Go Pompey. Make them bring you back up.

I think you might have the score of the Buffalo game wrong, as it shows a Bisons victory.

Some fun stuff from Schoenfield at ESPN on K'ing without walking, headlined by former Jays prospect Jake Marisnick and his amazing 41 to 1 ratio.

Also a bit on Vlad jr. Instagram pranking and oppo-field homering.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23507032/real-not-strikeouts-piling-stubborn-hitters

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2018-mlb-mock-draft-v-2-0/

Every recent mock so far has the Jays taking a different player. Jays have been predicted to take Rolison, Naylor,
MCLanahan and now Liberatore. Connor Scott has alo beem mentioned as a possible more than once.

Biggio left yesterdays game after a steal attempt. There is a GIF of the play in this article by Arden Zwelling. In the article he takes a look at Vlad and Bo's night.

those defensive gifs of vladdy are not good. and with his body type it's only going to get harder for him at the hot corner. Imo this 3B experiment is mostly just wishful thinking.

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/blue-jays-prospect-kevin-smith-on-casting-aside-his-red-flag/

Like Smith's chances for future success a lot more after reading the FG interview. Smart kid.

and to go along with that article, he has in fact cut his swinging strike rate down almost in half.

Top-5 Most Impressive Prospect Performances so far, IMO:

1.3B V.Guerrero (19, AA): 147pa, 8.8b%/8.8k%, .402bip/.405avg, .262iso, 209wrc+
2.C C.Jansen (23, AAA): 107pa, 10.3b%/13.1k%, .347bip/.311avg, .167iso, 153wrc+
3.2B C.Biggio (23, AA): 130pa, 16.2b%/24.6k%, .323bip/.298avg, .394iso, 199wrc+
4.SS K.Smith (21, A): 151pa, 7.9b%/13.2k%, .421bip/.387avg, .277iso, 197wrc+
5.RH S.Reid-Foley (22, AA): 38.1ip, 29.7k%/11.0b%, .239bip, 1.88era, 2.90fip, 2.99xfip


1.Vladdy is just ridiculous. One of the best prospects ever. Just a perfect line right across, with no weak spots.

2.Jansen is just as good in AAA this year as he was in his end of season stint last year - and that's dominant. And not just for a catcher - even a 1B prospect would be proud of this hitting line, both topline numbers and underlying numbers. He's looking like an elite prospect.

3.Biggio is not just having a breakout, but an explosion. The thing about his insane line is that it surprisingly has so few worry spots. The only thing to keep an eye on there is his high K-rate....which is a legit worry, but with that kind of power is more than acceptable. And then you thrown in the patience, and the contact numbers that don't rely on babip....and man, this guy is quickly turning from non-prospect into a really, really good one. He is arguably a tick old for the level, but even adjusting for age this is a tremendous performance.

4.As amazing as Biggio has been, I almost put Smith above him, because he's a shortstop. In the end though I rank his year so far a tick below because a) his line is a wee bit babippy and b) he's 2 levels lower, which is pretty huge. Otherwise, though, this is the 4th superlative performance in the system this year.

The top-4 performances here are pretty nuts. I doubt any other system in baseball has 4 guys doing anything close to this, given age and level.

5.In a more normal year, SRF would be a real standout too. As it is, his line so far is merely very good, not insanely excellent like the other 4. Unlike some prospects he looks like he's fully bounced back from last year's disaster year, and his numbers make him look like a legit top-end SP prospect again.

K Smith and Vicuna should be promoted soon. I hope. There should be enough ABs for everyone. SS, 2B and 3B.

Biggio has played 1B and 2B.

I think that the ML team can use a position player at DH. Rotate, so that everyone gets a day off. Of course some may complain. But our 4th OF should not.

Agreed with your list Ugly.  And what a good sign of the depth of the system that Bichette isn't even top 5 at the moment, and guys like Chavez Young, Yennsy Diaz, Jordan Romano, Tim Lopes, Kevin Vicuna and Travis Bergen don't merit a top five spot. 

you know, now that you mention it, I might have to say Bo's 118wrc+ as a 20yr old SS in AA is more impressive than SRF's performance.

yeah, I screwed up.

