Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Pitchers On Rehab Assignments & The 2024 Draft Class Brings The Boom

[Simon Li]

CURRENT W-L Records

-Buffalo Bisons: 14-21
-New Hampshire Fisher Cats: 12-17
-Vancouver Canadians: 15-16
-Dunedin Blue Jays: 18-13
-FCL Blue Jays: 3-2
-DSL Blue Jays: 0-0 (Season not started)

TRANSACTIONS

• 05/09/25: Toronto Blue Jays selected the contract of 2B Michael Stefanic from Buffalo Bisons.
• 05/09/25: Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP Erik Swanson on a rehab assignment to FCL Blue Jays.
• 05/09/25: Dunedin Blue Jays sent RHP Eliander Alcalde on a rehab assignment to FCL Blue Jays.
• 05/08/25: SS Raimundo De Los Santos assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 05/08/25: Vancouver Canadians sent RHP Chris McElvain on a rehab assignment to FCL Blue Jays.
• 05/08/25: Toronto Blue Jays signed free agent SS Raimundo De Los Santos to a minor league contract.

Buffalo Bisons

Buffalo (10), St. Paul (13) - 5/8

Box Score

In the Thursday game of the series, the bats for both teams were hot and doing damage. Buffalo got things started in the first inning, getting to knuckleballer Cory Lewis often. Interestingly, the knuckleball wasn't the pitch they keyed in on. Joey Loperfido doubled to get things started, followed by a Davis Schneider walk. Will Wagner would bring in Loperfido on an RBI single to center field. In the 2nd inning, Buffalo added to the lead on a Riley Tirotta double, which scored Will Robertson. In the bottom of the third, a Ryan Fitzgerald home run for the St. Paul Saints would tie things up.

Joey Loperfido added an RBI single in the fourth inning, and Ali Sánchez would launch his fifth home run of the season in the 5th inning to put Buffalo up four runs. In the Saints' half of the fifth inning, a home run from Will Holland and an RBI single from Carson McCusker would put the score at 6-5 in favor of Buffalo. Things were just getting started, though. Buffalo would take a three-run lead after Schneider and Wagner brought in runs on singles. The Saints would score a run in the sixth and seventh innings. In the eighth inning, the Saints scored three runs on a wild pitch and a two-RBI single from Mike Ford. That set the stage for the ninth inning, where the Bisons entered it down two runs. Tirotta stepped up to bat and belted a cutter over the plate for a 448 FT home run to tie the game at 10 apiece. Once more, the Buffalo pitching came up short, though, as Mickey Gasper hit a 402-foot home run to walk-off the Bisons again.

Ali Sánchez- 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR

Jacob Barnes- 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Buffalo (17), St. Paul (3) - 5/9

Box Score

The Buffalo hitters didn't take this game off after the 10-run game from the night before. They hit the ground running in his one and didn't stop. After singles from Will Wagner and Joey Loperfido to start the game with two men on base, Orelvis Martinez hit a 101.9 MPH rope for a line drive home run to left field. Three more Buffalo singles, a walk, and a double from Josh Rivera would add three additional runs for six in the first inning. The Saints would hit two home runs in the game, but the stampede coming from the Buffalo hitters could not be stopped. Will Wagner homered in the third inning for Buffalo, and Will Robertson put one over the fence in the fourth. Up 12-1, Buffalo added five more runs before the game ended to take this one in a laugher, 17-3.

Alan Roden: 4-5, 3 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR

Andrew Bash: 3.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

New Hampshire Fisher Cats

New Hampshire/Hartford - 5/8
PPD

New Hampshire/Hartford - 5/9
PPD

Vancouver Canadians

Vancouver (5), Spokane (1) - 5/8

Box Score

A pair of 2024 draftees led the way for the Canadians, with Sean Keys and Trey Yesavage’s college teammate Carter Cunningham both with a bunch of extra base hits. The first four innings were quite uneventful, as barely runners got on base for both teams. Sean Keys started the scoring with his third homer of the season in the fifth, which was answered back by an RBI single from DH Jesus Ordonez off of Fernando Perez. Carter Cunningham came up in the sixth and hit his own solo homer to kick off that inning to give the Canadians the lead. In the seventh, Je’Von Ward scored Jackson Hornung on an RBI groundout, and in the eighth, Keys’ third hit a double to make it 4-1. Cunningham came up again in the ninth and hit his secnd solo homer on the night and his third on the season.

