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Keith Law has his top 20 Blue Jays prospects list. He has a few different names his list, and a different order than most, which is cool. I think if everyone has the same names in the same order, it is boring.
1. Nate Pearson, RHP
2. Jordan Groshans, 3B
3. Alek Manoah, RHP
4. Orelvis Martinez, SS
5. Anthony Kay, LHP
6. Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP
7. Eric Pardinho, RHP
8. Gabriel Moreno, C
9. Alejandro Kirk, C
10. Miguel Hiraldo, SS/2B
11. Dasan Brown, OF
12. Adam Kloffenstein, RHP
13. Leo Jimenez, SS
14. Patrick Murphy, RHP
15. Kendall Williams, RHP
16. T.J. Zeuch, RHP
17. Will Robertson, OF
18. Sem Robberse, RHP
19. Anthony Alford, OF
20. Thomas Hatch, RHP
He calls Brown the ‘sleeper’:
Brown’s speed and defense give him as much upside as anyone in the system after their top 100 guys, and I think he’ll show more discipline at the plate when he’s not pushed to a level above his experience.
Robberse is a name that doesn’t come up much. About him Keith says:
Robberse was pitching in the Dutch major league at 17 years old when the Jays signed him last July. He’s gone from 83-87 moh when they first saw him, to touching 93 with some spin on a breaking ball and feel for a changeup. He has one of the best deliveries in the Jays’ system and didn’t walk any of the 41 batters he faced in his pro debut.
The Yankees’ rotation took a hit yesterday, Luis Severino is having Tommy John surgery and will miss the season. I never want to see anyone get hurt, but this will make the AL East more interesting.
Shi tells us that the Jays are extending the protective netting “nearly” all the way down the left and right field lines.
The Blue Jays began working on their extension last May, not long after a young girl was struck in the stands by a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. foul ball with an exit velocity of 114 m.p.h. A concerned Guerrero repeatedly looked toward the stands to check on her condition, and she was lucky to have suffered only a welt on her abdomen.
I want people to be able to bring their kids to games. Baseball becomes a lifelong thing for fans if they have the memory of their parents taking them to games. I’m glad they are protecting people. It isn’t easy to get out of the way of a ball traveling over 100 mph. I get that people say ‘you should be watching’ but no one watches every pitch all the time.
They are going to lose a little bit of foul ground too. We have a lot of foul ground at Rogers Centre.
To avoid the need for large, distracting support poles that pose a risk to players, they pushed the stands and both dugouts out about four to five feet, with padded tops covering the extended areas. That allowed for a single uniform mesh line running along the media bays and in the action seats, supported only by cables attached to the facade of the second deck.
The camera bays may have to change some. I’ll be curious to see how it looks and plays.
Today the Jays are hosting the Tigers today. Of course, not on TV. Fisher gets a game in CF. Let’s just this as a game thread. The fourth outfielder battle has been a sad thing so far. Fisher had a couple of hits in his first game but has been quiet since then. Alford had a hit in the first game, but, other than that he’s gone 0 for 7 with 6 strikeouts.
Panik playing short is interesting too, I wish we could watch.
Rowdy Tellez is having a great spring, if he is battling for a roster spot, he’s doing everything he can to win it. He’s 4 for 7 with a double and a home run.
Trent Thornton gets his second spring start. He went two innings in his first without allowing a hit.
Let’s use this as a game thread if you are listening in today.