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LJ Talley has just been in New Hampshire for a few days but he hit two home runs on Thursday, driving in six runs. Samad Taylor had four hits. Thomas Hatch made a rehab assignment start, Nick Frasso, last years fourth round pick, made his first pro start. CJ Can Eyk, last years second round pick, has his best pro start.

Buffalo 1 Worcester 4

Portland 2 New Hampshire 12

Vancouver 2 Hillsboro 1

Dunedin 6 Clearwater 2


This is what I noted from yesterday's games.

Thomas Hatch made his first start of the season and threw three innings. He did allow two runs, one a solo home run and the other unearned after Richard Urena threw one away. Hatch didn't walk anyone and had four K's. Jacob Waguespack followed and he also gave up two runs in four innings. He struck out five.

The Bisons had just five hits. Logan Warmoth had two, a single and a double. He is hitting .304. Kevin Smith hit his third home run and added a double. He is hitting .234.


LJ Talley played ten games in Vancouver before being promoted to AA. Talley was a seventh round draft pick in 2019. In the third inning Talley hit a grand slam and added a two run shot in the fourth. Talley finished 2-5 with six RBI. Samad Taylor was 4-4, scoring three runs and driving in three. He hit his second home run. Taylor had three hits a few games ago so he is hot. Austin Martin was back having recovered from a hand injury. He went 1-4 with a sac fly.

Maximo Castillo didn't have a happy start to the game, a single and a home run left him 2-0 down before he recorded an out. But he settled down from there, going five innings with four hits and those two runs allowed.


The C's had only two hits but still won. The first run came when Cameron Eden singled and scored on an error. The winning run came in the ninth thanks to four walks.

CJ Van Eyk started and he allowed just two hits over six innings. He struck out nine.


Nick Frasso, the Jays fourth round pick in 2020, made his first professional appearance. He went two innings with just a walk allowed. Alejandro Melean and Juan De Paula each pitched three shutout innings. That brought their ERA's down into the sevens.

The heart of the D-Jays order is starting to heat up. Miguel Hiraldo went 3-5, Orelvis Martinez was 2-5 and Zach Britton was 2-3 with two walks.


Three Stars

Third Star - CJ Van Eyk

Second Star - Samad Taylor

First Star - LJ Talley


Boxes

Talley Ho-me Runs | 19 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
greenfrog - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 08:52 AM EDT (#398439) #
Encouraging progression by Van Eyk over his first three starts this season (game scores: 28, 59, 72). 6 IP with a 9:1 K:BB ratio is great.

It looks as if Warmoth is selling out for power to some extent (K rate up, ISO is way up). But maybe he's found an extra gear that could allow him to get to the majors in some role. He'll be 26 at the end of the season, so now is the time for him to make a move.
scottt - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 09:26 AM EDT (#398440) #
Baby steps for Hatch.

Mike Green - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 09:47 AM EDT (#398442) #
The C's walked 11 times and struck out 7 times.  Their pitchers walked 1 and struck out 10.  That kind of plate dominance on both sides almost always results in a win. 

Hillsboro's first baseman is named Brickhouse.  He's 6'4", 235, so the name fits.
Mike Green - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 09:55 AM EDT (#398444) #
Samad Taylor is 22 in double A and hitting .283/.340/.457 and 6/0 stealing bases in May.  For a middle infielder, that would normally be very good.  But he's struck out 20 times and walked only 3 times in 49 plate appearances.  Youneverknow, maybe this is the year that his plate control improves rather than deteriorates.  In his case, it doesn't have to be great, merely OK. 
John Northey - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 10:01 AM EDT (#398445) #
Funny, checking to see who leads the Jays minors in OPS I see Tellez at #1 (just 13 PA), then Juan Graterol who is a 32 year old catcher hitting 480/519/680 but just 218/227/266 in the majors lifetime so don't get excited. Then comes 32 year old Christian Colon hitting 361/467/667, again ML lifetime just 249/312/310. Then we get to real prospects - Gabriel Moreno (21) 415/489/634, a catcher in AA as most here know. Tanner Kirwer age 25 A+ 327/462/577 - not a real prospect at that age/level, but worth keeping an eye on. Zach Britton - 22 A- 293/482/537 yes, another catcher in his first pro season making a good impression to start (5th round last year).

