Checking Up on Our Top 10

  With the minor league season heading into its sixth week, we thought it was time to take a look to see how our pre-season Top 10 Blue Jays prospects have fared so far.

1.  Aaron Sanchez
   Marcus Stroman may have reached the majors ahead of Sanchez, but he's still right on schedule, with solid numbers at AA New Hampshire.  His stats as of May 7th:

eam	League	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GO/AO	AVG
NH	EAS	1	1	2.55	7	7	0	0	0	35.1	28	12	10	2	19	29	2.58	.228

   Control has been a bit of an issue, with 4.84 per 9 innings, but over a small sample size that's been influenced by two outings where he walked 4 batters.  On the year so far, he's 1-1 with a 2.55 ERA.  Still on a pitch count, Sanchez has pitched beyond the 6th inning only once.  His last start was unimpressive, and he lasted only 3 innings, but at 21, we should remember that he's still one of the youngest players in AA, and will be be prone to ups and downs.
   With the Blue Jays starting rotation going through a rough stretch over the last half of April, there were calls from many fans to put Sanchez on the next plane to Toronto.  Even though the starters seem to have settled themselves, the club would likely have resisted the call to put Sanchez into the rotation, because he's simply not ready.  He wasn't ready at the start of the year, and he likely won't be ready until some point next year.  Which is not a disappointment, because his ceiling still remains high.
  Here is all you need to know about Aaron Sanchez:  he has induced plenty of weak contact:

2.  Marcus Stroman

   Stroman was labelled by some the most major-league ready of all 2012 draftees.  A 50 game suspension that carried over into 2013 put a stop to that, but Stroman has been as advertised so far this season, and earned a promotion to the Blue Jays.

   

Team	League	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GO/AO	AVG
BUF	INT	2	2	1.69	5	5	1	0	0	26.2	22	7	5	0	7	36	2.23	.222

   His numbers are indeed impressive.  His last start at AAA was a six inning hitless gem.  Put on an 80 pitch limit in case he was needed to fill Dustin McGowan's turn in the rotation, Stroman walked one and struck out 10.

   Blue Jays fans, of course, were expecting him to be a saviour, but Manager John Gibbons wisely decided to start him in the bullpen.  While there was some talk of Stroman being better suited to the back end of the bullpen, the Jays have stretched him out as a starter over the last two seasons, and some fans were wondering why he wasn't immediately inserted into the rotation.  This tact is not a new one, and was designed to protect the Blue Jays investment in Stroman.  Roy Halladay and Jimmy Key both started their big league careers pitching out of the bullpen, getting comfortable with the environment and making whatever adjustments needed to be made.  Gibbons even used Stroman in a high-leverage situation in Philadelphia, and Stroman came out of it with his first big league W.  Stroman has pitched beyond the start of the 7th inning only a handful of times, and he's a better stablizing presence for the bullpen than he would be for the rotation at the moment. Stroman is only a J.A. Happ meltdown away from joining the rotation just the same. 

3.  Daniel Norris

   Like Sanchez and Stroman, Norris has been as advertised, and had a lights-out April:

eam	League	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GO/AO	AVG
DUN	FSL	3	0	0.63	6	6	0	0	0	28.2	21	3	2	0	9	36	1.09	.210

   Norris has dominated  Florida State League hitters this year, striking out 10 in 4 2/3 innings in his latest start.  The only thing that is keeping Norris from joining former teammate Matt Boyd in AA is his pitch count, which given his high strikeout totals means that Norris has worked beyond the start of the 6th in only one of his 6 starts so far.

   Norris' turnaround is quite remarkable.  After having considerable difficulty finding the strike zone in his first pro season two years ago, Norris continued to be hit hard last April, causing Baseball America to wonder why someone with such electric stuff could be hit so hard.  Lansing pitching coach Vince Horsman helped turn things around for Norris (as he seems to have done with this year's huge crop of talented pitching prospects) by telling him to forget about his mechanics (which the club had overhauled in his first season), and trust his stuff.  The results have been telling.  Not necessarily a strikeout pitcher, Norris has used his fastball early in the count to set up his change up, which has led to a lot of missed bats so far in 2014.  He has struck out an amazing 32% of the hitters he has faced so far, and few have squared him up:

   Many evaluators had Norris ranked lower than we did on their list of top Blue Jay prospects, and there still is a long way to go before he reaches the majors, but we're feeling pretty justified about having him ranked so high.

