King

30 day rehab assignment starting in June

What happens when a player is selected in the Rule 5 Draft? A team that selects a player in the Rule 5 Draft pays $50,000 to the team from which he was selected. The receiving team must then keep the player on the Major League 25-man roster for the entirety of the next season, and the selected player must remain active (not on the disabled list) for a minimum of 90 days. If the player does not remain on the Major League roster, he is offered back to the team from which he was selected for $25,000. If his original team declines, the receiving team may waive the player.

It is a catch 22. 1) People make threads for minor news, people complain about it being not thread worthy 2) People post news in the general discussion threads, people complain about it not being a thread. People will complain about anything. Can't win.

Brad Jones doesn't even like baseball! The next Adam Lind, it was right in front of us the whole time.

http://i.imgur.com/7oBOX7q.png http://i.imgur.com/LFlBxFA.png http://i.imgur.com/DtWnBo6.png http://i.imgur.com/GxhdBEy.png Manchester, NH - The Fisher Cats started their five-game homestand with a 9-4 loss to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies on Thursday night at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. The Fisher Cats walked 10 batters and hit two, narrowly missing the team-record of 13 free passes. Those 12 baserunners accounted for five of Binghamton's nine runs. The first four Binghamton batters reached base to start the game, and all came in to score against Sean Reid-Foley (L, 1-3). Raffy Lopez cut into the 4-0 deficit with a solo homer in the second inning, but Binghamton rallied again in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 6-1. Richard Urena drew a bases-loaded walk in the fourth to make it 6-2 before two more Binghamton runs came home in the top of the fifth. Trailing 9-2 in the seventh, New Hampshire got a lift from Derrick Loveless, who laced a two-run double to left center. The Fisher Cats loaded the bases in the third, fourth and sixth innings, but could only score on the walk to Urena. Lopez and Loveless each finished with multiple hits, while Tim Lopes drew three walks in the losing effort. The series continues with a doubleheader on Friday, starting at 5:35 p.m. Friday is WMUR's Play Ball for CHaD Night, with half of all single-game ticket sales benefitting the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock. http://i.imgur.com/8BAYEZH.png http://i.imgur.com/FtH3mOP.png http://i.imgur.com/xFinbgr.png For eight and two-thirds innings, the Dunedin Blue Jays offense was unable to get anything going against the Tampa Yankees on Thursday night at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. That all changed with two outs in the ninth inning when 1B Juan Kelly stepped to the plate with a runner on first. Kelly, staring down a two-run deficit and two outs on the scoreboard, launched a fastball from Yankees reliever Hobie Harris far past the wall in right field and high on to the roof of the office building behind the field to tie the game. "I was thinking positively when I went up bat," Kelly said after the game about his game-tying home run. "I wanted to do my job." With the score tied 2-2, Dunedin reliever Andrew Case threw a scoreless top of the tenth inning, striking out a pair of Yankees batters and setting the scene for more heroics in the bottom of the inning. RF Connor Panas took it from there, sending a walk-off home run into the Blue Jays bullpen in right field with one out. "I was in the outfield the inning before thinking 'I'm going to do this, I'm going to walk-off,'" Panas said about his mindset coming to the plate in extra innings. Seeing his teammates waiting at home plate to congratulate him while he rounded third base after hitting the home run is a memory he is unlikely to forget. "I couldn't help but smile, I couldn't hold it in. It's a special moment. Walk-off home runs don't happen too often. It was a really fun experience coming back and winning that game." The Blue Jays almost never had the opportunity to come back so dramatically. The game seemed over with two outs in the ninth inning when C Danny Jansen hit a short pop-up to second base that could have ended the game. Yankees 2B Nick Solak was unable to make the catch, the ball popping out of his glove, allowing Jansen to reach and bringing Kelly to the plate for his game-tying shot. Andrew Case was credited with the win after his scoreless tenth, capping an impressive day by both teams' pitching staffs. RHP Jordan Romano threw 6.0 strong innings for the Jays, allowing just an unearned run on four hits and striking out nine batters. For the Yankees, starter Erik Swanson put up a nearly identical line, throwing six innings and allowing no earned runs on four hits with six strikeouts. The Blue Jays offense finished