Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Pitching Woes Infected the Org, But There Were Some Good Performances

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (August 13-14)

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Series vs Worcester Red Sox (Boston Red Sox): 2-2
Season Record: 58-60

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats 
Series vs Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees): 0-4
Season Record: 51-59

High-A Vancouver Canadians
Series vs Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels): 3-1
Season Record: 52-60

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Series vs Tampa Tarpons (New York Yankees): 2-2
Season Record: 52-56

FCL Blue Jays: Season Complete

DSL Blue Jays Blue
Week Record: 0-3
Season Record: 18-34

DSL Blue Jays Red
Week Record: 3-0
Season Record: 31-18

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

• Season Record: 58-60
• Series vs Worcester Red Sox (Boston Red Sox)

August 13: On Thursday, Josh Stephan got a chance to make his second start in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, after his first was one that opened some eyes as to his future role with the team. His second outing definitely did not go as swimmingly as his first; he got rocked hard in this game. From the opening frame onward, he was in trouble. A double, a sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first saw Stephan and Buffalo down one quickly. In the second, it was an RBI double and an RBI single that brought in runs for Worcester. Then in the fourth, it was a two-run triple, an RBI single, and a two-run home run that broke the game wide open for Worcester. Stephan would finish the fifth clean, bringing his outing to a close, throwing five innings and giving up eight runs; it certainly was not the second start he or the team was hoping for. Down 8-0, Buffalo finally got on the scoreboard in the sixth, on a Yohendrick Piñango RBI single to left, scoring Sean Keys. Buffalo kept fighting until the end, though, adding two more runs in the ninth from CJ Stubbs’ two-run home run, his sixth of the season for Buffalo. The hole Stephan dug for the Bisons was just too large to climb back out of, as Buffalo lost 10-3. 

August 14: On Friday, John Klein made his second start in a Buffalo uniform as well; his outing went a little better than his first. Klein didn't make it out of the third inning in his first start. In this one, he completed four innings and gave up just two runs on three hits. Pat Gallagher came on in relief and was lights out, throwing four innings himself, but he didn't allow a run and surrendered just one hit. Peyton Williams would tie the game up at one in the second inning, with a rocket RBI double to center that came off the bat at 111.9 mph. In the third, Yohendrick Piñango joined him with a missile to center, an exit velocity of 106.3 mph, going 433 feet to center for a two-run home run. Ismael Munguia added to the Bisons' lead with an RBI single in the sixth. In the seventh, Sean Keys ripped a solo home run to right, and Rudy Martin Jr. capped off the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Buffalo won in a much better all-around performance, 6-2. 

Double-A New Hampshire

• Season Record: 51-59
• Series vs Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees)

August 13: Thursday game between the Fisher Cats and Patriots was a slow burn for both offenses in terms of getting hits. Carlos Rodón was on the mound for the Patriots, getting a rehab start in on his way back to the big leagues. Over 4.1 innings, New Hampshire hitters got nothing off of him, except for two hits and striking out seven times. In the second inning, Rodón got all the offense he needed when Josh Moylan hit a grand slam off Austin Cates. Eric Snow would homer for New Hampshire in the ninth inning, but that was their lone run of the game. New Hampshire lost this one 5-1. 

August 14: Hits were again at a premium for the Friday contest between New Hampshire and Somerset. Danny Thompson Jr. was on the mound for the Fisher Cats and was fantastic again. He threw his third straight quality start. This time going six innings, only allowing one hit, issuing two walks, and striking out five. A wild pitch and an Eric Snow RBI single had New Hampshire up two by the second inning. Josh Moylan homered for the Patriots, but that was answered by Carter Cunningham driving in a run with an RBI single to left field. Cutter Coffey would bring in a run in the sixth on an RBI groundout. Gage Stanifer came in for the last two innings again out of the bullpen, but things fell apart in the ninth. He had some base runners in the eighth, after a walk and a single, but finished the inning getting a double play. The ninth went horribly wrong, though. Stanifer walked the first two batters and then left a 3-2 fastball over the plate to Omar Alfonzo, who smashed a walk-off three-run home run. New Hampshire lost this one 5-4. 

High-A Vancouver 

• Season Record: 52-60
• Series vs Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels)

August 13: The Canadians ran wild on the Dust Devils as they stole a combined six bases, with Ty Southisene and Jaxson West with a pair apiece. Dylan Watts opened the game for the Canadians and went two scoreless innings, despite giving up three walks. Jake Casey started off the scoring for the Canadians with an RBI single in the first inning. The Dust Devils tied it up, but the Canadians took the lead back, capitalizing on a throwing error, as Southisene scored his second run of the game, and Ryan Sprock drove in another run with an RBI triple. Silvano Hechavarria replaced Watts and pitched well heading into the seventh inning, but a passed ball and throwing error allowed three runs to score, losing the lead. Once again, the Canadians took the lead back, as with two outs, Maddox Latta hit a three-run homer. Bryce Chance made it a five-run inning with a two-run double. They had another big inning in the eighth, as this time they scored six runs, capped off by Max Viera’s first homer as a Canadian with a grand slam to make it 14-4, which ended up being the final score. 

