Up to the 3rd part of our look at how the players on our prospects list are doing so far this year. As with the other reviews, I'm not re-ranking guys, that will come in the off-season, just looking at how they are doing at the half way point.
21. A.J. Jimenez: Sort of lost in a sea of catching prospects, in the Jays system, A.J. is having another fine year. Playing in Dunedin, he is hitting .308/.361/.416, with 9 steals, caught once. Having a lot of prospects at any position is a good thing, but at catcher, where there tends to be a lot of injuries, it really doesn't hurt. He has thrown out 36% of attempted stealers. After a hot start his numbers have been dropping some this year: OPS by month April .924, May .821, June .663, July .663, but any number of little injuries could cause that.
22. Darin Mastroianni: Darin isn't having the best of seasons. He started the season at Vegas, was sent down to New Hampshire and now he is back in Vegas. In 30 games with the 51's he is hitting .252/.328/.357, with just 5 stolen bases in 9 attempts. His numbers with the Fisher Cats are similar, in 41 games he is .256/.350/.353, 12 steals in 15 attempts. July is going better for him, .250/.455/.458 in 7 games at Vegas. He turns 26 in August, so it is bad timing for a poor year, I figured he had a shot at a 4th outfield spot, with his speed and defense but if you are only hitting .250 in Vegas you aren't going to move up.
23. David Cooper: Hugo said we'd see him at DH in Toronto this year, and we did. I wish they would have given him more than 41 at bats. In Vegas he is hitting .375/.444/.592, 8 home runs, 62 RBI in 68 games. I'm hoping he'll get a longer look with Toronto this year or next. He's been very consistent in Vegas, OPS by month 1.036, 1.014, 1.024, 1.060.
24. Gustavo Pierre: I generally discount error rates in the low minors, infields aren't that smooth and official scorers aren't very consistent, and they don't have the help of replays to get the calls right. But 40 errors in 62 games? It seems like a lot. He is very young, just 19, so there is time for him to work out his problems. They say his range is good. He is having a tough year with the bat too. He started at Lansing, hitting .187/.244/.262 there, then was moved down to Bluefield, hitting some better there, .264/.323/.484. He is a long way from Toronto and won't get much closer unless he stops making errors. Hitting great the last 10 games: .333/.364/.548, with 2 hr and 3 steals.
25. Kellen Sweeney: A 3rd round pick last year. They have him at Bluefield this year, and he has only played 9 games there. He has missed some time (he hasn't played since June 30) but he isn't listed on the DL. In the 9 games he is hitting .114/.295/.143. They have him playing 3rd.
26. Brad Mills: One of the few pitchers to be doing well in Vegas. Right now he is 7-7 with a 3.97 ERA in 18 games. In 115.2 innings, he has 30 walks, 99 k and 121 hits allowed. He has been having some troubles of late. He has a 6.97 ERA in his las 5 starts. I can imagine that heat would get to anyone, sooner or later. The home runs have been the problem, he has given up 9 in those 5 starts when he had only allowed 4 in 13 starts before that. I figured the Jays might call him up in September to fill in for starters that they'll be shutting down, but he is going to have to right himself again first.
27. Marcus Knecht: A 3rd round pick from last year, they pushed him up to Lansing this season and he's doing great: .311/.411/.509 with 9 homers and 45 RBI in 74 games. He has been playing mostly LF. There isn't much not to like here, he has power, will take a walk and he's a Canadian. Just turned 21.
28. Chris Hawkins: Yet another 3rd round pick from last year. Hawkins is playing in Bluefield and is hitting .280/.313/.453 with 2 homers in 80 at bats there. Just 19, they have him playing the outfield, I thought the plan was for him to play 3rd, but there is lots of time to move him around.
29. Brian Jeroloman: He's not hitting great in Vegas, just .238/.332/.292 there. I didn't know it was possible to slug under .300 in Vegas. He's still taking his walks but he'll have to hit a little bit to draw walks in the majors. He isn't throwing out base stealers either, just 14% this year. I had hopes that he could be a backup catcher for us, but he's 26 now and he's going to have to show he can hit some before he gets the backup catcher union card.
30. Michael McDade: He's having a really good year in New Hampshire, hitting .310/.355/.525 with 14 homers and 62 RBI in 88 games. A big. 6'1", 255, first baseman, he'll have to keep slugging to keep moving up. He's a switch hitting and has been hitting about the same from both sides of the plate, .840 OPS against LHP and .897 against RHP. I like guys that can hit the ball a long way, he'll have to keep doing it to have a change to make the Jays. He is walking a bit more than last year, which is nice to see. It would be good if he could continue to improve on that.