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Minor League Update A Pair of Morris's and Six Wins
There were seven games on Good Friday, the affiliates won six of them. There was a strong roster of starters who pitched well, Joey Murray, Nick Fraze, Hayden Juenger, and Ricky Tiedemann. Orelvis Martinez and Zak Cook homered in each end of the doubleheader but another Fisher Cat hitter pipped them for the third star. Tanner Morris homered and went 4-5 with two walks over both ends of the doubleheader. Meanwhile PK Morris hit a grand slam in extra innings to help Vancouver sweep their doubleheader.

Buffalo 2 Rochester 3 - game 1

Buffalo 9 Rochester 4 - game 2

Hartford 2 New Hampshire 5 - game 1

Hartford 0 New Hampshire 8 - game 2

Vancouver 2 Tri-City 1 - game 1

Vancouver 6 Tri-City 4 - game 2

Dunedin 6 Tampa 3


This is what I noted from yesterday's games.


The Bisons have two catchers on their roster but they signed a third, Stevie Berman, who played game one. Gabriel Moreno played game two and went 1-4. The one was a two RBI double to the wall in right centre. Kellin Deglan is the other catcher and must be injured, he hasn't played since April 10th.


Vinny Capra hit his second home run and is off to a hot start.


Orelvis homered in each end of the doubleheader. He has 4 on the season


Joey Murray is back. In his first appearance he was hit around in his first inning but then settled down and pitched well. On Friday he threw five innings and gave up two runs on two hits. He struck out six. Hagen Danner is another pitcher who was roughed up first time out but he got the save in game one.


Zac Cook also homered in both games. Tanner Morris homered in game one and went 3-3 in game two. He is hitting .409. Sebastian Espino hit a three run home run.


Nick Fraze pitched five shutout innings in game two. His ERA remains at zero through two starts. Hayden Juenger followed Fraze and finished the last two innings with four K's.



Hunter Gregory was an eight round selection in last years draft. He has been forgotten behind Hoglund, Tiedemann, Carter and Dallas. He also didn't pitch well in relief in Dunedin last season. But he started yesterday for Vancouver and went four innings with one run allowed. Miguel Hiraldo hit his first home run of the season.


Adam Kloffenstein started game two and it didn't start well. Only two of his first ten pitches were strikes. The first inning was 31 pitches, three hits, two walks and two runs. Kloff p[itched three more innings keeping Tri-City off the board. A Riley Tirotta triple scored and a run and he then scored on a sac fly to tie the game. In the tenth inning, with the bases loaded, PK Morris hit a grand slam to provide the winning margin for the Canadians.


Ricky Tiedemann went five shutout innings, two hits, four walks, eight K's. He had 17 swings and misses. His fastball averaged 96.1 mph.


Damiano Palmegiani hit a three run home run, one of his three hits. Dasan Brown also had a couple of hits and stole three bases.



Three Stars

Third Star - Tanner Morris

Second Star - Nick Fraze

First Star - Ricky Tiedemann


Boxes

Posted by Gerry on Saturday, April 16 2022 @ 08:01 AM EDT.
A Pair of Morris's and Six Wins | 12 comments | Create New Account
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greenfrog - Saturday, April 16 2022 @ 08:05 AM EDT (#412427) #
Posted this in the other thread:

Orelvis with a total of two home runs in two games yesterday. He's hitting .296/.321/.815 (200 wRC+) in his first seven games in AA, all with a modest BABIP of .267. Obviously this is an outstanding start to the season for him. The only downside in the small sample is a 3.6% walk rate and 28.6% K rate.
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greenfrog - Saturday, April 16 2022 @ 08:35 AM EDT (#412428) #
The reported FB velocity for Tiedemann (if accurate) is impressive. Fangraphs' scouting report for him is "sits 88-92" and "tops out at 94." If he's now averaging around 96, that is a dramatic increase in velo.

The strikeouts are impressive (16 in 10 IP) but he'll have to trim the walks (6 so far).
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Gerry - Saturday, April 16 2022 @ 09:13 AM EDT (#412429) #
The FB speed for Tiedemann comes from baseball savant which picks it up from MLB technology at Tampa's park.
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bpoz - Saturday, April 16 2022 @ 09:56 AM EDT (#412431) #
Very exciting day on the farm yesterday. I am trying not to over react because this is SSS. By the end of May the sample size will be big enough to consider possible promotions.
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ISLAND BOY - Saturday, April 16 2022 @ 11:35 AM EDT (#412437) #
So there's two Morris's in the system. That's going to be confusing.
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mendocino - Saturday, April 16 2022 @ 11:48 AM EDT (#412438) #
8r pick Hunter Gregory was up to 95 mph in ST up from low 90's in college.

