Blue Jays Minor League Report - Week 2

Blue Jays Weekly Minor League Report – Week 2

Baby Bird Performers of the Week
Offense – Chris Colabello (BUF) had a monster week, picking up 14 hits (14-30) for the week. He put up a 1.300 OPS for the week from 2 doubles & 3 HR’s.
Honorable Mention – Ryan Schmipf (NH) showcased his power over the last week, with 3 doubles & 2 HR’s. He was able to put up an OPS of 1.137 on 3 walks and 2 K’s, and was also hit by a pitch

Pitching – Shane Dawson (LAN) – Dawson made 2 appearances last week, picking up 2 wins in 8 innings pitched. He allowed 3 hits and 2 walks, and struck out 9 batters
Honorable Mention – Matt Boyd (NH) – Made one strong start and one decent start last week. He threw 11.1 innings and struck out 12 batters. He allowed 5 hits and 4 walks for the week.

Leaders

Buffalo
Buffalo rolled off a 5-game winning streak last week on the road, winners of 11 in 12. The pitching was strong again, allowing only 16 runs last week. It will be interesting to see how Buffalo fares after spending the last two weeks playing Pawtucket & Lehigh Valley only. This week they play at home against Norfolk and then welcome Louisville to town.

Steve Delabar has seen his K rate rise to 21.1% and has yet to walk a batter. That may put him next on the list of relievers on the QEW Express. Colt Hynes has yet to allow a run, but has been hit pretty well since moving down from Toronto, albeit in only 3 innings. Chad Jenkins & Rob Rasmussen had decent starts, even though that is not a role that makes a lot of sense to the big league club.

Chris Colabello & Matt Hague are hitting very well. Andy Burns is making contact, although not for a lot of power. Burns is also keeping his K-rate down (12.9%). Brad Glenn is struggling significantly with a -58 wRC+ and a 32.4% K-rate (0 walks as well). A.J. Jimenez has struggled since his call up as well.

New Hampshire
New Hampshire lost 3 games this week by 5 total runs. In their wins, they put up some solid offense, so it will be interesting to see if the Fisher Cats can find a way to make things consistent offensively. This week sees New Hampshire welcome Trenton at home before heading out to Binghamton for the end of the week. We also saw the release of Ricky Romero, technically from New Hampshire's DL. Good luck Ricky

There are some high K-rate pitchers in New Hampshire. Matt Boyd has done well pitching close to his FIP with a 38.5% K-rate. Blake McFarland & Danny Barnes both have K-rates over 40.0%. Matt West continues to get K’s and could be a candidate to move to Buffalo.

Jake Fox & Ryan Schmipf both continue to hit well. Dwight Smith has been solid so far as well. Matt Newman & K.C. Hobson are both hitting this season as well. Jon Berti has been cold so far, and that makes it hard to take advantage of his speed. Currently there are 9 hitters over 110 wRC+ so the offense is there, but the pitching hasn’t been fantastic.

Dunedin
Dunedin ended the week on a 3 game win streak to get back to .500 on the season. Last week the average game included Dunedin averaging 5.57 runs for and 5.43 runs against. The offense is nice to see, but the pitching could be better. Dunedin continues their home stand against Daytona, before welcoming Clearwater for 2 games, then travel to Clearwater for 2 more games.

The back end of the D-Jays bullpen has been looking solid. Wil Browning, Jimmy Cordero & Chad Girodo have been throwing strikes and keeping runners from scoring. Alberto Tirado is getting strikeouts, but is walking a lot of batters.

Jorge Saez had a solid week and is now the top hitter in Dunedin by wRC+ (147). Derrick Loveless continues to hit decently, although he isn’t showing a lot of pop yet. Dawel Lugo continues to make contact, but his walk rate continues to be dismal (2.9%), although still better than David Harris’ (1.7%). Dunedin could use a few more base runners. Matt Dean, Mitch Nay & Roemon Fields all have put up wRC+ less than 100.

Lansing
Lansing went 4-3 on the week, showcasing the strong pitching and some timely offense. The Lugs had a +12 run differential on the week, which would lead to a nicer Pythagorean win total. Lansing has an off-day on Monday and then begins a series at Lake County then return home to take on Bowling Green.

Lansing continues to get solid pitching, although no one is really standing out fantastically. Shane Dawson continues to impress, and hasn’t allowed a lot of hard contact. Sean Reid-Foley continues to get strike outs, but has troubles finding the strike zone.

Anthony Alford has done well since being activated this week. Dickie Joe Thon continues to be the strongest hitter by wRC+ (185), although he’s still riding a BABIP of 0.469. D.J. Davis has a walk rate of 9.5% and has seen his K-rate drop to 24.3%, both positive trends. Danny Jansen continues to walk a lot (16.0%) and not strike out (8.0%), but hasn’t shown a lot of pop yet.

Transactions

Andy Dirks - released
Josh Thole - Called up to Toronto (BUF)
A.J. Jimenez - Called up to Buffalo (NH)
Scott Barnes - Activated from DL
Todd Redmond - Sent outright to Buffalo

Melky Mesa - Activated from DL
Chris Schaeffer - Called up to New Hampshire (DUN) then Added to DL
Ricky Romero - released
Pierce Rankin - Activated from DL

Jeremy Gabryszwski - Called up to Dunedin (VAN)
Jairo Labourt - Added to DL
Jonathon Wandling - Called up to Dunedin (VAN)
Scott Silverstein - Added to DL

Josh Almonte - Added to DL
Anthony Alford - Activated from DL
Francisco Gracesqui - released
Carlos Ramirez - Called up to Lansing (BLU)
Chase Wellbrock - Assigned to Extended Spring Training