Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Losses Mount at the Lower Levels and Bieber Debuts With Buffalo

[Daniel Labude]

CURRENT W-L Records

• Buffalo Bisons: 40-64
• New Hampshire Fisher Cats: 44-57
• Vancouver Canadians: 56-46
• Dunedin Blue Jays: 48-49
• FCL Blue Jays: Season Complete
• DSL Blue Jays Blue: 19-26
• DSL Blue Jays Red: 22-23

Transactions

• 08/04/25 SS J.T. Bain assigned to DSL Blue Jays Red from DSL Blue Jays Blue.
• 08/04/25 SS J.T. Bain assigned to DSL Blue Jays Red from DSL Blue Jays Blue.
• 08/04/25 RHP Reece Wissinger assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 08/04/25 3B Tim Piasentin assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 08/04/25 FCL Blue Jays activated LHP Jared Spencer from the full-season injured list.
• 08/04/25 FCL Blue Jays activated C Charlie Saum.
• 08/04/25 FCL Blue Jays activated OF Jordan Rich.
• 08/04/25 FCL Blue Jays activated RHP Karson Ligon.
• 08/04/25 FCL Blue Jays activated RHP Trace Baker.
• 08/04/25 RHP Micah Bucknam assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 08/04/25 RHP Noah Palmese assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 08/04/25 FCL Blue Jays activated C Will Cresswell.
• 08/04/25 FCL Blue Jays activated OF Blaine Bullard.
• 08/04/25 FCL Blue Jays activated 3B Sam White from the full-season injured list.
• 08/04/25 RHP Dayne Pengelly assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 08/04/25 SS JoJo Parker assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 08/04/25 LHP Luke Kovach assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 08/04/25 RHP Brayden Heidel assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 08/04/25 OF Jake Cook assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 08/04/25 RHP Dylan Watts assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 08/04/25 RHP Mason Davenport assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 08/04/25 Vancouver Canadians transferred CF Jacob Wetzel from the 7-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.
• 08/03/25 Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP Shane Bieber on a rehab assignment to Buffalo Bisons.
• 08/03/25 Buffalo Bisons activated SS Leo Jiménez.
• 08/03/25 Toronto Blue Jays optioned SS Leo Jiménez to Buffalo Bisons.
• 08/03/25 Vancouver Canadians placed OF Sam Shaw on the 7-day injured list retroactive to August 2, 2025.
• 08/02/25 Buffalo Bisons released RHP Anders Tolhurst.
• 08/02/25 Buffalo Bisons transferred C Phil Clarke to the Development List.
• 08/02/25 Buffalo Bisons activated C Brandon Valenzuela.
• 08/02/25 RHP Devereaux Harrison assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Buffalo Bisons.
• 08/02/25 RHP Devereaux Harrison assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Buffalo Bisons.

Buffalo Bisons
Buffalo (4), Syracuse (5) - 8/2
Box Score

Syracuse jumped out in front of Buffalo in this game right from the start. Joey Meneses hit a soft single to right field, bringing in a run in the top of the first. Jared Young added a solo blast for the Mets in the third inning. In the fourth, Buffalo evened things up at two on a Yohendrick Pinango RBI single and a Damiano Palmegiani double driving in Buddy Kennedy. Things went south again in the sixth for Buffalo, as they surrendered two home runs. Hayden Senger homered to left field for two runs, and Luis De Los Santos hit a solo blast to center field. Buffalo rallied in the eighth with men on base, as Pinango hit a rocket double to bring in RJ Schreck and Kennedy to cut the deficit to one. That would be where the game would end though, as the Bisons went on to lose 5-4. 

Yohendrick Pinango - 3-4, 0 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 2B

Hayden Juenger - 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Buffalo (3), Syracuse (4) - 8/3
Box Score

In the Sunday matchup between Buffalo and Syracuse, fans had a treat, as Shane Bieber was on the mound. He was looking much like his normal self, continuing to rehab in Triple A. He was sitting around 92 and 93 mph on his fastball. On the day, he went five innings, allowed two runs, gave up one walk, and struck out six batters. Luke Ritter had the big hit off of Bieber, a solo home run to right field to put the Mets up by two. In the top of the sixth, Syracuse added two more on an RBI single from Yonny Hernández. In the seventh and ninth innings, Buffalo finally scored when Pinango singled in Michael Stefanic and Schreck hit a two-run home run, also scoring Stefanic. Buffalo would lose this game in a close battle again, 4-3.

