A quick two game set in Oakland, and it should be a good one, featuring each organization's top two pitchers (except now Brandon McCarthy is injured and my clever thematic theme is undid). And it's in O.co/Network Associates/McAfee/Overstock.com Coliseum, so we may not see many runs. Pitchin' and defense in the golden state, and I'll be rockin' my Advance Scout all the way to the golden gate.

Las Vegas was the only affiliate to put one in the win column Monday.

Halifax's own Vince Horsman is the pitching coach for the Lansing Lugnuts.  This year Horsman has had a lot of talent entrusted to him and he is expected to get them ready to pitch both in Dunedin and in the major leagues.  Horsman played parts of five seasons in the major leagues including four innings with the 1991 Blue Jays as a 24 year old.

I spoke with Horsman a week ago when I was in Lansing with the Lugnuts.  I have split the interview into two parts.  Today's deals mainly with the pitching philosophy of the Blue Jays minor leagues.  The second installment will be up as soon as I get it transcribed.

The affiliates went 3-2 on the day as Dunedin split a double-header.

Three outta four on the farm and a ton of nice performances including exactly the type of game Anthony Gose should have.

If Henderson Alvarez develops a change-up that he can use as an effective strikeout pitch, he could be the best pitcher in baseball. Discuss.

The Farm went 2 for 3 on strength of Las Vegas hitting and pitching, New Hampshire’s 8th come from behind win and a heartbreaking loss for Lansing.  Despite the loss, Lansing stays on top of the Eastern Division of the Midwest League with a record of 19-8.  Dunedin, with a night off, stayed atop the Northern Division of the Florida State League.  As we go up the organization, New Hampshire holds down the 4th spot in the Eastern League Eastern Division with a 12-15 record. And Las Vegas starts the weekend at 13-16, good for 4th place in the Pacific Coast League’s Pacific South Division.

A very quiet workmanlike night on the farm but the affiliates nevertheless went 3-1 without any real standout performances.

Circumstances! Only a chart today, so please talk quietly amongst yourselves.

In Lansing, one of the team’s mostly high-touted pair of tandem starters had their first poor outing of the season. Meanwhile, Las Vegas exploded for a dozen runs in Reno behind a solid start. The Fisher Cats had a quiet day at the plate and there was an unexpected source of heroics for Dunedin.

A few years ago, I ranked Michael Saunders very high on the list of Canadian prospects (yes, even ahead of Brett Lawrie). I was impressed with his athleticism and his improving minor league batting record. Unfortunately his major league trials since them have been disappointing and he has spent a lot of the past two seasons in AAA. But with the continued absence of Franklyn Gutierrez, Saunders has stepped into the everyday centerfielder job. I expect him to remain there even when Gutierrez returns.

C'mon, I expected that terrible '80s hair band headline pun when I clicked through to ESPN, and it was in fact the lead story with that very headline on ESPN.com's home page ... the story, which usually does not have the same headline as the lead feature image, indeed does not, choosing the more pedestrian Angels' Jered Weaver tosses second no-hitter of season.

And you know, that headline made me think, is the kid Weaver, as brilliant as he is, tired yet of being the second guy to do something? (I mean, quick, Box No-Prize to whoever first names, without looking it up, the second man on the moon after Neil Armstrong.)  To wit:

It's typical practice for major league teams to give some left-handed batters a rest when the opposition starts the game with a left-handed pitcher on the mound. This, of course, is because of the well-known platoon advantage that pitchers have against same-handed batters. I remember a time when it was rare to see any left-handed batter in the lineup against Randy Johnson, but we don't seem to have a monster like that in the game today. Most managers will leave their best lefthanded bats in to face a lefty starter, with the more marginal lefty bats replaced by right-handed hitters.

But not all pitchers are created equal, especially when it comes to this theoretical platoon edge.

Sometimes you win from your own efforts, sometimes it's given to you.  Sometimes you could have won but lost, and sometimes you just blow it.  And that was the night on the farm.  New Hamsphire were the only winners through a combination of their efforts and Reading doing their best to lose the game.  Las Vegas had lots of opportunities to score but came up short.  And Dunedin were heading for a win but blew the game in the eighth inning.

Yohan Pino was the standout, throwing 93 pitches to get through his eight innings.  Aaron Laffey and Randy Boone pitched well too.

I was in Lansing last week to see four Lugnut games. Lansing is drawing a lot of fan and scout attention this year because of their young group of starting pitchers and the teams performance on the field has more than lived up to expectations.  This scouting report summarises what I saw in my four days in Lansing.

Remember this is the end of the first month of the season for the players, many of whom are playing in full-season ball for the first time. There is a lot of teaching going on. While I was in Lansing, in addition to the regular team coaches, these other "teachers" were in town: Pat Hentgen, roving pitching instructor; Mike Mordecai, infield instructor; Rick Miller, outfield instructor; and Steve Springer, quality at-bat instructor. The manager/coaches room was like grand central station.