Welcome to Baseball Weekend

It's Friday, and I'm excited.  No, not just because it's Friday, but because a whole group of baseball related activities are converging this weekend.

First, I have just downloaded my copy of Out of the Park Baseball 14 (OOTP 14), one of the greatest baseball simulation games there is.  I have been thoroughly addicted to this game since the 2012 version and have been looking forward to some of the new features and improvements that the manufacturer, OOTP Developments, has been promising.  Personally, I prefer playing in online leagues (and that's the only way I play OOTP 13 currently), but taking the new version for a test drive before leagues start to change over is always fun.  I'll be writing up a review when I've had a chance to delve into the game a little more in depth (which will take a week or so).  I know Tom Dakers over at Bluebird Banter has had a review copy for a bit  and he tells me that he really likes it (although I'll probably have to read his review to get his complete take on it).  Me and the other sim baseball nerds are gonna have a fun weekend!

Second, 42 opens this weekend.  Yes, I already have plans to see it this afternoon.  I've been getting all misty eyed at the trailers for months now and have seen that the film has garnered some solid reviews, but I'm trying to approach it without any preconceived notions.  I've heard that the writers/producers/directors sort of jumped over Robinson's very important year in Montreal before he went to Brooklyn for dramatic purposes.  I don't really mind that at this point (not having seen the film yet).  After all, I didn't really mind the changing of Argo's story to make America seem greater.  I mean, I mind, but it's Hollywood.  They're marketing films for Americans, not to depict Canada in a way that makes our country seem better than the US.

Third, I'll be spending all-day Saturday at an umpiring clinic north of Toronto.  I've spent fifteen summers of my life umpiring fast-pitch softball, but I've decided to get into baseball too this year.  After a telephone call to Baseball Ontario, they directed me to my local UICs and, long story short (ok, maybe not so long), I'll be spending Saturday in a classroom listening about rules I already know.  Hopefully they'll cover the things that I really NEED to know, like positioning for umpires on the bases and exactly what the rules are for a balk (don't get me started on the intricate details of softball's "Illegal Pitch").

Fourth, and finally, I'll be heading down to Buffalo on Sunday to take in my first Buffalo Bisons game.  We've been hit with rough weather this week and my original plan to head down this past Wednesday was pre-empted by weather.  I'm excited to head to watch baseball outdoors (although this isn't really the time of year for it) but also to see guys like Anthony Gose and Moises Sierra in action!

So, let the weekend of baseball begin!

April 11 Minor League Report

Buffalo Bisons (3-3)

Game postponed due to weather.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (5-3)

It was a night of firsts (of the year) in Manchester, New Hampshire as the Fisher Cats pulled off a 3-1 win on Thursday in a close game against the Binghamton Mets.  Deck McGuire had his best outing in a long time, picking up his first win of 2013.  I’m wondering if McGuire made any adjustments for tonight’s game, mainly because he was inducing a lot of swinging strikes and keeping the ball very close to the strike zone, even when he missed (according to Gameday on MiLB.com).  Two more firsts were registered tonight as Adam Loewen, reassigned to AA, and Kevin Pillar each hit their first home runs of the season, providing all of the offense for the Fisher Cats on this night of fantastic pitching.

Roster notes: 1B/OF Adam Loewen and P Tyson Brummett were assigned to AA New Hampshire from AAA Buffalo today.  RP Randy Boone and OF Brian Van Kirk were placed on the DL and RHP Fernando Hernandez was activated off the DL and got into some game action tonight. 

Hitting:

Kenny Wilson – 1/4, K

Kevin Pillar – 2/4, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI

Ryan Schimpf – 0/4, 2 K

Clint Robinson – 2/4, CS

Adam Loewen – 2/3, R, HR, RBI, BB, K

Kevin Nolan – 1/4, 2 K, E

Brad Glenn – 1/4,

Sean Ochinko – 0/3

John Tolisano – 1/2, R, BB, CS

Pitching:

Deck McGuire – W, 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K, WP

Fernando Hernandez – 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Chad Beck – S, 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game: Deck McGuire

Dunedin Blue Jays (5-2)

Dunedin played host to a marquee pitching matchup between Yankees prospect, 21-year-old Corey Black and the Jays’ #1 prospect, 20-year-old fireballer Aaron Sanchez, with Dunedin coming out on top 3-2 in 11 innings.  Sanchez proved unhittable through 5 despite throwing primarily fastballs the first time through the order.  He was hitting 97 and 98 mph on the radar gun and it looks like he’s really working on commanding that heat.  Tampa simply waited for him to come out of the game, promptly scoring two runs in the top of the sixth, both charged to rehabbing Evan Crawford who gave up two hits and walked a pair.  The bullpen held fast from then on, with Ajay Meyer, Tony Davis, and Marco Grifantini combining for five scoreless innings while only giving up four hits and no walks over that span. 

