors - he's certainly piquing my interest. He's battled weight issues, and is right now listed at 252 lbs. For a kid who is just over 6 ft., that's a lot, although Jay Blue reported he looks slimmer than his listed weight.

Clemmens is continuing to open my eyes as well. We all know how hard it is for 1B prospects to impress, especially an older one like Kacy, but he's only recently become a full-time position player, so his age is a touch deceptive. He's clearly too strong for Lansing pitching, so the next promotion will be a big test. His D gets lots of love, but is his glove good enough to make up for his position limitation?

Diamonds, I'm also interested in Tice and Fisk, but not sure that Fisk is a hard thrower? His versatility appeals to me as a long-man / spot starter type. Tice throws low to mid 90s but at 5 ft 9 has some challenges ahead. He's been posting the ridiculous numbers you like to see from minor league relief prospects. 17 for 17 career in save opportunities is impressive too - the first time I think I've talked about minor league saves in my history on the box.

Anyone else think Deck McGuire might be the best Buffalo starter if we decide Biagini isn't the guy? People were talking about Gaviglio, who I'd prefer to Biagini at this point, but at least McGuire has a bit of velocity. I continue to fail to see what makes people so confident in Biagini as a starter, and worry that we are wasting a solid bullpen asset.

jerjapan - Saturday, May 05 2018 @ 12:23 PM EDT (#357419) #

It's a few days old now, but this is another great Jay Blue write-up, this time on the players to watch in Lansing. I love his description of the old-school throwback Ryan Noda.

https://futurebluejays.com/2018/04/30/theres-another-team-to-watch-in-the-blue-jays-system/

Mike Green - Saturday, May 05 2018 @ 06:06 PM EDT (#357434) #

Vladdy Jr. has his average over .400.

ComebyDeanChance - Saturday, May 05 2018 @ 06:53 PM EDT (#357438) #

Long ago when Vladdy's dad was in AA I published an article in an Ottawa magazine about the local AAA team. After enjoying a couple of great 'novelty years' the attendance at Lynx game had fallen to record lows, much like the April temperatures when the team opened the season. I asked the owner whether Vlad would be playing in Ottawa and he was pessimistic. The Expos generally fast-tracked their best younger players from AA to the majors. He was disappointed that this would likely be the case with Vlad. And it was.

I don't think the Blue Jays will treat Buffalo like that. There are other factors of course, but instant gratification for the internet I suspect is, as it should be, at the bottom of the list. I'm pretty sure Buffalo will see Vlad next year, for a whole host of reasons. First, he's still learning third base. And second, he's still a teenager. The Blue Jays will want to avoid 'Bryce Harper' syndrome - the anticipation from Day 1 of someone's career of the day when they're a free agent when they are just entering their prime. That's an invitation to certain free agency, as has been the case with Harper.

ComebyDeanChance - Saturday, May 05 2018 @ 07:12 PM EDT (#357439) #

Clemmens is continuing to open my eyes as well. We all know how hard it is for 1B prospects to impress, especially an older one like Kacy, but he's only recently become a full-time position player, so his age is a touch deceptive.

I believe Clemens was a first baseman as a freshman at Texas and didn't hit well at all. I think it was as a sophomore that he started pitching in college and that didn't really work out either. He went back to position player as a junior and his numbers immediately soared through junior and senior years. Now he's leading the MWL in homeruns. Am I the only one who questions the profile?

jerjapan - Saturday, May 05 2018 @ 08:13 PM EDT (#357443) #

CBDC, I agree Vlad will see Buffalo - the current FO has talked about their belief that a prospect should play in multiple levels, due to the different challenges of each level. This is not a FO that will promote guys to the bigs from AA.

Not sure what you are talking about with Clemmens though - kid played both positions, but its well documented that he gave up pitching due to injury. Per the Globe.

It was at Texas that Kacy gave up pitching. He had followed in the path of his dad since boyhood, but at the end of high school tore the labrum in his pitching shoulder.

And just guessing, but yes, you are the only one implying that a 23 year old kid in A ball in using steroids because his dad did. A far more probable scenario is that hes old for his age and maturing as a hitter in his second season of pro ball, and his second season as a hitter only.

uglyone - Saturday, May 05 2018 @ 08:20 PM EDT (#357445) #

this FO has already skipped gurriel and Urena and Alford past AAA right to the bigs....and they were nowhere near as ready as vladdy is. personally i would be shocked if they wasted much time with vladdy in buffalo.

and I know people disagree with me about age....but Clemens is almost 24 and is in Lansing.....these numbers really don't mean anything imo.

Cynicalguy - Saturday, May 05 2018 @ 08:22 PM EDT (#357447) #

I for one can't wait for the 2020 Jays infield of Guerrero, Bichette, Biggio, Clemens :p

jerjapan - Saturday, May 05 2018 @ 08:51 PM EDT (#357455) #

Ugly, can you address the lack of development factor when it comes to age v. level?

anyone whos spent any time on the box is well aware of your focus on age for prospects - youve influenced me on the subject. but you dont address the prospect who hasnt had the reps - due to injury, positional changes, etc. clemmens is old, and his numbers inflated, but there is likely more to it than that flippant response of yours.

the complicating factor about promotions is the 40 man roster. So Urena and AA went from AA to the majors, but both were already on the 40 man, or needed to be added - Vlad wont be for a while.

Heres Ben Charington on the subject

�We do feel like it�s important for players to play at the triple-A level. It�s an important development challenge to be here,� Cherington said. �We�ve got players here right now who we really believe in and believe are going to be good major-league players. They are being challenged by this level. This is an important level to be at for some period of time.

�It�s a different level of competition than double-A is,� he added. �Different kind of players you�re facing, different matchups, different game-planning strategies � it�s just a different level of play.�

ComebyDeanChance - Saturday, May 05 2018 @ 09:21 PM EDT (#357457) #

Not sure what you are talking about with Clemmens though - kid played both positions

Kacy Clemens (one 'm') didn't pitch in his freshman year and played in the field for Texas. He hit .212 with one homerun and a .576 OPS. He then pitched his sophomore year (and had a .543 OPS in fewer PA's), and went back to the field as a junior (his OPS jumped to .888 then .946 as a senior). I was responding to the statement that he was new to playing a position and was first a pitcher in college, which he wasn't.

bpoz - Sunday, May 06 2018 @ 09:47 AM EDT (#357460) #

Vlad has been very good last year and this year so far. IF he continues to perform at this high level in AA he should go to AAA. Same performance there and he is up.

D Smith Jr has incredible ML numbers. SSS.

bpoz - Sunday, May 06 2018 @ 09:52 AM EDT (#357461) #

A Perdomo, pitching well and pulled after 3IP ???

Gerry - Sunday, May 06 2018 @ 10:44 AM EDT (#357462) #

There was a rain delay bpoz.

Mike Green - Sunday, May 06 2018 @ 05:41 PM EDT (#357473) #

Ryan Borucki had a nice outing today, 7 shutout innings, 97 pitches and 64 strikes. He's on track to be a contributor to the big club in the second half of the season.

Gerry - Monday, May 07 2018 @ 09:33 AM EDT (#357487) #

Whispers suggest TJ Zeuch has been promoted to New Hampshire. That would open up a spot for Nate Pearson who might start for Dunedin tonight.

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