Baby Bird Brief - Weekly Report - Week 7

Blue Jays Weekly Minor League Report - June 1

Baby Bird Performers of the Week
Offense - Shane Optiz - OPS of 1.247 for the week. Optiz put up a strong week for New Hampshire, including 7 doubles & 2 HR's. Optiz drove in 4 and also added 3 walks and 8 K's
Honorable Mention - Richard Urena - OPS of 1.003. Urena has been hitting solidly for a couple weeks now and picked up 15 hits, including 2 doubles & a HR last week. He drove in 6 runs and had 2 walks and 6 K's

Pitching - Sean Reid-Foley - Had the best start of any Baby Jay last week as he struck out 10 over 5.2 innings on Sunday. For the week, SRF had 10.2 innings with 17 K's. He did walk 5 and allowed 5 hits. Read more here
Honorable Mention - Luis Santos - A previous winner here, Santos had another strong start this week, going 7 innings and allowing an unearned run on 4 hits

Leaders

Stats of the week that may only interest me
Outfield Assists - 6 - Matt Newman
Caught Stealing % - 37% (11 of 30) - Jack Murphy
Hit By Pitch - 16 - Tim Locastro

Buffalo
Buffalo had a rough week, going 2-4, although the ended on a much better foot with a 2 game winning streak. The win in game 2 on Friday broke a 5-game losing streak and was needed. For the week, Buffalo scored 18 runs and allowed 26. The runs allowed look worse from the start of the week, as the Herd only allowed 2 runs in each of the last 4 games, picking up 2 wins and 2 losses by a run.

This week Buffalo heads out on a road trip with 3 games in Indianapolis and then a 4 game set in Louisville. Buffalo will be looking for more offense as they lost another start, at least in the short term, when Miguel Castro went down with a finger/forearm issue on Friday night. Devon Travis also gave it a go in Buffalo on Friday, but was shut down as has been discussed.

Over the weekend, Buffalo went 2-1 with a rain out on Sunday. The Herd split the doubleheader with Rochester on Friday, losing 2-1 in the early game and winning 4-2 in the night cap. A 3-2 win on Saturday afternoon gave Buffalo a small winning streak.

Weekend Performances

• Matt Hague continued to be the one bat Buffalo could rely on. Hague had 2 hits in each game over the weekend, including a double in game 2 Friday. He also picked up a walk and a K
• Dioner Navarro played in all 3 games, going 3-10 with a HR and 3 K's
• Dalton Pompey returned in game 1 Friday after being off for a bit. He also played Saturday and went 1-8 with 4 K's in the 2 games
• Andy Burns hit a solo HR in game 1 Friday, his 2^nd of the year with Buffalo. He also picked up a hit on Saturday
• Brad Glenn walked in all 3 games, and also had a single and his 5^th HR for Buffalo on Saturday to win the game in the 9^th.
  
  
• Miguel Castro started game 1 Friday and left after allowing a 2-run HR in the 2^nd inning. He allowed the HR and 2 walks, and struck out 2
• Scott Copeland returned with 3.2 innings of scoreless relief. He allowed 4 hits and a walk, and struck out 3
• Jeff Francis started the night cap, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks in 3 innings. Francis also struck out 4
• Chad Jenkins (2), Luis Perez (1) & Gregory Infante (1) all threw scoreless relief on Friday as Jenkins picked up the win
• Felix Doubront started Saturday and finally has an ERA. Doubront went 7 innings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 5 in his longest outing of the year
• Bobby Korecky was the winner on Brad Glenn's 9^th inning HR after a scoreless inning

New Hampshire
New Hampshire had a regular week for a .500 club, going 3-4. The Fisher Cats scored 38 runs and allowed 45, including consecutive games allowing 9, 10 then 12 runs. Over the weekend New Hampshire bounced back with a 2-1 record, beating New Britain 9-4 on Friday, losing 6-5 on Saturday and winning 5-1 on Sunday

New Hampshire starts June with a day off on Monday, then starting a home stand with Bowie on Tuesday, followed by a 3-game set with Richmond over the weekend. This is a big stretch as the Fisher Cats head out on their longest road trip of the season after this week, so they will want to have a good run.