Carter Cunningham: 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR

Sean Keys: 3-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 1 HR

The third baseman from Bucknell has power in spades, and he showcased that with a 3 extra base hit night, leading the charge for the Canadians. Keys has shown strong plate discipline on the year, but the power hasn’t really been on display until tonight.

Fernando Perez: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

This was his best outing of the season, as he finally broke the 4 inning mark by going six strong innings. Perez’s stuff won’t wow anybody, but his feel for pitching and command allows him to maintain success despite average offerings.

Vancouver (10), Spokane (1) - 05/09

Box Score

The 2024 draft class showed off for the secnd night in a row, as the position player core drafted last season went on a power surge. However, the first run scored for the Canadians was on a fielding error that allowed Cutter Coffey to score in the first. Grant Rogers was excellent, only allowing a single run off an errant pick off attempt in the fourth, and continues to be the best starter for Vancouver. Fourth rounder Sean Keys started off the bomb bonanza with a two-run homer in the fifth to score himself and 6th rounder Aaron Parker. Parker himself joined in on the fun with an RBI triple in the top of the sixth. Eighth rounder Eddie Micheletti Jr. got himself a two-run homer in the seventh to score Carter Cunningham. Adrian Pinto continued his series excellent with a two-hit night, and he knocked in a run in the seventh as well. Aaron Parker got his secnd big hit of the night with a three-RBI homer to make it double digits for the Canadians, who’ve had a remarkable turnaround offensively recently.

Grant Rogers: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K

Rogers just had command of the zone today, rarely getting behind in counts and preventing Spokane hitters from making good swings. Rogers now has a 1.54 ERA on the season.

Aaron Parker: 3-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 K

Parker already surpassed his 2024 hit total in 13 less plate appearances as a professional. The young catching prospect has raised his OPS to .849 on the season.

Dunedin Blue Jays

Dunedin (5), Fort Myers (4) - 05/08

Box Score

Dunedin once again faces off against the Mighty Mussels, looking to win their second game in a row to take the series lead, and they started off the gates roaring, with Devonte Brown hitting a three-run shot to give them and early lead in the top of the first, and in the top of the second, he drove in another run to give himself a four-RBI night. Colby Holcombe started off the game nicely with three scoreless innings, but the Mighty Mussels started to tee off on his fastball and brought the game within one. Jay Scheueler came in and stopped the bleeding, but Justin Kelly, who was in Dunedin from a rehab assignment, gave up a run due to a throwing error from third baseman Jacob Lojewski. Daniel Guerra came into the tied game and was excellent, allowing no hits in three innings of work, with 3 Ks. Jean Joseph came up in the top of the ninth and hit the go-ahead homer to win the game for the Jays.

Devonte Brown: 2-4, 1 R, 4 RBI, 1 HR

The 2022 undrafted free agent had a slow start to the season in Double-A, and after a short trip to the IL, he’s on a rehab assignment in Dunedin showing why he’s made it ot the upper minors in the first place.

Daniel Guerra - 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Guerra has been awesome since getting moved to the pen in favour of Gilberto Batista, as he’s pitched eight innings, striking out 10 and only giving up a single run.

Dunedin (9), Fort Myers (1) - 05/09

Box Score

After taking the series lead in the previous game, the Jays wanted to keep that momentum going at the top of the standings. With Khal Stephen taking the bump it was a prime opportunity for them to do so, as the big righty has been dominant to start his pro career. The game started off in a unique manner, as Bryce Arnold scored the first run of the game on a balk, and Edward Duran then made it 2-0 with a single to score Beltre. More shenanigans happened in the second as a wild pitch scored Peyton Powell to make it 3-0. Jacob Ljewski hit his first career RBI to make it 4-0 on a single in the 4th, before the Mussels scored their only run of the game on an RBI double. The Jays just ran away with it in the sixth with a three-run inning from a bunch of RBI singles from Powell, Brown and Duran, and in the ninth they tacked on a couple more on a sac fly from Kendry Chirinos and a another RBI-single from Yhoangel Aponte this time. The offense had 16 hits on the night, with only 1 being an extra base hit, essentially beating the Mighty Mussels with a thousand cuts. The pen was excellent to end the game with 6 Ks in 3 1/3 innings of work.

