Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Walk-Off Wins and Dynamite Pitching

[Daniel Labude]

CURRENT W-L Records

• Buffalo Bisons: 32-47
• New Hampshire Fisher Cats: 30-45
• Vancouver Canadians: 40-34
• Dunedin Blue Jays: 37-36
• FCL Blue Jays: 25-16
• DSL Blue Jays Blue: 7-13
• DSL Blue Jays Red: 10-10

Transactions

• 06/30/25 - IF Endry Reyes assigned to DSL Blue Jays Red from DSL Blue Jays Blue.
• 06/30/25 - RHP Austin Marozas assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 06/29/25 - Buffalo Bisons activated RHP Bobby Milacki.
• 06/29/25 - Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP Yimi García on a rehab assignment to Buffalo Bisons.
• 06/29/25 - Toronto Blue Jays recalled LHP Justin Bruihl from Buffalo Bisons.
• 06/29/25 - LHP Johnny King assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from FCL Blue Jays.
• 06/28/25 - LF Alan Roden roster status changed by Buffalo Bisons.
• 06/28/25 - Buffalo Bisons placed RHP Tommy Nance on the temporarily inactive list.
• 06/28/25 - Buffalo Bisons sent RHP Connor Overton on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays.
• 06/28/25 - Buffalo Bisons activated RHP Robinson Piña.
• 06/28/25 - Toronto Blue Jays optioned LF Alan Roden to Buffalo Bisons.
• 06/28/25 - Toronto Blue Jays recalled 3B Will Wagner from Buffalo Bisons.
• 06/28/25 - IF Endry Reyes assigned to DSL Blue Jays Blue from DSL Blue Jays Red.
• 06/28/25 - Buffalo Bisons sent RHP Connor Overton on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays.
• 06/28/25 - New Hampshire Fisher Cats released RHP Kevin Miranda.

Buffalo Bisons
Buffalo (13), Lehigh Valley (3) - 6/28
Box Score

The Saturday matchup between Buffalo and Lehigh Valley was a wild and crazy one, with lots of action on the field. In the bottom of the first inning, an error from the Lehigh Valley shortstop allowed two runs to score for Buffalo. It was the beginning of a day to forget for the IronPigs’ fielders. They would commit eight errors in the game. Four from their shortstop, two from their first baseman, and one each from their third baseman and right fielder. To go with the free bases from errors, Buffalo also had their hitting shoes on, racking up 13 hits in addition to eight walks. Yohendrick Pinango had a big hit in the fourth inning, a double to left field, which brought in a run. In the sixth, Phil Clark broke the floodgates open with a huge grand slam to right field. From there, Buffalo would go on to win 13-3. 

Phil Clarke: 2-5, 1 R, 5 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 1 2B

Lazaro Estrada: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

Buffalo (4), Lehigh Valley (3) - F/10 - 6/29
Box Score

In the finale with Lehigh Valley, Buffalo continued to come up with big hits. Things were quiet until the IronPigs put up two runs on the board in the fourth and fifth innings, by way of an RBI single and RBI triple. In the bottom of the fifth, Josh Rivera put Buffalo up by one with his third home run of the season, a three-run shot. In the eighth, a Rafael Lantigua single tied the game up at three. In the top of the tenth, Andrew Bash pitched a clean inning to hold Lehigh Valley scoreless. Buffalo would have Will Robertson come up to bat in the bottom of the tenth with a runner at third base. He laced a line drive to right field for the walk-off win and celebration. 

Josh Rivera: 1-3, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR

Adam Kloffenstein: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

New Hampshire Fisher Cats
New Hampshire (5), Hartford (6) - 6/28
Box Score

As Saturday's game between New Hampshire and Hartford progressed, it came with big highs and lows for Fisher Cats fans. New Hampshire kicked things off in the top of the first inning. Ryan McCarty led the game off with a solo shot to left field. In the third, New Hampshire manufactured a run with a walk by Jacob Sharp, a McCarty single, then back-to-back fly outs, moving Sharp to third and then home. Jace Bohrofen's double in the fifth scored McCarty, who had singled the at-bat before, giving New Hampshire a 3-0 lead. On the flip side, Devereaux Harrison threw another gem, going five scoreless innings, walking three, and giving up two hits. He struck out six and generated a whopping 14 swing and misses.

After Harrison gave way to Rafael Sanchez, the highs of the day started to swing south. New Hampshire gave a run back in the sixth on a Benny Montgomery RBI groundout. The Fisher Cats got that run back and added one in the next half inning, with Jackson Hornung singling home McCarty, and Bohrofen scoring on Peyton Williams’ ground out. The bottom of the eighth proved to be a turning point in the momentum of the game, as Hartford scored three runs to cut the lead down to 5-4. Then came the bottom of the ninth. Harford got a walk from Braiden Ward, and Kyle Karros ended the game with a walk-off blast to left. New Hampshire gave this one away, 6-5.

