Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Harry and Perez Power Wins, Nimmala and Parker Come Up Big, and Guzman Stays Hot

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (July 4-6)

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Series vs St. Paul Saints (Minnesota Twins): 3-3
Season Record: 42-45

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats 
Series vs Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies): 3-3
Season Record: 41-38

High-A Vancouver Canadians
Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants): 3-3
Season Record: 34-47

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Series vs Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami Marlins): 5-1
Season Record: 38-42

FCL Blue Jays
Week Record: 3-3
Season Record: 31-16

DSL Blue Jays Blue
Week Record: 2-3
Season Record: 11-15

DSL Blue Jays Red
Week Record: 5-1
Season Record: 12-13

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

• Season Record: 42-45
• Series vs St. Paul Saints (Minnesota Twins)

July 4: With July 4th festivities in full swing around the country, Buffalo faced off against the St. Paul Saints. In front of a crowd of just over 8,500, Simeon Woods Richardson made his first start for Buffalo since being sent down from the big league club. He immediately got into trouble, and it seemed to get worse as his outing wore on. In the first inning, Woods Richardson gave up a solo home run to Ryan Jeffers, a 105.4 mph rope to left field. Luckily for Buffalo, Davis Schneider evened the game back up in the top of the second inning, with a lime drive single to left, scoring Charles McAdoo. In the bottom half of the inning, Woods Richardson gave up a walk, single, and an RBI double. It was in the bottom of the third, though, when Woods Richardson took it on the chin. He surrendered a double and a walk before Matt Wallner squared a ball up and took it out to right field for a three-run home run. The very next pitch followed suit, as Orlando Arcia launched a solo home run on a middle-middle fastball. After two more singles, Woods Richardson was finally able to get out of the inning. Unfortunately for Buffalo, they were down 6-1. In the fifth inning, Buffalo made a comeback, getting an RBI double from Carlos Mendoza, an RBI single from Rafael Lantigua, and a sacrifice from Ismael Munguia. The comeback continued in the sixth, as Schneider walked with the bases loaded to bring the Bisons to within one of St. Paul. With the game still at 6-5 after the bottom of the sixth, rain clouds enveloped the stadium and unleashed a downpour that would ultimately result in the game being called. Buffalo fell to St. Paul 6-5 in a rain-shortened game. 

July 5: After a terrible start in his last game, Jake Bloss did a 180° turn and spun a pretty good one on Sunday for Buffalo. He didn't light it up with velocity or swing-and-miss stuff, but he worked 4.1 innings and only gave up one run to St. Paul. Through the first four innings, Bloss faced the minimum, only surrendering two singles. Which were wiped out promptly by double-play balls. In the fifth, he coughed up another single and a walk before retiring Gabriel Gonzalez. He turned it over to Lazaro Estrada, who swiftly gave up a sacrifice fly. Thankfully for Buffalo, they already had a sizable lead, as the bats stayed hot on the week. In the top of the first inning, Jay Harry hit a low-velocity solo home run to start the scoring for Buffalo. The exit velocity on the blast was only 93.1 mph, and it had a launch angle of 33°. Later in the half inning, Je'Von Ward and Eloy Jiménez had RBI singles. Charles McAdoo continued his hot week with a two-run shot to right in the second inning. It would be Ward and Jiménez who would add on runs to Buffalo's lead late in the game. Ward had an RBI single in the seventh and a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Jiménez notched an RBI double in the ninth. Buffalo cruised to a win 8-3.

Double-A New Hampshire

• Season Record: 41-38
• Series vs Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies)

July 4: For the Fourth of July baseball day between New Hampshire and Reading, the Fisher Cats struck first. Cade Doughty doubled to left-center in the third inning and was brought home by Jorge Burgos when he hit an RBI single. The Fightin Phils immediately answered, though, in their half of the inning. They got a single and a walk, followed by an RBI hit from Bryan Rincon. Pedro Leon then hammered a three-run home run to give the Fisher Cats a three-run deficit. In the top of the fourth inning, Hedbert Perez would double for New Hampshire, and he was followed by an RBI single to right off the bat of Dub Gleed. The Fightin Phils would add a run on a passed ball, and the Fisher Cats matched it with a run on a wild pitch, but that would end the scoring on the day. New Hampshire lost this one 5-3. 

