Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - On The Next Hiraldo!

#BlueJays affiliates dropped four out of five Tuesday night. Buffalo and New Hampshire had the day off. The Gulf Coast League Jays were rained out. #LetsGoBlueJays

The Vancouver Canadians are off to their worst start in history. They dropped to 6-19 after a 7-3 loss to Everett. Adam Kloffenstein was an out shy of five innings. He gave up one hit, four walks and struck out three. Kloffenstein was trying to complete five innings but he reached his pitch count. He racked up nine groundball outs. Kloffenstein retired the first two men in the fifth but a curious visit by pitching coach Demetre Kokoris seemed to throw off Kloffenstein as he walked the next batter before his exit. It's believed Kokoris was telling Kloffenstein he was approaching his pitch count while buying time for Andy McGuire to warm up. The C's were ahead 1-0 at the time and Kloffenstein would have had a chance for a win had the cheese not slipped off the cracker later on. McGuire gave up three runs and Josh Almonte gave up another three. Almonte nearly escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth but a bases-clearing double led to the go-ahead runs.

Philip Clarke had two singles and a double in his first three at-bats and finished 3-for-5. Cameron Eden had two hits and two nice catches in center field, sliding in to make a catch in front of him and making a diving stab towards a sinking liner in left-center field.

*** 3 Stars!!! ***

3. Philip Clarke, Vancouver

2. Miguel Hiraldo, Bluefield

1. Eric Pardinho, Lansing

Linescores

Extra Innings

The Buffalo News has a story on Bo Bichette and one from earlier in June on Anthony Alford.
Artvoice looks back at a good month of June for the Herd.
The New Hampshire Union Leader talks to Eastern League All-Stars Santiago Espinal, Forrest Wall, Nash Knight and Zach Logue.
The Sporting News looks at Nate Pearson's performance at the Futures Game.
MiLB.com looks at Josh Winckowski's good start.
The Vancouver Province has a feature on Burlington, Ontario native Alex Nolan.
C's Plus Baseball has chats with Andy McGuire and Josh Almonte.
WVVA TV has highlights of Bluefield's win over Princeton in Mercer Cup action.
Bluefield Daily Telegraph has a story on Spencer Horwitz.

Posted by #2JBrumfield on Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 05:12 AM EDT.

On The Next Hiraldo! | 34 comments | Create New Account

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

scottt - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 06:10 AM EDT (#376833) #

Forgot to say anything about Pardinho and Hiraldo?

Pardinho took the loss in a shutout game.
He gave up one run in the 4th.
I'm guessing he went 5.

Hiraldo hit his 3rd HR and J Reyes hit his 6th.

That and the boxscores won't load for me.
Ah, well.

Glevin - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 07:53 AM EDT (#376836) #

Clarke makes Vancouver more interesting. He got the 4th highest bonus in the class and is the 4th best prospect. The Jays' catching prospects are ridiculous.
Jansen in the majors is young and the system has McGuire, Adams, Kirk, Moreno, Danner, and Clarke.

bpoz - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 11:10 AM EDT (#376839) #

Digging a little deeper into our Catching prospects, I liked Javier D'Orazio.

Last year in the DSL I was very impressed by Jhon Solarte, Erickvi Celedonio and Rainer Nunez. All non Catchers and none came stateside last year.

So why is D'Orazio up here after only 48 ABs? To answer myself, he was outstanding in the DSL. Another answer for myself is that he did not attend Extended ST, he earned his promotion with great playing.

Sorry to be talking to myself. D'Orazio looks like one of the fastest at being promoted.

jerjapan - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 11:32 AM EDT (#376840) #

Clarke always felt like the last domino to fall in the draft class, but his hot start illustrates that we continue to do as good a job as anyone on the drafting front.

D'Orazio is on my list of catchers to watch too bpoz. I can't find info on his signing bonus, but he was in the same class as Martinez, so there wouldn't have been tons of money left over. The fact that he's been promoted stateside at 17 and after only a handful of games speaks highly of him though. Venezuala is obviously a complex situation, but I feel the organizational emphasis on scouting and development is paying off here - Tinnish has called scouting Venezuala a 'high priority' for us.
And on a similar note, it's great to see Rob Manfred talking about improving minor league pay in the Athletic today. It's long been a black eye on the sport - remember the "Save America's Pastime Act"? I am genuinely proud that it was our FO that lead the way on this issue, and while there remains a long way to go, I can see both moral and on-field benefits from this step - hopefully the first of many.
Otto Lopez now at 20 errors for the season, 16 at SS. Ouch.

Mike Green - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 11:56 AM EDT (#376842) #

Pardinho gave up 4 hits in 5 innings (he walked one and struck out five). Three of the hits were ground ball singles in the 4th inning for the only Lake County run off him, and with runners on first and third and one out in the fourth, he got out of it with a strikeout and a flyout. Not bad for an 18 year old in the Midwest League.