the game with six hits, including a pair by LF D.J. Davis and a single by DH Max Pentecost that extended his ongoing hitting streak to 18 games. "A game like that boosts our morale going forward," Panas said. "This is my third year of pro ball, and this is probably the strongest team chemistry I've seen. We all love coming to the park and all have fun together. It's fun showing up every day and competing." The Blue Jays (16-12) will look to build off of tonight's momentum tomorrow on the road against the Bradenton Marauders in Bradenton. LHP Angel Perdomo (2-1, 3.86 ERA) will be on the mound for Jays for the 6:30 PM start. http://i.imgur.com/fpcK18l.png Kings 3 Stars of the Night 1) Jordan Romano 2) Raffy Lopez 3) Connor Panas Kings Platinum Arencibia 1) Sean Reid-Foley Mike Reeves Savours Baseball Opportunities https://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/canadian-baseball-network-articles/newly-married-reeves-savours-baseball-opportunities By Alexis Brudnicki Canadian Baseball Network DUNEDIN, Florida – The off-season was good to Mike Reeves. Well, life is pretty great if you ask the 26-year-old catcher. The native of Peterborough, Ont., may not be living the ultimate dream yet, where he could enjoy a spot in the major leagues with his home country squad, and the same Toronto Blue Jays that selected him in the 21st round of the 2013 draft out of Florida Gulf Coast University, but baseball is still paying at least a portion of the bills, giving him a chance to travel, and allowing him to embrace life to the fullest. “My attitude’s definitely changed,” Reeves said. “I’m just older now, I’m more mature, and I know more of what to expect. When I came out of college, I really needed to know what was going on and all that stuff, but professional sports aren’t like that at all. “I could be on a plane somewhere tomorrow and not know that I’ve got to move out. It’s just part of it, and I like it. I’m starting to enjoy that part of it, the not knowing where I’m going to go next, or tomorrow. It’s fun. Wherever I go I just try to enjoy the people I’m around and have fun with it.” Just over a month ago, Reeves was coming to the end of his fourth spring training with the Blue Jays. After a career .230/.336/.291 slash line in 255 games primarily as a backup backstop, splitting time mostly between Class-A Lansing and Class-A Advanced Dunedin since spending his first professional experience with the short-season Vancouver Canadians, he figured he would either be moving up to Double-A New Hampshire or he would be released this year. Neither happened, and Reeves returned to the place he spent all of last year, the Dunedin Blue Jays roster. He’s two years older than the eldest of his teammates, a fact not lost on him, and one of three catchers with organizational prospects Max Pentecost and Danny Jansen, but he brings a whole lot more to the table than perhaps even he knows. “He brings great experience, great leadership, and a great work ethic,” Dunedin manager John Schneider said. “I don’t even know if he knows it but he helps out the other catchers almost as much or more than I do, which is huge with what we’re trying to preach about being teammates, but it takes a lot off my plate. “Sometimes it means more coming from your teammate than your manager or your coach. So he brings tremendous leadership qualities, especially when he’s catching. He has a very good presence behind the plate and the pitchers really trust him.” The left-handed hitting Canadian catcher began his latest off-season with a wedding – his own, tying the knot with Hailey Goetz on the first of October – before he and his bride honeymooned in the Dominican while he played some instructional league baseball in order to get ready for the Australian Baseball League, where he played for the Canberra Cavalry for three months. “For me it was like my honeymoon,” Reeves said. “In Australia, we stayed on every road trip for an extra day and toured around, so we saw the whole country basically. We didn’t get to go to the Great Barrier Reef, but I’m a big baby getting into the ocean because I’m afraid of sharks, so we didn’t do that. “We did everything else. The only time that they went in the river I didn’t go in because there are snakes, and I don’t like snakes either. But I’m not scared of spiders. There were some big boys in my apartment, but they don’t scare me. Just snakes and sharks.” Away from the water and on the field in Australia’s capital city, Reeves enjoyed the ABL and its emphasis on winning, with a team-first mentality. After getting into 53 games last year with the Dunedin Blue Jays, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound backstop was down under to get some playing time under his belt – matching his career total with five home runs in 30 games – and spent some time at different corners of the diamond than he’s been used to. “I went out