What To Expect From Chris Rowley

Eddie Michels/rocketsports-ent.com photo

   One early sweltering early August Florida afternoon in 2013, RHP Chris Rowley took the mound for the Blue Jays Gulf Coast League entry.  After limiting the Pirates' GCL team to one run on four hits over six innings, Rowley jumped into the team traniner's car the following morning (his 23rd birthday) for the airport.  His destination:  New York, from where he would travel to West Point to begin fulfilling his service commitment after graduating from the US Military Academy that spring.
   Four years later, after serving his two-year hitch, which included a deployment to Eastern Europe (where he threw to the company medic to keep up his arm strength), Rowley is on the cusp of a big league job, having faced down incredibly long odds just to make it to pro ball.

  Rowley was lightly scouted even though he was the ace of the Black Knights' staff in his senior year at West Point; his military commitment no doubt dissuaded most teams.  He quickly signed with the Jays, who needed pitching for their GCL club after the 2013 draft. He was one of the team's most effective starters (1.09 ERA, 10.6 K/9) for the GCL Jays, but while other pitchers on the club received promotions to Bluefield or Vancouver as the summer progressed, Rowley remained in Dunedin, with the 60 days he had to report after graduating quickly counting down.

  After two years of service, Rowley was released from further commitment by the Army under a new program that allowed elite athletes in the military to pursue their sports.  Rowley reported to Florida for Instructs in the fall of 2015, and has quickly made up for lost time.  He was a mainstay in High A Dunedin's bullpen in 2016, and moved up the ladder to New Hampshire this year, where he continued his strong relief work until injuries in the Fisher Cats' rotation forced Manager Gary Allenson to press Rowley into starting duties.  Rowley did not miss a beat, and after taking a shutout into the 6th inning in his first start, he didn't allow more than one run in his next three.  That helped earn Rowley a promotion to Buffalo, where he returned to the bullpen.  Injuries and call ups forced him back into the starting rotation, and Rowley has not allowed a run over his last two starts.

   Chris Rowley does not blow hitters away.  He relies on his command, and a sinker that he says, "I couldn't throw straight even if I tried."  He mixes in a rapdily improving change up and a late-breaking slider with good depth.  He throws all 3 pitches from the same arm slot, making it very hard for hitters to pick up spin/rotation.  Rowley works quickly, standing on the rubber and peering in for the sign from his Catcher as soon as he gets the ball back.  His delivery has a slight pause, which can disrupt hitters' ability to time him.  Rowley is a good athlete who lands in a good fielding position, and is quick off the mound.  Most important of all, he pounds the lower part of the strike zone, walking only 20 over close to 90 innings. Hitters at two levels have found him extremely tought to square up.

   Blue Jays Director of Player Development Gil Kim calls Rowley, "A solid make up guy, (and) a true professional."  He is respectful to all throughout the game, and faithfully answers questions from a writer who's followed him for several years.  The Toronto media will no doubt quickly latch onto his Cinderella story - in a little under two years, he's gone from the US Army to the brink of the major leagues.

Chris Rowley Scouting Report

milb.com photo

        Blue Jays right handed pitching prospect Chris Rowley pitched 6 innings against the GCL Pirates on August 13th, 2013, allowing only 1 unearned run on 4 hits.  The following morning, his 23rd birthday, he was on a flight to New York, headed to West Point to fulfill his military commitment after graduating from the United States Military Academy six weeks before.  He would not pitch in a game for over two years while he served his country, which included a deployment to Eastern Europe. Despite huge odds, he's pitching himself in the picture at New Hampshire this season as a potential bullpem arm.

   Even though he was the ace of the Black Knights' staff in a very competitive Division One League, Rowley's looming five-year service deterred all 30 MLB teams from drafting him in 2013 (he likely would have been a mid-round pick otherwise).  The Blue Jays, who had been following him throughout his collegiate career, asked if he would be available to pitch in their minor league system that summer.  Rowley, who had six weeks' leave before his committment began, jumped at the chance, and reported to the team's minor league complex in Dunedin immediately after the draft.

  While the Blue Jays were well known for seeking out overlooked players at that time, Rowley was beyond a longshot, and the main reason for inviting him to pitch for their GCL team was to protect some of the higher-profile arms from having to pitch too many innings.  Were he any other prospect, Rowley's 1.10 ERA and 10.7K/9 would have earned him a mid-season promotion to Bluefield or even Vancouver.  Instead, he pitched every fifth day in Dunedin as his leave came to a end, waiting to fulfill his obligation.

