News
News from Dunedin last night trumps everything else you are likely to have on your mind, in terms of the Blue Jays farm system, and this is what we know as of late Friday night, per MiLB.com:
DUNEDIN, FL - CF Anthony Alford was taken off the field on a stretcher with a neck injury in the top of the 12th inning in Dunedin’s 3-2 loss to the St. Lucie Mets (29-30) Friday night. A wild play on an infield fly in the 12th scored the go-ahead run for the Mets and took Alford out of the game. Alford will undergo tests at Mease Dunedin Hospital where he is talking and moving his limbs.
According to Jeff Blair, Alford and Richard Urena collided on the play.
Pitchers of the Week
1. Angel Perdomo – LHP – Lansing (Low A)
Week: 2 GS , 11.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 14 K 2.45 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 11.5 K/9, 3.3 BB/9
YTD: 10 GS, 54.1 IP, 28 H 10 ER, 24 BB, 68 K, 1.66 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 11.3 K/9, 4.0 BB/9
Perdomo has been such a regular on this list that I’m running out of new things to say. Often, on the hitters particularly, I’ll be able to say “the last 3 weeks he’s…” or whatever, but Perdomo hasn’t had and low point in the season to date from, save an appearance on May 7 in which he gave up 2 ER in 2/3 of an inning during a game in which he had no control and walked 3, allowing his pitch count in the inning to get too high. That’s been his only “off” appearance all year.
2. Conner Greene- RHP – Dunedin (High A)
Week: 1 GS , 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
YTD: 60.2 IP, 62 H, 21 ER, 30 BB, 36 K, 3.12 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 5.3 K/9, 4.5 BB/9
In a down week for impressive pitching performances, I’m taking advantage of the fact that Greene had a pretty good game to highlight the guy who came into the season ranked as the Jays best pitching prospect. But, just based on stats, he’s maybe been passed by by 3 or 4 other guys. The sample is, of course, far too small to make such a judgment, we don’t know, as bystanders, whether the team has him working on some particular skill that is more important to them than raw stats for example. But Greene certainly has had a reversal by the numbers.
He has an IP total that46% of what he threw in 2015, but he has 77% as many walks, and has already given up 5 homers whereas he gave up only 6 all of last year (and that in a pitchers league). By contrast, he had a 7.8 K/9 last year which is down to 5.3 this season. He pitched better Wednesday night than he has since April 23, but whether this is a step forward or an outlier remains to be seen.
3. Sean Reid-Foley - RHP – Lansing (Low A)
Week: 1 GS , 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
YTD: 10 GS, 51.0 IP, 39 H, 18 ER, 21 BB, 55 K, 3.18 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 9.7 K/9, 3.7 BB/9
As with Perdomo, there’s repetition here, a couple of other pitchers in the system had pretty good games this week, but it’s worth choosing the familiar name if for no other reason than to point out the factoid that he’s only walked 2 (as opposed to 22k) in the last 21 IP.
Hitters of the Week
1. Dalton Pompey – CF – – Buffalo
Week: 13/25, 1 1B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 4 SB, 5 BB, 3 K, .520 AVG, .600 OBP, .560 SLG
Season: 44/141, 7 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 8 SB, 18 BB, 27 K .312 AVG, .390 OBP, .383 SLG
After his third stint on the DL in the early going, the problem with Pompey was easy to diagnose – he needed an extended run of playing time to get his rhythm back. After a couple of hitless games coming off that inactivity (he’d been 1 for 28 over the previous 3 weeks) , it apparently clicked in real good. In 104 plate appearances since May 8 (have you noticed that every good hitter in Buffalo blew up right around May 8?) he’s hitting .359/.433/.457/.890 and it’s hard to find any fault with him save that there’s a lack of over-the-fence power to this point.
2. Lane Thomas – CF – Lansing
Week: 7/22, 0 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 0 SB, 2 BB, 9 k, .333 AVG, .360 OBP, .541 SLG
YTD: 37/181, 8 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 13 SB, 30 BB, 65 K, .204 AVG, .324 OBP, .359 SLG
In every draft (so far!) there’s a player or three that are drafted after the first three rounds (when everyone is supposedly good) that I read enough good things about to develop an affection for watching them develop. In 2014, Thomas was that guy for me. He was taken in the fifth round and looked pretty darn good in short season ball that year (he had an .814 OPS in Bluefield in 18g). But last season, while dealing with a series of minor injuries, he was abysmal in Lansing before being pushed back to Vancouver where he was still pretty bad. Up until the last 10 games, it looked like this was going to be a re-run. It’s a really small sample, fueled by an unsustainable HR rate, but it might be a sign he’s getting himself back together.