I'd love to hear the scouting report. 2080 Baseball has a video from January. He looks to be a little bigger than the 5'10", 155 that he is listed at. In the video, he does not look sharp, but that might just be a function of rust.

PeterG - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 01:05 PM EDT (#376844) #

Jean Christophe Masson has signed and will begin play with the DSL Jays in August.

scottt - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 01:29 PM EDT (#376845) #

Says he signed in Atlanta. He was accepted at the University of Missouri.

PeterG - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 01:35 PM EDT (#376846) #

Yes, was playing with national junior team...only 16 years old:

https://www.rds.ca/baseball/mlb/mlb-jean-christophe-masson-a-signe-un-contrat-professionnel-avec-les-blue-jays-1.6850123

PeterG - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 01:41 PM EDT (#376847) #

The Jays have now signed 7 drafted HS (or equivalent) players this year which is more than usual.

Gerry - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 02:14 PM EDT (#376848) #

Lopez is playing short because Groshans is injured. I don't think he is a shortstop although there is the always applicable Derek Jeter story.

scottt - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 02:17 PM EDT (#376849) #

Lopez is like Jeter?

#2JBrumfield - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 02:17 PM EDT (#376850) #

Forgot to say anything about Pardinho and Hiraldo?

They are among the three stars, aren't they?

With the C's at home, don't expect any in-depth stuff here due to time constraints and other commitments. Even if they aren't at home, you may not be getting as much. See Gerry for any refunds? ;D

There are more interviews coming up on C's Plus Baseball so keep checking back for that.

Mike Green - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 03:10 PM EDT (#376851) #

"Pasta diving Lopez" doesn't have the same ring, I'm afraid.

Otto Lopez did not look remotely like an infielder, let alone a shortstop, when I saw him. Maybe he'll be a corner outfielder, or maybe a utility player, in the long run.

Nigel - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 03:58 PM EDT (#376853) #

The idea that Lopez is a SS is about as bad as the Gurriel was a SS idea - in my view, its totally misguided. There's a chance Lopez might be a 2B, but, I agree with Mike, LF seems like the most likely destination.

Adding Clarke to the Canadians roster does help but only a little. This is the first year since the Canadians became a Jays affiliate that I'm just attending games rather than trying to plan around watching certain prospects - there just really aren't that many to watch.

Kelekin - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 04:05 PM EDT (#376854) #

I'm glad we have so many good catching prospects right now. That being said, we've been here before with good catching prospects in our system, and anything can happen. I'm hoping Clarke is quite good, but I will temper my expectations on someone only four games into their career.

Not to ruin anyone's current optimism of course - I'm cautiously optimistic. But if four games was a big enough sample size, Aaron Sanchez would be having a career season.

Gerry - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 04:37 PM EDT (#376855) #

Jeter made 56 errors one season in the Sally league. Since then, shortstops who make a lot of errors get compared to Jeter in hopes they will improve.

uglyone - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 04:38 PM EDT (#376856) #

I will not stand for this besmirching of Otto's good name.

Mike Green - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 04:44 PM EDT (#376858) #

He's a hitter, UO. Nothing wrong with that.

He runs well and the ball jumps off his bat. Tim Raines was a second baseman in the minor leagues, as was Henry Aaron. It's one of my general rules of development that clubs do not win when they try to push players into positions that they are unsuited to.

Mylegacy - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 06:24 PM EDT (#376859) #

Gerry, you and others are having a chat about SS's and errors.

My mind (dim as it is) recalls (with only a tiny bit of certainty) that Tony Fernandez made quite a few errors one year while he was in the minors. I remember (I think) that one of the top front office guys said: (and I paraphrase) "In the minors we never worry about errors. We want SS's to extend their circle of competency and encourage them to try to make plays even if they are unsure they can make them. As they progress they learn what their effective range is by having experienced failure when they try to extend it."

Or as Clint Eastwood said as Dirty Harry (and again I paraphrase) "A man's gotta learn his limitations."

Nigel - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 06:39 PM EDT (#376860) #

If Lopez's problems at SS began and ended with errors then that would be one thing. However, he doesn't appear to have either the range, the arm strength or accuracy to be a SS either, so the error totals are just a small part of the problem.

Parker - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 06:57 PM EDT (#376861) #

Geez, we picked this year to go to three Canadians games.