In the bottom of the 11^th, the offense almost didn’t get it done with 3B Andy Burns getting thrown out at home with one out.  However, that fielder’s choice left pinch runner Nick Baligod at second base with Gabe Jacobo at first with two outs.  The next batter, Marcus Knecht (who had driven in the D-Jays’ previous run) singled, scoring Baligod from second and finishing up the walk-off victory for the home squad. 

Don’t forget to tune into the Dunedin Blue Jays radio team of Tyler Murray and Patrick Kurish for their great job on the broadcast!  You can find details HERE.

Roster Notes: Evan Crawford was assigned to Dunedin after starting the season in New Hampshire, and OF Michael Crouse, and RP Shawn Griffith were placed on the DL while C Pierce Rankin and OF Nick Baligod were activated from the DL.

Hitting:

Jon Berti  -0/5, K

Peter Mooney – 1/4, R, RBI, K

Andy Burns – 1/5, E

Kevin Patterson – 1/4, BB

                Nick Baligod PR – 0/0, R

Gabe Jacobo – 0/4, BB, 2 K

Marcus Knecht – 2/5, 2 RBI, 3 K

Matt Newman – 1/2, 2 BB

Derrick Chung – 0/3, K

Jonathan Jones –1/3, R, 2B, BB

Pitching:

Aaron Sanchez – 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K

Evan Crawford – 2/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 B, K

Ajay Meyer – 1 IP, 1 H, K

Tony Davis – 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 2 K

Marco Grifantini – W, 3 IP, 2 H

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game: Aaron Sanchez.  Honourable mentions to Marco Grifantini and Marcus Knecht.

Lansing Lugnuts (3-4)

The "Crosstown Showdown" versus the Michigan State baseball team was postponed to May 1 due to weather.

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BJfA New Game: Streak or Trend?

After eight games, we have enough data to make few conclusions, but we can play a fun round of Blue Jays from Away's brand new game: Streak or Trend?  We'll look at some numbers from around the Blue Jays and try to decipher whether they're a streak or a trend.  Today, we play the Hitter's Edition!

A streak is when a player gets unusually hot or cold and things just tend to go one way or another for a period of time before swinging the other way, balancing things out.

A trend is when things go in one direction or another and isn't coming back.  Jose Bautista's conversion into one of the game's elite power hitters in 2010 is a great example.  Looking back, you could see that his September/October 2009 numbers in which he hit 10 HRs in 109 ABs was a harbinger of things to come.

#1: Colby Rasmus.  In Colby's statistics, we have a constellation of contradictory numbers.  Colby has had 29 plate appearances, hit 3 HRs, walked 3 times and struck out 13 times.  This gives him an 10.3% walk rate and a 44.4% strikeout rate.

• The 10.3% walk rate is most likely the most sustainable of his numbers.  While he took fewer walks in 2011 and 2012, Colby's career high (in the majors) is 11.8% in his outstanding 2010 season.  
• The 44.4% strikeout is extraordinarily high and is most likely just a streak.  However, while this figure will normalize to a lower rate, I have a feeling that it won't get as low as it has been in his career.  His major league high strikeout rate was also in his career year of 2010 at 27.7%.  I'd say it settles in at close to 30% this season.
• Colby has had 42.9% of his fly balls leave the park this season.  That's WAY above league average which is about 10%.  His career average is around 11.7% so expect to see this number normalize.

#2: Jose Reyes.  Jose has 13 hits in 32 plate appearances.  He also has 4 walks and 4 strikeouts to go along with two doubles and a HR.  

• Jose's BABIP is .444, clearly an unsustainable figure over the course of the season, but he generally has slightly above average BABIPs (a career .313 rate).  He obviously won't hit .406 all season, but he did put up a .353 BABIP in 2011, and over his career, his batting average has settled in about 20 points below his BABIP, so if he is going to have a comparable figure in 2013, he may just be able to hit about .325-.330.
• Both his walk and strikeout rates of 11.1% are only slightly above his career averages (walk is 7.2%, K is 10.2%).  I think that they'll both drop a little bit, but are pretty projectable. 