RJ Schreck - 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HR

Shane Bieber - 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

New Hampshire Fisher Cats
New Hampshire (5), Chesapeake (4) F/8 - 8/2 - Game 1
Box Score

New Hampshire opened their weekend set of games with a doubleheader against Chesapeake on Saturday. The Fisher Cats started the scoring in the top of the fourth inning, when Charles McAdoo singled home Victor Arias. Chesapeake took the lead in the bottom of the fifth with RBI singles from Aron Estrada and Brandon Butterworth. With New Hampshire still down one headed into the final inning of the doubleheader shortened game, the Fisher Cats were on the ropes, but up for the task. Gabriel Martinez smacked a ball to right for a ground-rule double, Alex De Jesus walked, and then Dasan Brown (pinch runner) and De Jesus stole second and third base. Alex Stone didn't let the opportunity go to waste, as he knocked a single to center, scoring the two and giving New Hampshire a one-run lead as the game moved to the bottom of the seventh.

Estrada and Butterworth wouldn't let Chesapeake go down without a fight, and both again had big hits. Estrada tripled and Butterworth doubled him home to tie the game up and send it to extra innings. In the top of the eighth, McAdoo made sure to give New Hampshire some breathing room, launching his 11th home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field. Conor Larkin came into the game in the bottom of the eighth and shut the door on another rally by Chesapeake, giving New Hampshire the 5-4 win.

Charles McAdoo: 2-3, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 HR

Rafael Sanchez: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

New Hampshire (6), Chesapeake (0) - 8/2 - Game 2
Box Score

In game two of the doubleheader, New Hampshire went with a bullpen game, and it was executed to near perfection. The Fisher Cats were the first on the scoreboard in the second inning, after a double from Je'Von Ward and an RBI single by De Jesus. In the top of the third, Ryan McCarty hit an RBI single before McAdoo continued his hot doubleheader and swatted his second home run of the day and 12th of the season, a two-run blast. New Hampshire would add two more runs, one in the sixth and one in the seventh. Brown grounded out, scoring Eddinson Paulino in the sixth, and McCarty scored on an error in the seventh. On the mound, Alex Amalfi, Michael Dominguez, and Hunter Gregory combined to go seven innings, striking out 10 and not allowing a run, leading New Hampshire to a 6-0 victory. 

Charles McAdoo: 1-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR

Alex Amalfi: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

New Hampshire (9), Chesapeake (4) - 8/3
Box Score

New Hampshire faced an extremely familiar face on the mound Sunday afternoon against Chesapeake, none other than the recently traded Juaron Watts-Brown. Arias gave Watts-Brown a big welcome when he led off the game with a solo home run to center, his first with the Fisher Cats. Frederick Bencosme tied the game up at one in the bottom of the second inning on a little league inside the park home run, aided by a fielding error on the center fielder, Brown.

Ward gave New Hampshire the lead back with a two-run little league inside the park home run of his own, aided by an error on Chesapeake's center fielder. In the fourth, New Hampshire added three more runs on Alex Stone's RBI single and Arias’ second home run of the game off of Watts-Brown, a two-run shot. In the bottom half of the inning, Butterworth then homered to cut the Fisher Cats’ lead down to four. De Jesus broke the game open for New Hampshire in the fifth, driving in two on his single to left. Arias then capped off his big day with an RBI ground out, as the Fisher Cats cruised to a 9-4 win and ruined Watts-Brown's homecoming.

Victor Arias: 2-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 K, 2 HR

Ryan Watson: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Vancouver Canadians
Vancouver (4), Tri-City (1) - 8/2
Box Score

The Canadians continue to face off against the Dust Devils, and Gage Stanifer once again takes the bump. The Canadians got on the board first despite a Sean Keys double play, as Eddie Micheletti Jr. was able to score despite two outs coming on the board. In the bottom of the fourth, the Dust Devils got a run off Stanifer with a sac fly, but Arjun Nimmala had a big double in the fifth inning to score Bryce Arnold and Cutter Coffey, although Micheletti got thrown out at home. Carter Cunningham hit a single to score Nimmala, and the bullpens locked it down for both teams after that, with Colby Holcombe getting his first win, Irv Carter earning a three-inning hold, and Jonathan Todd striking out the side for the save. 

