Hi everyone! It's good to be back. I hope everyone is doing well. Anyway, here's the next installment of our top prospect list. Tom just checked in with #46-50 yesterday.

45. Wilmer Becerra, OF/SS - a 17-year old signed out of Venezuela at just 16, Becerra came over as a shortstop but his future is apparently in the outfield. Becerra is one of many significant international free agent signings the Jays have made during the Alex Anthopolous era. He will have a long way to go, but he could see some rookie ball in 2012. Becerra, a righthanded hitter, has speed and strength. It's unclear whether he'll be able to stick in center field, but he has drawn positive comments for his work ethic and makeup. Obviously, his development as a hitter will be all-important.

44. Dawel Lugo, SS - Another significant international free agent signing, Lugo hails from Bani, Dominican Republic and was also signed as a 16-year old. The Jays spent $1.3 million on the young shortstop. At 6', 175 lbs at just 16, Lugo isn't fleet of foot and so isn't a lock to stick at shortstop, but he is said to have good hands and a strong arm. It's unclear whether he'll be able to continue at short for a while in the mold of a Jhonny Peralta, or whether he'll be moving to third base in a few years. Lugo projects well as a hitter, with good bat speed and natural loft in his swing, so he looks like he could be a good power bat for the infield down the line. Lugo was assigned to the Dominican Summer League after his signing but you'd think he would have a shot at rookie ball this year.

43. Anthony DeSclafani, RHP - DeSclarfani, a Freehold, NJ native (Bruuuuuuuce!!!) was signed by the Boston Red Sox out of high school (22nd round) but he chose to attend college at Florida University. DeSclafani was impressive in the famed Cape Cod Baseball League and had a nice junior season as a Gator before the Jays selected him 199th overall. DeSclafani hasn't started much in his young career but is said to have impressive stuff that hasn't quite translated into dominating stats because he hasn't quite harnassed it yet.

42. Christian Lopes, SS/2B - Lopes, a southern california native selected by the Jays in the 7th round in 2011 out of high school, is said to have nice soft hands and to be athletic around the bag. Some concerns about his arm and his middling range and speed suggest that he might end up at second base, but he does project nicely as a hitter. The right-handed hitter is well-regarded for his skill with the bat and should field well enough at second to let his bat do the talking.

41. Kellen Sweeney, 3B - Sweeney, the brother of major-leaguer Ryan Sweeney, was a well-regarded second-round pick out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Kellen had a nice adjustment to pro ball after being drafted (.267/.450/.444), which is always a good sign for a high school hitter. Unfortunately 2011 was a lost year for Sweeney - he was assigned to Bluefield and suffered a freak injury in which he fell during a rundown and broke a small bone at the base of his thumb. The good news - the injury wasn't anything chronic and had nothing to do with his arm (he had TJ surgery in high school). Therefore, with a healthy season, Sweeney could be right back on track, particularly considering he's still just 20 and won't be 21 until September. The Jays are reportedly still quite high on the lefty hitting infielder, who is said to have a sweet line drive swing and a nice approach at the plate.

Well that's all for now. Woodman will be back with the next five. Enjoy!

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats won game 4 of the Eastern League Championship 4-3, winning the best of 5 series 3-1.

The game was tied at 3 going into the 9th. Anthony Gose had a 1 out single and scored on Moises Sierra's single plus error on Richmond RFer Fancisco Peguero. 

Deck McGuire started and pitched 3 innings allowing 4 hits and 2 runs, 1 BB with 3 strikeouts. Rey Gonzalez went 2.1, 3 hits, 1 earned. Wes Ethridge, Evan Crawford, Clint Everts (win) and Bobby Korecky (save) also pitched. 

Gose was 1 for 4 with a walk, 2 k and an error in the field. Kevin Howard had a 2 run homer. Jon Diaz was 2 for 4, with an RBI and 2 stolen bases. Callix Crabbe was 1 for 5, with a steal. Travis d'Arnaud 1 for 5 with a double.

Congratulations Fisher Cats. A great season. It makes the future look bright for our Blue Jays.

@FisherCats tells us that Kevin Howard was named series MVP.

Update:

Lansing lost game three of their series with the Quad Cities River Bandits, 6-3, so the Bandits win the series 3 games to none. Marcus Walden started and took the loss, 4.0, 7 hits, 0 BB, 3 earned, 4 k. The Lugnuts had 8 hits. Carlos Perez and Oliver Dominguez had 2 hits each.