#3: J.P. Arencibia.  JPA is hitting .313/.333/.719 with 3 HRs and 13 Ks in 32 PAs.  This gives him a 39.4% K rate to go with a 3% walk rate.  

• Well, I have a pretty good notion that JP's walk and strikeout ratios will normalize.  But when I say normalize, don't expect them to go very far.  His career walk rate is 6.1% and that's actually higher than the 4.8% percent he had last year.  Spring training is definitely not going to encourage any optimism as he only took two walks all spring.  His career K rate is 28.6%, so we should expect it to settle in around the 30% mark.
• On the bright side, JP's HR/FB rating is not as out of whack as Colby's.  JP's coming in at 25% right now (meaning 1/4 of his fly balls are leaving the park).  However, his career average is 15.8%, which is well above league average, and last season his HR/FB rate was 16.5%.  
• JP has always been streaky, meaning that while some of these numbers will certainly line up more with is career averages over time, I have a feeling that they're not too far off where they will end up.

So, Blue Jays fans?  What do you think?  Streak or Trend?  We'd love to see your thoughts in the comments below!

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April 10 Minor League Report

Buffalo Bisons (3-3)

Game Postponed due to rain.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (4-3)

Ryan Schimpf had the big blow for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats as they get back into the victory column with a 6-3 victory over the Yankees farmhands from Trenton.  CF Kevin Pillar, 2B John Tolisano, and LF Brian Van Kirk all had great days with the bats with multiple hit days in piling the six runs onto the Thunder. Tolisano continues to struggle in the field at second base with his fifth error of the season that led to the Thunder’s third run of the game off Clint Everts in the eighth inning.

Starting pitcher Marcus Walden was pitching well until the fifth inning when he got himself into a jam after getting the leadoff man to ground out.  He then gave up a double, a single, and a walk and skipper Gary Allenson decided to go get the 24-year-old righty.  Matt Wright came on to relieve and gave up a single that scored one before shutting the door with an infield popup and a ground out.  Wright went on to pitch a big two more innings of shutout ball to keep the Fisher Cats on top until he handed it off to Everts and Beck.   Closer Chad Beck struck out three in a row after giving up a walk and a hit to close the game out.

Hitting:

Kevin Pillar – 3/5, 2 R, 2B

John Tolisano – 2/3, 2 R, 2B, BB, E

Ryan Schimpf – 1/3, R, HR, 3 RBI, BB, K

Brad Glenn – 1/3, RBI, BB

Ricardo Nanita – 0/4, 2 K

Brian Van Kirk – 3/4

                Kenny Wilson PR – R, SB

Kevin Ahrens – 1/4, K

Jack Murphy – 1/4, RBI

Amadeo Zazueta – 0/4, K

Pitching:

Marcus Walden – 4 1/3 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K

Matt Wright – W, 2 2/3 IP, 1 H, 2K

Clint Everts – 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 0 K

Chad Beck – S, 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game: Matt Wright

Dunedin Blue Jays (4-2)

The Dunedin Blue Jays pulled out a squeaker with a run in the bottom of the eighth inning coming off the bat of Gabe Jacobo as his one out triple drove Peter Mooney home to give the D-Jays a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Yankees.  Starter Scott Copeland logged another quality start, throwing seven innings and giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

It was another generally quiet game with the bats as the Jays only managed to get five hits, four of them off Tampa starter Bryan Mitchell, who MLB.com ranks as the 15^th best prospect in the Yankees system this year.  Aside from Jacobo’s two hits, both 3B Andy Burns and RF Matt Newman hit doubles while CF Jonathan Jones stroked the only other hit.

Hitting:

Jon Berti  - 0/4, K

Peter Mooney – 0/2, 2 BB

Andy Burns – 1/4, R, 2B, RBI

Gabe Jacobo – 2/4, 3B, 2 RBI

Kevin Patterson – 0/4, K

Marcus Knecht – 0/4, 2K

Matt Newman – 1/2, R, 2B, BB, K

Derrick Chung – 0/2

Jonathan Jones –1/3, RBI, K

Pitching:

Scott Copeland – 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K

Dustin Antolin – W, 1 IP, 1 K

Blake McFarland – S, 1IP, 1 BB, 2 K

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game: Gabe Jacobo (a very tough decision today, due to Copeland’s strong start)