4.  Sean Nolin

   Out of the spotlight compared to the three prospects above him, Nolin has put together a solid April:

eam	League	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GO/AO	AVG
BUF	INT	2	1	2.34	6	6	0	0	0	34.2	28	10	9	1	12	31	1.18	.212

   Nolin's numbers are even better than the ones he posted between New Hampshire and Buffalo last year.  He had the one disastrous start with the Jays at the end of May last year, but if lightning strikes the big club's rotation, he would likely get some serious consideration (along with Buffalo teammate Liam Hendriks) for a call.
   He has recorded more outs by flyballs than have Sanchez and Stroman, and that's always a concern  for a one-day Rogers Centre pitcher. The Jays appear to be keeping Nolin under the 100 pitch limit at Buffalo, but he still profiles as a between #3 and #5 starter who will one day eat up a lot of innings.

 

5.  Kevin Pillar

   Pillar got the call last August, but was overmatched at the plate in his September audition.  Sent back to Buffalo after a disappointing spring, Pillar got off to a poor start, but then reeled off an 18 game hitting streak, over which he hit .405.

Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
BUF	INT	.293	30	123	15	36	10	3	0	16	52	9	15	4	2	.341	.423	.764

   

   His poor start likely cost him a promotion to Toronto after Moises Sierra was DFA'd, but his torrid second half of April has to put him back in line for a shot at the fourth outfielder spot, along with Anthony Gose.  

   Pillar has used the whole field this year in AAA:

   Pillar is what he is:  a fourth outfielder type, whose basepaths smarts, bat, and versatility should eventually win him a big league job. We also wouldn't count him out of earning either a platoon or everyday job one day, either. 

6. Roberto Osuna

  Osuna underwent Tommy John surgery at the end of July last year, and will not pitch in a game again for at least another 8 weeks at least.

  Osuna seems to have embraced the fact that he will need to pay attention to his conditioning if he hopes to have a career in pro ball.  There were many concerns about his high maintenance body prior to the surgery.

The difficult thing about predicting success after TJ surgery is that the recovery timeline is very dependent on the individual.  Drew Htuchison and Kyle Drabek underwent the procedure within a few days of each other in 2012, but while Hutch has made a complete recovery and is a mainstay in the Blue Jays rotation, Drabek is still struggling to regain his velocity and command at Buffalo.   

   Osuna threw his first bullpen session off of a mound in late March, and is likely close to the point of being able to pitch in simulated games in extended spring training.  We're not expecting much of anything from him this year, which is not a huge issue, because if had grown up in Canada or the US instead of Mexico, he would be in extended spring training, waiting for an assignment to a short season club.  

7. D.J. Davis

   In his first full season, DJ Davis has had an up and down first month, which as one of the youngest players in the Midwest League is not completely unexpected.

Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
LAN	MID	.215	30	121	12	26	7	1	2	18	41	6	49	4	6	.260	.339	.598

  Those numbers don't tell the story as well as those from his last 10 games do:

Date	OPP	AVG	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
Apr 29	@DAY	.400	5	1	2	0	0	1	2	0	2	0	0	.400	1.000	1.400
Apr 30	@DAY	.000	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.000	.000	.000
May 01	@DAY	.000	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	.200	.000	.200
May 02	WM	.000	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	.200	.000	.200
May 03	WM	.000	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	.000	.000	.000
May 04	WM	.500	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.500	.500	1.000
May 05	FW	.500	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	.600	.750	1.350
May 06	FW	.000	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	.000	.000	.000
May 07	FW	.400	5	1	2	1	0	0	1	0	3	0	1	.400	.600	1.000
May 08	@WM	.000	2	0		0	0	0	0	0	2			.000	.000	.000

  Feast or famine.  As we write this, he's been 0-5 with 4 strikeouts in the West Michigan game.

Davis' toolkit has been lauded wherever he's played.   He was ranked the 2nd best prospect in the rookie level Appalachian League by Baseball America last year.  As the above chart shows, he alternates great nights at the plate with ones where he can't put a ball in play - Davis has struck out in 41% of his plate appearances.  Davis still needs to be more selective, and improve his pitch recognition.  His somewhat long swing generates more misses than a leadoff hitter with his kind of speed should.  

   There is still tremendous upside with Davis, and while the first month numbers are concerning, he's still growing and learning. He may be on the verge of being passed by Dwight Smith Jr and/or Dalton Pompey as the Jays top outfield prospect, but we are still willing to be patient with him.  He is an obvious athlete, who still yet may figure things out at the plate.

