Clayton McCullough is back for his second year as manager of the Lansing Lugnuts.  Recently in Lansing he answered some questions about the 2009 Lugnuts.

A strong day on the farm featured three wins and a dominating pitching performance in Las Vegas.

Move along people nothing to see here, except for four losses. Picking the three stars was tough, Brian Van kirk was an obvious choice for #1, he reached base all five times he came to the plate.  Andrew Liebel had another good start, Reidier Gonzlaez was good for 5.2 innings before giving up five runs in the fifth, channelling Scott Richmond perhaps.  The four affiliates combined for 8 runs.

Ricky Romero vs Zack Greinke. Obviously no contest.

If you start from the top, things don't look so good with both Las Vegas and New Hampshire losing. But the A-ball affiliates saved the day - especially after Lansing came from behind to score eight runs in the final two innings to defeat Fort Wayne.

Chad Mottola played parts of five season in the major leagues with two of those for Toronto.  He also played parts of five season playing in Syracuse for the Blue Jays.  Now Mottola is the Blue Jays minor league hitting coordinator.  I caught up with him in Lansing last week.

There were four games on the farm yesterday and the affiliates won three of them. There was a pitcher’s duel in Double-A between one of Toronto’s better pitching prospects and a Double-A veteran better known for being a minor part of the biggest trades of the past few years. Lansing won with a timely homer, demonstrating that when a team gets runners on with two out there’s no rule you have to strand them on base. Production from the bottom of Dunedin’s lineup and some good middle relief propelled them to a comfortable win and Las Vegas won behind Brett Cecil.

Every organization has at least one player who has all the talent in the world, but they just continue to drive management (and more importantly fans) crazy with their inconsistencies. In Toronto, we have David Purcey... or, Mr. One-Good-Game, then Mr. One-Bad-Game. Unfortunately for Las Vegas, last night was his bad game.

Dane Johnson is the Blue Jays minor league pitching coordinator and an old friend of Da Box.  He usually gives us his perspective on the minor league pitchers at least once per season.  Dane and his team have been sending a steady parade of pitchers to the big leagues recently and today he gives us some interesting insight into Danny Faquhar, Tim Collins and Marc Rzepczynski among others.

It was a 2-2 night for the affiliates as the Lugnuts and D-Jays put one in the win column.

Macier Izturis looked at a called third strike (there being little point in actually swinging at the damn thing) for the final out of the ballgame. It was the 133rd pitch Roy Halladay had thrown in the game, a new career high.

How about that?

Long time Blue Jay fans know the name Mel Queen.  Queen spent time in Toronto as pitching coach and even managed the Jays for five games on an interim basis.  Mel Queen gets a lot of the credit for remaking Roy Halladay's delivery.  Rumour has it he got on Pat Hentgens case from time to time.  Recently Queen returned to the Jays organization as a roving instructor.  When I showed up in Lansing last weekend I met Mel Queen for the first time.  I didn't think I was going to meet him so I didn't have time to prepare some historical questions so I just took five minutes or so from him and had him answer a few questions.

A week after complaining that the affiliates never play well on Mondays, and threatening to fact-check that claim, the affiliates threw a wrench in my plans by going 3-0. The evening featured excellent starting pitching at all 3 levels, and one player went 5-5 with a home run. Who was it? Guess you'll just have to click through!

I was in Lansing over the weekend and I saw two games, both Lansing wins.  I had the opportunity to talk with the Lansing manager, Clayton McCullough, the Jays roving pitching instructor, Dane Johnson, the Jays roving hitting instructor, Chad Mottola, and another roving instructor, Mel Queen, as well as several players.  Look for these interviews on Batters Box over the next week or so.  We will start with what I saw in the two games I attended.  Here is a quick scouting report as well as some comments on the Dunedin Jays from a scout I was talking to.

A fairly uneventful day on the farm as the affiliates went just 1-3.  Highlights included a couple of strong starting performances and some big power from the usual suspects in New Hampshire.