  It's rare for a student-athlete from one of the USA's service acadamies to be granted a service deferrment, but in the fall of 2015, after serving two years, Rowley received one, and headed to Instructs to resume his pro career.  By the following spring, he had jumped two levels, and became a mainstay of the Dunedin Blue Jays' staff, appearing in 31 games, including 14 starts.  Promoted to New Hampshire this year, he's picked up where he left off, pitching out of the bullpen until an injury to Francisco Rios prompted Manager Gary Allenson to give him a start on Saturday against a very tough lineup in the Phillies' Reading affiliate.

  Rowley needed only 9 pitches to get through the first inning, and didn't give up a hit until the 3rd. Pounding the bottom of the strike zone with his downward-moving sinker, and using his slider and change effectively to keep hitters off balance, Rowley breezed through the 4th and 5th, surrendering only one hit, and needing only 19 pitches to retire six of seven.  After getting the first out on a grounder to 1st Baseman Ryan McBroom to lead off the 6th, SS Richie Ureña, who had made a dazzling leaping grab of a line drive to end the 1st inning, skipped a throw to McBroom to allow the batter to reach safely.  At 66 pitches, Rowley's night was over.

   For the outing, Rowley threw 5.1 innings, blanking Reading on 3 hits.  He walked one and fanned one.  Rowley threw 44 of his 66 pitches for strikes, and induced 12 ground ball outs.  He did not throw a great deal of first-pitch strikes, possibly because he wasn't afraid to use his secondaries early in the count.  Rowley attacks hitters, and with that movement on his sinker, he can be very difficult to square up - "The sink is natural, I couldn't throw it straight even if I tried," Rowley said after the game.  His change up is emerging as a solid secondary, with good movement, as is his slider, which has late break and good depth to it.  All three pitches come from a conistent arm slot, which makes picking them up difficult for hitters.  Rowley has a clean delivery with a slight pause in it, which can disrupt hitters' timing.  He is a good athlete who fields his positon well.

   Rowley will not blow the ball by hitters.  Topping out at 91-92, he relies on command and his secondaries to keep hitters off balance:

 My game is based on throwing three pitches, all at different speeds, all in the strike zone and all moving differently, and the idea is for them to look the same until they get to the plate.

  Still, he has managed to strike out almost a batter per inning at AA.  Rowley's 47% ground ball rate shows that he excels at keeping the ball down in the zone, and his 15.8% line drive rate is proof that while he pitches to contact, it's not often of the hard variey.  The knock against him may be that he doesn't miss a lot of bats, but the other side of that coin is that his sinker is very tough to square up, and his change and slider keep hitters off balance.

   Is there a spot for a finesse pitcher in a bullpen in these days of flame-throwing relievers?  One need look no further than Danny Barnes, who tops out at 92, for proof of that.  Granted, higher velocity gives a pitcher more margin for error, but there seems to be a growing place for relievers who can change speeds, create some deception, and throw strikes.  In an outing on May 10th at Hartford, Rowley allowed only one hit in three innings of relief work, walking none, and striking out 7, in a performance that surely put him on the radar. At 26, Rowley might be old to be considered a prospect, but he's reached AA in his second year of full-seaon ball, and while there may be a few arms ahead of him, he's clearly pitching himself into long or middle relief consideration.

  For more:    I wrote about Rowley's return to baseball here last year.

Clutchlings Notebook Vol 4 Ed 2

Tim Mayza - Clutchlings photo

 Another wrap of the goings on in the Blue Jays minor league system for the past week.

Is he or isn't he hurt?
   I wrote last week that top prospect Anthony Alford was injured in a home-plate collision in Dunedin's first game, and that to eyewitnesses the injury did not appear to be all that serious.
   Our first clue that something wasn't right with the prized outfielder came a few days after, when he was placed on the 7-day Disabled List.  Word started to leak out through social media that the injury was more serious than had been first reported.
   D-Jays broadcaster Spence Siegel (@SpenceSiegel) reported on Jesse Goldberg-Strassler's weekly review of the Blue Jays organization "Around the Nest" that the club was seeking a "second opinion," on Alford.  Shi Davidi of Sportsnet divulged a few days later that Alford had undergone ACL surgery in high school, and that the home plate injury may have been knee-related.
   The incident illustrates one of the frustrations of writing about minor league baseball. Injuries are treated like state secrets by teams, and it's hard to fathom just why that is.  Certainly, prospects are always under consideration as currency for trades to upgrade the major league team, so perhaps there's some need to keep that information under wraps, although it's hard in this day and age to think that a team could successfully keep that from the public for any length of time.  Those of us who follow the progress of prospects from afar find it frustrating when a player we've watched for several years basically disappears from the radar, with nary a word about it.
   Emails to several club officials when unanswered, and an inquiry to the D-Jays led to a vague response.  Some of my Twitter followers said that they contacted Alford through social media - this is a route I prefer not to take, because sometimes the prospects are the lowest links on the food chain in these situations, and I would rather not get them into difficulties with the organization.
   Davidi went on to say in his article that the club prefers that Alford rehab his knee, rather than opt for surgery, which is not uncommon for the team in situations where the tear of the ligament in question is not complete.  When Roberto Osuna had a slight tear of his UCL early in 2013, they opted for an ultimately unsuccessful regimen of rest, rehab, and PRP therapy to try to mend the injury.
   So, reading between the lines, we can surmise that the injury to Alford is serious enough to keep him out of the lineup, but not sufficient to undergo surgery (at least in the club's medical staff's opinion).  Either way, it's looking more and more like a lengthy absence for the speedy Mississippian.