8. Andy Burns
   Burns tore through two levels last year, and after a slow start following his promotion to AA, hit .288/.346/.470 for the season, and earned a trip to the Arizona Fall League.  Originally a shortstop, Burns played short and third last year, and then played a variety of positions in the AFL, as the club seemed to envision him as a super utility player.

Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
NH	EAS	.205	29	112	13	23	5	1	2	12	36	12	29	7	2	.286	.321	.607

   Burns just recently climbed over .200 after a very slow start.  His .256 BABIP seems to indicate that he's not making solid contact, which has not happened with as much regularity as it did last year.  Eight months ago, we were considering him one of the best position players in the system.  It's still early, but it's hard to think of him in those terms any more.
   

9. Frankie Barreto

    There were thoughts that Barreto might have been challenged with an assignment to full-season ball at Lansing, but with older middle infielders like Dicki Joe Thon, Dawel Lugo, and Jason Lebleblijian ahead of him, the Jays opted to keep Barreto in extended spring training.  Having just turned 18 at the end of February, there's really no need to rush him.  He would have been the youngest player in the MWL otherwise:

Midwest League (A) Glossary - CSV

Rk	Name	Age	Tm	Aff
1	Jake Bauers	18.67	Fort Wayne	SDP
2	Willy Adames	18.75	West Michigan	DET
3	Iolana Akau	18.83	Beloit	OAK
4	Franmil Reyes	18.92	Fort Wayne	SDP
5	Tyler O'Neill	19.00	Clinton	SEA
6	Jamie Westbrook	19.00	South Bend	ARI
7	Ivan Castillo	19.08	Lake County	CLE
8	Javier Betancourt	19.08	West Michigan	DET
9	Jose Chavez	19.08	Beloit	OAK
10	Ronald Herrera	19.08	Beloit	OAK
11	Kean Wong	19.17	Bowling Green	TBR
12	Adrian De Horta	19.25	Fort Wayne	SDP
13	Josh VanMeter	19.25	Fort Wayne	SDP
14	German Marquez	19.33	Bowling Green	TBR
15	Roberto Osuna	19.33	Lansing	TOR
16	Victor Arano	19.33	Great Lakes	LAD
17	David Denson	19.42	Wisconsin	MIL
18	Jose Urena	19.42	Fort Wayne	SDP
19	Dawel Lugo	19.50	Lansing	TOR
20	Alberto Tirado	19.50	Lansing	TOR

   An assignment to short season Vancouver seems the most likely destination for the young short stop.  If The C's are not in the playoff picture (hard to envision) in late August but Lansing is, we could see a promotion at that point.

10. Alberto Tirado

   Another one of the organization's prized young arms in his first year of full season ball at Lansing, Tirado too has been everything the club hoped he would be:

Team	League	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GO/AO	AVG
LAN	MID	1	0	2.74	7	3	0	0	1	23.0	20	8	7	2	21	24	1.80	.235

   Tirado was called "a beast in the making," by Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus, and he added that this was the year that Tirado would no longer be flying under the scouting radar.

   It would appear that's becoming  the case.

   The organization has been very protective of Tirado's arm - he averages just over 37 pitches per outing, with his longest being 72 and his shortest just 16.  If Tirado gets in trouble in an inning, the bullpen promptly springs into action.  He has shown good composure on the mound in those situations, striking out the side after loading the bases in one instance.

   At 6', 180, Tirado may not have the long, lean body type that the Jays prefer in a pitcher, but he has the ahtleticsm that shows itself in a clean, easy delivery which he repeats consistently.

   It's only a matter of time before Tirado vaults up this list.  The Jays have something special with this young Venezuelan.

Jays Interested in Ti'Quan?