August 14: Mississauga’s very own Connor O’Halloran had his first start in Vancouver since April 13 of last year, and he pitched well despite some obvious rust, as he walked four batters and had two errors, allowing an unearned run to score on a sac fly. Jean Joseph was able to take the lead back in the sixth inning as he hit a two-run bomb, but caused a kerfuffle as he slowly jogged his home run trot, causing the benches to clear for a bit. Bradley Wilson pitched two scoreless innings in his first outing as a Canadian, but the third inning went poorly for him, as the Dust Devils took the lead back with a two-RBI single. Jean Joseph had his third RBI of the night on a sac fly to tie it up in the bottom of the seventh, but the bullpen got burned by a JoJo Parker throwing error, resulting in two unearned runs scoring. The Canadians brought it within one on a wild pitch that scored Austin Smith, but they couldn’t pull off the comeback, losing 5-4. 

Single-A Dunedin

• Season Record: 52-56
• Series vs Tampa Tarpons (New York Yankees)

August 13: The Jays got down early, as Karson Ligon was unable to get out of the second inning, hitting his pitch limit at 44, allowing two runs and three walks. Giacomo Taschin allowed two more runs, leading to a four-run deficit in the third inning. Jake Bennett, an eighth-round pick who signed for just $1,000, tied it up with one swing as his first professional homer was a grand slam. Taschin allowed four homers in a single game, however, and the Jays continued to bleed runs as Isaac Williams allowed three more runs, although not on homers. The only other bright spot was Bennett once again, who homered for the second time, but to no avail, as the Jays lost it 11-7. 

August 14: After a string of good starts, Carson Messina had another dud, this time not getting out of the first inning, allowing four runs and three walks and no strikeouts. Jake Bennett could not be denied as he hit his third homer of the series, with a 105.6 mph homer to right field to put the Jays on the board. In the fifth inning with the bases loaded, Dean West hit a two-run single to bring it within one, but despite loading the bases once again, they could not score another run, which unfortunately resulted in a loss, as they couldn’t find a solid scoring opportunity after that, and they lost 5- 4. 

FCL Blue Jays

• Season Record: 38-20

Season Completed

DSL Blue Jays Blue

• Season Record: 18-34

August 13: Thursday was a rough day all-around for BJB, poor pitching, errors, lack of hitting, all added up to a loss. A fielding error at shortstop by Cristopher Polanco opened up the doors for a three-run inning by the Arizona Black team in the bottom of the first. In the third, a throwing error by third baseman Juarlin Soto led to two more unearned runs scoring. A wild pitch and an RBI groundout got BJB on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth. Michael Mesa and Luis Felipe each had two hits, but nothing would come of them, as BJB got trounced 8-1.

August 14: BJB was in a hole early against the Pirates Black team on Friday. They tried to climb out of it with a big five-run inning, which began with Fabian Gonzalez scoring on a wild pitch. Michael Mesa would then double home two runs with a rope knock to right field. Luis Felipe then singled in two runs as well, with a base hit to left. The Pirates team took the lead back in the top of the fifth, before BJB got an RBI single from Juan Caricote to tie the game back up in the bottom half of the inning. It wasn't meant to be for BJB, though. They gave up a two-RBI single and three runs on three wild pitches in the seventh, as they fell 11-6. 

DSL Blue Jays Red

• Season Record: 31-18

August 13: Cristhian Duarte had a good game on the mound for BJR on Thursday. Duarte pitched five solid innings, only surrendering one run on five hits, struck out four, and walked none. BJR would take the lead in the first. Aneudi Severino brought home a run on an RBI groundout, followed by Samuel Orellana's RBI double and Luis Nunez's RBI single. Darwin Nuñez would add a run onto BJR's lead in the third from a sacrifice fly that scored Gabriel Porras. BJR almost gave the game away, though, coughing up two unearned runs in the seventh, but they held on for the 4-3 win. 

August 14: Elaineiker Coronado had himself a game on Friday: three singles, a walk, two RBI, and a run scored. He paced an offense that walked seven times and added six hits. Darwin Nuñez had a two-RBI single in the first inning, Coronado had an RBI single in the second, and another run would cross home on a wild pitch. In the fifth, Elian Reyes brought in two on his single, then two more runs would score on bases-loaded walks. Luis Nunez would cap off the scoring for BJR with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. With all of the runs scored, BJR had an easy win, as Abrahan Diaz was great on the mound. He pitched four scoreless innings and gave up just three hits. BJR cruised to a 9-4 win.

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