Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Scherzer Was Perfect Through Five, and Nimmala Is Getting Hot

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (July 21-22)

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Series vs Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals): 1-1
Season Record: 47-51

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats 
Series vs Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees): 1-0
Season Record: 46-43

High-A Vancouver Canadians
Series vs Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks): 1-1
Season Record: 41-51

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Series vs Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates): 2-0
Season Record: 43-47

FCL Blue Jays
Week Record: 1-0
Season Record: 37-20

DSL Blue Jays Blue
Week Record: 0-1
Season Record: 15-21

DSL Blue Jays Red
Week Record: 1-0
Season Record: 18-17

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

• Season Record: 47-51
• Series vs Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals)

July 21: On Tuesday, Buffalo opened up a new series, this one with the Rochester Red Wings. Simeon Woods Richardson had the mound and had an up-and-down start. The good came in the form of strikeouts and his ability to keep hitters from making quality contact. He only pitched three innings, but struck out five, only gave up one hit, and didn't allow a run. The bad was with his command at times. Across the three innings, he walked four, and in the at-bats, the misses were not competitive at all. While Woods Richardson was on a roller coaster, Josh Kasevich and Ismael Munguia led the offense. Charles McAdoo started the scoring for Buffalo with an RBI single that brought home Munguia in the bottom of the first inning. Later in the inning, Jay Harry continued his excellent season with an RBI single, scoring Kasevich. Carlos Mendoza added to the Bisons' lead by grounding out to first base, but Davis Schneider crossed home on the play. From there, the Buffalo bullpen imploded, yet again, highlighted by Abimelec Ortiz bringing home three runs on two doubles in the eighth and ninth innings. In all, Rochester scored six runs in the ninth, all charged to Pat Gallagher. Buffalo dropped the game 7-3, after leading 3-1 going into the final frame. 

July 22: It was the Max Scherzer show on Wednesday afternoon for the Bisons. Scherzer was making another rehab start and made this one count in a big way. Scherzer threw five perfect innings, no hits, no walks, no runs, and struck out seven. The start was perfect for Buffalo, as their bats were hot as well. Josh Kasevich and Jay Harry each had two-RBI doubles in the bottom of the second inning. Davis Schneider blasted a solo shot in the third on a first-pitch fastball. Then William Simoneit added to the Bisons' lead with an RBI single in the fifth. Finally, Buffalo scored two on a wild pitch in the fifth as well. The Bisons cruised to a 9-2 win, as Scherzer looks primed to be activated off of the IL before his next start. 

Double-A New Hampshire

• Season Record: 46-43
• Series vs Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees)

July 21: Postponed

July 22: Wednesday was the first game of the series between New Hampshire and Somerset. Arjun Nimmala got things going in the bottom of the first. He doubled to left field and then scored on an Eddie Micheletti Jr. RBI single. DJ Gladney launched a home run for Somerset to tie the game in the second inning. In the third inning, it was Nimmala again, but this time he crushed an opposite-field home run. The exit velocity was 106 mph, and it went 432 feet. The next inning saw Josh Moylan homer to give the Patriots a one-run lead. Carter Cunningham tied things up in the seventh inning with his fourth Double-A home run. The eighth inning saw New Hampshire break things wide open. With the bases loaded, Jorge Burgos got all of a 1-0 pitch over the plate and crushed a grand slam to right field. New Hampshire would go on to win 7-4. 