there just to work on getting some more at-bats and playing a little bit of the infield, so I did that,” he said. “It was fun. Playing third and first has made me a better catcher. There’s a different view of the game. And the little things, like working on my hands over there and taking ground balls, I worked on a lot. I’ve been so drilled to do one thing, so it was improvisation and I was basically teaching myself how to do it. But it’s made my catching game become real tight… “It was weird because I’ve played baseball my whole life, but never at third base, and then you see it from there and it’s a whole new ballgame. I took a lot of ground balls every day so I got pretty good over there. I did it here last year a little bit. I played three innings at third and three innings at first. I’m trying to make myself more versatile.” Returning from Australia in time for another wedding, Reeves followed that celebration by quickly getting back out on the field in Florida. While at Blue Jays camp, he was added to Canada’s senior national team roster just before the World Baseball Classic began in Miami when an injury sidelined Yankees farmhand Kellin Deglan. Wearing the red-and-white jersey for the first time in his career, Reeves couldn’t have had a much better introduction to the international game. “It was just an unbelievable experience,” he said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Well hopefully not, actually. Hopefully I get to go next time too. I hope I get to do that again and get in there. But Team Canada was very tight knit. It’s like a family. Seeing how cool those guys are to one another, and the respect that is shown between each other, and how being on that team has formed a friendship with a lot of guys, that’s nice to see.” Even though the event was shortlived – Canada leaving without a win in three games and failing to advance out of the first round for the fourth consecutive WBC tournament – the former Ontario Blue Jays catcher feels like he gained a lot from the experience. “It was short, but it’s a maturity thing,” Reeves said. “Being around guys like [Justin] Morneau and guys who have played in the big leagues, they treated me like one of the guys. So you just pass that on, how to act, and how to be professional and do things like that, so it was a good learning experience… “And it was so fun. This team [in Dunedin] is really fun because we’ve got five Canucks here [with Andrew Case, Connor Panas, Tom Robson and Jordan Romano], and when you’ve got a whole team of 28 of them, it’s a blast because you know they’re all pretty much you, but you finally get to play together. It’s cool.” After the tournament came to an end for Canada in Miami, Reeves returned to spring training in Dunedin and got to finish exhibition play at Olympic Stadium in Montreal with the big-league Blue Jays before he learned of his fate for the season and made his temporary home at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. Hailey was with him every step of the way, until his season began in Dunedin. She stayed in Peterborough while her husband slept on an air mattress in a living room with Canadian teammates and roommates Romano and Case, but Reeves found a much more suitable living arrangement before she arrived. “We’re kind of like gypsies,” Reeves said. “We’re everywhere. She’s been posting up with my parents and she’s starting a wedding business up there in Peterborough. We don’t have a house or anything. It’s hard, but it’s not just me who goes through it. She grinds too, so that part’s a little difficult… “She wouldn’t be my wife right now if she knew what the minor league life was like when we met [at FGCU]. It’s difficult, and everybody calls it a grind, but just this off-season I got to go to the Dominican, I got to go to Australia, I got to go to Miami with Team Canada, and I went to Montreal with the big league team. It has its perks. A couple of mornings ago I woke up and played some golf and then came to the baseball field and worked on my swing. How much of a grind is this really?” An Assortment of Bradley Jones Content http://jaysjournal.com/2017/04/27/blue-jays-interview-with-bradley-jones-the-fastest-rising-prospect-every-fan-must-know/ Bradley Jones was the Blue Jays’ 18th Round Draft Pick in 2016. While his draft position may not excite fans, Jones’ start to his professional career (.310/.357/.614 batting line in 79 games) has put him on the radar of scouts and fans alike as one of the fastest rising prospects in the Blue Jays’ farm system. I had the honor and privilege of interviewing Bradley Jones to share his insights, stories, and other exciting information for the readers at Jays Journal. Jason– I’d like to start by saying a pretty late congratulations on being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays. Can you possibly recount the big announcement? Bradley– “Yeah, for sure. I was