The Dunedin Bullpen
   The D-Jays are off to a great start, thanks to a bullpen that gave up only 5 runs over 43 innings through their first 8 games.  It truly is one of the deepest pens in the system, featuring arms lik Adonys Cardona, converted OF Carlos Ramirez, Matt Dermody, Tim Mayza, Jose Fernandez, Alonzo Gonzalez, and Chris Rowley.  There's a good balance between left and right handers in this mix, and if Dunedin starters can make it to the 5th inning with a lead, there's a good chance that this group will preserve the win.   There may not be a lot of value in relievers at the lower levels of the minors, but this could prove to be one of the better groups this team has had in the bullpen at High A in some time.
    Command may be an issue from time to time, as the bullpen issued 14 walks over 5 innings on Sunday.



Jordan Romano Update
   The Markham native missed all of last year as a result of Tommy John surgery.  The 10th round pick out of Oral Roberts in 2014 has been pitching in extended spring training, and reports that he's hit 95 with his fastball, and is sitting 92-94 in his return.  He was pleasantly surprised by his command, as well, noting, "Honestly everything is back to normal. Thrown 4 innings, and issued 1 walk."
   Romano struck out almost 12 batters per 9 innings pitching out of Bluefield's pen in 2014, limiting Appy League hitters to a .209 average.  He is getting closer to returning to game action, but it will be interesting to see where he lands this season.  The organization's preference is to keep rehabbing prospects in Dunedin, but there may not be space for him.  Romano may start in the GCL, then quickly move to Vancouver.
   Another good arm for an organization that is stockpiling them at the lower levels.

Kevin Pillar and Pitch Recognition
   I'm straying from my usual focus in writing about a Major Leaguer, but I've always been a huge fan of Pillar's.
    Lightly recruited in high school, Pillar attended Division 2 Cal State Dominguez, where his high school baseball coach had landed as job as an assistant coach.  The gritty Pillar knew only one way to play the game, according to an article in the L.A. Daily News - full out:

“We had a saying: ‘Game Speed,’ ” said Murphy Su’a, then the Toros’ baseball coach. “That’s the way we wanted to do everything. Kevin was at the forefront of that.” 

   Pillar broke his foot in his sophomore year.  In batting practice, when he collided with the centerfield wall.  And he didn't leave the field.

   Much of the rest of Pillar's history is well known:  an NCAA record 54-game hitting streak in his junior year still didn't garner much attention, and he lasted until the 32nd round of the 2011 draft.
Sent to Bluefield to start his pro career,  Pillar won the Appalachian League batting title in 2011.  Just wait until he gets to the next level, some said - his limitations will be exposed.  Skipping Vancouver, Pillar spent only a half season with Lansing in 2012, but observers there saw enough to name him the Midwest League's MVP.  Still, the best projection most evaluators could bestow on him was, "overachieving, Reed Johnson-type fourth outfielder."

