The bright side of the season has been progress by most of the Jays prospects. Only one who has been down has been Smith but he's been hot so maybe he's bouncing back but top guys have all progressed well and even the better prospects in Gulf Coast league are hitting. There are a lot of interesting prospects all over the system. Great to see Kloffenstein pitch well. With Pearson, Pardinho, Manoah, and Williams I am hopeful a couple of these guys become front of the rotation material.

AAA

1B Guerrero (20): 34pa, 11.8b%/5.9k%, .320bip/.367avg, .333iso, 185wrc+
2B Biggio (24): 174pa, 19.5b%/16.1k%, .352bip/.312avg, .203iso, 151wrc+
OF McKinney (24): 132pa, 14.4b%/14.4k%, .295bip/.273avg, .227iso, 124wrc+
SS Bichette (21): 192pa, 8.3b%/18.8k%, .353bip/.301avg, .185iso, 114wrc+
CF Alford (24): 257pa, 10.1b%/29.6k%, .363bip/.256avg, .150iso, 92wrc+
C McGuire (24): 249pa, 10.0b%/14.5k%, .267bip/.242avg, .121iso, 72wrc+
3B Urena (23): 242pa, 3.7b%/21.9k%, .320bip/.259avg, .103iso, 60wrc+

LH Pannone (25): 21.2ip, 33.3k%/6.9b%, .286bip, 1.66era, 3.15fip, 4.02xfip
RH Paulino (25): 28.2ip, 21.4k%/8.7b%, .333bip, 3.45era, 4.04fip, 5.02xfip
RH Waguespack (25): 52.2ip, 22.0k%/10.6b%, .324bip, 5.30era, 5.44fip, 4.96xfip
RH R-Foley (23): 76.0ip, 25.3k%/17.2b%, .266bip, 6.04era, 5.66fip, 5.35xfip
RH Zeuch (23): 22.0ip, 9.5k%/11.6b%, .243bip, 4.09era, 5.93fip, 5.60xfip
LH Borucki (25): 5.0ip, 14.3k%/9.5b%, .286bip, 5.40era, 8.86fip, 6.65xfip
RH Sopko (24): 31.1ip, 15.3k%/10.4b%, .281bip, 6.61era, 7.61fip, 6.75xfip

McKinney definitely deserved the callup, and Bichette is getting damn close. Alford/McGuire/Urena aren't demanding any callup anytime soon though.

Pannone and Paulino are the only arms that have performed well enough to earn looks in the mlb rotation, though of course Borucki only has one start.


AA

OF Wall (23): 358pa, 10.6b%/20.9k%, .336bip/.273avg, .168iso, 136wrc+
C Adams (23): 206pa, 8.3b%/32.5k%, .373bip/.254avg, .160iso, 123wrc+
OF Palacios (23): 188pa, 12.2b%/19.1k%, .320bip/.258avg, .101iso, 116wrc+
IF Capra (22): 303pa, 8.3b%/14.9k%, .287bip/.248avg, .089iso, 94wrc+
SS Smith (22): 298pa, 6.4b%/31.5k%, .243bip/.195avg, .202iso, 87wrc+

SP Pearson (22): 31.0ip, 28.8k%/5.9b%, .284bip, 3.48era, 2.56fip, 2.78xfip
SP Diaz (22): 97.2ip, 19.3k%/8.5b%, .272bip, 3.59era, 3.72fip, 4.04xfip
SP Perez (23): 84.1ip, 22.6k%/12.1b%, .381bip, 5.34era, 3.91fip, 3.95xfip
SP Logue (23): 93.0ip, 18.1k%/7.1b%, .275bip, 4.26era, 4.60fip, 4.04xfip

Wall got hot again and should probably be promoted to see what we have. Smith is starting to salvage his season, too.

Pearson's injury has slowed him a bit - now his line is just "very good" at the age appropriate level, not "dominating" or demanding a callup as of yet. Diaz continues to look like a solid SP prospect.

A+

C Kirk (20): 168pa, 13.7b%/11.9k%, .374bip/.324avg, .120iso, 161wrc+
OF Stevenson (22): 340pa, 13.2b%/13.5k%, .322bip/.282avg, .096iso, 130wrc+
2B Taylor (20): 245pa, 11.8b%/27.8k%, .294bip/.214avg, .136iso, 106wrc+
OF Young (21): 292pa, 6.2b%/25.7k%, .305bip/.235avg, .125iso, 94wrc+
SS Vicuna (21): 330pa, 6.7b%/18.5k%, .308bip/.249avg, .067iso, 90wrc+

