Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Bloss Looked Great, Stanifer Was Dialed In, and Parker Had a Power Surge

[Brian Labude]

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (June 18-19)

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Series vs Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox): 1-3
Season Record: 34-39

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats 
Series vs Birmingham Rumble Ponies (New York Mets): 2-2
Season Record: 33-32

High-A Vancouver Canadians
Series vs Spokane Indians (Colorado Rockies): 2-2
Season Record: 28-39

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Series vs Lakeland Flying Tigers (Detroit Tigers): 2-2
Season Record: 30-36

FCL Blue Jays
Week Record: 3-1
Season Record: 25-10

DSL Blue Jays Blue
Week Record: 1-2
Season Record: 4-10

DSL Blue Jays Red
Week Record: 0-3
Season Record: 4-10

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

• Season Record: 34-39
• Series vs Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox)

June 18: Thursday saw Jake Bloss finally return to the Triple-A Buffalo roster, and he made his presence known in his first start of the season there. He was a little shaky at the start, walking the lead-off hitter and then giving up a two-run home run to Charlotte's centerfielder, Dustin Harris. The pitch was in and off of the plate, but Harris was still able to put the good part of the bat on it and take it out, 364 feet to right field. After the blast, Bloss settled in and struck out the next three batters, all swinging. In the second inning, Bloss sat down the Knights hitters in order and then repeated that feat in the third. Only an outlier walk broke up his rhythm in the fourth, as Blos retired 12 of the last 13 hitters he faced. For the game, he gave up just the one hit and two runs, announcing his arrival to Triple-A with authority. The Knights starting pitcher outdueled Bloss, though, going five innings, striking out six, while allowing just three hits and zero runs. Carlos Mendoza did reach base twice, a walk in the first and a single in the third. Unfortunately for Buffalo, the bats were kept quiet by the Knights bullpen. Buffalo ended up getting shut out and losing 4-0. 

June 19: Friday night, Josh Fleming was on the mound for Buffalo, and he couldn't work around a couple of errors and poor command. He did pitch into the sixth inning, but gave up 10 hits, five runs (two earned), and only struck out four. In the first inning, Fleming gave up three singles before walking in a run, but escaped any further damage. In the bottom half of the inning, C.J. Stubbs tied the game up for Buffalo, knocking in Jay Harry on a single to left. After Fleming gave up a run in the top of the fourth, a Sean Keys single in the bottom of the fifth would tie the game back up. Unfortunately for Buffalo, a Carlos Mendoza error in the sixth opened up the doors to a big inning for Charlotte, as they scored four runs and took the lead. Jay Harry helped Buffalo by cutting into the Knights' lead, getting an RBI double in the sixth. Unfortunately for Buffalo, Charlotte tacked on three more runs in the seventh and ran away with the game. The Bisons would get a ninth-inning two-run home run from Jay Harry, but in the end, it wasn't remotely enough. Buffalo fell again, this time by a score of 10-5. 

Double-A New Hampshire

• Season Record: 33-32
• Series vs Birmingham Rumble Ponies (New York Mets)

June 18: Thursday's matchup between New Hampshire and Binghamton was a tough one for the Fisher Cats. They faced off against the Rumble Ponies’ pitcher Jonathan Santucci and did not have an answer against him. New Hampshire managed a couple of hits, like Victor Arias coming up with two singles and Jorge Burgos having a first-inning single. Ultimately, they were stifled, though, as Santucci went six innings and didn't give up a run, striking out seven. On the other hand, the Fisher Cats struggled to hold Binghamton off the scoreboard. On the backs of two home runs and a few doubles, the Rumble Ponies were up eight by the fourth inning. Aaron Parker drove in the lone New Hampshire run in the ninth inning on an RBI double, but it was a tough defeat. The Fisher Cats lost this one 8-1. 