Khal Stephen: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Khal Stephen was again excellent, relying on his fastball at the top of the zone he once again dominated Low-A hitters.

https://x.com/DunedinBlueJays/status/1921022875818934406

Bryce Arnold: 3-5, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K

The Hamilton native continues to hit well for the Jays, and the 23 year old utility man has also lowered his K rate to 21.4% on the year while still showcasing strong power numbers.

FCL Blue Jays

F-Blu (9), F-Det (7) - 5/8

Box Score

The Toronto Blue Jays FCL team shook off some of their early season struggles at the plate in a game against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday. They began the game with an Enmanuel Bonilla single, which was followed up by a walk from Luis Meza, and then a double by Yorman Licourt to left field scored both runners. The Tigers matched those two runs in the bottom of the fourth, when a double and a single scored two. From there, the bats from both teams disappeared until the ninth inning, which for this game happened to be extra innings. The Blue Jays would score two on a single from Edrick Felix and then added three more on a home run to left field from Andres Arias. Unfortunately, the Blue Jays could not close the game out and coughed up five runs themselves in the bottom half of the inning, in part from an Enrique Jimenez two-run homer. The game would head into its third extra inning, the tenth. David Beckles woud deliver what would be the game winning hit that scored two runs and gave the Blue Jays a 9-7 win.

Andres Arias: 1-5, 1 R, 3 RBI, 3 K, 1 HR

Arias hit his first professional home run on Thursday. Despite his 6-foot-4 size, he didn't hit any home runs in 2024 down in the Dominican Summer League. It's a welcome sight to see one of the more talented young players in the system start to connect with the long ball.

Samuel Colmenares: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

F-Blu (6), F-Yan (5) - 5/9

Box Score

Landen Maroudis started this one for the Blue Jays FCL team. It was his second rehab start for the Rookie-ball team. Just like his first outing, Maroudis did well and got his pitches in. He went three innings, striking out three hitters, and didn't give up a run, while only walking one. Erik Swanson, who is also rehabbing in Florida, came in for Maroudis, but had a lot of trouble. He gave up four runs, two of which were earned runs. He also surrendered a home run and did not register an out. Offensively, Yorman Licourt had an RBI single and David Beckles hit a home run. In the eighth inning, a balk scored Enmanuel Bonilla and Licourt scored on a wild pitch for the walk-off win.

David Beckles: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR

Landen Maroudis: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

DSL Blue Jays
No games

Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Players of the Period

Pitcher of the Period: RHP Grant Rogers (Vancouver) - 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K

Hitter of the Period: 3B Sean Keys (Vancouver) - 4-9, 2 R, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K, 2 2B, 2 HR

Prospect Summary (Last 2 Days)

1. Arjun Nimmala (Vancouver) - 1-6, 1 R, 2 K
2. Ricky Tiedemann (Buffalo) - DNP
3. Trey Yesavage (Dunedin) - DNP
4. Orelvis Martinez (Buffalo) - 1-5, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
5. Khal Stephen (Dunedin) - 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
6. Jake Bloss (Buffalo) - DNP
7. Alan Roden (Buffalo) - 5-10, 4 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 1 SB
8. Landen Maroudis (FCL Jays) - 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
9. Jonatan Clase (Toronto) - 0-3, 1 K
10. Kendry Rojas (Vancouver) - DNP
11. Josh Kasevich (Buffalo) - DNP
12. Johnny King (FCL Blue Jays) - DNP
13. Gage Stanifer (Dunedin) - DNP
14. Adam Macko (FCL Jays) - DNP
15. Charles McAdoo (New Hampshire) - DNP
16. Fernando Perez (Vancouver) - 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
17. Brandon Barriera (Dunedin) - DNP
18. Emmanuel Bonilla (FCL Blue Jays) - 1-8, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K
19. Juaron Watts-Brown (Vancouver) - DNP
20. Jace Bohrofen (New Hampshire) - DNP

 

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