with my girlfriend, my parents, and my parents’ friends on a day we were all out riding dirt bikes. You know, I got a call saying that I was drafted by the Blue Jays and it was pretty exciting. I wasn’t really stressing it too much and I didn’t want to overthink it as far as the process was going so I was trying to kill some time but when I got the call, it was pretty exciting.” Jason– Wow, that’s really amazing. Bradley, you had good numbers in college at Charleston but you really turned a lot of heads last year with your amazing professional debut with Bluefield. The next question I would like to ask you is, how was your transition from college baseball to professional baseball? Are there any similarities or mostly differences between the two? Bradley– “I think there’s both similarities and differences. You know, it’s still the same game. But as far as pro ball, there’s a lot of coaching yourself. You have coaches but when you go on slumps, it’s about finding who you really are and how you can get out of those slumps because a lot of it is about teaching yourself how to do things. It was a learning experience in that aspect but as far as playing the game, it’s still baseball.” Jason– That’s really great insight for aspiring high school and college baseball players. As I hinted before, starting with last year’s unbelievable debut and this year’s continued success, the name Bradley Jones is really starting to get known by Jays fans, writers, and analysts. What do you attribute to your development into a top Blue Jays prospect? Bradley– “You know, I think the biggest thing is just finding my rhythm. Having a good approach at the plate, less than two strikes and with two strikes, we worked a lot on that in Spring Training this year and it’s just about buying into the things that they teach you so I really give a lot of credit to the coaches in the organization. Finding rhythm, finding timing, and just playing the game that you’ve always played.” Jason– I noticed in your player summary, a lot of websites list you as a corner infielder but I’ve heard you’ve been playing a lot of 2nd base recently. What has your development been like on the defensive side of the game and what do you consider your strongest position? Bradley– “The Blue Jays put a lot of emphasis on defense and I take a lot of pride in trying to learn new positions. I didn’t even start playing first base until my junior year at college. My best position, just based on comfort, would probably be third base right now but it’s a process through which I’m trying to get better at all three [1st, 2nd, 3rd] and it’s going in the right direction. I get early work in before the games and I worked a lot in Spring Training and Instructionals so it’s all starting to get more comfortable and better.” Jason– To expand from that, describe yourself as a player. Who did you look up to as a kid and what player do you most resemble from the MLB today? Bradley– “That’s a tough question. Growing up, I didn’t really look up to any player but A-Rod was my favorite player. Other than that, I looked up to my dad a lot. He taught me how to play the game the right way, competitiveness and how to compete, and stuff like that. And as far as who my game models similar to in the MLB today, I don’t really have a good answer for that.” Jason– So you don’t pay attention to the MLB. Rather, it’s about the process getting to the big leagues that is on your mind most of the time? Bradley– “Absolutely. And you know, I love to sit and watch some games every now and then, but I don’t keep up with it too much. It’s just about playing the game that I’m playing and getting my work in and moving up in the organization.” Jason– Obviously, the Blue Jays have created quite a stir recently in the MLB from their postseason runs. When you got drafted by Toronto, did you know anything about the Jays and did you pay attention to any of their success? Bradley– “A little bit. Obviously, you know Bautista, Donaldson, Tulowitzki and guys like that. But as far as watching, I’ve never really been a big guy that sits around and watches baseball. I’m more of a basketball guy, to be honest with you.” Jason– Bradley, I want to bring up the topic of strikeouts and walks. So far in your professional career, albeit in a small sample, I saw that you’ve struck out 90 times in 80 games, and only walked 23 times. Is plate discipline something you’ve had in the back of your mind, and something you might want to improve on for the future or are you a player that finds success with being aggressive? Bradley– “I think it’s a little bit of both. I like to be aggressive early in the counts but when I get to two strikes, it’s been a process for me. It’s still a learning game for me right now so it’s just about finding a good two-strike approach that works for you. It’s not that I’m not trying but it’s just a work in progress.” Jason– To continue