Ryan McCarty: 3-4, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR

Devereaux Harrison: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

New Hampshire (5), Hartford (7) - 6/29
Box Score

Juaron Watts-Brown took the mound on Sunday in an effort to try to prevent an extended losing streak for New Hampshire. He did his part, throwing a stellar four innings, not giving up a run, striking out five, and walking one. The bats, however, were more than quiet while Watts-Brown was in the game; they went down in order, 12 up and 12 down. Williams broke the perfect game up in the top of the fifth inning, and despite getting another single by Dasan Brown, New Hampshire did not score. In the bottom half, Bryant Betancourt's groundout produced the first run of the game for Hartford. Two three-run blasts in the bottom of the seventh, by Jose Torres and Zach Kokoska, gave Hartford a 7-0 lead. New Hampshire mounted a comeback in the eighth, getting runs on RBI singles from Alex Stone, McCarty, and Hornung. Williams’ double in the inning brought the score to 7-5, but Cade Doughty and Brown struck out, ending the rally. New Hampshire couldn't get anything really going in the ninth and fell 7-5 to Hartford. 

Ryan McCarty: 2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K

Juaron Watts-Brown: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Vancouver Canadians
Vancouver (4), Tri-City (2) - 6/28 - Game 1 - Final/7
Box Score

Vancouver and Tri-City faced off for a doubleheader, as a previous game was postponed due to poor weather. Fernando Perez continued to pitch well, and through the first three and a half innings, no team had scored. Je’Von Ward hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the fourth inning to score Cutter Coffey to start off a big inning, where Hayden Gilliland reached on a throwing error to score Ward, and then Victor Arias hit a single to right field that was deflected by Randy De Jesus, which allowed Eddie Micheletti Jr. and Gilliland to both score. 

Cutter Coffey: 1-1, 1 R, 2 BB

Fernando Perez: 5 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Perez made his third straight start of five or more innings pitched with two or fewer earned runs. He faced a lot of traffic, as he gave up a lot of hits, but was able to not walk anybody and limited the damage. 

Vancouver (3), Tri-City (4) - 6/28 - Game 2 - Final/9
Box Score

After they won the first game of the doubleheader, the Canadians' offense sputtered. Starter Edinson Batista let in three early runs in the first and second, and in the fourth inning, the Canadians tied it up at three with Nick Goodwin and Nicolas Deschamps contributing. The bullpens for both teams were excellent, as it took until the top of the ninth for the game to budge from a dead tie. Jonathan Todd threw a couple of wild pitches with the ghost runner on in the ninth to allow a run to score, and then the Canadians couldn’t answer back, resulting in an extra-innings loss. 

Sean Keys: 1-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 2B

Javen Coleman: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Coleman earned a promotion to High A after former teammate Colby Martin was sent to Miami. He struck out four batters in his first appearance without allowing a single run. The lefty continues to showcase strong strikeout stuff. 

Vancouver (0), Tri-City (1) - 6/29
Box Score

After the close loss in extra innings in the second game of the doubleheader the day before, the Canadians again lost a close one to Tri-City, this time getting shut out by the Dust Devils pitching. Khal Stephen was excellent again for Vancouver with another strong start, but the offense could not pick him up after he let in a run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth inning before he was lifted for Chay Yeager, who struck out two batters in 1.2 innings. Aaron Munson was also strong, with two innings of scoreless baseball and four strikeouts himself. No Canadians hitter had an extra-base hit, as they went quietly into the night. 

Sean Keys: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 K

Khal Stephen: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
The second-rounder continues to impress in Vancouver, with not much else that he needs to prove. In fact, Stephen has a lower ERA in seven starts at High A (1.73) than he had in seven starts at Single A (2.06 ERA). He should advance up to Double-A New Hampshire to join fellow 2024 draft classmate Trey Yesavage sooner rather than later. 

