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Minor League Update: August 20th Edition

Since I looked at the playoff races last week, let’s take a look at what Jays farm hands are at or near the top of the leader boards in their various leagues this time. In  Buffalo, DH Jesus Montero leads the IL in hits (but has only 11 homers and 16 walks so maybe don’t dream on him being something). Ryan Tepera is third in the league in saves as well. In New Hampshire, Rowdy Tellez is second in the Eastern League in OBP, and third in SLG and OPS. As a team, NH leads the EL in stolen bases.

In the FSL, unheralded spark-plug Jonathan Davis is third in the league in OPS,  since-promoted Richard Urena leads in batting average, 1B Ryan McBroom is fourth in SLG, third in hits and homers, and second in total bases. Finally, Jonathan Davis is fourth in OBP and also SB. As a team the D-Jays are first in the league in TB,  OPS, SB, and strikeouts; second in runs, doubles, triples, and SLG, but Dunedin pitchers are first in HR allowed and second in walks.

In Lansing, only Juan Kelly appears near the top of any list, he’s second in the league in doubles. Among pitchers, Angel Perdomo leads the league in K’s, and Ryan Borucki is fifth in ERA. As a team they are fourth in the league in saves and shutouts. Vancouver’s JB Woodman leads the league in doubles, and Patrick Murphy is second in ERA and fourth in WHIP. As a team, Canadians hitters are second in walks.

Finally, we move to the rookie leagues. Bluefield’s Bradley Jones is third in the Appalachian League in homers, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is third in total bases. He’s also fifth in walks while his teammate Nick Sinay leads in that category, as well as in SB and OBP. Collectively, the Bluefield offense leads in walks and stolen bases, and are second in homers and third in runs. Finally, the GCL Jays have Noberto Obeso sitting third in BA, first by a wide margin in OBP (.477!)  and second in OPS, while his teammate David Jacobs is fifth in that category and in SLG.  Pitcher Wilfri Aleton is fourth in strikeouts, third in WHIP and fifth in ERA.

Pitchers of the Week

1. Justin Maese (19) – RHP – Lansing (A)

Week: 2 GS, 12.1 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 11 K
YTD:
LAN: 7 G, 39.2 IP, 43 H, 12 ER, 7 BB, 25 K 2.72 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 5.7 K/9, 1.6 BB/9
VAN: 5 G, 26.1 IP, 20 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 20 K 2.05 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 6.8 K/9, 0.3 BB/9

The young, 6’3″ Texan continues to show exemplary control as he acclimates himself to A-ball. He has now pitched in 20 (16 starts) pro games, and after walking more than one batter in his second appearance – has done so only one time since. It’s not the consensus yet, but no one would call you crazy if you rated this guy the second best pitching prospect in the system. Reportedly, he’s a ground ball machine (2.50 GO/AO) with a hard four seamer, a great sinking two seamer and a hard slider.

2. Jon Harris – RHP   (22) – Dunedin (A Advanced)

Week: 1 GS, 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
YTD: 21 G, 112 IP, 95 H, 30 ER, 32 BB, 89 K, 2.41 ERA, 1.13 WHIP,  7.2 K/9, 2.6 BB/9

Harris, the 2015 first round pick, is another guy who is flashing plus control of late. In his first start for Dunedin he uncharacteristically walk four hitters,  but there’s only one other outing in his last 10 in which he walked more than one hitter (two, on that occasion). There’s an argument that you’d like to see him develop a bit higher strikeout rate in the future, but that’s nitpicking at this point. After all, he has given up only two homers this season.

3.  Wilmer Font (26) – RHP – New Hampshire (AA)

Week: 1 GS, 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
YTD: 8 GS, 42.1 IP, 37 H, 14 ER, 10 BB, 28 K, 2.98 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 6.0 K/9, 2.1 BB/9

Here’s a name you may not have heard unless you are a passionate farm team follower. The Blue Jays signed Font out of the CanAm Independent League where he played for Ottawa. Font had previously spent six years in the Rangers organization and even managed to make it to big leagues for cups of coffee in 2012 and 2013, totaling five appearances. However, he left affiliated ball after 2014 and found himself in the indy leagues. Up until this year, the biggest knock on Font was that his fastball command was not up to par. This year, in Ottawa, he figured something out walking only 13 hitters in 60.1 IP. The Jays signed him to fill a hole in the AAA rotation created by shipping Wade LeBlanc to Seattle. He got into four games for the Bisons and did well in three of them, but was eventually crowded out of Buffalo by Casey Lawrence. He’s admittedly old for AA, but you have to tip your cap to the guy as he has struck out 17 in 13 IP over his last two games, giving up a single run.

