Berroa had a double in each of his first two games, and homered in each of his next 2. He's SLG .933

Looking hopeful in the minors right now. So I thought I'd check some of the big 'first year of 'wow'' years.

• 1985: First division title, 99 wins, AAA 79-61, AA 79-64, organization had a 512 win %. In AA a 21 year old Cecil Fielder was pounding and got called up late. Future key players Kelly Gruber, Nelson Liriano, Fred McGriff and others were working their way through the system. Quite a few useful pieces but few stars on the pitching side though.
• 1992: AAA 60-83, AA 56-88, organization 497 win %. But a WS win which was followed with another. A 20 year old Carlos Delgado was the top prospect in baseball, Ed Sprague getting ready to take over 3B in '93, Alex Gonzalez #1 just 19 in A, while 19 year old Shawn Green in A+. 18 year old Shannon Stewart in rookie ball, but again little pitching talent charging up.
• 2015: AAA 68-76, AA 69-71, organization 497 win %. Danny Jansen a 20 year old in A/rookie, Tim Mayza in A at 23, but not a lot of what would form the current team was there yet.

I guess we can see why 1985 was the start of a great run - strong minors in results to go with a strong young ML team. But by 1992 the farm was weakening (ranked #2 overall but W/L didn't show it) and things fell apart fast. 2015 had a weak farm but recovered fast with Vlad signed in 2015, then Bo, Gurriel, Kirk, Moreno and Biggio signed in 2016, Manoah in 2019. But they need some guys to come through who were drafted/UFA's from post 2016 as well other than Manoah if they are going to contend long term.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but there is a Vladdy-Hazel interview on Sportsnet where it comes out that the Jays and Vladdy tried to negotiate an extension in the off-season, but couldn’t come to an agreement.

The two sides might be even further apart next off-season if VGJ keeps up this level of performance.

Tiedemann went three innings tonight. He recorded nine strikeouts. Portland got two hits off him.

Is that BABIP sustainable?

Quite the game from Tiedemann in AA - 11 batters faced, 9 K's, 2 H. Just got to build him up to 5-6 inning games now. Once there he can be called up but that probably won't be until next season, with some relief in late August/September possible this year if they keep those innings low - I'd push a bit myself. I'd focus on getting more innings from him this year, see if he can do more than 5 IP in a game. For reference, Manoah in 2019 didn't go more than 4 IP in any game (age 21), then in 2021 (age 23) went 6 IP in each of his 3 minor league starts before being who he is in the majors. So this isn't that unusual. Tiedemann did 5 IP a lot last year (10 times 5 on the nose, never more) at age 19. Now 20 I'd be surprised if the Jays push him for 5+ right away, even though I suspect he could handle it. Last year his peak in pitches was 84 (twice) plus 2 more at 80. His low was 39 (over 3 IP as they tried to keep his innings down). 49 tonight so clearly he had more in the tank but the Jays clearly are babying his arm and want to see more innings in August/September with the Jays even if it slows him as a starter for 2024 (first rotation slot clearly open in 2025 after Kikuchi's contract is done).