   According to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, the Blue Jays have been following Columbia (MS) High School Shortstop Ti'Quan Forbes.
   Forbes has been described as athletic, but raw, much like fellow Mississippians DJ Davis, who the Jays took with the 17th pick of the 2012 draft, and Anthony Alford, who was taken in the 3rd round of that draft, despite his college football commitment.  Given the fact that Forbes is a 3-sport star, and is one of the youngest players in his draft class, along with the locale (a state where high school football is king) prompted Clint Longenecker of Baseball America to claim that these factors "give Forbes an expansive gap between the player he currently is, and the player he projects to be."
   It's remarkable how similar Forbes is to Davis, actually.  Raw but toolsy, and young for his draft class.  Scouts have drooled over Davis' toolkit, but the Jays have taken things slowly with him, and the numbers have yet to really show a refinement of his bat.
   The 6'3", 180 lbs Forbes was described by one scout as having above average bat speed, but below average strength.  Wiry (skinny is more like it, judging from the videos we've seen), Forbes has a projectable frame such that his hit tool, which currently grades out at 30,  could be a 60 once he matures.
   Forbes' foot speed is not questioned, although given his relative lack of experience, it could take him time to learn to be able to use it effectively on the base paths (Davis is still learning - only 4-8 in stolen bases at Lansing this year, despite possibly being the fastest player in pro ball not named Billy Hamilton).  Unlike many other high school shortstops, he is projected to stay at that position, although some scouts have graded his arm as only average.
   Forbes' swing will need work, although he wouldn't be the first high school prospect that's happened to.  He uses his hands too much, and has a bit of a hitch in his swing as a result.  He also opens up his front side too soon, and doesn't get good weight transfer.  He's obviously athletic, however, and would likely correct these flaws quickly with quality instructions and playing every day.
You can view BA's video of his hitting stroke here.
   Forbes definitely fits the mold of the ahtletic, high-upside prospect the Jays covet.  That he is raw and comes from Mississippi has limited his exposure to the scouting community, and it seems to fit well with the Jays' outside-the-box thinking when it comes to top draft choices.
   Forbes has committed to Ole Miss.
 

April System Analysis

    With May here and April now a distant, chilly memory for those of us north of the border, we thought that we would take a look at how the system fared, thanks to some graphic help from mlbfarm.com.
   While winning isn't necessarily the emphasis for a team's farm system, it helps.  Teams try to group their best prospects, depending on their level of experience, at the same level, so they learn to play and hopefully win together.
   Here is how the Jays system ranked for April:

     There the Jays are, with the 5th best record.  This record was helped by the performance of their Buffalo and Dunedin teams, which are veteran teams, loaded either with older players and/or experienced prospects.
  
 Here's a look at where the Jays system ranks in terms of average age for each level:
AAA

AA

High A

Low A

    And in that last graph, there are the Lansing Lugnuts, youngest team in the organization, and stocked with the most high-ceiling prospects.

   We won't inundate you with too many more graphs from Mlbfarm.com, but here are two interesting ones that tell you both where the strengths of the system lie, and how the organization has been able to compile a winning record for the month of April:

   The first is number of collective minor league home runs, by team:

 And finally, collective Earned Runs Allowed by Milb team\;

   In terms of performance, the organization likely exceeded the club's expectations.  Buffalo led the northern division of the International League for the month, and has helped keep the major league bullpen afloat.  Marcus Stroman was promoted to the parent club at the beginning of May, and Sean Nolin may not be far behind.  Liam Hendriks may be further down the depth chart, but he had a dominant month, walking only one batter in April.
  New Hampshire has had trouble reaching .500, but Aaron Sanchez has already answered many questions about his command.  Deck McGuire, back in New Hampshire for a third straight season, is finally beginning to show some of the promise that made the club make him a first round choice in 2010.  The offence has been slow to come around, with Andy Burns surprisingly having trouble getting above the Mendoza line.  AJ Jimenez was hurt, but has returned with a vengeance.  
   Dunedin has been the surprise of the organization, finishing April with a 20-6 record, the best won-loss record in Organized Baseball.  The rotation, led by Matt Boyd, Daniel Norris, and Taylor Cole, has been lights out, and the batting order has been sparked by the play of Dwight Smith Jr and Dalton Pompey.  Boyd was promoted to New Hampshire in the last week of the month.  The only thing that may be stopping Norris from joining him is his pitch count.  
   Lansing struggled out of the gate, with a number of players new to both full season ball and an early midwestern spring.  The pitching staff has started to come around, with Alberto Tirado, Tom Robson, Chase DeJong, and Jeremy Gabryszwksi leading the way.  Mitch Nay and Matt Dean have led the way with the bats, joined by LB Dantzler, who was held back in extended spring training nursing an injury.  The Lugnuts reached .500 by the end of the month, and with one of the youngest teams in low A ball, are starting to grow up before our eyes.
  