   Despite the detractors, Pillar made his MLB debut in 2013, and played a vital role in the ending the Blue Jays' 22-year playoff drought in 2015.  He got to the majors to stay through a combination of athleticism, high baseball IQ, and a never-say-die attitude.
   That aggressiveness, of course, can be a mixed blessing.  On the one hand, it allows Pillar to make incredible, highlight-reel catches.  On the other, perhaps because he's had to fight for pretty much everything he's accomplished in baseball, Pillar is not content to be a patient pitch hunter.  As a result, he tends to put himself in pitcher's counts.  His average exit velocity ranked 715th among all MLB players last year, and only 5 players swung at a higher percentage of pitches outside the strike zone last year.  Those two facts don't add up to being in a hitter's count much of the time.
   Pillar's walk rates have consistently hovered at around 5% throughout his time in the minors and the majors.  He's a volume hitter, however - he could post higher OBP and batting averages in minor league baseball, because the pitchers there lacked command, and Pillar could sit back and wait to hammer the occasional cookie delivered into his wheelhouse.  At the major league level, where pitchers can command their arsenal of pitches better, Pillar's aggressiveness at the plate has been something of an impediment.
   Manager John Gibbons showed great faith in placing Pillar atop the Blue Jays batting order this season, but that faith was not rewarded.  Pillar suggested to the Toronto media that his pitch selection might be improved in the leadoff role, but such has proven not to be the case over the first half month of the season.  And maybe it wasn't fair to put him in that role - not just because analytics suggest that a player with his skill set would be better suited to the bottom of the order, where his speed could be more of a factor in putting him in scoring position ahead of a singles hitter like Ryan Goins, but also because for years, Pillar has known only one approach at the plate:  see the ball, hit the ball - put the ball in play, and make the defence get him out.   It may be too late for him to drastically change that.  Just as a generation of Dominican prospects grew up with the mantra, "you can\t walk your way off the island," the same may have held true for Pillar's generation of D2 players.

   If you felt so obliged, you can enter your email address near the top of this page to receive these and other Blue Jays prospect updates without having to search for them.  Later this week, I'll be posting about RHP Jeremy Gabryszwski, who is pitching for New Hampshire this year.  Never considered a top prospect, he gives up contact, but has managed to get hitters out at every level.  For daily updates about all things Blue Jays prospects, follow me on Twitter:  @Clutchlings77.

Minor League Notebook Vol.4 Ed.1

Phil Kish/ABL.com photo

   The crummy April weather that has had most Southern Ontarians (especially the ones in my household) grumbling this past week also wreaked havoc on the minor league baseball in much of the northeastern section of the U.S.

   Buffalo, New Hampshire, and Lansing all had their season openers postponed by weather more conducive to cross country skiing than baseball.

Notes from Dunedin

   Dunedin did get their season underway, of course, and there was news to report right from the hop on Opening Day.  Conner Greene, who has popped up on the Toronto media's radar, started for the D-Jays, and while he struggled with his command through the early innings, he pitched well over 5 innings.  

Conner Greene 94-96 T97 in the 2nd. Gave up an oppo HR & 2B to RC. Started mixing in secondaries well. Nasty CH at 84 #BlueJays

— Chris King (@StatsKing) April 7, 2016

  He did catch too much of the strike zone on a 2nd inning Home Run, but overall impressed:

Conner Greene works around an Alford E8 to get through 5. Velo holding steady 93-95. Sequencing has gotten better #BlueJays

— Chris King (@StatsKing) April 7, 2016

   I did utter a curse when my good internet friend @BaseballBetsy DM'd me to say that Anthony Alford was taken out of the game after a home plate collision, but later we learned that he was only spiked, but was placed on the 7-day DL on Sunday. Word is that the injury is not that serious, but Alford will need a little time to recover.

   Chris King also had some nice things to say about C Danny Jansen, who I've lauded for his defensive skills for some time now:

Danny Jansen looking very solid behind the plate. Drop & blocking with control. Nice catch on pop up against the backstop nets #BlueJays

— Chris King (@StatsKing) April 7, 2016

   For a big kid (6'2", 230), Jansen moves well behind the plate, and can set up a nice target low in the strike zone.  He's already a good pitch framer, and his handling of pitchers has been praised since rookie ball.

    Many eyebrows were raised when both Greene and Alford were sent to High A; both had impressed at big league camp, and while Greene had finished at AA, Alford was outstanding in half a season at High A.  But last year was their first in full season ball, as Blue Jays MiLB field co-ordinator Doug Davis pointed out in the link above, and the pair still need reps.  Just the same, unless they take drastic steps backward in their development, the pair should be in New Hampshire by June.

Jon Harris: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
   The Blue Jays 1st round pick in 2015 is the only 1st rounder in Lansing's lineup at the moment.
He struggled at times last year with Vancouver in his pro debut, although there were some shining moments.  Harris was fatigued after a lengthy college season, and all indications were that he was good to go this spring.