So early returns are a few minor league vets hitting well and 2 catching prospects hitting. Someday the Jays will need to develop guys somewhere other than behind the plate - how different from the past when it seemed impossible to get any developed back there.
hypobole - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 10:08 AM EDT (#398446) #
Mike I noticed the same about Samad. Warmoth is another that seems to be doing well until you look under the hood.
bpoz - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 10:54 AM EDT (#398447) #
Does anyone remember JP Richardies draft results. Many did not work out so there is only a short list to dig up. Z Britton is doing well good BA & bb/k rate and versatile. J Talley is moving up fast. B Eisert doing very well in A-/A+. There is hope.

S Taylor, R Hernandez, G Moreno are young prospects having success. For them hope is higher.
hypobole - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 11:49 AM EDT (#398450) #
Was wondering how the automated strike zone is coming along.. Still too early I guess, because can't find any info. Did find a couple of things I didn't know. One park in the Dunedin league doesn't have it, but no clue which one.

Also, the zone is set to the players standing height, so crouching makes no difference. Did think back to Nigel's comment on Otto Lopez. Players are going to be shrinking, because the last thing a 5'6" guy wants is a 5'10" strike zone.

Also found this comment from MSM Sports: the “strike zone judgements by humans” is what makes baseball great.. “pitcher friendly umpires” or “hitter friendly umpires” is part of the game many love!

Yeah, pal, the next time you have a large gathering, order anchovies on all the pizzas and you'll find out many doesn't come anywhere close to most.
hypobole - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 01:27 PM EDT (#398453) #
https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?team_ID=TOR&year_ID=2009&draft_type=junreg&query_type=franch_year&from_type_jc=0&from_type_hs=0&from_type_4y=0&from_type_unk=0

Thats the 2009 draft, bpoz. There is a line above the results allowing you to go back year by year.
bpoz - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 01:44 PM EDT (#398454) #
Thanks hypobole. We got a few good ones. Mike Trout was drafted that year.
scottt - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 02:24 PM EDT (#398457) #
1. Chad Jenkins
1s. Paxton (didn't sign)
2. Eliopoulos (didn't sign. heart breaking story. RIP.)
3. Jake Barrett
3. Marisnick
4. Ryan Goins
5. Ryan Schimpt
6. K.C. Hobson
7. Egan Smith
8. Brian Slover
9. Aaron Loup
10. Yan Gomes
11. Sean Ochinko
12. Bryson Namba
13. Mattew Morgal
14. Lance Durham
15. Drew Hutchison
16. Dave Sever
17. Steve Turnbull
18. Daniel Webb (traded for Jason Frasor, not joking)
19. Ryan Tepera
20. Kevin Nolan
21. Kurt Giller
22. Matts Fields
23. Brad Glenn
24. Matt Nuzzo
25. Sam Strickland
(another 50 picks but no winning lottery numbers)

Gomes 15.2 WAR, traded for basically nothing.
Marisnick 11.7 WAR, part of the Miami trade.
Loup 4.9 WAR
Goins 3.7 WAR
Schimpf 3.4 WAR (Was released and picked by the Padres.)
Tepera 3.4 WAR
Jenkins 1.4 WAR
Hutchison 0.0 WAR