June 19: The Friday Night contest between New Hampshire and Binghamton was a fun one, with rehabbing Francisco Lindor and Tyrone Taylor in the lineup against Gage Stanifer. Lindor started things with a single under the diving glove of second base, followed by a lazy line drive off the shortstop's glove for a “single” by Taylor. Lindor would score on a throwing error for the first run of the game. After that, Stanifer was exceptional on the mound. He appeared to be working exclusively on his fastball, as he threw it a lot. It didn't matter, though, because it was maybe his best fastball of the year. It looked like the velocity was up, and he was hitting his stops almost all night. He worked around two singles in the second and a home run in the third, but in the end, he went 4.2 innings, gave up five hits, one earned run, didn't walk a batter, and struck out eight. If his fastball can look like that more often, he may see the big leagues come September. He even struck out Lindor to end his night on a fastball. Offensively, Carter Cunningham had a sacrifice fly in the first inning and a run scored on a passed ball in the eighth. New Hampshire lost this one 5-2, but the key takeaway is Stanifer may have found something with his fastball. 

High-A Vancouver 

• Season Record: 28-39
• Series vs Spokane Indians (Colorado Rockies)

June 18: Dylan Watts made his debut for the Canadians and struggled to acclimate, as he gave up seven runs in three innings of work. Luckily for the Canadians, their offense was able to keep it close through great performances from almost the entire starting lineup. Eric Snow, Peyton Williams, Alexis Hernandez, and Tucker Toman each had three hits, and Edward Duran had himself a four-hit night. Manuel Beltre added two hits of his own for 18 combined hits for the offense, while Maddow Latta and Sam Shaw each walked three times. Jack Eshelman allowed two more runs, and the Canadians were down eight to nine heading into the seventh inning, but a five-run inning capped off by a Tucker Toman three-run homer gave the Canadians a four-run lead that they didn’t relinquish. Trace Baker got his third save of the year with three scoreless innings.

 

June 19: The offense for Vancouver continues to heat up, as just a day after getting 18 hits, the Canadians added 13 more. Eric Snow had himself his second three-hit night in a row, hitting two doubles and walking once to raise his OPS to 1.114 since getting promoted to Vancouver. Holden Wilkerson was the starter for Vancouver and had the win despite allowing five runs. Sam Shaw and J.R. Freethy both contributed two homers, and there were five more extra-base hits from the rest of the lineup for 12 runs. Reece Wissinger pitched four scoreless innings with four strikeouts for the save, as the Vancouver offense again dominated in a 12-5 win. 

Single-A Dunedin

• Season Record: 30-36
• Series vs Lakeland Flying Tigers (Detroit Tigers)

June 18: It was a close game until it wasn’t. JoJo Parker has begun to heat up, as he knocked in the first run of the game with a double in the first inning. Anibal Salas hit a two-run homer against Jays’ starter Blake Purnell in the second inning. The one-run deficit remained until the fourth inning, when a Salas single spelled the beginning of the end for Purnell, who gave up five runs. Bradley Wilson allowed another run for a disastrous fourth inning. Parker hit his sixth homer of the season in the eighth as one of the lone bright spots of the game. Luis Fonseca allowed two more runs for the Jays to lose 11-3.

June 19: Silvano Hechavarria took a step back as he allowed three homers and seven runs in just under four innings of work. The offense wasn’t much better, as they only mustered up three hits and three walks, with the lone run coming in on a JoJo Parker triple in the first inning. Diego Dominguez pitched well in relief with 2.1 scoreless innings, but Josbel Garcia allowed three more runs in the seventh to make it double digits for the Flying Tigers for the second game in a row. 

FCL Blue Jays

• Season Record: 25-10

June 18: In the Thursday FCL matchup between the Blue Jays and Tigers squads, it was a close game early. Gavin Smith put the Blue Jays ahead in the second inning, when he hit a two-run double to right field. The Tigers responded with three runs in their half of the inning, but things spiraled into the Blue Jays' favor after that. In the fourth, Pascual Archila hit a two-run home run, Franklin Rojas drove in a run on a single, Gioconino locked in three runs on a double, and Archila had an RBI double to cap off the eight-run inning. Alex Stone homered to finish the scoring in the seventh as the game was called due to weather. The Blue Jays won big, 15-3. 

