On Sunday the Blue Jays minor league system was 1-5, with a PPD game for Dunedin.  Daniel Norris was fantastic in his AAA debut, while Kevin Pillar hit in both games of a double header for the Bisons.  Casey Lawrence had his first stinker in a while for New Hampshire, while Lansing lost in extra-innings.  Vancouver lost despite having a lead in the top of the 9th, and Bluefield had a walk-off victory in the bottom of the 9th.

The Vancouver Canadians returned home after two weeks on the road for a late Sunday matchup against Tri-City. After taking two of three against the Dust Devils, the C's were hoping to continue their winning ways against the Rockies affiliate.

Ryan Borucki made his first pro start on Canadian soil. He struck out six batters over five innings, giving up two runs on four hits, two walks and a hit by pitch.

Only two wins on Saturday. Jairo Labourt had a lot of offensive support but he didn't need it. He K's 8 and only walked one in his start. On Friday the Jays obtained Michael Lee in a trad with Arizona. On Saturday he pitched six shutout innings. Edwin DH'd for Dunedin and was 1-3. Daniel Norris' first start for Buffalo was rained out.

A 500 night on the farm with Buffalo, Dunedin and Lansing winning. New Hampshire, Vancouver and the GCL team lost while Bluefield were rained out. Sean Nolin started for Buffalo and did OK, lots of hits but generally avoided big damage. Taylor Cole took the loss ut he pitched better than that sounds, he is acclimating to AA. Buffalo won by concentrating their hits in the first inning and hanging on. Lansing scored in the first two but added to it. Matt Dean and Mitch Nay led the offense. Christian Lopes and Jorge Saez led a big offensive night for Dunedin.

2014 draft lick Lane Thomas has been playing well in the GCL, good enough to get a promotion to Bluefield.

Sanchez, Scherzer and Price for the visitors, against Dickey, Stroman and Buehrle.

Three wins on the farm as Kendall Graveman continues to pitch well and Franklin Barreto continues to hit.

With 3 of the affiliates off on Wednesday, the remaining teams managed to go 3-2.  Scott Copleand pitched well for New Hampshire, and Roberto Osuna got hit hard with Dunedin.  Starlyn Suriel was solid for Lansing, and the GCL Jays pitched well. Finally, the DSL Jays pitchers couldn’t find the plate racking up numerous wild pitches and hit by pitches.

It was a winning night on the farm at least as the affiliates won four out of seven Tuesday. The Vancouver Canadians had seven representatives at the Northwest League All-Star Game. Let's just say the pitchers really had their say in this one.

Some guy named Brett Lawrie is back in town for this three-game series. That'll help, right?


Brett Lawrie - celebrating a home run with Anthony Gose against the New York Yankees September 30, 2012 - returns to the lineup after breaking his right index finger June 22.

Four of the six affiliates sang the bullpen blues Monday night. Buffalo almost did and Bluefield hummed a few bars but did not have to break out into full song. New Hampshire and Vancouver had the night off.

There are two major league ballparks in the city of Chicago...


...but only one that carries a significant place in Baseball history...

The Jays affiliates were 3-3 today, with the wins coming from Buffalo, New Hampshire and Dunedin.  The losses came from the lower affiliates in Lansing, Vancouver, and Bluefield.  Daniel Norris had a fantastic outing for New Hampshire, Jon Berti had a bunch of hits while adding to his stolen base total, and Sean Nolin was solid for Buffalo.

Two homers for Franklin Barreto on a night of pitching debuts. Kendall Graveman and Ryan Borucki fare well, Taylor Cole faces the reality of the AA jump. Richard Urena and Rowdy Tellez each had a four hit night for Bluefield. Other standouts on Saturday include Andy Burns, Dalton Pompey, Justin Atkinson, Mitch Nay, Dickie Thon, Max Pentecost and Lane Thomas.

Four wins at the top of the system, five losses at the bottom. Brett Lawrie had one hit for Dunedin, Emilio Guerrero, Jorge Saez and Shane Opitz each had three in the same game. Roberto Osuna pitched for Dunedin too and all that firepower led to a win. New Hampshire swept a doubleheader behind good pitching from Scott Copeland and Austin Bibens-Dirkx. Brad Mills pitched well for Buffalo but Ryan Tepera got the win as the Bisons rallied late.

Lansing lost even though Mitch Nay homered. Vancouver scored a lot but their pitching let Boise score even more. It was a terrible loss for Vancouver. The Boise left fielder pitched three shutout innings and stayed pitching after Boise tied the game. The winning/losing run scored on a wild pitch. Jesus Tinoco had a bad night as Bluefield lost but Richard Urena had two more hits. The GCL Jays lost both ends of a doubleheader.

For the first time in the long, distinguished history (all of four months!) of the Batter's Box Minor League awards, we have monthly co-winners! Andy Burns and Kevin Pillar share the Player of the Month honours for July while Kendall Graveman captured the Pitcher of the Month award.


Andy Burns and Kevin Pillar earned 13 points as the top position players while Kendall Graveman racked up 14 points in July from the 3 Star selections from the Batter's Box Minor League correspondents. The scoring is based on a 5-3-1 points system.