Friday night, New Hampshire got on the board early; scoring 2 in the 1^st and 6 in the 2^nd on their way to a 9-4 win. Saturday saw New Hampshire jumping out early again, scoring 1 in the 1^st and 3 in the 2^nd before New Britain took the lead back. The Fisher Cats tied the game in the 7^th before losing in the 12^th. Sunday, New Hampshire got a strong start from Joel Pineiro as they cruised to a 5-1 win.

Weekend Performances

• Daric Barton picked up 3 hits, including a double Friday night before being recalled to Buffalo
• K.C. Hobson had 3 hits Friday night, including a double, and added a hit Saturday
• Ian Parmley picked up hits in all 3 games, 2 singles Friday night, a hit Saturday and a single & a triple on Sunday. He is hitting .339 since being called up to New Hampshire this year with an .808 OPS
• Jorge Flores had hits in all 3 games, picking up a single and scoring 2 runs Friday, a single & a double on Saturday and a double on Sunday
• Kevin Nolan had a single and a walk Saturday and a double Sunday
• Dwight Smith had 2 hits Friday night and 2 walks on Saturday
• Melky Mesa had a 3-hit game on Saturday in his return from Buffalo, adding a double
• Ronald Torreyes has continued to struggle, going 1-8 with a walk over the weekend
• Jack Murphy picked up 3 walks on Friday night and a hit on Sunday
• Pierce Rankin had 2 hits in his only action Saturday
  
  
• Casey Lawrence went the distance Friday night, allowing 4 runs on 9 hits over his 9 innings. Lawrence struck out 6 and got 9 ground outs versus 8 fly outs. Lawrence's only real mistake was a 3-run HR in the 3^rd with an 8-0 lead
• Taylor Cole started on Saturday and allowed 5 runs (2 earned) over 4.2 innings. He gave up 7 hits and walked 2 while striking out 2
• Greg Burke (1.1), Danny Barnes (2) & Blake McFarland (2) each pitched scoreless relief
• Joel Pineiro allowed a run on 7 hits and a walk over 6 innings. He recorded 5 strikeouts , 3 ground outs and 7 fly outs
• Jimmy Cordero pitched 2 scoreless innings with 4 K's in his best outing since moving to New Hampshire

Dunedin
Dunedin went 2-4 for the week, which doesn't reflect their efforts last week. Dunedin actually had a +4 run differential, scoring 22 runs and allowing 18 across 6 games. Dunedin a 6 game losing streak that saw 3 straight 1-run losses to Jupiter, followed by a 1-run win.

Over the weekend, Dunedin picked up a 2-1 win at Jupiter before returning home and losing 5-2 to Tampa on Saturday and then beating Tampa 9-0 on Sunday. Friday night, the top of the order went 4-10 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored, while the bottom of the order went 0-20 with 3 walks and 7 K's in their 2-1 win. Saturday saw Dunedin give up 3 in the 5^th and 2 more in the 7^th as they couldn't come back. Sunday saw the offense and the pitching come together in a solid outing for the D-Jays. Dunedin allowed only 3 baserunners on Sunday, 2 of which were immediately removed with double plays.

Coming up this week, Dunedin finishes their series with Tampa on Monday, before playing a home-and-home series with Clearwater before heading to Brevard County for 3 on the weekend.