The Good
   Harris did not make it out of the first inning on this cold, windy April day in Midland, MI.  The Lugnuts had their home opener postponed by rain and snow, as well as the game the next day, so this proved to be their first game of the season.
   So, it might not be easy to find anything good to say about his 37-pitch, 2/3 of an inning performance, but there were some positives.  Harris hit 94 with his fastball on a day that would have been tough to get loose, and his breaking ball showed considerable depth.  He struck out the first batter on a breaking ball that dove sharply for the outer part of the plate, and struck out another batter later in the inning with a similar pitch.

The Bad
  Harris lasted 8 batters before having hit his pitch limit.  He walked the last four batters he faced before being pulled.

The Ugly
   Harris, at 6'6", has a lot of moving parts to his delivery, and can lose the strike zone when he rushes his windup, which he did often in this outing.  When he did so, he tended to land on his front foot too early, and did a bit of a stutter step fall off to the 1st Base side of the mound.  He had considerable difficulty repeating the delivery that featured a longer step, as the walks and 18 strikes he threw on the day demonstrated, but when he did, he was more successful in keeping the ball down and hitting his spots.

   Despite not getting out of the first inning, there's not a great deal to be concerned about Harris just yet.  He was squeezed a bit on two of the walks, and a bloop opposite-field double on what looked like it was about to be a lovely outside corner strike three changed the complexion of the inning. There was only one ball hit hard off of Harris, and the cold weather no doubt made things difficult for him, and made it difficult for him to make adjustments.
   Surprisingly, these were not the chilliest conditions he had ever pitched in:

@Clutchlings77 played in 18 with snow on championship Sunday when I was 14 back home

— Jonathan Harris (@J_Harris_29) April 10, 2016

Three Returning Arms
   Three Blue Jays minor league pitchers made their return to action with Dunedin over the past few days.
   Adonys Cardona signed for a $2.8 million bonus as an international free agent in 2010, but has had difficulties both staying healthy and finding the strike zone.  Promoted to Lansing in 2014, Cardona felt something snap in a game, and was diagnosed afterward to have broken the olecranon bone, which is the bony point on the elbow.
   Fully recovered, reports from Florida this spring said that Cardona was throwing an "easy 95, with the heaviest fastball you'll see."  100 weeks after his injury, he was back in action, throwing a scoreless inning for Dunedin on Friday.

   After allowing only an unearned run on 4 hits over 6 innings to the Pirates GCL entry on August 13th, 2013, Chris Rowley got into a trainer's car and headed to the airport, off to fulfill his commitment to the US Military. The undrafted free agent spent the next couple of years serving his country, which included a deployment to Eastern Europe.  He did not give up on his baseball dreams, however, even keeping up a regular throwing program with the company medic.  Rowley applied for an exemption to the remainder of his five-year obligation last May, and received it in October.
   Rowley returned to baseball action with Dunedin this weekend as well, 32 months since his last professional pitch.  He's had a pair of scoreless outings for the D-Jays, the most recent being a 2.1 inning stint.  He's yet to give up a run.

 LHP Ryan Borucki was taken in the 15th round of the 2012 draft.  He was one of those rolls of the dice by Toronto, overlooked because of concerns about his pitching arm.
   He pitched in the GCL in his draft year, but underwent Tommy John surgery in March of 2013.  A year later, he pitched very well in short season ball, ranking as the Appalachian League's 12th Top Prospect in Baseball America's ratings despite spending only half a season there:

Borucki’s fastball was 90-94 early in the season and sat 88-92, touching 94 later in the season. He relies on his two-seamer that has at least average sink and arm-side run. Borucki demonstrates advanced feel for a changeup with plus potential. His curveball is a below-average to fringe-average offering, and Borucki could begin throwing a slider this offseason. He has a starter’s build at a lanky 6-foot-4 with a high waist and significant projection remaining.

    The organization has long been a fan of his makeup and advanced feel for pitching.  Coming into 2015, he seemed destined for full season ball, but tendinitis in his throwing arm caused him to be shut down, He was limited to an early July inning in the GCL last year, and 5 in the Northwest League before his season ended in late July.
   The Blue Jays opted to keep Borucki in Florida and assigned him to Dunedin so that the medical staff could closely monitor him.  In his first competition in almost 9 months, Borucki was hammered by Clearwater on Saturday, surrendering 8 runs on 9 hits before reaching his pitch limit with one out in the 5th.  An observer at the game said that he was hit hard.  A silver lining would have to be the 7 groundouts Borucki recorded.
     It's only one start, but the road ahead for Borucki is long.