Dunedin Blue Jays
Dunedin (5), Bradenton (4) - 6/28
Box Score

On Joey Votto bobblehead night, the D-Jays clutched up a tight one against Bradenton. Colby Holcombe pitched decently, but allowed the first runs of the game to score on the only hit he gave up, a two-RBI double from Richard Ramirez to put the Jays down early. Connor Overton entered on a rehab assignment after Holcombe was taken out and allowed another run in the top of the sixth inning to cushion the Marauders’ lead. However, the D-Jays started to rally, with Kendry Chirinos preventing the shutout with an RBI single to score Alexis Hernandez in the bottom of the sixth inning. Johan Simon gave a run back in the top of the seventh on an RBI double from Joel Mendez, but the Jays fought back again, this time with Sam Shaw hitting an RBI triple and Tucker Toman scoring Shaw with an extra base hit of his own. Jack Eshleman came in for the top of the ninth and didn’t allow a hit with two strikeouts, and after a Peyton Powell single, a wild pitch by Jonawel Valdez, and a walk from a rehabbing Alex De Jesus, Hernandez hit a huge double to walk it off for the D-Jays. 

Alexis Hernandez: 3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 2B
Hernandez had his best game of the season with his first three-hit night of the year, including a walk-off double. He has been a solidly above-average hitter for the Dunedin Blue Jays after being activated from the IL. The minor league Rule 5 pick has been showing strong contact ability with his third multi-hit game in the past five. 

Colby Holcombe: 4 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Holcombe allowed two runs despite allowing only one hit, as he struggled with his command. This was the third outing in a row in which he pitched four innings and gave up two earned runs. 

Dunedin (3), Bradenton (3) - 6/29
Game Suspended at 3-3, will continue July 25.

Johnny King: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K
King made his Low-A debut, striking out six batters in three innings. He did struggle with runners on base as he allowed a few steals early, and he also walked four batters. Still, it was a successful non-rookie ball debut for the 2024 third-round pick. 

FCL Blue Jays
F-BLU (2), F-YAN (1) - 6/28
Box Score

Samuel Colmenares led the charge in this one, pitching well over six perfect innings. He struck out five batters and gave way to Amir Garrett, who struck out four over two innings. He relinquished the lone hit of the day for the Yankees squad, a home run in the eighth inning. The Blue Jays' team would score on a wild pitch to tie it back up at one. In the ninth, Juan Rosas came to the plate and hit a single to right field for the walk-off win. 

Dariel Ramon: 2-3, 1 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 2B

Samuel Colmenares: 6 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

DSL Blue Jays Blue 
D-BJB (2), D-GIO(10) - 6/28
Box Score

On Saturday, BJB completed a game that was suspended on June 16 against the Orange team from the San Francisco Giants organization. The game was all GIO, except for in the sixth when BJB scored their two lone runs of the game. Cristopher Polanco led off the inning with a walk, followed by an RBI double from Rafael Flores. Back-to-back groundouts from Juarlin Soto and Endry Reyes scored Flores. The rest of the game was a blowout, as GIO racked up 10 runs on 13 hits, including two home runs, en route to the easy 10-2 win. 

Rafael Flores: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 2B

Manuel Suero: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

D-BJB (1), D-WSX (5) F/7 - 6/30
Box Score 

After only managing two hits on Saturday, Monday was somehow worse for BJB. They were facing the Chicago White Sox's DSL team and walked eight times in the game, but were no-hit in the seven-inning affair. They did score a run in the seventh, on an error that ultimately ended the game with Flores getting thrown out at second base. BJB struggled mightily, losing this one 5-1. 

Franklin Rojas: 0-1, 2 BB

Geremy Barroso: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

DSL Blue Jays Red
D-BJR (7), D-ARB (3) F/7 - 6/28
Box Score

BJR had two really good innings in their game against the Black team of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the top of the third inning, BJR got a two-run blast from Juan Sanchez, his third home run of the season. Down 3-2 in the sixth, BJR broke the game open with a monster five-run inning. Luis Felipe singled in Randy Soto and Pascual Archila, followed by Renyel Campos taking a bases-loaded walk, Sanchez getting hit by a pitch to bring in Felipe, and Elaineiker Coronado grounding out to score Wilmer Blanco. The big inning was enough for BJR to hold on and win 7-3. 

Juan Sanchez: 2-3, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 K, 1 HR, 1 SB

Johandi Medina: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

D-BJR (7), D-GIB (4) - 6/30
Box Score

BJR faced GIB Monday morning, and the game came down to one big inning. In the bottom of the sixth, BJR got two runs from Nestor Urbina's single and another run on Felipe's double. Sanchez capped off the scoring barrage with a three-RBI double and gave BJR the 6-4 lead. Reyes singled in an insurance run in the eighth, as BJR took this game 7-4. 

Juan Sanchez: 1-4, 0 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 2B

Luis Fonseca: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Players of the Period

• Pitcher of the Period: RHP Samuel Colmenares (FCL Blue Jays): 6 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
• Hitter of the Period: INF Ryan McCarty (New Hampshire): 5-9, 4 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR

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