New Hampshire 5 Richmond 3

New Hampshire is up 2 games to 1 in the Eastern League Championship series. 

New Hampshire got all 5 runs with 2 out in the 6th inning. After Yan Gomes popped out and John Tolisano struck out, Jonathan Diaz walked, Anthony Gose singled. They moved up and Diaz scored on 2 wild pitches. Kevin Howard walked and another wild pitch scored Gose and moved Howard to second, then Howard stole 3rd base. Moises Sierra doubled, scoring Howard. Travis d'Arnaud doubled scoring Sierra. Mike McDade singled scoring d'Arnaud. Danny Perales flied out to end the inning. 

That was all the scoring the Fisher Cats would need. 

Yohan Pino started and pitched 4.1, allowing 6 hits, 1 earned, 1 BB and 4 k. 

Wes Etheridge got the win going 1.2, 2 hits and 1 earned. 

Ronald Uviedo pitched a scoreless inning, 1 hit, 1 walk, getting a hold.

Clint Everts pitched 1 inning, 1 earned, 2 hits, 2 k, getting a hold.

Bobby Korecky pitched a perfect 9, 1 k, getting the save. 

They play again tomorrow, a win and they are Eastern League champs. Deck McGuire gets the start. 

It is a travel day for the New Hampshire's series (tied at a game each) but Lansing played game 2 of their 5 game Midwest League finals, losing to the Quad City River Bandits 5-3. Lansing is down 2-0 in the series.

• Justin Nicolino started, going 4.0, 6 hits, 2 earned, 0 BB, 0 k.
• Tyler Ybarra: 1.2, 4 hits, 3 runs, 1 earned, 1 walk, 3 k. Loss. It was his own error that cost him.
• Brandon Berl, Dayton Marze and Danny Barnes pitched the last 3.1 scoreless innings.
• Michael Crouse: 2 for 4, run.
• Marcus Knecht: 3 for 4, double, triple, run and an outfield assist.
• Carlos Perez: 1 for 4, RBI.
• K.C. Hobson: 1 for 4, HR, run, RBI. 

Saturday they play game 3. Marcus Walden (6-6, 3.23) starts for the Lugnuts. Trevor Rosenthal (7-7, 4.11) goes for Quad City. 

Vancouver Canadians 10 Eugene Emeralds 3

Vancouver tied their best of three series at 1. Tomorrow night Aaron Sanchez starts the deciding game for them. The winner will play the Tri-Cities Dust Devils (no I didn't make that name up) for the league title. 

It was a close game, with Vancouver up 2 -1, until the 6th inning when the Canadians scored 8 runs. The inning went groundout, single, walk, walk, strikeout. Then, with 2 outs, Matt Newman singled home 2. Balbino Fuenmayor doubled home 2 more. Walk, single loaded the bases again. Jonathon Berti hit a 2 run single and Kevin Pillar a 2 run double.By then the game was effectively over.

Jesse Hernandez started, 4.0, 4 hits, 2 walks, 1 earned. Tyler Ybarra went 3.0, 2 hits, 1 earned, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts to get the win. Aleson Escalante and Bryan Longpre pitched an inning each to finish the game.

On offense:

Berti: 3 for 5, HR, 3 RBI.

Pillar: 2 for 5, double, 2 RBI.

Fuenmayor: 2 for 5, double, HR, 3 RBI. 

Pierce Rankin: 1 for 3, walk. 

Matt Newman: 1 for 4, walk, 2 RBI. 

Good luck tomorrow Canadians.

Daytona 3 Dunedin 4

Dunedin won game 1 of their 3 game playoff series with the Daytona Cubs.

Casey Lawrence started and went 5.2, allowing 8 hits and a walk ,but just 1 run with 3 strikeouts. Vince Bongiovanni pitched 1.1 scoreless with 3 k. Frank Gailey gave up 1 unearned run, off 2 hits and 2 k. Aaron Loup pitched a scoreless 9th to get the win. 

Down 2-0 in the 5th Brad McElroy hit a solo home run. In the 7th Ryan Goins hit our second solo homer to tie the game. Daytona went up by a run in the top of the 8th because of a Kevin Ahrens error. 

In the bottom of the inning Brad Glenn drove in A.J. Jimenez to tie the game again.

In the bottom of the 9th Justin Jackson doubled to lead off the inning. Ryan Goins reached on a bunt single. An intentional walk to McElroy loaded the bases. But two force outs at the plate and a fly out sent them into extra innings. 