Lansing Lugnuts (3-4)

The Lugnuts got blown out 10-1 Wednesday night in the final game of their series with the Bowling Green Hot Rods.  They’ll have until Friday to lick their wounds before continuing their season with their home opener against the South Bend Silver Hawks.  Tonight’s starter, Taylor Cole, coming off an outstanding start in his last outing, couldn't stay out of trouble after a 3-up, 3-down first inning.  The third inning proved to be his undoing: after Cole retired his first batter, Andrew Toles tripled and scored on a ground out.  Cole just couldn’t get that third out as he walked the next batter and gave up four consecutive singles that scored three more runs.  Three pitchers went the rest of the way and all in all, the damage was ten runs for the Hot Rods off sixteen hits and six walks. 

While all that was going on, the hitters only managed six hits of their own, and nothing beyond Gustavo Pierre’s solo home run in the top of the first inning.  Another troubling aspect of Wednesday night’s game was catcher Santiago Nessy committing his sixth passed ball in only his fifth game of the season.  This is definitely something that we’re going to keep an eye on since Nessy’s supposed to be quite strong defensively.  Balbino Fuenmayor’s mini-slump continues as he was hitless for the series against Bowling Green after a fantastic opening series against Lake County.  He has now struck out twelve times in twenty-six at bats while taking only three walks – another troubling trend, if it continues.

Hitting:

Dalton Pompey –  1/4, 2 K

Gustavo Pierre – 2/4, R, HR, RBI, 2 K

Christian Lopes – 1/4, K, E

Balbino Fuenmayor – 0/3, 2K

                Seth Conner PH – 0/1, K

Carlos Ramirez – 1/4, K

Santiago Nessy – 1/4, 2B, K, PB

Emilio Guererro – 0/3, K

Jorge Flores – 0/3

Ronald Melendez – 0/3, 2 K

Pitching:

Taylor Cole – L, 2 2/3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 2 K, WP

Ben White – 3 1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 2 K, 2 WP

Matt Johnson – 1 IP, 4 H, 3 R

Ian Kadish – 1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game:  GustavoPierre

April 9 Minor League Report

Today was a dark day in Blue Jays Land.  All five active teams lost, from the Big League club (losing 7-3 in Detroit) all the way down to the Lansing Lugnuts losing 8-3 to the Bowling Green Hot Rods.

Buffalo Bisons (3-3)

After scoring two runs in the first inning against veteran minor leaguer Ross Ohlendorf , the bats went silent, getting only two hits the rest of the way as the Syracuse Chiefs won a rain-shortened game 8-2 in five innings.  Starter Justin Germano didn’t have a great game today, giving up eleven hits and 7 runs; on the bright side, he didn’t walk anyone and struck out five.  The biggest concern for a pitcher like Germano is that his stuff is very hittable if he’s not  hitting his spots, and it’s looking like AAA hitters have been able to get to him in the early going of the 2013 season after a great major league spring training.  

Jim Negrych gets the player of the game nod as he had two of the team’s five hits, including a double, to raise his batting average to .667 on this young season.  Newly acquired 1B Mauro Gomez went 0 for 1 with a walk in his soggy Buffalo debut while DH Luis Jimenez has gone one for ten over the past three games after starting with a five for twelve hot streak that included two home runs over the team’s first three games.

In other Buffalo news, the Blue Jays signed Miguel Batista to a minor league contract, mainly to be a long man in the bullpen and a spot starter for the Bisons and the organization sent Monday’s starter, Casey Lawrence, back to A-Advanced Dunedin.

Hitting:

Jim Negrych – 2/2, R, 2B, BB

Anthony Gose – 1/3, R, 3B, RBI, 2 K

Moises Sierra – 2/3, RBI

Luis Jimenez – 0/3, K

Mauro Gomez – 0/1, BB

Andy LaRoche – 0/2, E

Ryan Langerhans – 0/2

Josh Thole – 0/1, BB, 1 SBA         

Munenori Kawasaki – 0/2, K

Pitching:

Justin Germano – L, 5 IP, 11 H, 8 R (7 ER), 0 BB, 5 K, 2 HR

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game: Jim Negrych

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (3-3)

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats fell in their second game against the Trenton Thunder 5-1 to even up the series at 1-1.  The offense managed very little against the Trenton pitching staff, led by Caleb Cotham making his AA debut.  The best part of the evening for the Fisher Cats was the second consecutive strong start turned in by Austin Bibens-Dirkx who took the loss despite pitching seven innings giving up two runs (one earned), scattering six hits and two walks while striking out three.  John Tolisano had a rough day in the field, despite a good day with the bat.  He went two for three with the team’s only RBI, but made three fielding errors.