June 19, Game 1: Friday saw a double header of sorts between the FCL Blue Jays and FCL Yankees. The first game was a continuation of a suspended game on June 12th. It was tied at two in the seventh before the real fireworks began. In the eighth inning, the Blue Jays got two runs on a Franklin Rojas single and another run from Angel Guzman's RBI single to right field. In the ninth inning, Franklin Rojas launched a solo home run and was followed later by a three-run blast from Kennew Blanco. The Blue Jays made easy work in this one in the end, winning 9-2. 

June 19, Game 2: In the second game of the day, the Blue Jays kept on hitting. Pascual Archila homered in the first inning, Giaconino Lasaracina launched a home run in the fourth, followed by David Guzman homering, then Franklin Rojas crushing a home run, and the scoring in the inning ended with Lasaracina hitting his second home run of the inning. The Blue Jays ended the game with 12 hits, 13 walks, and five home runs, for 15 runs. The Blue Jays won this one 15-8.

DSL Blue Jays Blue

• Season Record: 3-9

June 18: It was another battle of the Blue Jays squads down in the Dominican Summer League (DSL). BJB took on BJR on Thursday, with BJB looking to get some revenge and even up the season series. BJR set the tone early, sending Cristhian Duarte to the mound, and he opened the BJB lineup. He went five strong innings, only surrendering two hits, but not allowing a run to score. He would lower his ERA to 0.60 on the season and continued to be a standout for the Jays DSL teams. Facing off against Duarte for BJB was Tomoya Kinjo, a 23-year-old pitcher the Blue Jays signed back in April. He didn't go deep into the game, but he did match Duarte, giving up zero runs across three innings and allowing just one hit. In the bottom of the sixth inning, BJB finally broke through with the bats, getting two walks and then a two-RBI triple from Juan Caricote. He would then come in and score on Isay Veras’ RBI single. The three runs were enough for BJB, as their bullpen held strong and didn't allow a run. BJB got their revenge on BJR and won 3-0.

DSL Blue Jays Red

• Season Record: 4-8

June 18: It was another battle of the Blue Jays squads down in the Dominican Summer League (DSL). BJB took on BJR on Thursday, with BJB looking to get some revenge and even up the season series. BJR set the tone early, sending Cristhian Duarte to the mound, and he opened the BJB lineup. He went five strong innings, only surrendering two hits, but not allowing a run to score. He would lower his ERA to 0.60 on the season and continued to be a standout for the Jays DSL teams. Facing off against Duarte for BJB was Tomoya Kinjo, a 23-year-old pitcher the Blue Jays signed back in April. He didn't go deep into the game, but he did match Duarte, giving up zero runs across three innings and allowing just one hit. In the bottom of the sixth inning, BJB finally broke through with the bats, getting two walks and then a two-RBI triple from Juan Caricote. He would then come in and score on Isay Veras’ RBI single. The three runs were enough for BJB, as their bullpen held strong and didn't allow a run. BJB got their revenge on BJR and won 3-0. 

June 19: Jorge Gonzalez was on the mound Friday for BJR, and he imploded quickly. He would not make it out of the first inning, giving up three runs all on wild pitches, in which he had six in his brief outing. BJR would cut into the lead in the second inning, with a sacrifice fly from Fabian Gonzalez. After the twins team added a run in the fourth, BJR stayed within striking distance, scoring a run on an RBI groundout by Luis Nunez in the fifth. BJR got another run in the bottom of the seventh, when Gabriel Porras scored on a wild pitch. Unfortunately, their rally ended with Ayberson Ortega popping out to end the game. BJR fell 4-3.

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