High-A Vancouver 

• Season Record: 42-50
• Series vs Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks)

July 21: The Canadians met up at Hops Ballpark with Hillsboro and were able to stave off a late-inning comeback from the opposition. A throwing error in the first inning on a pick-off attempt allowed J.R. Freethy to score the first run of the game, but the Hops responded with a two-run second inning off of Silvano Hechavarria. The game went back and forth until the seventh inning, where Jake Casey came up to the plate with two outs and hammered his third homer of the season that netted the Canadians two runs and the lead, for Casey’s fourth time on base of the game. Edward Duran quickly followed that up with a homer of his own, making it a 6-3 lead. Jack Nedrow came in the eighth inning and allowed a run-scoring double, but the Canadians had another multi-run inning in the ninth, as the Iowa Meat Truck Peyton Williams added a run with a ringing double, then Tucker Toman drove him home with his 10th homer of the season. That turned out to be just enough runs to survive the onslaught from the Hops, as they fired back with four runs against Nedrow in the ninth before Jonathan Todd shut the door for the save and the win. 

July 22: The Canadians once again rallied in the ninth inning in another close game against the Hops. Johnny King wasn’t his best in this start, giving up four runs, with three of them being earned. He did show some good stuff, with six strikeouts over his four innings pitched, but that put the Canadians in a hole early. Mathieu Vallee was able to get some runs across for the Canadians with a two RBI-single, but Austin Marozas couldn’t stop the bleeding as he allowed two more runs. The Canadians had the Hops on the ropes in the eighth, as they loaded the bases with no outs, but they were unable to fully capitalize, as Manuel Beltre drove in one run on an RBI single and Vallee was able to move another runner across with an RBI groundout, but the Canadians still trailed by two heading into the ninth. Gilberto Batista continues to do well as a short-inning reliever, allowing no runs in his two innings, and in the ninth inning, the Canadians showed life, with Ryan Sprock hitting a ball that bounced and hit the top of the wall, so Slade Caldwell assumed that it went over the fence, then bounced back in. However, Sprock kept on chugging and managed to get an inside-the-park homer. This must have shaken the Hops, as with two outs and runners on first and second, recently promoted Jaxson West had himself a clutch single to tie the game up. Jake Casey pinch hit for Beltre and took the lead with a single of his own, and Vallee had his fourth RBI of the night to give the Canadians the lead for good. 

Single-A Dunedin

• Season Record: 43-47
• Series vs Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates)

July 21: This was a barnburner, as the Jays and Marauders traded runs back and forth. Denis Samudio did not have his best command, walking four batters in just under three innings, and was punished in the first inning, as rehabbing old friend Spencer Horwitz was able to walk and score on Brent Iredale’s two-run single. Aldo Gaxiola was able to hit an RBI triple to get the Jays on the board. The Jays tied it up after JoJo Parker hit a double, then advanced on a balk, and after Juan Sanchez got on base with a walk, he stole second, leading to a throwing error that allowed Parker to go home. The wind got an assist as Jean Joseph’s pop-up evaded Horwitz’s glove, putting the Jays up one. T.J. Brock made his return for the Jays on rehab assignment, and although the stuff was popping, he gave up a hit to Horwitz, then was taken deep to lose the lead. He gave up two hits but decided enough was enough, striking the last two batters swinging. Sanchez answered right back with a homer of his own for his seventh of the season, and another Gaxiola extra-base hit put the Jays up by four. The Marauders were hot on the Jays’ tail, as Josbel Garcia gave up three runs in the seventh and eighth, bringing it back to a one-run game. Gaxiola could not be denied, as he had his fourth and fifth RBIs of the game to put the Jays up three, and that was just what the doctor ordered, as Lluveres Severino gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth, narrowly escaping with a victory. 

July 22: This was a laugher for the Dunedin Blue Jays, as they got ahead early and really pulled away at the end of the game. Blake Purnell went six innings for a quality start, striking out four batters and allowing two runs. Although he gave up the first run of the game, the Jays quickly answered with a Jake Cook two-run double and a Blaine Bullard single, making it 3-1. Giaconino Lasaracina smoked one to center field, making it 4-1, and Bullard added to the extra-base hit fiesta with a two-RBI double in the sixth. Colby Holcombe returned on rehab assignment, but allowed a two-run homer to make it within two runs, but Raimundo De Los Santos had his second homer of the season to take a run back. JoJo Parker singled in the ninth, and after two quick outs, it looked like they were just going to head into the bottom of the ninth with a three-run lead, but the Jays just could not get out. They went single, double, single, single, walk, double, double, double, double, which ended up making for a nine-spot inning. 