July 5: The Sunday finale between New Hampshire and Reading looked like a repeat of Saturday's game, but with the script flipped. New Hampshire scored first in the second inning. Hedbert Perez launched his fourth Double-A home run to get things started, a two-run shot that scored Eddie Micheletti Jr. Patrick Winkel would add an RBI single in the inning and was later followed by Cade Doughty hitting a sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the third inning, Reading answered with three runs of their own. Luke Ritter hit a two-run single and a run scored on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. In the eighth inning, Dub Gleed bounced into a double play, but a run scored on the play. New Hampshire would go on to win this one 5-3 this time. 

High-A Vancouver 

• Season Record: 34-47
• Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants)

July 4: Silvano Hechavarria returned to Vancouver after struggling in his rehab assignment in Dunedin. The first at-bat of the game got on base with an error from Eric Snow, and after getting two outs, the Emeralds took the lead with a homer from Dakota Jordan. He allowed another run to score after a single and a double, before finally getting out of the inning. He was let down by his defense with another error in the second by Alex Stone, who came around to score after a Gavin Kilen double for an early 4-0 deficit. A couple of hits in the third netted the Canadians their first run off a Peyton Williams double, but in the fifth inning Hechavarria gave up two doubles and a single and was taken out of the game for Jack Eshleman, who was able to get out of the inning. Snow got a second run for the Canadians on a single in the seventh, but the game was already out of hand as the offense couldn’t come back from the shaky defense early in the game, and after Eshleman was taken out, Reece Wissinger allowed two runs in a tough 8-2 loss. 

July 5: A couple of early homers allowed the Canadians to jump out to a good start, with Sam Shaw going oppo for a two-run homer in the first and Manuel Beltre getting a hold of one in the second inning. Eric Snow knocked in another run in the second inning as well, for a quick 4-0 lead. Johnny King shoved once again, earning his third win of the season, striking out eight batters with the only earned runs he allowed in the game in the fourth inning off of a homer given up to Jakob Christian. An error from Maddox Latta in the fifth allowed an unearned run to score, but the talented lefty allowed only four hits and a walk in another excellent start. Luckily for the Canadians, the Emeralds also gave up a run on an error in the fifth for an insurance run, and Carson Myers and Gilberto Batista both pitched two scoreless innings for a hold and the save, respectively, in a 5-2 win. 

Single-A Dunedin

• Season Record: 38-42
• Series vs Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami Marlins)

July 4: There were some fireworks on the Fourth of July, as Echedry Vargas hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning against Carson Messina, who was only able to pitch the first inning after throwing just 18 pitches due to a rain delay. Austin Smith got those runs back with a two-run double in the second inning, and in the fifth JoJo Parker walked with the bases loaded for the lead. Will Cresswell added to the fireworks with his first homer of the year in the sixth inning to make it a two-run lead. Bradley Wilson gave up his first two runs of the game in the sixth inning as Luis Fonseca allowed both inherited runners to score, then allowed another run to score on a wild pitch as the Hammerheads took the lead. A throwing error by the Hammerheads the inning after became a big three-run shot from Giaconino Lasaracina, who had his first homer as a D-Jay to take the lead right back. The Hammerheads kept it close as they scored a run off of Josbel Garcia, but Lluveres Severino was able to get the four-out save powered by his turbo-sinker. The Jays got some insurance in the ninth as Parker hit an infield single with the bases loaded, then Juan Sanchez walked with the bases loaded. 

July 5: Denis Samudio has been excellent since getting traded to the Blue Jays organization, and this time he went five innings, with the lone run given up a solo homer in the second inning. He struck out six batters and generated 10 whiffs on the night. Arjun Nimmala had a two-hit night on rehab assignment as the DH, and drove in a run in the fourth inning to tie it up. The game remained tied heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, and Austin Marozas gave up a bases-loaded walk after struggling with his command. Giaconino Lasaracina had his second straight game with a big extra-base hit to take the lead, as he hit a two-run double to score JoJo Parker and Nimmala, which ended up being the winning runs. Franly Urena then got his fourth save of the year with an efficient eight-pitch inning to win the last game of the series three to two. 

FCL Blue Jays

• Season Record: 31-16

July 4: On July 4, the FCL Blue Jays squared off against the FCL Tigers, and it was a wild contest. The Tigers scored first when Cristian Perez hit an RBI single in the first inning and then was followed by a two-run single and an RBI groundout to put up four runs in the frame. The second inning saw the Blue Jays' first run on a throwing error on a stolen base attempt, which led to a run scoring. Enmanuel Bonilla hit a sacrifice fly in the third inning to bring the deficit to two. Angel Guzman was the hot bat on the day, as he launched his sixth home run of the year in the fourth inning. With the game tied at five, the Blue Jays broke things open in the seventh inning. Reynel Campos drove home two runs with a single, Guzman added an RBI single to center field, Juan Rosas hit an infield single for an RBI, and Franklin Rojas added a run on a groundout. The Blue Jays would go on to win this one pretty easily, 10-5. 