Hitting:

Kenny Wilson – 1/3, B, 2K

Kevin Pillar – 1/4, K, OF Asst.

Ryan Schimpf – 0/4, K, E

Clint Robinson – 0/2, BB, K

Ricardo Nanita – 0/4

Kevin Nolan – 1/3, R, BB

Brad Glenn – 2/4, K

Sean Ochinko – 0/4, 2 K

John Tolisano – 2/3, RBI, BB, K, CS, 3 E

Pitching:

Austin Bibens-Dirkx – L, 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 3 K

Trystan Magnuson – 2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game: Austin Bibens-Dirkx

Dunedin Blue Jays (3-2)

In the most exciting game of the night, the Dunedin Blue Jays took the Tampa Yankees to the bottom of the ninth inning.  Down by two runs, the D-Jays loaded the bases on a single by 3B Andy Burns and walks by 1B Gabe Jacobo and LF Matt Newman.  This loaded the bases with two outs for catcher Aaron Munoz.  Reliever Joel De La Cruz managed to induce Munoz into hitting into a soft groundout to shortstop to end the game with the Yankees on top 4-2.  

It was a well pitched game for the most part, although starter Jesse Hernandez walked four batters to go with his five strikeouts in his 4 2/3 innings.  Ajay Meyer pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief while Scott Gracey gave up only one in his two innings.  The D-Jays got two hits apiece from Burns, RF Michael Crouse, and CF Jonathan Jones.

Hitting:

Jon Berti  - 0/4, RBI

Peter Mooney – 1/4, K

Andy Burns – 2/4, R, 3B, 2 K

Gabe Jacobo – 0/3, BB, 2 K

Kevin Patterson – 0/3, RBI, 2 K

Michael Crouse – 2/4, 2B, K, CS

Matt Newman – 1/3, BB

Aaron Munoz – 0/4, 2 K, PB, 1 CSA (Caught Stealing Against), 1 SBA

Jonathan Jones – 2/3, R, 3B

Pitching:

Jesse Hernandez – 4 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 5 K, 1 HR

Ajay Meyer – 2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1K

Scott Gracey – 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game: Ajay Meyer

Lansing Lugnuts (3-3)

The Bowling Green Hot Rods ran roughshod over the Lansing Lugnuts to take an 8-3 victory and even up the Lugnuts' record at 3-3.  Javier Avendano got into early trouble starting in the bottom of the second by giving up a bizarre inside the park home run to Marty Gantt (you can read about it HERE).  Avendano continued to struggle with his control, going into a lot of deep counts and walking three in his 3 2/3 innings. 

Another concerning trend that we're starting to see, particularly from Bowling Green, is the huge number of stolen bases against the Lugnuts.  In today's game, against backup catcher Seth Conner, the Hot Rods stole six bases with only Tyle Goeddel caught stealing.  So far in this series, the Lugnuts have given up nine stolen bases and have only caught one runner.  

Second baseman Christian Lopes and shortstop Emilio Guerrero continue to swing hot bats for the Lugnuts and no one else really did much today.  Lopes had 3 hits including a hard hit infield single and his first home run of the year while Guererro hit a double for the Lugnuts' only other extra base hit.  Hot CF Canadian prospect, Dalton Pompey, came out of the game in the 3rd inning. At the time of posting, the reason was still unknown.

To close my summary, I have two more bits of information courtesy of Jesse Goldberg-Strassler, the play-by-play voice of the Lansing Lugnuts.  Griffin Murphy and his "glorious" moustache made an appearance today (I saw Murphy in Spring Training and the moustache is indeed "glorious") and the mascot for the Bowling Green Hot Rods is Roscoe the Grease Monkey. 

