Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Buffalo Has a Home Run Barrage, and New Hampshire Keeps Winning

[Brian Labude]

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 16-April 17)

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Series vs Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals): 2-2
Season Record: 9-10

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats 
Series vs. Chesapeake Baysox (Baltimore Orioles): 4-0
Season Record: 8-4

High-A Vancouver Canadians
Series vs. Spokane (Colorado Rockies): 2-2
Season Record: 4-9

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Series vs. Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies): 2-2
Season Record: 7-6

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

• Season Record: 9-10
• Series Opponent: Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals)

April 16: Postponed 

April 17, Game 1: On Friday, Charles McAdoo had himself one of the best all-around performances for a Buffalo player in 2026. During game one of the doubleheader with Rochester, he went wild, crushing a three-run home run in the top of the seventh innings to break it open for Buffalo. Before he brought home the win with the big blasts, he had two other hits, singles in the second inning and the sixth inning. He also added a stolen base after his single in the second. Rafael Lantigua gave the Bisons the early lead in the second inning, hitting a three-run home run himself. Out on the mound for Buffalo was one of their steady stars so far this season, Chad Dallas. He went three innings, giving up only one run, on three hits, while striking out six. Yariel Rodriguez came into the game in the seventh and put a stamp on the Buffalo win by striking out two and earning the save. The Bisons won 6-2 and brought their season record back to .500 at 9-9. 

April 17, Game 2: In game two of the doubleheader, it was yet again Charles McAdoo who was the standout player for Buffalo. In the top of the first inning, McAdoo followed a walk and a single with another big three-run home run. In the bottom half of the inning, Rochester answered with a crooked number of their own. They would score five runs off of Bisons starter Grant Rogers, highlighted by back-to-back home runs from Andrés Chaparro and Yohandy Morales. Unfortunately for Buffalo, their bats disappeared entirely, only getting one more hit in the seven-inning game. Rogers, Brendon Little, and Brendan Cellucci kept Rochester from adding any more runs after the first inning. Without any runs themselves, though, they fell 5-3 and dropped back below .500 to a 9-10 record. 

Double-A New Hampshire

• Season Record: 8-4
• Series vs. Chesapeake Baysox (Baltimore Orioles)

April 16: Thursday, Gage Stanifer was on the mound for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, and he again pitched much better than his opening game at Double A this year. He went four innings, gave up just one hit, walked 3, struck out six, and was charged with two runs. Both runs scored after he left the game and reached via walks in the fifth inning during a thunderstorm they played through. With the New Hampshire offense, it wasn't much of a problem though. The Fisher Cats put up six runs in the fourth inning and the eighth inning. They had 15 hits (seven extra base hits), and the big one was a Jace Bohrofen home run in the eighth inning. Jackson Hornung, Alex Stone, and Jay Harry all had three hits apiece for New Hampshire, as they won big again, 12-6. 

April 17: The Friday night game against the Baysox had a similar feel to it as the Thursday one, but this time, things came out a bit differently. Richard Gallardo got the start for New Hampshire, went four innings and only surrendered two hits and two walks, but the Baysox scored five runs in the second inning. Aaron Parker started the scoring in the first inning for New Hampshire with an RBI single. In the bottom of the second down four runs, the Fisher Cats added three to cut the lead to one. Eddie Micheletti Jr. had an RBI single, a run scored on a passed ball, and Parker drove in a run with his second RBI single. Jackson Hornung continued his hot hitting with an RBI single in the sixth, and Aron Estrada gave the lead back to the Baysox in the seventh with an RBI double. In the eighth, a groundout to the pitcher would score the tying run for the Fisher Cats, ultimately sending the game to extra innings. In the bottom of the tenth, an intentional walk of Sean Keys and a bunt single loaded the bases. A wild pitch by Daniel Lloyd let Nick Goodwin scramble home for the winning run and walk-off win for New Hampshire, 7-6. 

High-A Vancouver 

• Season Record: 4-9
• Series vs. Spokane (Colorado Rockies)

April 16: On a day with a lot of strong pitching performances in the system, Daniel Guerra stepped up and provided one of his own. The 22-year-old righty struck out 11 hitters in five innings, without giving up a single hit and only walking two. Maddox Latta had his second homer in as many games to give the Canadians the early lead, and a throwing error in the fourth allowed Vancouver to grab two more runs. Trace Baker replaced Guerra in the sixth and struggled, giving up the lead immediately, allowing five runs, with four of them being earned, and was only able to get two outs. Eminen Flores kept it close by keeping it scoreless until the ninth inning, where Carter Cunningham continued to dominate with a clutch two-run homer to send it to extras. In the tenth inning, Tucker Toman was the batter with the sacks packed and hit his first homer of the season for a grand slam. Jonathan Todd gave up a two-run homer in the bottom of the tenth, but Vancouver was able to escape with the win. 

April 17: The Canadians took it to extra innings again this game, but instead of offensive performances driving the way, the pitching was incredible. Danny Thompson Jr. continues his scoreless campaign to start the season, with four innings of one-hit baseball, striking out eight batters. Aaron Munson has been streaky to start the season, but he was good this outing, striking out six more batters himself across three innings. Kelena Sauer made it the third pitcher in a row to go scoreless to end regulation, and he also struck out three hitters himself. The Canadians' offense sputtered, though, as they only mustered up five hits and three walks, leaving ten men on base. The Canadians couldn’t capitalize on the ghost runner in the top of the tenth, and Juanmi Vasquez gave up a walk-off base hit with two outs to lose the game for the Canadians. 

Single-A Dunedin

• Season Record: 7-6
• Series vs. Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies)

April 16: José Berríos finally returned to the mound after getting put on the injured list in spring training due to a fractured elbow. The velo was up to where it was pre-injury, as he was sitting 95 mph on his fastballs. Berrios looked like he was working on stuff on his return, as he gave up five runs. The D-Jays were powered by shortstop Eric Snow, who knocked in the first two runs for Dunedin with a double, and Dariel Ramon scored Snow on an RBI single. The duo did it again in the fourth inning, as Snow’s aggressive baserunning led to a throwing error after he stole third, and Ramon hit his first career homer to take the lead back. Nolan Perry’s return from Tommy John hit its peak, as he struck out 12 batters in just five innings, only allowing a single hit. Unfortunately, Hawkeye was down during his outing, so we missed out on his pitch data, but the big righty was commanding his breaking balls and generated a ton of whiffs. Juan Sanchez made his debut and got his first pro hit. Austin Smith ended up blowing the lead in the ninth, leading to another extra-inning game for the D-Jays, and with the bases loaded, they once again walked it off, this time on a hit-by-pitch.

April 17: The game started off horribly, as Karson Ligon was taken out of the game after feeling something on a warm-up pitch. Franly Urena was forced to start and pitched admirably in spite of the circumstances, striking out five batters, but giving up two runs. Peyton Williams had his first homer of the season in the second, and Aldo Gaxiola followed that up with an RBI double, and was then knocked in by Dariel Ramon’s first double of the season. Reece Wissinger pitched three and a third scoreless innings to keep the lead for the Jays, but the Threshers got to Diego Dominguez, and the offense couldn’t fight back, leading to a 5-3 loss. 

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