Hello Everyone and welcome back to another update in the Bluebird Banter Top 40 update. The last update was just as short-season leagues were getting underway, so this update has all the clubs well into their seasons, and it’s been a pretty productive season for the Baby Jays all around.
The club has a 251-204 record (.552 winning percentage) with only one club under .500 at this time (Buffalo is at 41-42 and in the thick of things, with a guy named Vlad coming to town shortly the story goes). Lansing clinched a playoff spot in the first half of the Midwest league season, while the rest of the clubs above complex ball are all in playoff position as of today.
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Looking around the hitters, Vlad still leads with a 206 wRC+. Some other notables, Cavan Biggio leads with 19 HR’s, because everyone loves dingerzzz, Ryan Noda is still sitting with a 20.7% BB-rate on 69 walks, Kevin Smith has 50 extra base hits out of 111 on the year and Bo Bichette has 22 doubles and 26 stolen bases. Defensively, Riley Adams has thrown out 46% of would be base stealers, best in the org, while Chavez Young leads with 14 outfield assists. Short season versions have recent draftee Cal Stevenson with 6 Assists in 23 games and Alejandro Kirk at 55% of base stealers on 11 attempts.
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For the pitchers, Eric Pardinho has been a revelation in his first 4 starts, even with a rough outing the last time around. He’s striking out 39.4% of the hitters he’s faced, which is pretty good for a reliever, let alone a 17-year old in who skipped the GCL. Sean Reid-Foley has been pretty solid since moving to Buffalo, and is sporting 10.84 K/9 from his 118 strikeouts. Ryan Borucki hasn’t missed a beat since moving to the big leagues, seeing most of his peripherals improve against better competition so far. Patrick Murphy continues to mow down hitters, allowing on 2 HR’s against in 103 innings.
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Having said that, it’s not all sunshine in the organization, as Canadian Tom Robson has retired. Tough break for a guy who had some talent, but couldn’t get past the injuries. But we won’t dwell on the negative for an organization that is 47 games over .500 and playing to their Pythagorean levels as well.
As always, thank you for reading. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions and I will get back to you. It’s always great to know that there are some strong clubs to cheer for in the system if the big league club purges talent.