Bo's performance is definitely more impressive than SRF's.

It weird seeing jays prospects being so position player loaded.
after years of pitching prospects to burn - which they mostly were.
Is our pitching cupboard worryingly bare or is it just being overshadowed by fantastic offensive performances ?

It doesn't help on the pitching side that Maese and Pearson are on the shelf and Pannone got nabbed for a drug violation.  But with SRF, Zeuch, Diaz, Borucki, Romano and Castillo, along with the aforementioned, we are okay in terms of pitching.  But clearly, the offensive side of things is stacked. 

J Dillon, J DeGraaf, T Zeuch and N Pearson are gone from Dunedin's rotation. Still there P Murphy, A Perdomo and T Saucedo. Would a pitcher or 2 be called up from Extended?

If so would he be on a low pitch count?

I wouldn't call the pitching cupboard bare.

I'd say Pearson is legit front-rotation prospect, SRF a legit mid-rotation prospect, and Borucki/Zeuch legit bottom-rotation prospects. Then there's a couple younger wildcards beyond that I like such as Castillo and Pardinho.

It's not great, but not bad.

Double header in Dunedin. Saucedo and Perdomo can go today. Murphy tomorrow. Then nothing until Sunday's game. They need 3 SPs.

Dunedin will just call up some pitchers from extended spring training.

McCown just had an interesting interview with John Schneider, the NH manager on Prime Time. They talked specifically about Guerrero, Bichette, Biggio, Reid-Foley and Romano, with Schneider, of course, having lots of good things to say about each one. Of note, he says that absolutely, Guerrero can become a 3rd baseman in the majors, saying he has a plus arm, and they are working on improving his range.

Thanks Gerry. Thanks dan Gordon.

Guerrero can become a 3rd baseman in the majors, saying he has a plus arm, and they are working on improving his range.

I have never seen Guerrero play 3B, so I have nothing specific to weigh in on. However, he is a big guy, easily 200 pounds at age 19. I don't know if he's just naturally thick or if there are conditioning issues, but I wonder about someone that young, with that body type, having the dexterity to man third base. (I am aware the Red Sox don't seem happy unless their third basemen are closer to 250 pounds, though to my old eyes, that hasn't worked so well for them.)

I'd be curious to hear from eye witnesses on how he subjectively looks at the position. The "working on improving his range" comment feels like code for "I don't want to criticize the young man, but...".

Obviously the team is best served by having Guerrero and Bichette live as far to the right on the defensive spectrum as they can handle. But a great many prospect has had to take a move to the left once landing in the majors.

Yeah, range is more an athleticism thing rather than an experience or coaching thing - kind of like saying they're going to teach someone how to run faster.

On the other hand, if Schneider is talking about improving Guerrero's positioning and footwork, that could certainly improve his effective range.

I think the most encouraging thing I have heard about VGJ is that he grew an inch between this year and last. If this continues and his weight is more proportionately spread out...?

Chuck - Gerry linked to an article upthread with a number of vladdy defensive gifs

Remember when the Tigers signed Fielder and Miggy ended up having to play 3rd? I've watched parts of a few Fisher Cats games and Vlad kinda reminds me of that experiment.

On the bright side, he's gonna hit like Miggy did also.

Interesting prospect insight from Jesse Goldberg-Strassler at BlueJaysNation on the Lugnuts.   He is the broadcaster for the Lugnuts, so take his comments with a grain of salt.  He loves Smith and Young, and has positive things to say about Taylor.   About Clemens, he said "He might have been the best all-around first baseman I’ve ever seen in Lansing". 

Some of the other less-heralded guys:

What I like most about Kevin Vicuña is his athleticism and his ability to put his bat on the ball. You throw it, he hits it. He hits .300+ in his sleep.

Ryan Noda’s walk numbers don’t look real. He walked three more times on Saturday, giving him 38 for the year. You know how many people in baseball have more walks? Bryce Harper, the end.

Yennsy Diaz is 21 years old with mid-90s gas and his change-up has been excellent in working off the fastball.

Biggio recovered pretty quickly from that collision at 2nd yesterday. HR #11 in his first PA.

Bo with his 1st AA HR ties the game