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Minor League Update: September 3rd Edition

The playoff races have resolved in two of four cases, as we wrap up the last full week of the minor league season. Some teams are still playing through the Labour Day weekend and possibly two affiliates will qualify for postseason play, but many of the farm hands are done with their season. Let’s run through the system before getting to the best individual performances.

-Starting at the lowest level, the Gulf Coast Blue Jays finished up with a very impressive .696 winning percentage, second best in all of the Complex League. The problem is, the best record in the GCL was owned by the Phillies affiliate who are in their division, and only one team per division makes the playoffs, so the second best team in the league didn’t make the cut.
-The Bluefield Blue Jays finished a game and a half out of a playoff spot, six games over .500 and were in the race into the last week of the season which is nothing to be ashamed of.
-Vancouver had their worst season as a Jays affiliate, worst in their division in the overall standings. While there were a few good individual performances for the VanCs from the 2016 draftees, the squad was overall a very poor hitting team.
-Lansing is in pursuit in a very tight race. As of the Friday night tilt, they sit a game and a half out of the last playoff position in their division with three to play. They have to win out in order to qualify, and need help besides.
-Dunedin was sitting on a two game lead going into the final weekend make or break series against the second-place Clearwater Threshers, needing only one win to clinch. The D-Jays had their advantage protected by the rains of Hurricane Hermine, with four games out of five from Sunday to Thursday lost to the weather.
-New Hampshire and Buffalo have both been eliminated from contention for some time.

Pitchers of the Week

1. Ryan Borucki  (22) LHP  – Lansing (A)

Week: 2 GS, 10 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 14 K
YTD: 20 G, 115.2 IP, 105 H, 31 ER, 26 BB, 107 K, 2.41 ERA, 1.13 WHIP,  8.3 K/9, 2.0 BB/9
(Lansing stats only)

Yes, he was recognized last week but Borucki is not only consistent but consistently good. In 11 of his last 14 starts, he has allowed one run or less and over that span his ERA is 1.7 with a 6:1 K:BB ratio and K/9 over 9.0. He has his health, finally, his confidence, regained after a rough start to the year in Dunedin, and impressive stuff and results. He deserves consideration for any Top 10 Blue Jays prospects list you may be thinking of putting together.

2. Angel Perdomo (22) – LHP – Lansing

Week: 1 GS, 5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
YTD: 26 G, 121 IP, 99 H, 45 ER, 51 BB, 149 K 3.35 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 11.1 K/9, 3.8 BB/9

Lansing, for all it’s offensive struggles, has benefited all year from outstanding starting pitching. For most of the year they’ve been able to count on two tall, 22 year old left-handers. Borucki is reported to be considerably more polished, but Perdomo has what pitching coaches call “pitchability” and as he refines his ability to command the ball and reduces the number of free passes, there’s still potential to get even better.

3. Conner Greene (21) –  RHP – New Hampshire (AA)

Week: 2 GS, 12 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 9 K
YTD:
AA – 12 GS, 68.2 IP, 57 H, 32 ER, 33 BB, 48 K, 4.19 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 6.3 K/9, 4.3 BB/9
A- – 15 GS, 77.2 IP ,74 H, 25 ER, 38 BB, 51 K, 2.90 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 5.9 K/9, 4.4 BB/9

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that Greene has spent the year as the textbook example of the problem with “scouting the stat line.” On the surface, this seasons seems like a clear step back from his impressive 2015. His K/9 is down by 1.7, and his BB/9 is up an almost identical amount. Still, when you hear his name mentioned by professional observers, he’s not spoken of as a player who has lost prospect capital, but rather is described in vague “working on things” terms. Organizational development personnel will routinely give a player a task which may not be directly conducive to statistical success in the upcoming game, but is intended to produce the maximum outcome long term. For example, a pitcher with a rudimentary change-up may be under orders to throw it a certain percentage of the time in an effort to refine it. Teams will adjust mechanics, arm angles, pitch selection, and so forth in order to get a pitcher into the best practices for career success. I don’t know what specifically Greene is working on, but there’s probably something.

He was among the six players assigned to the Arizona Fall League so he’s got more work to do. He’ll head to Florida to work in Instructs until the AFL begins play in October.

Hitters of the Week

1. Rowdy Tellez (21) – 1B – New Hampshire

Week: 9/27, 2 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 0 SB, 4 BB, 7 K, .333/.419/.852
YTD: 127/426, 28 2B, 2 3B, 21 HR, 4 SB, 61 BB, 89 K .298/.386/.521

When Rowdy Tellez gets hot, it can be hard write about him without your words being immediately outdated by more production. Rowdy has improved his performance each month over the last for the entire season. He started the season cold, but since he turned his season around he’s been a monster. Check out this slash set over his last 94 games beginning May 10: .343/.413/.601/1.014.