Hitting:

Dalton Pompey – 0/1, K

                Ronald Melendez - 0/2

Gustavo Pierre – 1/4, R, RBI, K, E

Christian Lopes - 3/4, R, HR, RBI, K

Balbino Fuenmayor – 0/3, BB, K

Kellen Sweeney - 0/3, RBI, BB

Chris Hawkins – 0/4, K

Carlos Ramirez – 0/3, BB, K, CS

Seth Conner – 0/2, 2 BB, K

Emilio Guererro – 1/4, R, 2B

Pitching:

Javier Avendano - L, 3 2/3 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR

Griffin Murphy - 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 0 K

Andrew Sikula - 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 2 K

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game:  Christian Lopes

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April 8 Minor League Report

Buffalo Bisons (3-2)

Another brand new AAA pitcher struggled off the top of the game tonight in Buffalo as the Bisons lost the first game of their series with the former Blue Jays affiliate Syracuse Chiefs 8-1.  Monday night it was Casey Lawrence, making only his fourth appearance above Single-A, and his first in Triple-A, having a rough start to the night but ended up making it through four innings, giving up six runs (five of them earned) on ten hits and two walks while striking out three.  Again, the defense let down their young pitcher with both SS Ryan Goins and LF Ryan Langerhans committing errors in the four-run first inning.  Buddy Carlyle also struggled in his two innings of relief until Alex Hinshaw and Neil Wagner were able to combine to pitch the final three innings without giving up any more runs.

The offense was very sluggish tonight, as Daniel Rosenbaum, ranked by Baseball America as Washington’s 23^rd highest ranked prospect from 2012, stifled the Bisons’ bats.  The Chiefs’ pitching staff scattered eight Buffalo hits, only allowing Eugenio Velez to score on a ground ball out by Mike McCoy for the only run.

Hitting:

Mike McCoy – 2/5, RBI

Anthony Gose – 0/4, BB

Moises Sierra – 1/2, 2 BB, K

Luis Jimenez – 1/4, K

Andy Laroche – 0/4, K

Ryan Langerhans – 1/2, 2 BB, K, E

Mike Nickeas – 0/4, 2K

Eugenio Velez – 2/4, R, 2B

Ryan Goins – 1/4, K, E

Pitching:

Casey Lawrence – L, 4 IP, 10 H, 6 R (5 ER), 2 BB, 3 K

Buddy Carlyle – 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR

Alex Hinshaw – 2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K

Neil Wagner – 1 IP, 1 H

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game: Eugenio Velez

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (3-2)

Big first and eighth innings by the Fisher Cats gave them the victory in their opening game of their series with the Trenton Thunder 15-7 on Monday.  Starter Ryan Tepera had a great run through five innings, only giving up a solo home run to Tyler Austin (MLB.com’s #3 Yankees prospect for 2013) in the top of the first.  However, Tepera ran into trouble in the sixth, giving up another HR to Walter Ibarra followed by a walk to lead off the inning.  Unfortunately, Randy Boone couldn’t stop the bleeding, giving up another four runs (only one earned) before being relieved by Tommy Hottovy who, despite not being charged with any runs himself, allowed two of Boone’s runs to score.  Joel Carreno came out to finish the game for the Fisher Cats, striking out all three batters he faced.

Fortunately for the Cats, the offense was clicking on all cylinders tonight.  Aside from being extraordinarily patient with Thunder pitchers, taking thirteen walks on the night, they slugged their way to two huge innings scoring five in the first and six in the eighth.  While none of the hitters went yard, they hit six doubles and every starter contributed with at least one hit and one run scored.  Only Kenny Wilson and Ricardo Nanita failed to drive in a run, but each scored multiple times and both stole a base.

Hitting:

Kenny Wilson – 2/5, 3 R, BB, K, SB

Kevin Pillar – 1/4, 2 R, RBI, BB, CS, PO

Ryan Schimpf – 1/3, 2 R, RBI, 3 BB, K

Clint Robinson – 3/5, R, 2 2B, 3 RBI, BB, K

Kevin Nolan – 2/5, 2 R, 2 RBI

Ricardo Nanita – 2/4, 2 R, 2B, 2 BB, SB

Brad Glenn – 1/2, R, 2B, @ RBI, 3 BB, K

Sean Ochinko – 1/4, R, 2B, 4 RBI, BB

John Tolisano – 1/5, R, 2B, 2 RBI

Pitching:

Ryan Tepera – W, 5 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 HR

Randy Boone – 2/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 2 K

Tommy Hottovy – 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Joel Carreno – 1 IP, 3 K

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game: Clint Robinson

Lansing Lugnuts (3-2)

19-year-old top-5 prospect Daniel Norris got into trouble early and broke the string of outstanding starts by Lansing pitchers as they fell to the Bowling Green Hot Rods (Tampa Bay’s Midwest League affiliate) 4-3.  Norris gave up two runs before he could even gather himself on a single, a triple and a ground out and then  struggled with his control, throwing a wild pitch and walking a batter before getting out of the seven-batter first inning.  He improved in the second, giving up three singles and another run, but got some help from his defense and shut the Hot Rods down, giving up only one base runner over his final five batters.  Except for the one run that Bowling Green scored in the bottom of the sixth (the winning run), the Lansing relief corps was strong, giving up that run (unearned) off one hit and two walks over the final five innings of baseball while striking out six batters. 

