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#BlueJays affiliates won their two completed games Monday night. Dunedin's game against Tampa was suspended due to wet grounds with the D-Jays trailing 4-1 in the top of the fifth. #LetsGoBlueJays


Vancouver 4 Eugene 3

The C's got by the defending Northwest League champions in the opener of their four-game series at the Nat. The game ended when last year's NWL stolen base co-leader Fernando Kelli (with the C's Tanner Kirwer) looked to have third base stolen but decided for some reason to head back to second after C's catcher Brett Wright blocked a pitch from Luke Gillingham that rolled up the third base line. Wright threw to shortstop Tanner Morris and he tagged Kelli at second base for the final out. Gabriel Ponce made his pro debt and gave up a run on two hits while punching out two in 2-1/3 innings. Randy Pondler got the win despite giving up a two-run home run among two hits and three walks. He had a strikeout in 2-2/3 innings. Andy McGuire allowed a hit and two walks in the sixth but he kept the Cubs affiliate off the board in his two innings. Josh Almonte struck out one in a clean eighth before Gillingham survived the ninth for the save.

Will Robertson singled home a run in the first and a McGregory Contreras fielder's choice and a throwing error at second produced two more runs. Contreras doubled in the fourth and made it home on two wild pitches to break a 3-3 tie. Contreras had a pair of hits. Morris, Travis Schwecke and Ronny Brito had the other base knocks with Morris drawing a walk. Brett Wright also had a free pass. Yorman Rodriguez was 0-for-4. Davis Schneider and Adrian Ramos were 0-for-3. You can read a more detailed recap of the game right here.


DSL Blue Jays 5 DSL Padres 1

The Jays scored in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings to down the Friars. Javier D'Orazio and Francisco Fajardo had three-hit games with Fajardo stealing two bases. Leonel Callez had an RBI single among his two hits and Adrian Montero had an RBI double, a hit by pitch and a stolen base. Emmanuel Sanchez had a base hit and a sacrifice fly. Gabriel Martinez singled, knocked in a run and swiped a bag.

Yaifer Perdomo yielded one run on six hits and two walks over five innings for the win. Andres Garcia and Fernando Chacon pitched two shutout frames with one hit allowed and two strikeouts apiece. Garcia walked one and Chacon walked two.




*** 3 Stars!!! ***

3. McGregory Contreras, Vancouver

2. Javier D'Orazio, DSL Blue Jays

1. Francisco Fajardo, DSL Blue Jays


Extra Innings
  • The Chicago Tribune has a story on Dunedin's Ryan Noda.
  • The Vancouver Province has a feature on C's manager Casey Candaele and another on Adam Kloffenstein.
  • CBC chats with C's president Andy Dunn.
  • WVVA-TV previews the Bluefield Blue Jays season along with the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.
MC Hammer Swung By McGregory | 13 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
jerjapan - Tuesday, June 18 2019 @ 10:13 AM EDT (#375680) #
Yorman Rodriguez was always a longshot to stick at catcher, but has played all four games this year at 1B after splitting time between the two positions his first four years, with more games at catcher overall.  Brett Wright, a 26th rounder last year, and Jesus Lopez - acquired from the As for Morales and converted from 3B - have split catching duties for the Cs.  Neither of those guys have much pedigree, so perhaps the writing is on the wall for Yorman behind the plate?
Nigel - Tuesday, June 18 2019 @ 11:37 AM EDT (#375687) #
Jerjapan - multiple years in Vancouver, in almost all cases, means the writing is on the wall for the prospect generally. I was actually surprised that he wasn’t released this past offseason. Nobody in Vancouver has ever believed that he was a C.
jerjapan - Tuesday, June 18 2019 @ 12:22 PM EDT (#375692) #
Thanks Nigel.   Yeah, we are talking about a guy who has never been a top 30 prospect, likely never in the top 60 even, but with the ability to catch a little and get on base, he struck me as someone who could be a AAAA / occasional role player in the bigs if everything played out right.  The kid is shorter than I am, so if the catcher's mitt is out of the picture, his chances are close to nil.
Kelekin - Tuesday, June 18 2019 @ 03:13 PM EDT (#375701) #
Bluefield starts today and I'm excited to see how the hitting group does. The pitching group leaves a lot to be desired, so hopefully we'll see some major steps forward.