Saying Good-bye
   Phil Kish played mostly short stop in high school for New Smyrna Beach (FL) High, and headed off to play for Daytona State College as a pitcher.  After a year, he transferred to West Florida, but saw limited action due to inflammation in his throwing arm.  Kish then got in touch with the coach at Southeastern University, an NAIA school in Lakeland, who had recruited him in high school.  The coach told Kish that his starting rotation was full, but he did have need of bullpen arms.  Kish went on to set the NAIA all-time saves record with 44 in his four years with Southeastern, and graduated with a finance and accounting degree.
   Because he was from an NAIA school, Kish was lightly scouted, and wasn't drafted when he graduated in 2013; his age (24) deterred scouts as well.  The Blue Jays have proven adept over the last number of years at unearthing that kind of hidden talent, and signed Kish after the draft, and sent him to the GCL, where the younger hitters were no match for him.
   Kish skipped the rest of the short season levels and was assigned to Lansing to start 2014.  He pitched well in the back end of the bullpen on a young Lugnuts team that didn't provide a lot of save opportunities.  Kish was shipped to Vancouver in August of that year to help the C's in their pursuit of a fourth consecutive NWL title, and saved 9 games in as many opportunities as Vancouver's title dreams just fell short.
   Kish's 2015 did not go as well as he had hoped.  Opening the season with Lansing, he spent some time in Dunedin before finishing the season with the Lugnuts.  A pair of stints on the 7-Day minor league DL, as well as some inconsistency with his mechanics caused Kish to be hit fairly hard in 2015.  By October, he was ready to put the season behind him and resume his internship with the accounting firm Ernst and Young, where he started in the auditing department the previous off season. "They have been working with me by being flexible with my start date," he said last fall. Much to Kish's surprise, he received a call from the Blue Jays, inviting him to spend a winter with Canberra of the Australian Baseball League.
   Kish jumped at the chance, and after a few rough outings at the start of his Aussie career, pitched well over the rest of the season, which concluded at the end of January.  Reporting to the Jays minor league camp at the beginning of March, the clock was ticking loudly for Kish, who will turn 27 in August.  The Blue Jays gave him his unconditional release at the end of the month, which is not surprising - top draft picks, who the organization lavished huge signing bonuses upon, tend to get far more chances and time to prove themselves than non-drafted free agents.
   Picking a highlight of his time in the Jays organization was tough, but Kish listed playoff runs and spending some time living in Vancouver as times he'll always remember.
   Phil likely considered giving independent ball a try after his release, but with an offer waiting for him from Ernst and Young, he decided to hang up his cleats.  Unlike a lot of other minor league ball players who reach the end of the line, Kish had a good backup plan, and had already started laying the groundwork for his life beyond baseball during his playing days.
   We wish him all the best with his new career.

Random Scouting Reports
   When you scan your Tweetdeck timeline as regularly as I do, you come across some good scouting nuggets.  CJ Wittman, who has filed scouting reports for Baseball Prospectus and 2080baseball.com, tweeted some notes from spring training:

#bluejays 3B Bryan Lizardo projectable physical body; plus bat speed from both sides. Feel for barrel w/ leverage; avg. raw power. Like him.

— CJ Wittmann (@CJWittJr) March 22, 2016

   Lizardo had received positive reviews in 2014, but struggled in his first season of stateside ball last year.  Wittman also praised Lizardo's baseball IQ and approach at the plate. He will start in Vancouver or Bluefield, but is worth keeping tabs on. Only 19, there's plenty of development time ahead of him.

#bluejays Jose Espada projectable frame. FB 88-92; downhill w life. CB 75-77; 11/5 shape w sharp break, shows feel. CH 82-83; fade. Solid.

— CJ Wittmann (@CJWittJr) March 22, 2016

  A 6th round pick from Puerto Rico last year, Espada pitched well in the GCL, and should reach Vancouver this year.

#bluejays Kellen Jose live arm. Loose, wiry frame. 3/4 slot FB 93-95; life. SL 81-83; sharp break, some tilt. Raw feel but live pen arm.

— CJ Wittmann (@CJWittJr) March 22, 2016

  In the "if he ever finds the plate" department, you will find reliever Jose.  The July, 2013 IFA has hit triple digits with his fastball in the past.  He has struck out over a batter per inning so far in his young career.  Bluefield should be where he starts, Vancouver where he finishes.

#bluejays SS Kevin Vicuna solid app. Projectable frame and avg bat speed. Clean swing path. Needs strength. Solid reads/reactions at SS.

— CJ Wittmann (@CJWittJr) March 22, 2016

   The 18-year-old Venezuelan was the 30th-ranked IFA by BA two years ago.  He played in the DSL this year, and will most likely start in the GCL once short season play begins.