The offense only managed seven hits and concentrated all their scoring into the sixth inning.  The big shot was Gustavo Pierre’s two-run HR off Eduar Quinonez that tied up the game at three, but unfortunately the Lugnuts couldn’t add anymore to tie or win the game.

Hitting:

Dalton Pompey – 1/4, R, 2 K, OF Assist

Gustavo Pierre – 1/4, R, HR, 2 RBI, K

Kellen Sweeney – 1/4, K, E

Balbino Fuenmayor –0/4, 4 K

Chris Hawkins – 1/4, K, CS

Santiago Nessy – 1/3, 2B, K, 2 PB, 3 Stolen Bases Against (SBA)

Carlos Ramirez – 1/3, R, K

Emilio Guererro – 1/3, K

Ronald Melendez – 0/3, RBI, PO

Pitching:

Daniel Norris – 3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB 0 K

Wil Browning – L, 2 2/3 IP, 0 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 3 K

Tucker Donahue – 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 K

Chuck Ghysels – 1 IP, 1 BB, 2 K

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game:  Gustavo Pierre

Shuffling the Deck

The Blue Jays have been busy on Monday, the off-day following the first week of action of the season.  Yesterday, we found out that the Jays had claimed another quadruple-A pitcher off waivers, this time it was Edgar Gonzalez from the Houston Astros.  To make room on the 40-man roster, the Jays moved Dustin McGowan from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL.

Today, we learned that the Jays intend to put him on their active roster, taking the place of Dave Bush who earned himself a DFA* with his 4 HR performance on Sunday's game.**

Finally (or not?), the Jays picked up 1B Mauro Gomez off waivers from the Red Sox and optioned him to AAA Buffalo.  I've seen someone say that Adam Loewen is going to be send down to AA New Hampshire (he's only gotten into one game for Buffalo so far) and he'd join another waiver claimee, 1B Clint Robinson, in New Hampshire.

So what do these moves actually mean?

1) Gonzalez takes Bush's 8th spot in the bullpen (for now).  Gonzalez hasn't had much success in the major leagues, and the fact that he couldn't hold on to a spot in the Astros bullpen doesn't bode well.  He had great minor league numbers last year and his FIP and xFIP were significantly better than his 5.04 ERA in the majors.  He had acceptable strikeout numbers and pretty decent walk numbers (17.1% K, 7.6% BB) in his 25 innings in the majors last year.  Apparently, he throws a fastball that averages a tad under 90 mph to go along with (what Fangraphs classifies as) a sinker, a slider and a changup.  I'm a little curious about the slider, because it comes in 13 mph slower than his 4-seam fastball and sinker (both about the same velocity).  Plus, he threw it about 30% of the time.

I'm not sure what we're going to get out of Gonzalez.  He had a great spring training, but hasn't gotten into any game action this year.  Right now (until he shows me otherwise), he's just another guy at the back end of the pen.

2) I'm liking this Mauro Gomez claim.  First of all, he gives the Jays a RIGHT-HANDED HITTING 1B.  Secondly, Gomez is a legitimate power threat with a proven track record in the International League.  He was the International League MVP last season and has a list of All-Star appearances and Player of the Week awards that is quite impressive.  I think that this acquisitions is a direct reaction to the anemic right-handed hitting offense we saw yesterday.  With Edwin struggling, and and no production at all expected out of Mark DeRosa and Henry Blanco, having Gomez stashed in AAA is some nice insurance in case the Jays need a productive right-handed hitting bat.  I don't see him being on the active roster while both Lind and Encarnacion are there -- that would give them three 1B/DH type players, and that's just too many, especially when they really need someone who can play 3rd.

Brett Lawrie, wherefore art thou?

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* "DFA" doesn't stand for "Dat F***ing A," a grade one might aspire to in school after earning Cs and Ds all the time.  For baseball newbies, it's "Designated for Assignment."

** 4 HRs isn't a good thing.  He's a pitcher.

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