 Lugnuts' righthander Adonys Cardona wins the Freak Injury of the Month award.  Cardona, signed out of Venezuela for a $2.8 million bonus in 2010, has never seemed to post the numbers his talent and the opinions of scouts would seem to suggest.  Just the same, Baseball America included him in their top 20 Appalachian League prospects last year, even though his numbers were not league leading, and he was shut down in early August.
   In the first inning of a start last week, Cardona broke the olecranon bone cleanly in two.
The olecranon is the bony point of your elbow, and there isn't much protection for it from muscles or other soft tissue.  It's most often broken as a result of a fall, although there's no indication that such was the case with Cardona.
   

  

   Cardona was shut down in 2012 as well as last year because of soreness in that area - a "stress reaction." Blue Jays assistant GM Tony DaCava told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.  Cardona had surgery last week on the injured bone in Toronto, where surgeons inserted a screw to stabilize and strengthen the joint.  Cardona's season is over, but now maybe we have an indication as to why he's had trouble living up to expectations.

Notes from Watching the Lugnuts

   The Buffalo Bisons may have more recognizable names for most Blue Jay fans, and the quality of broadcasts available to watch them on milb.tv may be of higher quality, but we've found ourselves pouring over the milb.tv schedule for the few Lansing Lugnuts games that are televised. Their roster may be full of players who are farther away from the majors than most of the Bisons, but there are some high-ceiling players in Lansing who are well worth watching.
   Catching a Lugnuts broadcast can be a challenge, because they have no home telecasts, and there are only a handful of teams in the Midwest League that do.  And the quality can be more like a community channel cable broadcast.
   Luckily, the Dayton Dragons have some of the better production values that we've seen so far, and while some teams just dub the audio portion of their radio broadcasts over the video, Dayton actually had a broadcast team dedicated to the tv side on Thursday night, and we received an excellent opportunity to get a good look at some of these Blue Jays prospects toiling in Lansing this year.
  The Lugnuts are one of the youngest outfits in the MWL, and like most teams in the loop, is primarily full of players getting their first taste of full season ball.  They got off to a slow start, with a high number of unearned runs likely both reflecting their inexperience and contributing to that slow start.  At the outset of this game, however, they were one of the hottest teams in the league, winning 8 of their past 10.
   Facing Dayton would be a tall order, as the Reds affiliate had one of the best records in the MWL, but the Lugnuts took two of the first three games of the series.  An added challenge was the presence of Reds closer Aroldis Chapman on the mound, making his first rehab appearance after taking a fastball in the face in a scary spring training mishap.  A packed house was on hand to watch Chapman start the game, and he came as advertised, hitting 101 on the radar gun in retiring the side in order before making his exit.  Mitch Nay of the Lugnuts actually had a decent at bat against the Reds fireballer, taking him deep to left for the final out.
  Starting for Lansing was righthander Alberto Tirado, who Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus has called, "a beast in the making."  Tirado, who won't turn 20 until December, had a bit of a rocky first inning, starting the game by walking the first two hitters, which prompted action in the Lansing bullpen - not uncommon for the club, which obviously is aware of the risk of injury which climbs drastically as the pitch count in an inning goes up.
   Tirado settled down after that, retiring the next 9 Dayton hitters in a row before giving up a run in the 4th.  Pitching into the 5th for the first time this season, Tirado struck out the last two hitters in a 1-2-3 inning to finish his work for the night.  His command became sharper as the game progressed, and it's easy to see why Parks and many other evaluators are so high on him.
   Nay and Matt Dean also were impressive on the night.  Starting the game at DH, Nay hit a towering home run off the foul pole in left for his first MWL homer, and showed a good approach at the plate.  Dean has mostly played first until LB Dantzler was added to the roster from extended spring training, and was spelling Nay at third in this game.  Dean was 3-4 at the plate, and while come scouts say he lacks the agility to play third, he made a nifty double play to get reliever Shane Dawson out of a jam in the 6th, taking a sharply hit grounder and stepping on third for the force, then firing across the diamond for an inning-ending double play.  Dantzler hit his first MWL home run too, a no-doubt blast to right with the bases loaded to put the game away in the 7th.
  This game was Dawson's MWL debut, and the Albertan was rusty, and likely a bit jittery, likely pitching in front of one the largest crowds of his young career (9, 130 fans, mostly to see Chapman's inning).  He was in trouble for most of his inning and two thirds, giving up only one hit, but three runs, largely as a result of 5 walks.  When he did miss, which was often in this stint, he missed low - an encouraging sign.  Dawson has an extremely over the top delivery, and we wonder if the Blue Jays may change his arm angle a bit.
   It was also interesting to watch shortstop Dawel Lugo in action.  Three days younger than Tirado, many are predicting Lugo's bat to be of the impact variety one day.  His youth showed on this night, as he went 0-5 with a pair of strikeouts.  He did show a discerning eye, and worked full counts on two at bats, but didn't really square up the ball in any of his appearances at the plate.  On the plus side, despite concerns that he may outgrow the position, he was solid at short, showing good range to his left, with a quick release and a strong, accurate arm.
   DJ Davis also gave glimpses of his enormous potential.  The first round pick of the 2012 draft was 0-4 with 3 strikeouts.  He showed excellent range in centerfield, hauling down a couple of long flyball outs.  Davis has a long swing, which may explain his inability to make consistent contact - over his last 10 games, he's hitting .136, with 21 strikeouts in 44 at bats.  He worked Chapman to a full count in the first, before being caught looking on an inside fastball that may have been off the strike zone, but was too close to take in that situation.  Davis is also one of the youngest players in the league, not turning 20 until July.  His first year of playing every day was bound to be a learning process, and with his athleticism, we will be very surprised if he doesn't turn things around.
   This game also marked the MWL debut of pitcher Yeyfry Del Rosario, who relieved Dawson in the 7th, and finished the game.  Del Rosario has flown under the radar, but has a plus fastball, and is the owner of an impressive K/IP ratio thus far in his career.  Rosario struggled a bit with his command, and gave up a pair of runs in two and a third innings, walking and striking out a pair. We didn't see anything untoward, but Del Rosario was placed on the 7-day Minor League DL after the came.
   Finally, the most impressive Lugnut on the night was catcher Jorge Saez.  One of the older players on the club at 23, Saez is an org guy, but he was lauded for his handling of a young pitching staff.  Saez along with pitching coach Vince Horsman were able to get Tirado refocused in the first, and he helped Dawson get out of a jam in his first inning of work.  Saez also put the Lugnuts on the scoreboard, launching a homer to left in his first at bat in the third inning.  Saez went 2-4 with a walk on the night, raising his average to .364.  Santiago Nessy may be the higher profile prospect and will get the bulk of the playing time this year, but Saez already looks like an important part of the Lansing roster.
   Tirado picked up his first win of the season as the Lugnuts evened their record at 13-13.

