Monday Notebook: Pompey Rising & an Osuna Sighting!

    Mississauga's own Dalton Pompey has certainly caught a major helium updraft this year.
   The 16th round pick from the 2010 draft had toiled mostly in anonymity through his first four seasons, which were all spent in A ball.
   Widely regarded as toolsy but thanks to his Canadian upbringing painfully raw, Pompey began to figure things out in Lansing last year, and put together a torrid last half of August last season, hitting .339/..473/.554 over that stretch, including a streak where he scored an incredible 9 times in a row after reaching base.
   Pompey has picked up this season exactly where he left off.  Starting the year in Dunedin, Pompey capped off a .319/.397/.471 half season with the D-Jays with a selection to the Florida State League All-Star Game, followed by being named to the World squad in Milb's upcoming Future Stars game, which was then followed by a promotion to AA.
   With trade rumours heating up as the July 31 deadline approaches, Pompey's name has started to be prominently and frequently mentioned as part of a package the Jays might offer to acquire a frontline starter to bolster their rotation.


   After a few months of silence, we have news of a Roberto Osuna sighting.
   Osuna was shut down in May of last year with elbow soreness, which eventually resulted in Tommy John surgery at the end of July.
   When last we heard, Osuna was starting to throw on flat ground at the end of spring training.  Now comes reports that he threw a live batting practice session in Florida, which was confirmed by the young righthander himself on Twitter:

 

Roberto Osuna‏@RobertoOsuna1

Threw first live bp since last year , feel blessed to be at the mound again thnks to everyone! http://instagram.com/p/pz20IwEDe7/ 

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9:54 PM - 28 Jun 2014

   According to someone named Eddy Michels of the website Rocket Sports Entertainment, Osuna is scheduled to throw more live BP sessions this coming Tuesday and Friday.  If all goes well, Osuna told Michels that he will start a GCL game on July 9th.  We should hasten to add that Michels has actually provided a fair amount of Dunedin-based updates on the Jays, and seems like a credible source.

   The pitching gem of the week award narrowly has to go to Vancouver lefthander Jairo Labourt, who threw six innings of hitless ball in a Saturday game, as part of what turned out to be a combined one-hitter for the C's.  After walking the leadoff hitter, Labourt settled in, picking off that walk.  He walked the leadoff hitter again in the second, but then retired the next ten hitters in a row.  He walked only one more hitter before reaching his pitch limit at the end of the sixth, striking out six.  Honourable mention must go to New Hampshire righty Casey Lawrence, who threw a 7 inning one hitter in the second half of a doubleheader against New Britain, with only an error and a two-out single in the top of the 7th separating Lawrence from perfection.  Lawrence struck out 8 and induced 9 ground ball outs, as he overmatched the New Britain lineup.

   Pompey rejoined Daniel Norris in New Hampshire, and may face him in the Futures Game, as Norris was named to the US team.  Norris' second AA start was even better than his first, and didn't result in a bench-clearing brawl.  In 5 2/3 innings, Norris struck out 10, and surrendered one run on 3 hits and 3 walks.  

   After a dominant Appalachian League debut by Matt Smoral, the tall lefty came back to earth a bit in his second outing.  Pitching in relief in a piggyback situation, Smoral gave up 4 runs (all earned), 6 hits, and 4 walks, to go along with 5 K's in 2.1 innings.  Smoral has struck out 13 Appy League hitters in only 5 innings.  

   We've been following the progress of GCL Blue Jays outfielder Juan Tejada with great interest.  Tejada was part of an impressive 2011 Blue Jays International signing class, which included Osuna, Labourt, Dawel Lugo, Jesus Tinoco, Alberto Tirado, Miguel Castro, and Wuilmer Becerra, who was sent to the Mets in the R.A. Dickey deal. Singed for $150 000, Tejada might turn into quite a bargain.  Chris King of Baseball Prospectus has seen a fair amount of Tejada already, and is impressed:

Chris King‏@StatsKing

I see Juan Tejada went deep again today and added a triple on top of that. Kid has legit thunder in his bat. 3 bombs in 21 AB's #BlueJays

   Playing stateside for the first time, Tejada has already acquired quite a following.  King says he took note of Tejada after just one batting practice session.  He's several years away, but his name is one worth filing away for future reference.


    He isn't getting a lot of publicity for doing so, but Jeremy Gabryszwski is turning in yet another solid season for Lansing.  The Jays 2nd round pick in 2011 has worked his way up the ladder one step at a time, but has gained a reputation for pitching to contact, and not missing a lot of bats.
   This year, he's fashioned five games where he's averaged at least a strikeout per inning, striking out 7 in 6 innings in his last start on Saturday.  In 92 innings, he's given up 104 hits, and Midwest League hitters are batting .287 against him.  That's still a lot of contact, but he's managed a tidy 3.33 ERA this season.  What helps Gaby is that he's usually around the plate, walking only 13 so far this season.
   He's still a longshot to earn a spot in a major league rotation, but we like the way he eats up innings.  He has made 16 starts this season, and has pitched into the 5th inning in every one of them, and into the 6th inning ten times.

   Chaz Frank, like Gabryszwski, has flown under the radar for much of the season.  The 2013 20th founder has risen quickly.  We liked what we saw of him in a brief glimpse of him at Vancouver last season.  He was maybe a touch too aggressive on the base paths, but he has shown a penchant for getting on base (.382 OBP), and has taken over from D.J. Davis at the top of the Lansing batting order, which likely will mean Davis gets to see a few more fastballs with the speedy Frank on base, which might be a huge confidence builder for the struggling Davis.


   To make room for Pompey on the New Hampshire roster, outfielder Kenny Wilson was promoted to Buffalo.  After being named to the 40-man roster in the off season, it's been quite a roller coaster ride of a season for the 6 year minor league vet.  He was DFA'd in May, and was claimed by the Twins, only to be claimed back by Toronto a few weeks later when Minnesota made the same roster move.  After a very slow start, Wilson has started to show the ability to get on base and speed that caused the Jays to protect him from the Rule 5 draft last fall.  Over his past 10 games, Wilson is .324/.425/.896, with three straight two-hit games at the top of the Bisons lineup.