Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Bats Go Quiet, Barriera Finds Some Velo, and Arias Rehabs

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 25-April 26)

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Series vs. Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians): 3-3
Season Record: 13-14

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats 
Series vs. Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies): 2-3
Season Record: 10-8

High-A Vancouver Canadians
Series vs. Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels): 3-3
Season Record: 9-12

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Series vs. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins): 1-5
Season Record: 9-12

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

• Season Record: 13-14
• Series Opponent: Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians)

April 25: Postponed

April 26, Game 1: It was another doubleheader on tap for Buffalo on Sunday afternoon. The pitchers only needed to cover seven innings because of the shortened game, and they struggled to do so. They would end up walking eight Columbus batters, but were ultimately able to pitch around most of them. Josh Fleming, who started the game for Buffalo, had the most trouble of the pitchers; he walked three across his four innings of work. Two of his walks came in the first inning and aided the Clippers in getting a run across home plate. Buffalo answered quickly, getting a monster half inning of their own in the bottom of the second. It started with Josh Kasevich knocking in two runs on a single to right field. RJ Schreck followed up the single with a big three-run home run to right field. His third blast of the season had an exit velocity of 96 mph and went high in the air with a launch angle of 39°. Oddly enough, Riley Tirotta added on a run in the bottom of the fifth that had the same 39° launch angle, but a snail's pace of an exit velocity (90.1 mph). Brendon Little was one of the arms out of the bullpen and had a little bit of trouble. He walked two but was able to escape the jam, continuing his scoreless streak by getting Nolan Jones to line into a double play. Tanner Andrews closed the game out with a scoreless inning of his own in the ninth, his first save of the season. Buffalo pulled back to .500 with the 6-2 win. 

April 26 Game 2: Buffalo once again looked to finally break the .500 mark with a win in game two of this doubleheader. CJ Van Eyk went deep into the shortened game, almost making it through the fifth inning. He wasn't flawless, though, as he gave up three runs in the third inning on three straight RBI singles. The big inning for Columbus took the lead back from Buffalo, who had jumped out on top with a Charles McAdoo solo home run in the bottom of the second inning. He crushed the ball 422 feet to left field at an exit velocity of 104.7 mph. McAdoo had been in a slump recently, seeing his batting average fall to below .290. Down two runs in the bottom of the sixth, Josh Rivera launched a two-run home run to square things back up and ultimately send the game into extra innings. It was the closest Buffalo had come to breaking the .500 mark on the season, but it wasn't meant to be. In the eighth, Columbus got a two-run home run from Juan Benjamin off of Devereaux Harrison. Buffalo couldn't match them in the bottom half of the inning, and they lost 6-4. 

Double-A New Hampshire

• Season Record: 10-8
• Series vs. Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies)

April 25: Postponed

April 26: The New Hampshire Fisher Cats had an uphill climb in this one, as they started in the hole when the Fightin Phils scored three in the third inning. Fisher Cats starter Fernando Perez gave up an RBI double to Bryan Rincon, and then Alex Binelas hit a two-run home run. Reading added another run on a groundout in the fourth, before Eddie Micheletti Jr. finally got New Hampshire on the board with a solo home run. Kehden Hettiger hit a solo homer of his own to put Reading back up four. Sean Keys brought the game to within three with an RBI single to center in the sixth, but again the Fightin Phils answered with an RBI double this time. New Hampshire would be hard-pressed for hits in this one and ultimately runs, as they fell short, losing 6-2. 

High-A Vancouver 

• Season Record: 9-12
• Series vs. Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels)

April 25: The Vancouver Canadians once again got a solid start from Austin Cates, whose uptick in velocity has contributed very well to his effectiveness. He went five scoreless innings, leaving in line for the win, as the Canadians took the lead in the fourth on a Jacob Sharp single. The Canadians got an insurance run in the seventh inning despite Matt Scannell getting caught stealing at third base, as J.R. Freethy was still able to drive in Manuel Beltre at second. The Canadians were one out away from getting out of the eighth inning unscathed after Juanmi Vasquez got two quick outs, but he gave up a hit to Matt Coutney. Kelena Sauer came in to replace Vasquez and gave up a double to Ryan Nicholson, though Coutney was held at third. Sauer induced a grounder at third to Beltre, who couldn’t come up with it cleanly, which allowed a run to score. Unfortunately for the Canadians, they would allow two more runs to score on two more hits, relinquishing the lead. They got one more chance in the bottom of the ninth, and despite Dub Gleed striking out, Maddox Latta walked, then stole second base, Scanell walked, then Beltre got hit by a pitch to load the bases up. Freethy came up and struck out swinging, and the red-hot Carter Cunningham could not get it done, as he grounded out to first to end the game on a heartbreaker. 

April 26: The Canadians hoped to end the series on a win to clinch the series, but the Dust Devils had other plans. Landen Maroudis put up another scoreless outing, going 3.1 innings, finally showing the promise that people expected out of him before his injury. A solid fourth inning where a Carter Cunningham walk led to an Arjun Nimmala double to put runners on second and third. Peyton Williams hit a sac fly, then Alexis Hernandez drove in Nimmala with a single, which knocked out the starter Keythel Key. Tucker Toman walked, then Gleed reached on an error, loading the bases for Brennan Orf, who grounded into a force out but allowed a runner to score. Gilberto Batista once again followed Maroudis in relief, and the young Dominican pitched well through three innings before a disastrous seventh inning struck. After a leadoff double, Batista was able to induce two grounders, hopefully only allowing a single run to score, but his command faltered, walking the next two batters, then giving up a single to the third. Carson Pierce couldn’t stop the bleeding after he replaced Batista, walking the bases loaded, and then the Dust Devils took the lead on a Ryan Nicholson single. Pierce then gave up a three-run homer, making a comeback seem unlikely. The Canadians fought back a little in the eighth, getting two more runs, but Jonathan Todd gave them up right back in the ninth, stopping the comeback attempt there. 

Single-A Dunedin

• Season Record: 9-12
• Series vs. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins)

April 25: The D-Jays really wanted to turn it around after going 1-3 in the first four games of the series. Starter Brandon Barriera’s velocity finally ticked up a bit; he touched 96 mph on his fastball and showed off his sharp slider, striking out four batters in two innings of work, giving up only an unearned run. Lluveres Severino replaced him and also went two scoreless, and Mussels’ pitcher Ramiro Villanueva went four shutout innings, as the game was close heading into the fifth inning. The fifth inning went horribly for the Jays, as the Mussels were all over Brayden Heidel, who gave up five hits and six runs, five of them being earned. The defense didn’t help either, as they gave up two errors, leading Carson Myers to also give up two unearned runs after he replaced Heidel. Yorman Licourt and Will Cresswell hit a couple of doubles to prevent the Jays from going scoreless, but the lead was insurmountable, making it so that the Jays lost their series against the Mussels.

April 26: Victor Arias returned on rehab assignment after starting the season injured, but was one of only three Dunedin players to get on base, as the Jays were no-hit by the Mighty Mussels. The Jays got some solid pitching performances from Troy Guthrie, whose strong command has led to a great start, as well as Reece Wissinger, whose stuff has been lighting up the models with his high-riding fastball. Unfortunately for them, they each gave up a run, and Franly Urena gave up a run as well, leading to a 3-0 loss on a night where the Jays did not have it going offensively. 

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