Some in the industry are noticing, as Rowdy made Baseball America’s August All-Star team. I’ll repeat what I’ve said elsewhere, Tellez is almost certainly a better major league hitter than Justin Smoak right now. It was highly conservative to leave him AA all season.

2. Bradley Jones (21) – 3B/1B – Bluefield (Rookie)

Week: 13/29, 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 SB, 0 BB, 6 K, .448/.448/.793
YTD: 69/237, 18 2B, 1 3B, 16 HR, 16 SB, 17 BB, 71 K, .291/.336/.578

Okay, so I admit that when I featured Jones last week I was thinking “here’s one of those guys who had a hot week or two but I probably won’t often mention him again.” On the morning of August 8, he was a nondescript guy with a .221 AVG and a .678 OPS, but in the 30 days since he’s been something else entirely. Try .376/.431/.806 on for size. Now, he is an 18th round selection with a noticeably high strikeout total, so optimism should be guarded, however there is this: On August 1 he went 0/6 in an extra inning game and struck out all six times. Since then his AB/K ratio has gotten 20% better so – maybe the awful game motivated him to change his approach?

3. JB Woodman (21) – CF  – Lansing

Week: 8/18, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 0 SB, 3 BB, 9 K, .444 /.500/ .667
YTD: 61/213, 19 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 10 SB, 33 BB, 81 K, .345/.410/.545 (combined)

As noted last week, four 2016 draft selections were airlifted in to bolster Lansing’s title run and if they don’t make it, it won’t be because Woodman or his fellow outfielder Joshua Palacios failed to deliver. Woodman, who’s said to be an excellent fielder, also showed good speed and baserunning. And though the strikeout total was higher than you’d like, he also got on base at a prolific rate. Finishing strong is something every player wants to do, of course, and he should take a good feeling into the off-season.

Other Minor Notes

– While noticing the BA honors for Tellez, I realized that Sean Reid-Foley, who’s been on the DL for a couple of weeks now, made the July All-Star team.
– Speaking of SRF, Dunedin broadcaster Spence Seigel told Jesse Goldberg-Strassler (who was a guest on this week’s ATW podcast) on Around the Nest that Reid-Foley was back throwing off flat ground after some shoulder issue but wasn’t expected to see any more game-time this season.
– One of the 2015 draftees that had been considered a sleeper (MLB.com ranks him as the #24 prospect on their most recent list) is speedy CF Reggie Pruitt who had a most unimpressive year at Bluefield this season, but finished strong hitting .429 with a .967 OPS over the final week.
– Joshua Palacios also had a week that merited consideration for the featured hitter list. Coming into Friday night’s game he had been on base at least once in each of the previous 38 games in which he got an official plate appearance, and had a 19 game hit streak (both stretching back to his time in Vancouver of course). That streak was snapped last night, in only the third game all year in which he came to the plate at least once and didn’t find his way on base at least once.

Other Players of Interest

HITTERS

Dalton Pompey – CF – Finished the season poorly, under pressure as Sept. recall
Richard Urena – SS – Hitting a mere .191 over last 17 games
Reese McGuire – C – Hasn’t hit a lick in 13 games in New Hampshire
Christian Lopes – 2B – August was by far the best month of his career
Anthony Alford – CF – Slumping some since mid-August
Max Pentecost – C/DH – Just 10 games for the D-Jays so far
Juan Kelly - 1B – Riding a 33 game on-base streak.
Lane Thomas – CF – Struggles to find consistency
Joshua Palacios – CF – See note above
Cavan Biggio – 2B – Getting on base, but no pop at all in first week of A ball
Vlad Guerrero, Jr – 3B – Made no noise in his final week
Bo Bichette - SS – Only managed two games after activation (due to rain), kept hitting

PITCHERS

Jon Harris – RHP – Didn’t pitch due to all the rainouts
Francisco Rios – RHP – Likewise
Jordan Romano – RHP – Spent the week on the DL as precaution, expected back
TJ Zeuch – RHP – Got BABiP’ed in an inning in a game that was otherwise impressive
Justin Maese – RHP – By far his worst outing as a pro, looks to bounce back tonight
Patrick Murphy – RHP – Didn’t finish strong, maybe fatigue?
Wilfri Alerton – LHP –  Last out is one he’d rather forget

Others on the DL that did not play this week:
Harold Ramirez
Sean Reid-Foley

Lead Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

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