Arjun Nimmala - 3-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B
After Nimmala’s hot start to the season, he really came back to earth in most of July. However, he’s been swinging a hot bat to end July and go into August, re-finding his form in a major way. 

Gage Stanifer - 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
Stanifer raised his season strikeout total to 115 after this start. The walks are showing again in High A, but as he passed his career high in innings pitched, it was bound to happen. It's still an excellent breakout campaign for the 21-year-old. 

Vancouver (2), Tri-City (0) - 8/3
Box Score

This was a day for pitching for the Canadians. Micheletti hit a two-RBI double for the lead in the third inning, and then the pitchers showed their stuff. Fernando Perez was already one of the best pitchers in July for the farm system, and he was absolutely dominant, going six strong innings and facing only one batter over the minimum; he gave up one hit and struck out seven. Yondrei Rojas continued his scoreless streak with two no-hit innings and four strikeouts, and then Kai Peterson got his first save of the year with a no-hit inning himself, and two strikeouts. All in all, the Canadians pitching combined for 9 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 13 K, a pitching masterclass.

Eddie Micheletti Jr. - 2-5, 2 RBI, 1 2B

Fernando Perez - 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Perez generated 14 whiffs in a dominant performance that earned him Minor League Pitcher of the Week in the Northwest League. His season ERA is now down to 3.19. 

Dunedin Blue Jays
Dunedin (2), Fort Myers (3) - 8/2 - F/10
Box Score

Johnny King bump day is always a spectacle to see, and he didn’t disappoint, striking out seven batters and showing much improved command this go around. The Mighty Mussels had opportunities with runners in scoring position, as there were runners on the corners with two outs in the fifth inning, but Marek Houston could not capitalize as he struck out. In the top of the seventh, the Jays got on the board first with an RBI single to score Braden Barry after a double from Matt Scannell. The second time Houston came up with a runner in scoring position, however, he knocked in a run, tying the game one apiece. The game went to extras after no other runs scored, where a passed ball gave the Jays a lead going into the bottom of the 10th. However, Jay Schueler could not keep the lead intact, as he not only gave up a single to Houston again, but then another single to lose a tough game in walk-off fashion.

Braden Barry - 2-3, 1 R, 1 2B

Johnny King - 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

Dunedin (7), Fort Myers (1) - 8/3 - F/11
Box Score

This game was very close, until it wasn’t. Austin Smith hit a 100.2-mph double to score the first run. Silvano Hechavarria kept the Mighty Mussels from scoring, but Juanmi Vasquez blew the save after Luis Hernandez hit a single to score the first run for Fort Myers. The game went to extras, and both teams could not score the ghost runner in the tenth inning, but in the top of the 11th inning, the D-Jays exploded for six runs, as Kendry Chirinos hit a double to score the ghost runner, Hayden Gilliland walked with the bases loaded to score another, and Tucker Toman hit a sac fly to bring the lead to three runs. Brock Tibbitts hit a big double for his fourth of the season to score two more runners, and then Eric Snow got the last run in with a groundout. Eminen Flores finished off the game in the 11th to win the last contest of the season series. 

Brock Tibbitts - 4-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 2B
Tibbitts has had his best game yet since returning from the injured list. The 22-year-old 13th-rounder is really swinging it well. 

Silvano Hechavarria - 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Hechavarria had another scoreless outing, dropping his ERA under 2.00. The 22-year-old Cuban has been getting better ever since coming over to affiliated ball and does not seem to be slowing down at all. 

DSL Blue Jays Blue 
D-BJB (1), D-MRN (5) F/7 - 8/2
Box Score

BJB took on MRN down in the Dominican Republic on Saturday. Juarlin Soto opened up the second inning with a lead-off double, moved over to third on Fabian Gonzalez's groundout, then scored on Darwin Núñez's sacrifice fly. Gonzalez would record two more hits over the next five innings, but that was all of the base knocks BJB would get. Their pitching didn't hold up either, as Michael De La Cruz gave up three runs and Manuel Suero coughed up two runs himself. BJB got dominated in all aspects of this game on their way to losing 5-1. 