from that, what are your goals this season other than to keep tearing the cover off of baseballs? Bradley– “The main goal right now is for the Lugnuts to win the Midwest League Championship. That’s the only thing on my mind right now as far as helping the team win and if I get called up, that’s great. And like I was telling you earlier, working on both sides of the game, both offensive and defensive wise.” Jason– What is it like to play with the guys who are coming out of high schools like Vladdy Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette? As an older player at that level, are you a mentor to those guys? Bradley– “Yeah, in a way and you know, I think they’re a mentor to me. We can learn from everybody. It’s fun to get to play alongside those two guys, and they obviously have some very good talent and are very special players so it’s good to wake up every day and get to play with guys like Guerrero, Bichette, and Woodman. We have a lot of talent up here [in Lansing] so it’s fun and it’s a good learning experience for all of us.” Jason– Bradley, who has been the biggest influence in your baseball career and would you like to thank them through this interview? Bradley– “Of course. It’s back to what I said earlier about my dad. I give a lot of credit to him because he was there with me through it all; from the time I was four or five when I started playing and until now. Also, a lot of credit to all my coaches that I’ve had throughout the years.” Jason– Bradley, to close off this interview, can you share any advice for aspiring young baseball players? Bradley– “The biggest thing would be to just keep grabbing and if you’re going to play professional baseball, it’s not out of reach and keep pursuing your dreams. Don’t give up until your career is over and just keep grinding!” http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-prospect-report-bradley-jones-turning-heads/ http://assets2.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/jones_bradley-1040x572.jpg TORONTO – Lacking the hype surrounding some of his more heralded teammates on the low-A Lansing Lugnuts, Bradley Jones is quickly slugging his way to notice in the Toronto Blue Jays system. An 18th-round pick in the 2016 draft from the College of Charleston, the 21-year-old is off to a sizzling .365/.414/.712 start with five homers through his first 14 games. Small sample size caveats certainly apply at this time of year, but the corner infielder primarily seeing duty at second base right now is picking right up from his strong pro debut last year at rookie-league Bluefield, where he slashed .291/.336/.578 with 16 homers and 18 doubles in 256 plate appearances. "He’s got a very good professional track record, a decent amateur track record," says Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins. "It’s hard to decipher what to make out of college performers and guys like that, but what I can tell you is our area scout (Chris Kline) loved him, he had really good role grades on him, really good character and makeup. He liked the overall player, good athlete." Jones played all around the diamond in college but was drafted as a third baseman, a position that belongs to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., on the Lugnuts. With first baseman Nash Knight and Christian Williams also on the roster, Jones has found himself playing lots of second base alongside shortstop Bo Bichette, with Yeltsin Gudino, another middle infielder, working his way into the mix. "The only reason we’re doing that early is because of having multiple guys in similar situations and as opposed to just zeroing in, let’s just have them play," explains Atkins. "There are other pieces to the equation and feeling like versatility will be best for them early and as we assess where they are, make adjustments from there." The Blue Jays are planning to take a similar approach with the versatile Cuban Lourdes Gurriel Jr., although a hamstring issue delayed the start of his year, and he exited his season debut at single-A Dunedin after re-aggravating the injury. The Blue Jays plan to take a conservative approach in getting him back to action. The end goal isn’t to try and develop a Ben Zobrist-type player, but rather to give the organization a chance to "see what becomes more natural and adjust from there," says Atkins. "It’s not going to be something we do for their entire career, I’d imagine." Guerrero will be exempt from the bouncing around at Lansing as the Blue Jays want to give him a chance to develop at third base. "For Vladdy, it will be all about how he gets the most out of his body and to make sure he’s a strong physical individual," says Atkins. "If he can maintain all his athleticism and get everything out of his strength and power, he’ll be able to (to stay at third) because he has the hands and arm." Jones, meanwhile, can keep hitting his way onto the radar.