July 6: It was another high-scoring game on Monday, this time between the FCL Blue Jays and FCL Yankees. Pascual Archila led the way for the Blue Jays with a 4-for-4 day. He had a home run in the second inning to go along with a double and two singles later in the game. Kennew Blanco and Andres Arias each added two RBI, and Angel Guzman had an RBI groundout as well. The pitching did well enough, as Edrwin Veras, Deiker Pineda, and Noah Palmese combined for 10 strikeouts and only allowed five runs. The Blue Jays won this one 9-5, as they were on the bases all day with 14 hits and five walks.

DSL Blue Jays Blue

• Season Record: 11-15

July 4: It was a Blue Jay affair down on the island for July 4. BJB took on BJR, and it was far more fun and competitive than the last matchup between the two. BJB broke out early with a Michael Mesa RBI single that scored Cristopher Polanco. In the top of the second inning, BJR answered with a big inning, thanks in part to an error on BJB second baseman Polanco. BJR's Alex Linares drew a bases-loaded walk, Elaineiker Coronado followed it up with an RBI single, then Gabriel Porras had a sacrifice fly. The big inning wrapped up with BJR scoring a fourth run on a wild pitch. Polanco tried to make up for his error in the bottom of the second inning for BJB. He knocked in Fabian Gonzalez with a sacrifice fly, and then Juan Caricote would double in Eiker Lothar. BJB would tie the game up in the fourth; Sebastian Casanova doubled, and another hit from Caricote brought him home. Unfortunately for BJB, another big inning by BJR in the fifth would provide ample separation. BJR's Darwin Núñez and Ayberson Ortega each had RBI singles, and a third run would cross home on Luis Nunez's groundout. BJR had enough of a lead to hang on and win 8-5 in a battle of Blue Jays.

July 6: On Monday, BJB bounced back in a big way with Roberto Castellanos on the mound. Castellanos worked six scoreless innings, only giving up three hits; he struck out five and didn't walk anyone. The great pitching allowed Juan Caricote to carry the bats for another game. Caricote went 3-for-4, scoring three runs, chipping in an RBI on a groundout. Michael Mesa and Randy Soto each had RBI doubles in the fifth inning. BJR also added three runs in the sixth, two of which scored on a wild pitch and an error. BJB moonwalked to a 7-0 win. 

DSL Blue Jays Red

• Season Record: 12-13

July 4: It was a Blue Jay affair down on the island for July 4. BJB took on BJR, and it was far more fun and competitive than the last matchup between the two. BJB broke out early with a Michael Mesa RBI single that scored Cristopher Polanco. In the top of the second inning, BJR answered with a big inning, thanks in part to an error on BJB second baseman Polanco. BJR's Alex Linares drew a bases-loaded walk, Elaineiker Coronado followed it up with an RBI single, then Gabriel Porras had a sacrifice fly. The big inning wrapped up with BJR scoring a fourth run on a wild pitch. Polanco tried to make up for his error in the bottom of the second inning for BJB. He knocked in Fabian Gonzalez with a sacrifice fly, and then Juan Caricote would double in Eiker Lothar. BJB would tie the game up in the fourth; Sebastian Casanova doubled, and another hit from Caricote brought him home. Unfortunately for BJB, another big inning by BJR in the fifth would provide ample separation. BJR's Darwin Núñez and Ayberson Ortega each had RBI singles, and a third run would cross home on Luis Nunez's groundout. BJR had enough of a lead to hang on and win 8-5 in a battle of Blue Jays.

July 6: Facing an always tough New York Yankees DSL team on Monday, Elaineiker Coronado took over at the plate and led BJR to a hard-fought win. Coronado had himself a perfect day at the plate, reaching base in all four at-bats; he had two extra-base hits (a triple and a two-run home run), he walked twice, scored two runs, and even stole a base. Darwin Núñez was also locked in at the plate, getting two hits himself, including a two-RBI single in the second. BJT held on to their lead, in spite of the Yankees scoring two runs on passed balls in a comeback attempt in the seventh inning. BJR won 5-4. 

Interested in learning more about the Toronto Blue Jays' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!