I guess it's like the 2019 Jays... don't expect them to win, but when they do, it's awesome. :)

jerjapan - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 07:15 PM EDT (#376862) #

Clarke is likely the C's 2nd best prospect, albeit well after Kloff, but that's based on his signing bonus, not the three games he's played. They were a spectacular three games though.
speaking of small sample sizes, starter Grant Townsend is having an impressive run to start his Vancouver career.

dan gordon - Tuesday, July 09 2019 @ 11:13 PM EDT (#376865) #

Batters hit .189 against Townsend last year when he was with Bluefield. This year, they're hitting just .136 against him. His K/BB ratio has improved from about 2/1 to roughly 3/1. Nice to see when somebody moves up a level, and their numbers get better. He's a little too old for short season ball, of course, but maybe he can keep it going next year with Lansing/Dunedin.

Glevin - Wednesday, July 10 2019 @ 03:31 AM EDT (#376868) #

I am very happy the stupid August trade deadline is gone and that means we should have a flurry of trades in the next few weeks. Teams are inquiring about Stroman and Giles as a package but that only makes sense for the jays if they can get more out of one team than they could in two separate trades which seems unlikely. I'd prefer not to trade with the Yankees because I worry that they inflate their prospects too much (i.e. Frazier will probably be a good player but is treated like a superstar in waiting). Also, unlike with Happ, Stroman and Giles will be around next year.

Some guessing on trade locations
Smoak to Rangers (not many teams need 1B)
Giles-Dodgers (Could be about 10 teams but Dodgers have very good system and have bigger incentive than most teams)
Stroman-Oakland (Could be many teams)
Galvis-Cubs (not many teams here but a few)

Jonny German - Wednesday, July 10 2019 @ 05:28 AM EDT (#376869) #

Before you all get down on Otto Lopez, consider this: His father moved the family to Montreal when Otto was 11. He learned French and English and played hockey (goalie!). He visited Toronto for the first time for a baseball tournament as a member of Team Qu�bec. When he was 14 he moved back to the Dominican on the advice of his uncle that it would be better for his prospects as a baseball player. With his connection to Canada he was thrilled to sign with the Jays, and to be sent to Vancouver last year.

I learned all this from the Around the Nest week 14 episode, where he was interviewed by Jesse Goldberg-Strassler.

scottt - Wednesday, July 10 2019 @ 07:02 AM EDT (#376871) #

I'm not complaining. I get my money's worth.

It's just that I'm used to knowing what the prospect did to get the star.
So, it felt like an oversight, rather than a new format.

scottt - Wednesday, July 10 2019 @ 07:09 AM EDT (#376872) #

Frazier is basically Jeter moved to the outfield.
The defense still sucks and the production isn't as interesting there.

mathesond - Wednesday, July 10 2019 @ 10:21 AM EDT (#376879) #

3000+ hits aren't interesting if they come from an outfielder?

PeterG - Wednesday, July 10 2019 @ 03:53 PM EDT (#376886) #

Frazier has a bad attitude as well and Jays should not want any part of it. To deal with Yanks, they must be prepared to offer 2 good pitching prospects at least. I think there will be trades but not likely with NY.

scottt - Wednesday, July 10 2019 @ 06:35 PM EDT (#376891) #

If I go by Bref's defensive values. Guerrero at 3rd is a lot like Jeter at short.
Frazier, on the other hand, sits somewhere between Teoscar Hernandez and Chris Collabello.

SK in NJ - Wednesday, July 10 2019 @ 08:59 PM EDT (#376895) #

I have made my thoughts on trading with the Yankees/Cashman known already. Unless they are willing to trade someone like Deivi Garcia, which they probably won't, then I'd rather move Stroman/Giles somewhere else. Stroman for Clint Frazier would not be a good move IMO, and I'm sure that is the player Cashman will try to sell as the center piece in any deal he makes this month.

The Twins seem like a logical trade partner for one of Stroman or Giles. Atkins seems to trade with the Astros bi-annually so that's always a possibility. The Dodgers have a strong farm system, so if they are looking for help then that is a good team to deal with. There are a lot of fringey teams right now, especially in the NL, that are close but may want to wait a week or two to see how real their playoff chances are before making a move. If a deal happens any time soon it will likely be with a team that's already a good bet to make the playoffs and want to make their team stronger.

dalimon5 - Thursday, July 11 2019 @ 12:02 AM EDT (#376899) #

This discussion should be in the trade talk thread

Spifficus - Thursday, July 11 2019 @ 11:53 PM EDT (#376960) #

the site that the link used to put together the trade valuations (www.baseballtradevalues.com) is a fun toy to play with, but there was a moment that crystallized what had been bothering me about it. That was when I realized it had Stroman valued at 26.6 surplus value... and Teoscar at 22. There is no world that resembles reality where Teoscar is the headliner in a Stroman trade, which means their values are, well, problematic. Do you like Drurys? Because that's how you get Drurys.

Spifficus - Thursday, July 11 2019 @ 11:55 PM EDT (#376961) #

Hah! How did I manage to put that in the one thread that didn't mention that either the link you sited, dalimon5, or this one. I'll go dump this over in that one, and everyone else can kindly ignore this one. :)

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