SP Pearson (22): 21.0ip, 46.7k%/4.0b%, .229bip, 0.86era, 1.70fip, 1.15xfip
SP Murray (22): 63.0ip, 31.3k%/7.7b%, .255bip, 1.71era, 2.54fip, 2.89xfip
SP Castillo (20): 91.0ip, 21.3k%/5.2b%, .292bip, 3.16era, 3.23fip, 3.53xfip
SP Winckowski (21): 18.0ip, 14.9k%/6.0b%, .170bip, 1.50era, 2.92fip, 3.97xfip

Kirk has finally started to see his power come lately for the first time since his promotion. His line is just looking more and more impressive now that the babip is coming down while the ISO is moving up. Stevenson probably deserves a promotion - everytyhing is there but the power, which may never come. Taylor's line as an underager is still solid overall, though with gaping holes. Young has lost most of last year's shine, but hopefully he can continue to improve.

Murray could be promoted at any time, but even though he's a bit old for the level there's no real rush given his fastrack promotions so far. Castillo and Winckowski both looking very nice too.

A

OF Conine (21): 169pa, 10.1b%/36.1k%, .447bip/.309avg, .322iso, 189wrc+
C Kirk (20): 96pa, 18.8b%/8.3k%, .299bip/.299avg, .221iso, 173wrc+
3B Groshans (19): 96pa, 13.5b%/21.9k%, .433bip/.337avg, .145iso, 166wrc+
C Moreno (19): 177pa, 6.2b%/9.6k%, .292bip/.299avg, .223iso, 149wrc+
IF Lopez (20): 293pa, 7.8b%/15.7k%, .344bip/.299avg, .096iso, 119wrc+
C Gold (21): 275pa, 7.6b%/20.7k%, .314bip/.250avg, .127iso, 104wrc+
C Danner (20): 254pa, 9.1b%/30.3k%, .219bip/.188avg, .233iso, 98wrc+

SP Winkowski (21): 73.2ip, 23.7k%/8.7b%, .299bip, 2.32era, 3.22fip, 3.33xfip
SP Pardinho (18): 14.0ip, 23.2k%/7.1b%, .263bip, 1.93era, 3.37fip, 3.59xfip

Not sure if this level is going to force Conine to work on his weaknesses too much - he's crushing the ball too consistently to bother changing his approach. I'd push him up at this point. Moreno looks awesome. Otto is looking better lately, but still no power. Danner is kinda sorta starting to look interesting again.

Pardinho kicking butt again even though he's only 18. Pretty elite looking prospect.

A-

SS Morris (20): 112pa, 18.8b%/15.2k%, .257bip/.225avg, .124iso, 121wrc+

SP Kloffenstein (18): 24.2ip, 20.8k%, 9.4b%, .232bip, 2.92era, 4.96fip, 3.94xfip

A very nice start for Morris. His eye has been there from the start and he;s starting to make better contact lately.

Good not great start for Kloff but pretty damn good for a guy in his first real pro stint and a couple years young for the level.

Rk+

SS Hiraldo (18): 95pa, 3.2b%/16.8k%, .324bip/.289avg, .178iso, 115wrc+
SS Barger (19): 58pa, 8.6b%/22.4k%, .342bip/.283avg, .151iso, 115wrc+
SS Jimenez (18): 97pa, 6.2b%/18.6k%, .389bip/.311avg, .078iso, 111wrc+

Nice starts for underagers Hiraldo and Jimenez.

Rk

OF Rodriguez (18): 58pa, 13.8b%/20.7k%, .378bip/.313avg, .167iso, 148wrc+
OF Solarte (18): 68pa, 11.8b%/20.6k%, .378bip/.316avg, .158iso, 140wrc+
SS Martinez (17): 66pa, 9.1b%/22.7k%, .341bip/.268avg, .196iso, 132wrc+

Very nice starts for all three of these kids, but especially for the underage Orelvis.

The FG guys liked Will Robertson placed him 16th with a 40 FV. Had a horrific June .146/.255/.146.

Much better in July so far in about the same number of PA's .311/.415/.489, with 7 BB's and only 5 K's.

I think Tanner Morris and Will Robertson were good value picks in rounds 4-5, and were round 3 talent. Their starts were rough, but I think they will turn it around.

Not sure how much longer they can justify keeping Kirk in A+ with those numbers. A move to AA at 20 would trumpet elite prospect status for him - at last - and perhaps serve to motivate Riley Adams a little more. Fat or not, Kirk deserves more prospect love than he gets.

Certainly if actual performance was a metric to prospect status, Kirk would be in the Top 100. Maybe he's just a future DH, but his bat seems special to me.

Poor Alexis Carmona getting roughed up today. The Jays don't have a lot of luck historically with players whose names are A____s Car_ona.

It does remind me of how impressive Vlad is when I look at Kirk, hitting for nearly a 900 OPS in A+ at 20 and thinking 'what a great prospect'. Vlad, going into tonight has a 722 OPS+ in the majors at 20 and many see that as a disappointment.