Some names worth watching:

Lazaro Estrada - RHP - 20 - Great K:BB ratio last year.

Naswell Paulino - LHP - 19 -Great 2017 in the DSL, suspended in 2018 due to PED.

Addison Barger - SS - 19 - Didn't hit for average in 2018, but had a very strong walk rate.

Miguel Hiraldo - 3B - 18 - The big 2017 bonus baby, very solid DSL numbers.

Leonardo Jimenez - 2B - 18 - Similar to Barger, didn't hit for average but a lot of solid peripherals that say improvement could be on the way.

Steward Berroa - CF - 20 - Good eye, good speed, needs to get his K rate down. Anyone know about his defense?

Eric Rivera - OF - 21 - I think he has the best chance of being this year's Cal Stevenson. In college, he showed an incredible eye at the plate, great plate discipline (8% career K rate) and speed. In Cape Cod, he had a 16.5% BB rate to 9% K.
scottt - Tuesday, June 18 2019 @ 10:06 PM EDT (#375722) #
Does that mean Orelvis Martinez will be in the GCL?
scottt - Wednesday, June 19 2019 @ 07:23 AM EDT (#375726) #
Rodriguez is still only 21, which is the average age for Vancouver.
He's the best hitter on the team after 5 games.
If he's ready for the next level with the bat, they'll find him somewhere to play.

Glevin - Wednesday, June 19 2019 @ 07:25 AM EDT (#375727) #
MLB Pipeline has updated their lists. 4 Jays in top-100 still. Bichette-8, Pearson-42, Groshans-85, and Pardinho-100. Maybe we can trade them to a team that's high on them?
scottt - Wednesday, June 19 2019 @ 08:22 AM EDT (#375729) #
Camacho, Ryan, Rivera, Dicesare, Horwitz, Quinones, Bradley, Sloniger and  Huckaby  are new draftees in Bluefield.

Camacho is a Sr 3B. Horwitz is a Jr 1B from the 24th round. Sloniger is a Sr catcher. The others are all college pitchers.
bpoz - Wednesday, June 19 2019 @ 09:49 AM EDT (#375730) #
I am glad that Bichette moved into the top 10. It helps movement up when the top 4 have graduated.

Bichette if promoted early enough should get 150 ABs and not qualify as a prospect. Biggio is at 63 ABs since his promotion May 24. So possible.

The top 100 list loses credibility when top players are somehow missed. J DeGrom for example never made the list I believe.

uglyone - Wednesday, June 19 2019 @ 10:13 AM EDT (#375731) #
"Maybe we can trade them to a team that's high on them?"

the funny thing is, a place on the top-100 prospects list IS peak value for many (most?) prospects.
bpoz - Wednesday, June 19 2019 @ 11:48 AM EDT (#375732) #
Please explain "peak value".

Kyle Drabek, Henderson Alvarez and Aron Laffey were Jays pitchers.
Would Drabek's peak value be a nice position on the Top 100 list?

Alvarez probably had a lower Top 100 spot but had a decent SP career going until injuries happened. So peak value was 2 good ML seasons.

I am guessing that Laffey never made the Top 100 but had a longish career as a not so good reliever/spot starter. So his peak was being on a ML pitching staff for 5+ years.
uglyone - Wednesday, June 19 2019 @ 12:09 PM EDT (#375734) #
don't think there's all that much to explain.

Top-100 prospects are deemed pretty valuable. i.e. top-3/4 prospects of each team.

but many if not most of them bust completely, which if i did the math would probably show that for most of them their peak value was that place on the top-100 list.

and yeah, i'm specifically talking about top prospects, not lower end prospects.
bpoz - Wednesday, June 19 2019 @ 12:23 PM EDT (#375735) #
Thanks UO.
MC Hammer Swung By McGregory | 13 comments | Create New Account
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