#bluejays Juan Meza live arm, projectable frame. 88-90; downhill. CH 85; fade and good arm speed. Front side can open early. Raw feel.

— CJ Wittmann (@CJWittJr) March 22, 2016

   Meza was the 10th-ranked IFA in 2014.  He pitched in the DSL last summer, and made a brief appearance at the end of the GCL season.  Will likely repeat the GCL to start, but could move quickly.  The velocity may seem to be a bit low, but Wittmann pointed out in a subsequent tweet that it was still relatively early in spring training.


The Gabe Noyalis Story Continues
  I wrote about Noyalis last fall.  He walked away from college ball several years ago, but found an outlet in weightlifting.  The lifting resulted in new life on his fastball, which he discovered when he was asked to pitch batting practice for his former high school team before an upcoming playoff game.
  Encouraged by the uptick in velo, Noyalis began throwing in his gym's basement. He was scouted by the Braves and Phillies before being signed by Blue Jays scout Matt Anderson, his 7th Grade basketball coach.  Noyalis was up to 95 last fall.
  I caught up to him this spring, and he reported that he was working on his change and slider.  I asked him if the club had given him any indication where he would start the season, and he responded:

Not too sure yet, they haven't really said anything besides I have to make a club and they just started working on me on tweaks and things like that after watching me for a while and seeing what I have so I think it'll depend on how fast I can progress with the tweaks and everything they make with my.. Also I'd like to get my arm stretched out more I was 90-93 first outing 92-95 2nd outing and today 90-93 again I'd like to see those numbers creep up a little more and sit around 94 eventually.. Definitely feeling confident in the change up and slider at the moment and as a 1 inning guy I'll only need those 3 pitches and just bag the curve

   A week later, he reported that he would be kept in Florida for extended spring training:  "Yeah I'm not upset about it I figured they'd keep me in extended since I haven't played since 2012 so it makes sense and I just want to get better."   When asked what he was working on, he said, " mechanical things, throwing a slider, only going from the stretch.. Things like that, plus just getting my body adjusted to the grind of playing everyday."

   Noyalis should start in the GCL this year.

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  This is a labour of love for me, reflective of my long involvement in the grassroots level of the game.  As I stood behind the backstop of one of the minor league fields at the Phillies spring training complex last month, watching as they played the Jays High A and AA teams, I was taken back to my youth.  Growing up in Midland, Ontario, a small town on Georgian Bay 90 minutes north of Toronto, I spent many a summer night in the same position as our town's local senior men's team, the Indians, took to the field.  On game nights, the crowd would slowly file in. Seniors with lawn chairs would occupy spots behind the home plate screen along the 1st base (Home) side, and the bleachers behind would slowly fill up with fans.  The 3rd base stands behind the Visitor's bench would be sparsely populated.  The sportscaster for the local radio station, 1230 CKMP, would set up his equipment on a little swing-up shelf on the screen directly behind home plate. The smell of hand cut french fries from a little kiosk behind the backstop run by John Deakos, who operated a larger chip stand in nearby Little Lake Park, wafted through the pre-game warmups.  I would stand with my friends somewhere between there and the radio man, watching the game, and dreaming of the day I could patrol center field for my hometown nine one day.
   The team, unfortunately, folded the year I graduated from Midland's minor baseball system, because the field was left unplayable when our ancient arena beside it burned to the ground one summer night.
   Because this is a labour of love, if you were to follow me on Twitter (@Clutchlings77), like my Facebook page, or click on some ads when you read this blog, that would help, in small part, fund my writing and research efforts.

Chris Rowley Released from Army Commitment

Eddie Michels - Rocketsports.com photo

      Athletes who play for US Armed Force Academies have to deal with the fact throughout their collegiate careers that their chances of playing their sport professionally are slim.
     There are exceptions - David Robinson did go on to a storied NBA career after he literally outgrew the Naval Academy; Napoleon McCallum was able to play for the Los Angeles Raiders for a season while the ship he was assigned to was home ported nearby.  Mitch Harris was drafted by the St Louis Cardinals in 2008, but had to delay his career for 5 years while serving in the Navy, and made his MLB debut last year. Nick Hill, considered one of the best players in the history of the US Military Academy, was able to receive an exemption after being drafted by the Mariners in 2007.  8 years and some bad injury luck later, he finished 2015 with the Phillies AAA affiliate.
   From a Blue Jays perspective, they took a flyer from the US Air Force Academy in the 10th round of the 2013 draft in C Garrett Custons, and signed P Chris Rowley as a free agent from the Army after he went undrafted that year. Assigned to Bluefield, Custons hit .222/.295/.315 in 17 games before reporting for duty at the Air Force Base in Cocoa Beach, FL.  Rowley was sent to the Gulf Coast League, where he dominated the younger hitters, striking out 39 in 32 innings, and allowing only 22 batters to reach base.  At last report, Custons was working as a Budget Analyst with the Air Force at Patrick AFB in Florida.