Hitters of the Week

1. Vlad Guerrero, Jr (17) – 3B – Bluefield (Rookie)

Week: 9/19, 0 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 1 SB, 3 BB, 2 K, .474/.545/.789
YTD: 52/187, 10 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 15 SB, 26 BB, 27 K .278/.364/.465

You knew this was coming at some point. Guerrero, still just 17, has been hot since the fourth of July (.895 OPS in 40 games) and has been a success in all aspects of the game offensively. He has shown good contact and power, an excellent eye at the plate (as evidence by the BB/K ratio) and even stolen 15 bases in 19 attempts. He’s also currently riding a nine game hitting streak and has hit more homers (four) in the first half of August than he hit in the entire season before this month. It’s exciting to think about how much better this kid might get.

2. Anthony Alford  (22)- CF – Dunedin

Week: 9/23, 1 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 0 SB, 6 BB, 6 K, .391/.517/.696
YTD: 75/303, 17 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 14 SB, 45 BB, 101 K, .248/.348/.406

Honestly, it gets kinda redundant to write about Alford at this point. You can continue to go back and marvel at the trend line – since he shook off the effects of the concussion in late June, in 47 games (which is roughly 1/3 of a minor league season) he’s slashing .287/.395/.619 – but you could have done that most weeks for a while now. One thing, among many, that’s worth pointing out is the contrast between this and his first full season in 2015.
This year he’s hitting with more over the fence power even thought the FSL has a reputation as a pitcher’s league. His full season ISO is .157 up from .123 and  since he’s been fully healthy it’s .332 (obviously not sustainable but still impressive). Looked at another way, he hit a homer once every 103 AB last season, this year it’s once every 34 at bats. Another change is his already good eye at the plate seems even better. Last year he walked 35 times in 107 games (about once every three games). This year he has walked 40 times in 87 games. His strikeout rate is down as well even thoughh this is a season marred by injury. The future looks bright for Alford.

3. Joshua Palacios (21) – CF -Vancouver (Rookie Advanced)

Week: 11/26, 2 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 1 SB, 1 BB, 4 K, .423 /.444/ .577
YTD:
VAN – 33/93, 7 2B, 2 3B, 0 HR, 4 SB, 14 BB, 17 K, .355/.450/.473
GCL – 13/49, 3 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 4 SB, 3 BB, 6 K, .265/.321/.327

It’s really rather remarkable how many of the Blue Jays 2016 draftees have gotten off to excellent starts in their pro career (there’s probably be a full post on that after the minor league season ends) and fourth rounder Palacios takes a back seat to none of them. Not only is he having a great season for the Canadians (a .923 OPS without a homer isn’t routine), but he’s getting better as the season goes on. He’s hitting .397 in August and has multiple hits in six of his last eight games.

Other Minor Notes

-As mentioned above, the Jays are seeing good success out of their recent draft class. Joining Palacios in Vancouver success are second rounder JB Woodman and fifth rounder Cavan Biggio, both of whom I’ve featured before. Both have an OPS over .900 in August. It’s valid to speculate that all three might move up to Lansing to finish the season relatively soon.

-Nash Knight, who was hitting over .400 when he left Bluefield for Vancouver, hit .400 this week for the Canadians.

-Max Pentecost came off the DL and was activated for last night’s game – with a promotion to Dunedin.

-Mitch Nay is finally rehabbing in the GCL, long-time injured Jon Berti is back with NH and Matt Dean is back, but now with Dunedin.

Other Players of Interest

HITTERS

Dalton Pompey – CF – Not awful, not promotion worthy production though
Richard Urena – SS – Cooled a bit from insanely hot start at the level
Rowdy Tellez - 1B –  Played eight games in the week, got a hit in seven of them
Christian Lopes – 2B – Had a stretch of seven consecutive multi-hit games within last two weeks
Dan Jansen – C – Fine, unspectacular week
Juan Kelly - 1B – Continues consistent mid-range production on week hitting team
Lane Thomas – CF – Can’t seem to find consistent stroke
JB Woodman – CF – See “Other Minor Notes”
Cavan Biggio – 2B – Ditto

PITCHERS
Conner Greene – RHP – Six no-hit IP last Friday, got lit up on Wednesday. Weird.
Sean Reid-Foley – RHP – Spent the week on the DL
Francisco Rios – RHP – Shifted to the bullpen to manage his IP
Angel Perdomo – LHP – Inconsistent over last month and 40 IP over previous career high
Jordan Romano – RHP – Found a second wind?
Ryan Borucki  - LHP – Had only his second really rough outing since joining the Lugnuts
Patrick Murphy – RHP – Steadily showing what the teams saw in him when the made him a second round pick
TJ Zuech - RHP – Was the announced starter, twice I think, but didn’t pitch this week
Wilfri Alerton – LHP – Hasn’t walked more than one batter since June.

Others on the DL that did not play this week:
Harold Ramirez
Reese McGuire
Max Pentecost
Bo Bichette

Lead Photo: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

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