FCL Blue Jays

• Season Record: 37-20

July 22: It was not a good day for the FCL Blue Jays against the FCL Tigers on Tuesday. The Blue Jays only managed one hit and surrendered 16. Seojun Moon got the start for the Blue Jays and was doing well until the third and fourth innings. He allowed a solo home run to Cris Rodriguez in the third inning and a run on a single in the fourth. He left with two men on, and the Tigers immediately got to the next pitcher, Edgar Gallegos. Gallegos allowed a three-run home run, and things kept going downhill. In the sixth inning, the Tigers got two more home runs, including one from Rodriguez again. The Blue Jays lost this one big, 13-2.

DSL Blue Jays Blue

• Season Record: 15-21

July 21: Tuesday's game for BJB started out rough and only got worse. Tomoya Kinjo was on the mound to start the game for BJB and didn't make it out of the first inning. In fact, he didn't even record an out; he walked all three hitters he faced. Manuel Parra replaced Kinjo and gave up two runs. BJB pitching did have one bright spot: They struck out 10 White Sox batters in the seven-inning game. Unfortunately, the strikeouts were overshadowed by 14 walks, five hits, and nine runs allowed. Sebastian Casanova continued his sizzling season with two more hits, bringing his batting average up to .363 for the season. BJB scored four runs in the game, three in the third and one in the sixth. In the third, Casanova had an RBI single, then Ruben Sanchez scored on an RBI groundout by Juan Caricote, and finally Casanova crossed home on a wild pitch. In the sixth, Isay Veras singled in Casanova. It was all for not through, as BJB pitchers couldn't find the strike zone all game. BJB lost 9-4. 

DSL Blue Jays Red

• Season Record: 18-17

July 21: While BJB got a terrible game from their pitchers, it was a vastly different story for BJR on Tuesday. BJR almost pitched a full nine-inning no-hitter, getting five no-hit innings from Alieski Torres and three no-hit innings from Jose Melo. Torres drops his ERA to 0.95 for the season and looks like he might have a real shot to come stateside next year to start playing Rookie ball. Diego Arce launched his first home run of the season, while Alex Linares, Gabriel Porras, and Aneudi Severino each had two hits in the game. BJR cruised to an 11-1 win, allowing just one hit in the game. 

Transactions

07/22/26     Toronto Blue Jays recalled RHP CJ Van Eyk from Buffalo Bisons.
07/22/26     Toronto Blue Jays recalled LF Yohendrick Piñango from Buffalo Bisons.
07/22/26     Toronto Blue Jays optioned RHP Lazaro Estrada to Buffalo Bisons.
07/22/26     Vancouver Canadians sent RHP Colby Holcombe on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays.
07/21/26     LHP Mason Olson assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Buffalo Bisons.
07/21/26     LHP Javen Coleman assigned to Buffalo Bisons from New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
07/21/26     Dunedin Blue Jays activated C Owen Carapellotti from the 7-day injured list.
07/21/26     New Hampshire Fisher Cats activated C Aaron Parker from the 7-day injured list.
07/21/26     New Hampshire Fisher Cats sent RHP T.J. Brock on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays.
07/21/26     New Hampshire Fisher Cats released C Adam Hackenberg.
07/21/26     C Jacob Sharp assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Vancouver Canadians.
07/21/26     LHP Javen Coleman assigned to Buffalo Bisons from New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
07/21/26     LHP Mason Olson assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Buffalo Bisons.
07/21/26     Vancouver Canadians activated LF Alexis Hernandez from the 7-day injured list.
07/21/26     Vancouver Canadians released C Alex Stone.
07/21/26     C Jaxson West assigned to Vancouver Canadians from Dunedin Blue Jays.

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