10r Connor Cooke up to 98 mph from 93-94 in college.

Hidden gems from 2021 draft
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John Northey - Saturday, April 16 2022 @ 02:54 PM EDT (#412442) #
The Jays are fun right now - haven't been like this since the early 90's when we had Delgado and others in the system while the ML team was winning. Most forget the team was stacked in the minors when Gillick left after 1994. After 1994 (when Gillick 'retired') the Jays had 6 guys among the top 100 prospects plus Delgado (lost prospect status in 1994). Those included Shawn Green, Alex Gonzalez, Shannon Stewart, and Chris Carpenter. Yet somehow Ash managed to never win 90 with all that upcoming talent plus tons of guys ready to be traded to build up the system more. Sigh. Luckily the current GM seems a LOT smarter than Ash was.

Orelvis has me excited - he could be here by years end but I'm sure the Jays will hold off until 2023 unless he forces it mid-season. Where do you play him? 2B? LF? I expect him to take over 3B when Chapman is a free agent post 2023. Moreno will be here by 2023 but again a crowded situation - CA/DH. Then you have Groshans who I had slotted for 3B for mid-2022/2023, but then the trade for Chapman and Martinez has sped up his timetable thus making it tighter for Groshans. You have suprises coming of course, like Zac Cook in AA CF hitting 273/619/818 so far, Tanner Morris in AA 3B/2B hitting 409/567/682, and so on. Of course, stats at this stage are close to meaningless but still fun to look at. 11 hitters with a 1000+ OPS so far in the system, 4 pitchers with 20+K/9 IP (19 year old Rafael Ohashi with 10 K in 4 IP leads - faced just 14 batters 2 walked). 10 pitchers have 0 walks so far (while getting at least one out) with Sem Robberse 0 walks in 5 IP at A+ the leader, but take note of old guy Casey Lawrence 1 walk in 11 IP in AAA.
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bpoz - Saturday, April 16 2022 @ 03:21 PM EDT (#412447) #
All you say is true about the current farm team John N. Surprises do happen but by their nature are unpredictable.

I was surprised that Chapman got 2 years for $25 mil. This year's Arb expectation was about $9 mil which means that next year's expectation should have been $16mil. I know that logic does not work that way. Especially baseball logic. A bit of a head scratcher. Except he becomes easier to trade.

I sort of figured that Grichuk could be traded. I expect to be surprised by the silver lining we get in that trade.



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Shoeless Joe - Saturday, April 16 2022 @ 04:40 PM EDT (#412458) #
Thanks to a bump in velocity, righthander Connor Cooke began his sophomore year as Louisiana-Lafayette’s closer. The in-season growth of his changeup pushed him into the rotation.

Then, just as he was set to make his first collegiate start, the pandemic hit and sent everyone home.

“I was ready to go, for sure, but things happen,” he said.

There was no stopping Cookie in 2021, when he logged 79.2 innings over 18 games, 12 of them starts, while posting a 2.03 ERA with 90 strikeouts against 37 walks.

The Blue Jays drafted him in the 10th round, and he’s done nothing but impress since signing. He had some eye-popping bullpens and live batting practices early in spring training.

He touched 98 mph in one and sat 96-97 in another, prompting some around the club to describe him as a deep sleeper.

Cooke has also added a slider, giving him a full four-pitch repertoire.

"My junior year was the first full year that I just I could honestly say I really I got after it and I actually had really had a good year,” Cooke said. “Of course it's every kid's dream to play professional baseball.

"Once I started getting better as a pitcher and started understanding how to pitch—and those aspects of the game—that helped me.”

He’ll likely carry those lessons into a rotation spot with Low-A Dunedin this season after five relief appearances in his pro debut last year. Though he sat low 90s and could go get 95 mph in college, the Blue Jays saw gains in shorter stints and are now watching him hold the extra velo longer.

“Credit to him, what he's doing right now stands out. It's impressive,” Blue Jays farm director Joe Sclafani said. “He's super athletic. He's probably one of, if not the most athletic guy from that draft class last year . . .