3. Jason Leblebijian – INF – New Hampshire (AA)
Week: 9/20, 2 2B, 3 HR, 0 SB, 3 BB, 1 K, .450 AVG, .522 OBP, 1.000 SLG
Dunedin: 59/200, 7 2B, 6 HR, 6 SB, 18 BB, 59 K, .295 AVG, .362 OBP, .420 SLG
Leblebijian is probably best understood as a nine-month younger version of Andy Burns. Both are RH hitting infielders, drafted out of college, both are listed at 6’2″, 205 lbs, and they have almost identical career OBP figures. Both play all over the infield, having been drafted as shortstops, with Burns having 176 more plate appearances, having been drafted a year earlier, and also having shown a bit more power. Leblebijian is making a very good impression in his AA debut.
Other Minor Notes
While these posts are typically for high performers, or top prospects, since a couple of the big names (Jon Harris and Francisco Rios) didn’t pitch at all this week, I’ve included a couple of pitching lines on the charts below that normally wouldn’t qualify. One is a lightly regarded guy who keeps plugging along with pretty fair numbers, who might end up being a shuttle-rider in a year or two – the other is a guy who had some buzz before his Tommy John surgery but has been pretty much a train wreck this year attempting to come back. I’ll trust you to suss out which is which.
Other Stat Lines of Interest
HITTERS
Last Week
| Hitter | Age | Pos. | Lvl | G | AVG | OBP | SLG | HR | SB | BB | K | TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rowdy Tellez | 21 | 1B | AA | 6 | .154 | .313 | .154 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 9 |
| Dwight Smith, Jr | 23 | LF | AA | 6 | .300 | .323 | .367 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 12 |
| Anthony Alford | 21 | CF | A+ | 3 | .000 | .000 | .167 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Richard Urena | 20 | SS | A+ | 5 | .235 | .381 | .529 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 13 |
| Max Pentecost | 23 | DH | A | 5 | .190 | .227 | .238 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
Season
| Hitter | Age | Pos. | Lvl | G | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | HR | SB | BB | K | TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rowdy Tellez | 21 | 1B | AA | 32 | 135 | .237 | .355 | .449 | 9 | 0 | 36 | 48 | 89 |
| Dwight Smith, Jr | 23 | LF | AA | 51 | 220 | .270 | .333 | .395 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 41 | 79 |
| Anthony Alford | 21 | CF | A+ | 32 | 134 | .205 | .277 | .262 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 51 | 32 |
| Richard Urena | 20 | SS | A+ | 52 | 224 | .243 | .298 | .390 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 37 | 82 |
| Max Pentecost | 23 | DH | A | 26 | 106 | .265 | .318 | .306 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 19 | 30 |
PITCHERS
Last Week
| Pitcher | Age | Pos. | Lvl | G | ERA | K/9 | BB/9 | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drew Hutchison | 25 | SP | AAA | 1 | 5.40 | 12.6 | 1.8 | 1.80 |
| Shane Dawson | 22 | SP | AA | 2 | 4.89 | 7.8 | 4.9 | 1.20 |
| Jeremy Gabryszwski | 23 | SP | AA | 1 | 1.50 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 1.33 |
| Tom Robson | 22 | SP | A | 1 | 31.50 | 9.0 | 4.5 | 4.50 |
| Ryan Borucki | 22 | SP | A | 1 | 3.86 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 1.29 |
Season
| Pitcher | Age | Pos. | Lvl | G | IP | ERA | K/9 | BB/9 | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drew Hutchison | 25 | SP | AAA | 11 | 58.1 | 3.14 | 9.7 | 3.3 | 0.81 |
| Shane Dawson | 22 | SP | AA | 9 | 44.2 | 3.43 | 7.5 | 5.2 | 1.54 |
| Jeremy Gabryszwski | 23 | SP | AA | 12 | 70 | 3.60 | 5.1 | 2.1 | 1.17 |
| Tom Robson | 22 | SP | A | 7 | 18.2 | 9.16 | 6.8 | 11.1 | 2.57 |
| Ryan Borucki* | 22 | SP | A | 10 | 44.0 | 7.98 | 5.7 | 3.7 | 1.8 |
Coming up this week, I’ll have a look at the short-season rosters as the Vancouver Canadians begin their season next Friday. Soon there will be a lot of other interesting prospects to talk about in the field. In particular, all eyes will be on where VGJ and pitcher Justin Maese are assigned.
Lead Photo: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports