Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Nimmala Homers in New Hampshire Return

[Simon Li]

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (July 7-8)

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Series vs Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees): 0-2
Season Record: 42-47

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats 
Series vs Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox): 1-1
Season Record: 42-39

High-A Vancouver Canadians
Series vs Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners): 1-1
Season Record: 35-48

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Series vs Lakeland Flying Tigers (Detroit Tigers): 0-2
Season Record: 38-44

FCL Blue Jays
Week Record: 0-1
Season Record: 31-17

DSL Blue Jays Blue
Week Record: 1-1
Season Record: 12-16

DSL Blue Jays Red
Week Record: 1-0
Season Record: 13-13

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

• Season Record: 42-47
• Series vs Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees)

July 7: Buffalo opened a new series on Tuesday, this one against the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. It was a game that the Bisons will want to forget immediately. They used six pitchers to get through nine innings, and every one of them gave up at least one run, with five of them surrendering at least two runs each. Davis Schneider would provide all of the runs on the scoreboard for Buffalo. He drew a bases-loaded walk in the third inning, scoring Jay Harry. Then in the bottom of the eighth inning, Schneider connected on a fastball down the middle for a two-run home run. The blast came off the bat at 103.7 mph and went 426 feet to center. While the bats were relatively quiet, the RailRiders brought the fireworks; they hit six home runs, including a grand slam. Buffalo dropped this one 18-3.

July 8: On Wednesday, it was Max Scherzer taking the mound for another rehab start; it went south from the very beginning. Scherzer gave up three singles in the top of the first inning, followed by a sacrifice fly and then a soul-crushing 426-foot, three-run home run. In the second inning, it was a single, stolen base, an error and another sacrifice fly that brought home the fifth run of the game for the RailRiders. For the game, Scherzer threw four innings, gave up six hits, five runs (four earned), and struck out five. CJ Van Eyk came in for Scherzer to begin the fifth and threw five scoreless innings to keep the game somewhat close. Unfortunately for Buffalo, they would get a single by Carlos Mendoza and then head into the ninth still with just that one hit. In the ninth, though, they would get on the scoreboard. Davis Schneider singled, moved to third on two passed balls, and then scored on Je'Von Ward's sacrifice fly to center. After a hot stretch last week with the bats, Buffalo falls in back-to-back games with almost no fight from the lineup at the plate. The final score was 5-1, with the Bisons losing. 

Double-A New Hampshire

• Season Record: 42-39
• Series vs Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox)

July 7: Postponed

July 8, Game 1: In the first game of the series against the Portland Sea Dogs, Gage Stanifer was on the mound for New Hampshire. He started off well; he struck out the second batter of the game and got a double play to end the first inning. He never really had good control of his slider or splitter, so much of his time was using the fastball a lot. He hung a slider to the first batter of the second inning, who hit it well for a solo home run. In the third inning, he got behind the second batter of the inning 2-0 and left a fastball over the plate that again was hit for a solo home run. In the fourth inning, Stanifer again fell behind the first batter 2-0 and ended up leaving a fastball over the middle of the plate two pitches later; it was deposited over the fence for the third solo home run he gave up. He came out a few batters later after allowing a soft single, getting a pop-up, then walking two after the third error in the field. His day was done at 80 pitches. The fastball was again very good at times, but he needed all of his pitches to get further in the game. He went 3.1 innings, gave up four hits, three runs, allowed four walks, and struck out five again. Offensively, Nick Goodwin led off the first inning with a solo home run and was followed by Arjun Nimmala hitting a solo shot in the third inning. That was all the offense for New Hampshire who had just three hits in seven innings. New Hampshire lost this one 3-2. 

July 8, Game 2: In the second game of the doubleheader, the offense was much better and again led by Nick Goodwin. He went 3-for-3 in the game, with two doubles. Dub Gleed doubled in a run in the second inning and was then brought home by a two-run blast from Carter Cunningham. Eddie Micheletti Jr. added a sacrifice fly the next inning, with Patrick Winkel hitting an RBI single in the fourth along with Victor Arias bringing in a run on a groundout. New Hampshire would go on to win 6-2. 

High-A Vancouver 

• Season Record: 35-48
• Series vs Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners)

July 7: Eric Snow and Sam Shaw each had three-hit nights as the two hitters have been some of the best hitters for Vancouver since joining the team this season. Snow drove in the first two runs of the game in the first inning for Vancouver, and then scored for a three-run first inning. Dylan Watts walked three batters for the fifth start in a row, but was able to limit the damage, only allowing one run in four innings. The Canadians added some power in the second inning, with Alex Stone leading off the second with a solo homer, before Shaw added two more runs with a homer of his own. Peyton Williams joined in the fun with the third homer of the inning, and the Canadians got ahead with an eight-run lead. Watts gave up his only run of the game with a homer to Luis Suisbel in the fourth, and Jack Nedrow replaced him in the fifth. Suisbel homered on him in the sixth, and then Nedrow gave up his second homer in the seventh inning, which made it a four-run game. Shaw gave an insurance run, walking with the bases loaded, which was well needed as Nedrow gave up two more runs in the eighth inning. Jonathan Todd was able to help the Canadians win after replacing Nedrow and getting the five outs needed to get out of the eighth and the ninth. 

July 8: It was a really close game as Holden Wilkerson and Adam Maier had a pitching duel, as both starters had a quality start, allowing a single run each. The Canadians had a chance to add more after Manuel Beltre drove in their first run in the third, but Eric Snow grounded out into a double play, which ruined the rally. Things took a turn for the worse when the bullpen replaced Wilkerson, who had his longest outing of the season, as Jay Schueler gave up five runs in the seventh inning, including a grand slam to Josh Caron. The offense was not able to give a response as the Canadians lost the second game of the series. 

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays

• Season Record: 38-44
• Series vs Lakeland Flying Tigers (Detroit Tigers)

July 7: The Jays’ pitching faltered in the first game of the series against Lakeland, as the best pitcher of the evening for them was the position player Dariel Ramon, who pitched two scoreless innings in relief. The Jays were the first to strike on offense with Juan Sanchez driving in Jake Cook in the first, and despite the Tigers taking the lead in the second, the Jays were able to bounce back with an RBI groundout from Raimundo De Los Santos. Blake Purnell, Luis Victorino, and Diego Dominguez subsequently gave up 13 runs in three innings, putting Dunedin way behind, and even after Blaine Bullard’s three-RBI night with a homer and a double, there was nothing the offense could do to recover from that deficit, for a disappointing start to the series. 

July 8: The Tigers just seemed to have the number of Dunedin’s pitching, as although they didn’t go for double-digit runs like the previous game, no pitcher for the Jays was able to get out unscathed, as each one gave up two runs or more. Giacomo Taschin gave up three homers to start the game, and despite a Blaine Bullard RBI double in the third, the Jays were already down four to one in the fourth inning. Angel Obando gave up two runs in the sixth, and the Jays were only able to score one more run on a Will Cresswell single. Lluveres Severino gave up a two-run homer in the eighth, and the Jays lost the second game of the series despite outhitting the Tigers 13 to 11, as they left 15 men on base. 

FCL Blue Jays

• Season Record: 31-17

July 7: Tuesday saw the FCL Blue Jays and FCL Yankees face off. Colby Holcombe got the start on the mound in a rehab appearance and went two innings, only allowing a lone hit and striking out one. Seojun Moon came on in the fourth inning and had probably his worst game of the year. He allowed a home run to Wilberson De Pena, as well as a sacrifice fly and a two-run double in the inning. The Blue Jays started chipping away at the deficit, though. Enmanuel Bonilla stole home in a double steal to get the scoring started. In the sixth inning, the Blue Jays got two bases-loaded walks, a bases-loaded balk, and an RBI groundout from Andres Arias. A wild pitch in the seventh tied the game for the Blue Jays. An RBI groundout from David Guzman tied the game again in the eighth inning, before the game eventually landed in extra innings. A sacrifice fly by the Yankees would be the only run scored in the extra frame, though, as the Blue Jays lost this one 8-7. Guzman was the best hitter for the Blue Jays, going 3-5, with two runs, an RBI, and a walk.

DSL Blue Jays Blue

• Season Record: 12-16

July 7: Jose Andrades had the mound on Tuesday for BJB in the game against the White Sox DSL team (WSX). While Andrades did run into some trouble in the second and fourth innings, he managed to escape each inning just giving up one run: an RBI double and an RBI single off the bat of Felix Lebron. Outside of those two hits, Andrades struck out seven batters in his four innings and put BJB in a good position to win the game, as they had the lead 3-2 when he exited the game. In the first inning, Fabian Gonzalez scored on a fielder's choice to give BJB the early lead. In the second, Luis Felipe tripled home Isay Veras to give BJB the lead back. A throwing error in the fourth allowed Randy Soto to score and gave BJB the lead for good. Both Caricote and Soto had RBI singles in the fifth, giving BJB some much-needed insurance runs, as they coughed one up in the seventh. BJB would win this one 5-3. 

July 8: Tomoya Kinjo continued to struggle in a big way on Wednesday, so much so that it is becoming worrisome whether he will put things together. Kinjo is already 23 years old and should be doing much better against 17- and 18-year-olds. Kinjo walked six and gave up three runs in his two innings of work. After the game, he has an ERA of 9.45 and a ridiculous WHIP of 2.70 in 13.1 innings for the season. He wasn't the only pitcher shuffling with his command, as BJB pitchers walked 13 in the game. You can imagine what happened with all of the walks: They would come around and score in bunches. BJB saw 11 Pirates Gold runners cross home plate in the game. The bats struggled just as much, only managing five hits, and they struck out 10 times. Juan Caricote continued to be a bright spot. He went 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the third inning. The other two runs BJB would score in the game came from a wild pitch and a balk. BJB fell 11-3. 

DSL Blue Jays Red

• Season Record: 13-13

July 7: Postponed

July 8: Darwin Nuñez and Ayberson Ortega led the way with their bats on Wednesday for BJR. Both had two hits in the game. Nuñez went 2-for-3, with an RBI double in the fifth, and Ortega went 2-for-3 with a two-RBI single in the fourth inning. Alieski Torres started the game and threw three scoreless innings, keeping his ERA for the season at zero. He has been one of the better pitchers in the DSL for the Blue Jays. BJR needed a Luis Nunez sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth inning to win the game, as their bullpen coughed up a run late into the game. BJR won the game 4-3. 

Transactions

07/08/26     Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP Max Scherzer on a rehab assignment to Buffalo Bisons.
07/07/26     Buffalo Bisons activated C William Simoneit from the Development List.
07/07/26     Toronto Blue Jays optioned LF Yohendrick Piñango to Buffalo Bisons.
07/07/26     Toronto Blue Jays recalled RHP Chad Dallas from Buffalo Bisons.
07/07/26     Dunedin Blue Jays activated 3B Aldo Gaxiola from the 7-day injured list.
07/07/26     Sent C Owen Carapellotti on a rehab assignment to FCL Blue Jays.
07/07/26     New Hampshire Fisher Cats activated SS Arjun Nimmala from the 7-day injured list.

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