"His routines have been nails. He had a good offseason. He looks fantastic, (and) his arm is electric.”
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greenfrog - Saturday, April 16 2022 @ 08:04 PM EDT (#412483) #
Samad was 2/2 with 4 walks today. His season line in AAA is up to .276/.488/.414 (11 walks, 4 Ks) with 5 SB. He turns 24 in July, so this is an important season for him.
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John Northey - Saturday, April 16 2022 @ 10:32 PM EDT (#412485) #
Just for fun I checked the IFA signings by the Jays that were done immediately each year (IE: on July 2nd) meaning they were probably viewed as top prospects when signed.
  • 2019:
    • Estiven Machado, SS, Venezuela -- $775,000
    • Robert Robertis, OF, Venezuela -- $750,000
    • Peniel Brito, OF, Dominican Republic -- $600,000
    • Cesar Ayala, RHP, Venezuela -- $450,000
    • Endri Garcia, SS, Venezuela -- $350,000
    • Christian Feliz, OF, Venezuela -- $325,000
    • Victor Mesia, C, Venezuela -- $300,000
  • 2018:
    • Orelvis Martinez, ss, Dominican Republic (No. 7 prospect) -- $3.5 million signing bonus
    • Javier D’Orazio, c, Venezuela
    • Amell Brazoban, of, Dominican Republic
    • Wilfrann Astudillo, ss, Venezuela
    • Gary David, c, Venezuela
    • Leonel Callez, ss, Venezuela
    • Jorman Gonzalez, rhp, Venezuela
    • Wilgenis Alvarado, lhp, Venezuela
    • Javier Perdomo, lhp, Venezuela
    • Michael Arias, ss, Dominican Republic
    • Juanfer Castro, rhp, Dominican Republic
    • Francisco Fajardo, utility, Dominican Republic
    • Jose Garcia, RHP, Dominican Republic
    • Gustavo Gutierrez, 2B, Venezuela
    • Pedro Guzman, RHP, Dominican Republic
    • Yeison Jimenez, OF, Dominican Republic
    • Abner King, OF, Dominican Republic
    • Yunior Lara, RHP, Dominican Republic
    • Juan Martinez, RHP, Dominican Republic
    • Soenni Martinez, LHP, Dominican Republic
    • Bejardi Meza, RHP, Nicaragua
    • Adrian Montero, infielder, Panama
    • Daniel Oliva, OF, Dominica Republic
    • Yaifer Perdomo, LHP, Venezuela
    • Juan Pizarro, OF, Colombia
    • Junior Ramos, C, Dominican Republic
    • Emmanuel Sanchez, SS, Dominican Republic
    • Julian Valdez, RHP, Dominican Republic
  • 2017:
    • Eric Pardinho, rhp, Brazil (No. 14 prospect), $1.4 million.
    • Miguel Hiraldo, ss, Dominican Republic (No. 23 prospect), $750,000.
    • Alejandro Melean, rhp, Venezuela (No. 32 prospect)
    • Leonardo Jimenez, ss, Panama (No. 36 prospect), $825,000.
    • Alberto Rodriguez, of, Dominican Republic (No. 38 prospect), $500,000.
    • Rainer Diaz, ss, Dominican Republic Jose Rivas, ss, Venezuela
    • Geyber Jimenez, c, Venezuela
    • Jhon Solarte, of, Venezuela
    • Ronald Govea, rhp, Venezuela
    • Alexis Carmona, rhp, Venezuela
    • Williams Moreno, rhp, Venezuela
    • Erick Teran, lhp, Venezuela
    • Miguel Olivo, rhp, Venezuela
    • Alexis Carmona, rhp, Venezuela
    • Luis Pena, rhp, Venezuela
  • 2016: Didn't have any of the top 50 signings probably due to limits after signing Vlad the year before, Otto Lopez was signed in July, Kirk was signed in September, Gurriel Jr in November, and Gabriel Moreno for $25k at some point. Dang nice.
  • 2015: Just one but oh my was it a critical one: #4. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., OF, Dominican Republic - Blue Jays ($3,900,000) - FYI: later on Fernando Tatis Jr. was taken for $700k. Juan Soto was #22 for $1.5 mil. Probably one of the best IFA classes ever.
Quite the list from 2015 on. In his last year as GM AA did the future Jays a massive favor with Vlad and I suspect had started setting up the strong international scouting setup the Jays now have. No question tons of credit to the current team though for getting so much talent so fast via it, especially in 2016 with a tight budget.

Sadly I don't know of a good source for listings of all signings as IFA's (I've asked BR to add it in, maybe we need more to push for it). Baseball Cube has undrafted free agents by year which is fun, but not helpful for prospects and mixes in US/Canada/PR undrafted players who made the majors (such as Tim Collins) and has obvious bugs (Elvis Luciano listed, but was signed by Arizona).
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John Northey - Saturday, April 16 2022 @ 10:35 PM EDT (#412486) #
Looking at that list I wondered how Eric Pardinho was doing - stuck in rookie ball for 90 innings so far, 103 k's vs 32 BB, got 7 starts in A ball in 2019 but was back in rookie for 2 starts in 2021 and nothing since. Just looked him up and found he had Tommy John late 2019 so this year is critical for him.
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A Pair of Morris's and Six Wins | 12 comments | Create New Account
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