Weekend Performances

• Roemon Fields had a hit and a walk and scored both runs on Friday, went 0-4 Saturday and then picked up 3 hits, including a double, and 3 runs on Sunday
• Christian Lopes had 2 hits Friday, including a double, went 0-4 Saturday and then had 3 hits (with a double) and 2 runs scored Sunday
• Matt Dean went 0-4 with 2 K's Friday, 2-4 with 2 doubles on Saturday and 2-5 with a double on Sunday
• L.B. Dantzler had 3 hits on Sunday, including a double and his 1^st HR of the year. Dantzler also walked Sunday.
• Dickie Joe Thon had 2 doubles on Saturday, adding a walk on Sunday
• Derrick Loveless went 0-4 Friday with 1 K, 0-4 Saturday with 2 K's and 3-3 with a double on Sunday
• Mitch Nay had a single on Saturday and a triple and a single Sunday
• Mike Reeves picked up a triple on Saturday
• Dawel Lugo had 2 hits Sunday
  
  
• Luis Santos started Friday, and went 7 strong innings, allowing an unearned run on 4 hits. He struck out 3 and had 7 grounds outs to 6 fly outs
• Justin Shafer pitched 2 innings for the save, allowing 1 hit. Shafer got 5 ground outs
• Jeremy Gabryszwski went 7 innings on Saturday, allowing 5 runs on 9 hits and a walk. Scrabble III had 4 K's and had 8 grounds outs to 4 fly outs
• Phil Kish threw 2 scoreless, allowing only a walk and striking out 3
• Jeff Hoffman had his best results of the year, going 5 shutout innings. He allowed 2 hits and struck out 3. Hoffman had 7 ground outs and 2 fly outs
• Alberto Tirado had a strong effort Sunday as well, he went 4 scoreless innings for the save, allowing a hit and striking out 2. Tirado had 6 ground outs and 3 fly outs

Lansing
Lansing continues to be Toronto's strongest performing affiliate going 5-2 last week. Lansing ended the week with a +11 run differential on 39 runs for and 28 runs allowed. Lansing took 2 of 3 from Bowling Green, a team they were tied with for 1^st in the standings, and then followed that up with winning 2 of 3 from Dayton over the weekend.

Coming up for the Lugnuts, Lansing finishes Monday at Dayton before coming home to take on Burlington & Peoria this week.

Friday night Lansing & Dayton traded runs in the 9^th as Lansing held on for a 5-4 win. Saturday saw Lansing dominate Dayton hitters in a 4-0 victory, as Dayton only picked up 3 hits and a walk for the game. Lansing jumped out quickly Sunday, scoring runs in each of the first 4 innings, before allowing Dayton to battle back and take the game in the 10^th inning, 6-5.

Weekend Performances

• Ryan McBroom had a good weekend, picking up 2 hits and a walk Friday, a double and 3 K's on Saturday and 5 hits on Sunday. McBroom also picked up his 1^st steal of the year
• Richard Urena continued to swing a hot bat, picking up hits in all 3 games. Urena had 2 hits, including a double on Friday, a hit Saturday and 3 hits on Sunday. Urena also picked up a walk Sunday, which is encouraging
• Rowdy Tellez had 2 hits and a walk Friday, 0-4 with a K Saturday and a double and a walk on Sunday
• Anthony Alford had a hit, a walk and 3 K's on Friday night, had a hit on Saturday and went 0-5 with 2 K's on Sunday, his first time not getting on base this season (34 games)
• Tim Locastro had a hit in each game. He was also hit by a pitch Sunday and picked up his 24^th stolen base
• Michael De La Cruz had a hit in each of his games, a single Friday night after coming on in relief of Danny Jansen, and a double on Saturday
• D.J. Davis had a rough weekend, going 2-11 with a walk and 5 K's. He did pick up his 9^th steal of the year on Sunday
  
  
• Conner Greene started Friday night, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings. Greene struck out 6, had 4 ground outs and 3 fly ball outs. He also hit a batter
• Colton Turner followed with 3 strong innings, allowing 1 hit and striking out 4, while getting 4 ground outs
• Sean Reid-Foley had a tremendous start Saturday, throwing 5.2 innings, allowing 1 hit and 1 walk, while striking out 10 batters
• Chase Mallard threw 3 innings to get the save, allowing 2 hits and striking out 3
• Chase De Jong started Sunday and allowed 5 runs on 8 hits and a walk over 6 innings. De Jong gave up a 2-run HR to tie the game
• Starlyn Suriel threw 3.1 innings of relief, allowing 1 run (though it was the winning run) on 2 hits. Suriel also struck out 3 and hit a batter, who ended up scoring the winning run