Fabian Gonzalez: 2-3

Cesar Cerezo: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

D-BJB (2), D-ARB (5) - 8/4
Box Score

BJB came into Monday's game looking to do more with the bats against ARB. They did what they sought to do, but unfortunately, they had no timely hits to hang their hat on. BJB racked up 10 hits in the game, but despite that, they hung zero after zero on the scoreboard and headed into the bottom of the ninth inning down 5-0. Soto led off the inning with a single and then scored a few batters later on a ground out by Rafael Flores. Later in the inning, Gonzalez singled home Daniel Dominguez, but Cristopher Polanco struck out to end the scoring threat and the game. BJB lost this one 5-2. 

Juarlin Soto: 2-4, 1 R, 1 K

Edwin Francisco: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

DSL Blue Jays Red
D-BJR (0), D-MEO (5) - F/7 - 8/2
Box Score

The DSL Blue Jays Red team took on the DSL Mets Orange squad on Saturday down on the island. Get ready for a weekend theme from this team: The offense was struggling. Not everyone had an issue though, as Juan Sanchez went 2-for-3 for the BJR team. His two singles were the entirety of the BJR offense on this day. Well, BJR did add three walks, but it was rough nonetheless. The MEO team got a solo blast from Roybert Herrera in the fourth and scored three more in the fifth on a single, a sacrifice fly, and a double. BJR didn't have it on this day and took the loss 5-0. 

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

Edgar Gallegos - 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

D-BJR (0), D-TI1 (3) - F/7 - 8/4
Box Score

Don't readjust your screen, it was a different day, different opponent, but similar results for the BJR team. This time, they faced off against the DSL Tigers 1 team and were looking up at a deficit in the first inning. The BJR starting pitcher got three outs in the first inning, but a strike three passed ball let the inning continue, and Willian Berti smacked a three-run home run to give TI1 the lead. After the home run, both teams couldn't buy a hit, as there were only four hits the rest of the game. Shockingly, the BJR team again only managed two hits in the game, and once more, they came from Sanchez. He mirrored his Saturday line, going 2-for-3 with a strikeout. BJR lost this one 3-0. 

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

Luis Fonseca - 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Players of the Period

• Pitcher of the Period: RHP Fernando Perez (Vancouver) - 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
• Hitter of the Period: 3B Charles McAdoo (New Hampshire) - 5-10, 3 R, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K, 2 HR, 2 SB

Prospect Summary (Last 3 Days)

Toronto Blue Jays Top 20 Hitters
Rank	Player	Team	PA	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS
1	Arjun Nimmala	Vancouver	8	1	3	2	0	0	2	0	0	1	0
2	JoJo Parker	N/A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Alan Roden	TRADED
10	Orelvis Martinez	Buffalo	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
11	Yohendrick Pinango	Buffalo	8	0	4	1	0	0	4	1	1	0	0
13	Josh Kasevich	Dunedin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	RJ Schreck	Buffalo	8	3	3	0	0	1	2	1	2	0	0
17	Victor Arias	New Hampshire	13	4	5	1	0	2	4	1	5	1	0
19	Jonatan Clase	Buffalo	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0

 

Toronto Blue Jays Top 20 Pitchers
Rank	Player	Team	BF	G	GS	IP	H	HR	ER	BB	K
3	Trey Yesavage	New Hampshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Ricky Tiedemann	Buffalo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Khal Stephen	TRADED
6	Johnny King	Dunedin	19	1	1	5	2	0	0	2	7
7	Kendry Rojas	TRADED
8	Gage Stanifer	Vancouver	18	1	1	4	3	0	1	4	4
12	Landen Maroudis	Dunedin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	Juaron Watts-Brown	TRADED
15	Jake Bloss	Buffalo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	Brandon Barriera	FCL Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	Adam Macko	Buffalo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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[John_Havok]

Johnny King giving me a Robbie Ray vibe in his look and approach to pitching. Me likey 

 

Needs to tighten up them pants though to complete the look. 

 

[VladAboutYou]

Love the progress we are seeing out of Arias at AA. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

Just now, VladAboutYou said:

Love the progress we are seeing out of Arias at AA. 

Welcome to Jays Centre!