In the 10th Brian Van Kirk doubled and went to third on a bunt single. Another intentional walk loaded the bases again and Justin Jackson hit into a force out at the plate but the Daytona catcher threw wild to first, trying to get the double play and the winning run scored. 

Brad McElroy went 1 for 4 with a homer and a walk. AJ Jimenez 3 for 5 with a double. Brian Van Kirk 2 for 5, double. Ryan Goins 2 for 3, home run. 

Game two is tomorrow night. 

3 teams finished their regular season, Vancouver started their playoffs.


Las Vegas 10 Salt Lake 2

The 51's end their season with a win. They finished 71-73, good for 2nd in their division but 17 games back of Sacramento.

Brad Mill: 6.2, 6 hits, 2 earned, 2 walks, 6 k. Win. 11-9, 4.00. He led the team in wins, strikeouts 136 and most every other pitching category.

Winston Abreu: 1.0, 1 hit, 1 BB, 1 k. 3.66.

Darin Mastroianni: 4 for 5. Finished with a.276/.358/.389 line at Vegas. 20 of 27 in base stealing. He had 14 more steals at New Hampshire. Not a great season for Darin.

Adeiny Hechavarria: 2 for 5, triple. .389/.431/.537 in 25 games at Vegas. .235/.275/.347 in 111 games at New Hampshire. I wondered why he was moved up but it worked out for him. In total 20 for 33 as a base stealer. 

David Cooper: 1 for 3, walk. .364/.439/.535. Led the team in BA, RBI (96), OBP, SLG and likely a lot of other things. A really good season for Cooper.

Adam Loewen: 0 for 3, walk. .306/.377/.508. Second on the team in HR with 17 (Lawrie had 18). Slumped in August, maybe playing in that heat didn't help. 

Ryan Shealy: 1 for 3, HR, walk. .272/.373/.478 in 62 games. 

Ricardo Nanita: 2 for 3, walk. .363/.416/.554 in 51 games for the 51's. .299/.341/.408 in 58 games for the Fisher Cats. 30 years old, not a prospect.

Manny Mayorson: 3 for 3, 2 doubles, walk. .313/.371/.394 in 97 games. 

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Bluefield (lost 1-4)

Bluefield's season is over, after the Jays lost by a score of four to one to Johnson City. Deivy Estrada pitched a decent game for Bluefield, giving up one earned in 5 innings, getting 5 Ks and giving up 4 hits and a walk. Jeremy Gabryszwski gave up 2 more runs, pitching 2 2/3 innings with 2 Ks, 3 hits and no walks. King Scrabble the Third's results have been pretty decent so far, but I have to imagine we'll see him in a starting role next season. The fourth run the Jays gave up was an unearned run, on an error by, who else would it be, Gustavo Pierre. Catcher Leo Hernandez got the only hit for Bluefield: a double.

Las Vegas (lost 3-10)

Chad Gaudin is obviously not on the list of players the Banterers here are excited about for a potential callup. After giving up 6 runs in 5 innings on 10 hits, 3 walks and just 1 strikeout, I don't think that will change. Adeiny Hechavarria had just one hits, but he also had a walk (and a strikeout). His K/BB rate of 8/21 still isn't good, but the .388/.432/.524 does look pretty. He would obviously not hit like that outside of the PCL, of course. David Cooper had 2 walks but no hits and his .336/.406/.407 August was by far his most unimpressive month of the season. Adam Loewen's month was worse, though: he hit just .271/.347/.355.

New Hampshire (won 7-0)

Drew Hutchison has probably had the best season of any Jays prospect. He's only just turned 21 and already is dominating Double-A. Last night: 5 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts. He'll probably be starting 2012 in Double-A again, but if Henderson Alvarez can pitch in the big leagues at 21, why wouldn't Hutch be called up next year if he's doing well? The same goes for older prospects Nestor Molina and Deck McGuire of course, so he does have some pretty competent competition. Mike McDade hit a homer and was 2-for-4, but his .281/.328/.457 line is not good enough for a 1st baseman. In fact, I wouldn't be excited if a shortstop or catcher hit like that, with an ugly 28/104 BB/K rate. Speaking of ugly BB/K rates, nobody seems to mention that Travis d'Arnaud's rate is an also ugly 33/100 and that d'Arnaud has lately hit more like a certain J.P. Arencibia: no on-base skills but impressive power.

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