Dominican Summer League
The DSL Jays had their debut on Saturday, as they fell to the DSL Reds 2-0. The Jays could only manage 3 hits and 2 walks on the day, while striking out 9 times. The Reds had 8 hits and 2 walks, and only struck out 4 times. Both teams made an error. On the roster, they list 3 1998 born short stops, a 1997 born short stop and a 1995 born 2B as the only infielders

• Jose Nova started and went 4 innings. He allowed a run on 5 hits and struck out 3. Nova is a 1995-born LH who also got 8 ground outs
• Tommy Henriquez allowed an unearned run on 2 walks in 1 inning of work. Henriquez is another '95 born RHP
• Guillermo De La Cruz ('97 LH) & Yonardo Herdenez ('95 RH) both threw 2 scoreless innings. De La Cruz allowed a hit and struck out 1. Herdenez allowed 2 hits
  
  
• Francisco Rodriguez ('94 RHH OF) had a hit and a walk
• Victor Figuereo ('97 SHH OF) had a hit and a K
• Norberto Obeso ('95 LHH OF) had a hit
• The Blue Jays top hitting prospect in last year's international signing period, Kevin Vicuna made his debut, playing DH and hitting lead-off. He went 0-3 with 2 K's

Look Ahead
BUF - Buffalo takes on Indianapolis (PIT). Randy Wolf is listed as the starter, but I haven't seen any info on his June 1^st deadline to opt out
NH - New Hampshire has a night off
DUN - Dunedin takes on Tampa (NYY) at home. Murphy Smith starts
LAN - Lansing has one more at Dayton (CIN) before heading home. Jesus Tinoco starts
DSL - Takes on the DSL Reds

Performer of the Month
May - Hitting - Tim Locastro
Locastro had the best OPS for the Baby Jays in May at .986. Locastro also added 17 stolen bases for the month
May - Pitching - Matt Boyd
Boyd continued to pitch solidly for the second straight month. Boyd had 3 wins in 37.2 innings, where he allowed 6 runs for the month. Boyd walked 7 and struck out 30 in a slightly less dominating win

April - Hitting - Chris Colabello (1.019 OPS, 24-71 (.338), 5 HR,16 RBI, 10 BB)
April - Pitching - Matt Boyd (20.2 IP, 4 runs, 8 walks, 30 K's)

Transactions
Buffalo
Munenori Kawasaki - Optioned to Buffalo
Dioner Navarro - Sent to Buffalo on a rehab assignment
Bo Schultz - Recalled by Toronto
Todd Redmond - Sent outright to Buffalo by Toronto
Devon Travis - Sent to Buffalo on a rehab assignment
Daric Barton - Assigned to Buffalo from New Hampshire
Alex Hassan - Assigned to Buffalo from Dunedin
Miguel Castro - Placed on 7-day DL
Austen Bibens-Dirkx - Activated from 7-day DL
Ryan Schimpf - Placed on Temporarily Inactive List
Munenori Kawasaki - Recalled to Toronto
Ramon Santiago - Activated from 7-day DL

New Hampshire
Daric Barton - Assigned to New Hampshire from Buffalo
Kevin Nolan - Assigned to New Hampshire from Buffalo
Andy Fermin - Placed on 7-day DL
Jimmy Cordero - Assigned to New Hampshire from Dunedin
Chris Schaeffer - Placed on 7-day DL
Cole Garner - Assigned to New Hampshire from Mexican League
Melky Mesa - Assigned to New Hampshire from Buffalo

Dunedin
Matt Smoral - Assigned to Dunedin from Vancouver
J.D. Davis - Placed on 7-day DL
Christian Lopes - Assigned to Dunedin from New Hampshire

Lansing
Andrew Case - Activated from 7-day DL
Danny Jansen - Placed on 7-Day DL