Who would YOU rather have on the team going forward for the rest of the season (ignoring options - just talent)

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/05/blue-jays-claim-neil-ramirez.html

http://i.imgur.com/CUdb86C.png http://i.imgur.com/ft6KQ3E.png http://i.imgur.com/UHdlTIx.png http://i.imgur.com/uwBnXFF.png http://i.imgur.com/fLLZp9J.png http://i.imgur.com/4m0obgv.png You win some and you lose some. The Bisons have proven that adage true more than a few times of late. On Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Field, the Herd played to its third doubleheader split in eight days trading victories with the rival Rochester Red Wings. Rochester got the twinbill started with a 5-3 victory, while the Bisons rebounded in the nightcap, 4-1. Buffalo split a pair of twinbills last week with the Norfolk Tides. One-big inning and a great outing from Casey Lawrence helped the Herd hold onto first place in the IL North division. Buffalo scored four times in the third inning of game two while the righty allowed just an unearned run over five frames for his first victory of the season. As has been the case so often this season, the Bisons took advantage of their opponent's miscues. Dwight Smith Jr. and the red-hot Mike Ohlman led off the third with singles before Nik Turley uncorked a pair of wild pitches to allow Smith Jr. to score. Jake Elmore's grounder to short three batters later should have ended the inning, but the ball was booted by Rochester's Bengie Gonzalez. Not only did that allow Ohlman to score but gave Ian Parmley to chance to score two more with his opposite field single. That was plenty of offense for Lawrence. The righty didn't record a strikeout, but yielded only an unearned run in his fifth and final inning. He sent in a row at one point and only needed six pitches to get through fourth. Leonel Campos closed out the win with a 1-2-3 seventh inning for his first save of the year. The win gives the Bisons a 15-9 record and maintains their 1.5 game lad on Rochester in the IL North. While the Red Wings were unable to comeback in game two, the Bisons fell just short in game one. Trailing 4-0 early, Ohlman slugged his team-leading fifth home run of the year in the third to cut the lead in half. Buffalo added another run on an Alex Monsalve sac fly in the fourth and appeared to have the game-tying run on the board in the fifth. With Rowdy Tellez on board with a double, Darrell Ceciliani hit a sharp single to right field. Tellez was waved home by Bisons manager Bobby Meacham, but was called out on a close play at the plate after a strong throw by Rochester's J.B. Shuck. Meacham was ejected for arguing the play and Rochester held onto the lead. The Wings would add an insurance marker in the seventh on John Ryan Murphy's second home run of the season. The Bisons and Red Wings will close out their three-game series Thursday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. http://i.imgur.com/3FYNbIs.png http://i.imgur.com/mkRBpTR.png http://i.imgur.com/zUFpcR9.png http://i.imgur.com/nGed3I7.png Reading, PA - A first inning home run proved to be the difference Wednesday, as the New Hampshire Fisher Cats dropped the series finale 3-2 to the Reading Fightin' Phils at FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading. The Fightin' Phils got all three of their runs on one swing of the bat. With two runners on and one out in the opening frame, first baseman Kyle Martin took 'Cats starter Shane Dawson (L, 1-3) deep for a three-run shot that made it 3-0. New Hampshire answered with single runs in the second and third. Back-to-back-one out walks put two runners aboard in the second, and Gunnar Heidt delivered later in the inning with a two-out RBI single to bring the tally to 3-1. In the third, Tim Lopes hit a lead-off double and later scored on an Anthony Alford RBI single that made it a one-run game. The Fisher Cats failed to take advantage of two opportunities to tie the game or take the lead. With the bases loaded and one out in the fourth, Reading starter Drew Anderson (W, 2-0) got Lopes to ground into an inning-ending double play to keep the game 3-2 in favor of the Fightin' Phils. In the seventh, a one out double from Jonathan Davis was wasted when the next two batters failed to bring him home. Dawson was strong save for the first inning long ball. The southpaw went on to work six innings without allowing another run to score, limiting Reading to two hits between the second and the sixth. At one point he retired 14 of 16 batters faced following the home run. Justin Shafer pitched two innings of scoreless relief for New Hampshire, which was matched by Fightin' Phils relievers Yacksel Rios (one inning) and Jesen Therrien (S, 4); the latter threw two scoreless frames to pick up the save. With the loss, the Fisher Cats (9-16) are now 0-8 in games decided by one run. New Hampshire returns home Thursday night for the first of five with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. Sean Reid-Foley (1-2, 5.65 ERA) will be opposed by Casey Delgado (0-4, 9.15 ERA). First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. http://i.imgur.com/Hk71V0K.png http://i.imgur.com/jTtyFrV.png http://i.imgur.com/gAiH0W9.png After scoring five or more runs in five consecutive games, the Blue Jays offense was only able to record five total hits in a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Yankees