John Northey - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 02:46 PM EDT (#398459) #
Just thinking about the 40 man crunch and how tough it will be soon for the Jays. You've got prospects like Elvis Luciano who is doing good so far (3 starts, 4-5-4 1/3 IP, total of 6 runs 7 BB 13 K's) but not 'wow' so come this winter he will be a bubble candidate. A few years ago a guy doing that would be a lock for the 40 man. Guess that is the price of progress - some good kids will be lost in the rule 5 soon I suspect, if not this winter then in a few if this growth keeps going. I figure Elvis' goal is to have a solid AA season, then do well in AAA next year and be ready for a call up as starter #7 or later.
scottt - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 03:47 PM EDT (#398462) #
They handled the crunch fine by trading 3 guys for Matz.
Davis will be out of options next year. Don't be surprise to see him go.
I suppose Lopez is the default replacement.
Same with Payamps.
Murphy is an interesting case. Can he be healthy long enough to be worth keeping on the 40 roster?
Need to see more from Tice.

Luciano is 21. SWR is 20. Castillo 22  Johnston 24, Logue 25.
He'll have options in 22 and 23 and still project as a starter.

So, pitchers are no really a problem, but there will be a middle infielder crunch eventually.

GabrielSyme - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 04:53 PM EDT (#398473) #
I think there's a lot of chaff on the 40-man, specifically among the pitchers. Guys like Beasley, Bergen, Castro, Cole, Mayza, Payamps, and Tice are going to have to perform to be part of the Jays' future plans. Even guys like Thornton, Stripling and Dolis might find themselves on the outside if they have a bad season.

Tommy Milone is probably gone as soon as we need another 40-man spot; and I've been banging on about Zeuch not meriting his 40-man spot for a while now, but who knows how much rope he has with the FO?
Gerry - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 05:45 PM EDT (#398476) #
Fangraphs appears to have had someone watching Van Eyk last night. Here is the scouting report:

Van Eyk’s minor league season got off to a rocky start. His first outing with the Vancouver Canadians was only 0.2 innings long, but that was enough time for the 2020 draftee to allow four runs on three hits, two walks and two wild pitches. His second start was more reassuring: Van Eyk again allowed three hits and two walks, but this time over 4.2 innings, and accompanied by seven strikeouts and only one run (a homer in the fourth). The third start of his minor league career, though, was his best, with Van Eyk fanning nine batters over six dominant innings, allowing only one run, and walking one.

On a handful of his pitches, his balance in his lower half faltered, which resulted in a somewhat inconsistent landing spot for his left foot. In a few instances, his foot landed an inch or two too far over toward third base, causing Van Eyk to have to throw across his body, lower his head, and tumble toward first base after delivery. Here’s a comparison of two back-to-back pitches in the bottom of the third, demonstrating the difference between his balanced delivery (left), and what happens when his foot lands too far toward third (right):

Video is available here.

But even with those inconsistencies, Van Eyk never lost confidence in his timing, even managing to eliminate the kick in his delivery to sneak a slick quick-pitch by Spencer Brickhouse for a called strike three to start the top of the fifth.
Gerry - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 05:47 PM EDT (#398477) #
The link didn't copy over, you can find it here.
hypobole - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 06:41 PM EDT (#398481) #
Fangraphs appears to have had someone watching Van Eyk last night.

The someone is Tess Taruskin. She started writing there early April:
"With a master’s degree in Computing and Digital Media, she has worked for several years as a sports video editor, creating thousands of highlight videos for high school athletes with college ambitions. She is excited to apply her technical background to prospect evaluation and the amateur draft, and further explore the ways video and data continue to evolve baseball at every level."

The video is almost certainly from the Hops milb TV feed.
Gerry - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 07:58 PM EDT (#398486) #
Nate Pearson pitched three innings tonight, two hits, one run, 4 K's.

Pearson used 58 pitches in his 3 innings, not very efficient. He threw 35 strikes and 23 balls. That ratio should be 2:1.
greenfrog - Friday, May 21 2021 @ 10:20 PM EDT (#398498) #
Some good performances in the minors today. Martin and Moreno with three hits each. Logue with a fine performance (and season so far). Pearson back on the mound and hopefully healthy.
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