Carlos Delgado was also a catcher in A+ at 20. He hit 324/402/579 and would be in AA the next season with a September call up and 2 PA (walk and an out). Luckily for Kirk we now have a GM who is smarter than the guy who was being put in charge back then (Ash) who would flip Delgado between AAA and the majors for 2 seasons before giving him a full-time job in the majors which is probably why he didn't get to 500 HR (27 short).

I heard one of the guys involved in running the Jays' farm system a few weeks ago talking about how decisions on promotions are arrived at. Yes, hitting was one of the factors, but they also considered defense, baserunning, fitness, knowledge of the game, and various personality traits like confidence and maturity. I would expect that at times when we don't understand why somebody hasn't been promoted yet, there may be some of these less obvious factors involved.

The Delgado situation was interesting. In 1995, he was hitting very poorly when he was demoted, with a slash line of .154/.207/.308/.515. I certainly wasn't surprised when he was sent down, and neither was anybody else I knew. The odd thing was that he wasn't recalled for 3 months after that, despite hitting very well in AAA.

i'd keep Kirk there for a bit longer. a little too much babip and not quite enough power for my tastes yet, and he's so young there's no reason not to give him some more time imo.

Borucki pitched pretty well for Buffalo Tuesday, 6 innings, 5 hits, 1 BB, 6 K's. Gave up 2 HR's. Pompey had 3 hits as the DH.

Very strange time for Bo to be complaining. Vlad was service time manipulation but Bo is where he should be. He has a 114 WRC+ in under 200 PAs in AAA. For his age, that's fantastic, but it's not something where you can say "I've conquered this level". Vlad had a 175 WRC+ (and was 3 years younger). Also, Galvis and Sogard are still there and have been maybe the 2 best Jays players this year. You can't just bench them in July and it makes no sense anyway. I am sure the Jays want to see if they can get something for one or both of the guys at the deadline so they need to keep playing. Wait, literally 2 weeks and keep hitting and I'm sure he'll be up and if not then he can complain.

Jays need to make some trades to clear out more playing time. Probably Galvis and Sogard and definitely Smoak. I really hope the Jays use the rest of the season to give semi-regular PAs to Hernandez, and Pompey just to see what they have there. If Hernandez doesn't have a big second half, I'd move on. If Pompey can't hack it or gets hurt again, I'd move on. Those guys will both be 27 next year. Guys like Mckinney and Tellez are younger but should still get playing time to evaluate if they will be part of the Jays' long-term plans or not. I actually wouldn't mind the Jays sending Vlad back to the minors for a couple of weeks to find his stroke. I'm not worried about him long-term at all but he seems a bit lost now and sometimes a reset can help.

Vlad still has a lot of things to work on. Even I can see that.
Right now, he looks like he's just trying to put the ball in play.
That's not good enough. That's not what he's supposed to be doing at the plate.
I'm not sure he even thinks about the count or what pitches have been thrown in the AB.
It sure doesn't look like it. You can tell he's thinking about where he want to hit it when he steps out and adjusts his swing in the box. I'm sure the pitcher can see that too.
I see the "service manipulation" thing as something put together by the players union and the media.
There are several prospects who were held back this year to "manipulate" their service time, but I honestly don't see Vlad--who was injured most of the time--as one of them.
It was better for him to be in the AFL than in Toronto. Everybody was hitting in September and none of that carried into the next year.

You understand that sending Vlad down would be manipulating his service time?
What if he gets injured down there an loses his super two status?
We'd never hear the end of that.

Now Bo just said he's done what he was asked to do and if he's still in AAA it's because of things he can't control. That's not a bad assessment.  He should be up when they trade Sogard. I'm not sure about Galvis. What else can he say?

Galvis won the Heart and Hustle award for the 2019 Blue Jays. He also won one in Philadelphia.
He's involved. He prepares. He plots. He's fun to watch.  He got tired of Mookie relaying the signs to the hitter and stood between him and the plate. That's great stuff.

Jays get Wilmer Font(back). He's a guy who seems like he should be much better than he is but probably just an inning eater right now.

" Very strange time for Bo to be complaining."

I don't think Bo was complaining. The reporter asked the question and he replied honestly.The media likes to dredge up any controversy they can, and if it doesn't exist, they'll try to make one.

With Maile hitting below .160, I'm wondering why McGuire isn't being called up.
That would be an easy way to free a spot on the 40 roster.

The Mendoza line is .200. One hit every 5 AB. An average hitter gets one hit every 4 AB. A good hitter gets one hit every 3 AB. Maile does not have one hit every 6 AB in 2019.
Maile can't be traded. I guess it's just a matter of needing a 40 roster spot bad enough.