Clutchlings April Player and Pitcher of the Month

 

  The Dunedin Blue Jays had pro baseball's best record by the end of April, and it's no surprise that two D-Jays are our first Player and Pitcher of the month in the Blue Jays system.
   Outtfielder Dalton Pompey, a Mississsauga native, has put himself firmly on the scouting radar with a .354/.444/.490 line.  The 16th round pick in the 2010 draft has developed slowly, and has moved up one step at a time in the Jays organization.  This has been a breakout month for Pompey, who has stolen 14 bases without being caught.  A 2013 MILB Gold Glove winner, Pompey was the Florida State League's player of the week for April 21st to 27th.  With teammate Dwight Smith Jr, Pompey has formed a potent 1-2 combo at the top of the D-Jays batting order. The National Post's John Lott wrote an interesting article about Pompey's parents - you may argue with the process, but maybe not the results of their approach to raising an athlete.  It's still hard to tell what the future holds for Pompey, but he's been on a tear since about last August, and hasn't slowed down against more advanced competition in High A.  It's still early in the season, and the Rule 5 draft is half a year away, but the Jays will have to place Pompey on their 40 man roster by season's end or risk exposing him to that lottery.

   The Blue Jays system Pitcher of the Month is lefthander Matt Boyd.  The 6th round pick out of Oregon State in last year's draft was unhittable in the FSL, and was promoted to New Hampshire this week.  Boyd was 4-0, with a 0.29 ERA in 5 starts for the D-Jays. He allowed only one run, and a total of 23 baserunners in 31 innings, striking out 37 to boot.  In his first start against more advanced hitters, Boyd pitched respectably - giving up 5 hits and 2 runs in 4 innings, with 4 Ks.  Fellow Dunedin starter Daniel Norris, who posted a 0.75 ERA in 24 innings, and Buffalo starter Liam Hendriks, who went 4-0, 1.26 and has walked only 1 International League hitter in 28 innings, also merited consideration.  Marcus Stroman may be the odds-on candidate to be called upon to help shore up the major league rotation, but it's tough to look  past Hendriks, who pitched 7 innings in his last start.