   Academy athletes owe Uncle Sam a service commitment after graduation, and players like Custons and Rowley have managed to sneak some pro ball into the 60 days they have before reporting for duty.  Some apply for exemptions, but they have to serve two years of active duty before applying. And there are no ways around the system - no playing on weekends or vacation time, no time off to attend minor league spring training.  On August 8th, in his last outing in 2013, Rowley shut out the GCL Pirates over 6 innings.  The next day, on his 23rd birthday, he was on a flight back to New York, headed to West Point to start fulfilling his commitment. At first, Rowley served as a grad assistant for his former team.  After that, he was stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and then Fort Stewart, in his home state of Georgia.  Rowley re-connected there with his Army catcher, J.T. Watkins, who was drafted by the Red Sox (10th round) in 2012, and after a handful of games in the New York-Penn League that summer, applied for an exemption, and was able to play for the Sox Class A affiliates in 2015.
   Deployment eventually was in store for Rowley, who was shipped out to Eastern Europe, but he was able to keep his arm in shape by throwing to his company's senior medic, Sgt Cody Berndt, who Rowley said, "helped me a ton."

   Rowley applied almost a year ago for the exemption, and he received word of his approval in October - our first hint that something might be in the works was when Rowley's named was listed on the Blue Jays Instructional League roster.
   He confirmed this week that he received the exemption, and will be heading to Dunedin on March 5th, as minor league camp gets set to open.
   What are Rowley's chances?   Not great, to be honest.  He was signed as an org guy - a college arm signed to eat up GCL innings in order to proctect 2013 high school draftees and International Free Agents like Conner Greene, Clinton Hollon, Jesus Tinoco, Jake Brentz, and Evan Smith.  Blue Jays pitching consultant Paul Quantrill watched Rowley pitch, and sent back a report that graded him as "100% bullpen, zero pro value."  As a non-drafted free agent who signed for no bonus, Rowley's leash would be much shorter than most prospects - he will be only given so long to prove himself.  He hasn't faced a live batter in about 30 months, and he hasn't pitched above rookie ball. Turning 26 in August, the clock is ticking very loudly for Rowley.
   At the same time, had he not had the looming military hitch, Rowley might have been promoted up the ladder to see what he could do (he may well have been drafted in the first dozen rounds, as well). In the ensuing two years, he may have risen as high as AA if he had continued his GCL success. He might profile best as a starter, but his ascent through the organization may be quicker through the bullpen. Rowley sat at around 92 with his fastball in his GCL stint, with impeccable command. Other than his last two GCL outings, he had an excellent groundball/flyball ratio. Quite simply, Rowley fills the strike zone, mostly in the bottom half. He should start the season at Lansing or Dunedin.
   Of all the stories involving minor leaguers, this is the kind I enjoy the most.  How can you not be pulling for a kid like this?
   Rowley is clearly giving up a lot to pursue this dream,  putting his career on hold to chase it.  There might be some who would suggest that given his age and the odds he faces, why not just get on with life?  But for those of us who are older, 25 is still very young, and there is still plenty of time for a career in whatever field he chooses (Rowley graduated pre-law, making the Dean's List at the Military Academy - he will have some options if baseball doesn't work out).  Life is short enough as it is to begin with, and living with regret is no way to do it.  I'm looking forward to making the trip south to Dunedin next month to catch both major and minor league camps at the Blue Jays complex.  My eyes will be focussed more closely on guys like Rowley and Gabe Noyalis - guys who came to camp with a story.

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  Hats off to writer Gare Joyce, who wrote an article about Rowley in Sportsnet Magazine which formed part of the research I did for this post.  Joyce, who normally writes about hockey, put together an excellent profile about Rowley, which you can read here.  He also wrote an excellent piece about former Jays farmhand Boomer Collins, who is now trying to make a go of things as a T20 Cricket player - you can google that for yourself.  Joyce also wrote an excellent book entitled, ""Future Greats and Heartbreaks," a journal of his year spent following scouts and prospects for the 2006 NHL Entry draft, which included some insights into the character of the mercurial Phil Kessel.
   Joyce is a very underrated writer, in my opinion.  I enjoy his work a great deal.