on Wednesday night. Yankees starter Ian Clarkin held the Jays to just their one run in 5.1 innings of work on four hits, and the Yankees bullpen combined to throw 3.2 innings of one-hit ball to close out the game. The Blue Jays fell behind 1-0 early when RF Jhalan Jackson and 3B Mandy Alvarez hit back-to-back doubles in the second inning. The Jays tied the score in the fifth on a CF Lane Thomas groundout to third base that scored C Max Pentecost who had reached on a double and advanced to third on a single by DH Juan Kelly . Blue Jays starter Conor Fisk turned in a quality start for the team in a losing effort, allowing three runs on seven hits over six complete innings. RHP Josh DeGraaf , RHP Adonys Cardona , and RHP Tom Robson combined to throw three scoreless innings in relief of Fisk. Emotions ran high late in the game. After Kelly was called out on an automatic strike for a game-clock violation in the eighth inning, Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ejected from the game following a heated exchange with the umpiring crew at the end of the inning. Pentecost, who played all nine innings behind the plate at catcher, was the only Blue Jay with multiple hits, finishing 2-4 with a double and run scored. RF Andrew Guillotte , 2B Cavan Biggio , and Kelly had the other three hits for the Jays, all singles. The Blue Jays (15-12) and Yankees (11-16) will finish their four-game series at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium tomorrow. RHP Jordan Romano will take the ball for the Jays with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 PM. http://i.imgur.com/4rHod3l.png http://i.imgur.com/Fz8MwbI.png http://i.imgur.com/3g934z5.png LANSING, Mich. - Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. capped a seven-run second inning with a two-run homer, and the Lansing Lugnuts (14-11) won a 9-7 slugfest over the Peoria Chiefs (10-14) in a Wednesday matinee at Cooley Law School Stadium. Peoria pitchers hit six Lugnuts, setting a new Midwest League single-game record. It also matched the most single-game HBPs for one team in Major League history - last seen in 1913 by the New York Yankees against the Washington Senators. None of the HBPs brought a whiff of trouble, though Lugs first baseman Bradley Jones was forced to leave the game after getting struck on the hand in the second inning. The Lugnuts erased an early 4-0 Peoria lead thanks to three big swings in the pivotal second. Edward Olivares opened the scoring against Chiefs starter Ronnie Williams (Loss, 1-2) with a two-run double to left field. Two batters later, Yeltsin Gudino lined his own two-run double to left, tying the score at 4-4. Joshua Palacios singled in Gudino, giving the Lugnuts the lead. Williams struck out J.B. Woodman and Bo Bichette before Guerrero applied the exclamation point with his fourth home run of the year, deposited onto the grassy hill beneath the video board. In the process, he extended his on-base streak to 22 games. The Lugnuts received valuable work from four relievers - Tayler Saucedo , Geno Encina , Zach Jackson and Jackson McClelland - following a three-inning start from Andy Ravel . Freshly activated from the Disabled List, Saucedo (Win, 1-1) held the Chiefs off the scoreboard in the fourth and fifth innings, allowing two hits and one walk and striking out one. Encina pitched the sixth and seventh innings, allowing a pair of seventh-inning runs, one earned, on three hits. Jackson worked a perfect eighth and McClelland (Save, 5) set the side down in order in the ninth, each recording a strikeout. Palacios led the Lugnuts' offense, going 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI, supplemented by a 2-for-4, two-run, two-RBI showing from Olivares. Second baseman Gudino notched two hits for the fourth consecutive game, giving him eight hits in his last 16 at-bats. MiLB on-base leader Jake Thomas continued his remarkable run with two more walks and a double, raising his season on-base percentage to .549 and his league-leading walk total to 24. The Lugnuts and Chiefs play the rubber match in their three-game series at 7:05 p.m. Thursday, a Labatt Thirsty Thursday featuring $2 beers / $2 sodas and half off craft brews. Gates open at 6 p.m., with Lansing right-hander Justin Maese (2-2, 5.79) facing Peoria left-hander Ian Oxnevad (0-2, 4.79). Tickets may be purchased at the stadium box office, by calling (517) 485-4500 or via lansinglugnuts.com. Kings 3 Stars of the Night 1) Vlad Jr. 2) Josh Palacios 3) Edward Olivares Kings Platinum Arencibia 1) Andy Ravel Anthony Alford, Bo Bichette, Vlad Jr make Baseball America April Prospect Team http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/prospect-team-of-the-month-april/#qAQ79djzbmZ1JaOr.97 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. • Blue Jays Low Class A Lansing (Midwest) The second-youngest player to open the season on an Opening Day roster, the 18-year-old Guerrero also is one of the most promising. He has had no trouble acclimating to full-season ball after ranking as the No. 1 prospect in the Rookie-level Appalachian League a year ago. Guerrero had nearly as many extra-base hits (nine) as strikeouts (11) in April. SS Bo Bichette • Blue Jays Low Class A Lansing (Midwest) A 2016 second-rounder and Florida prep, Bichette torched the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in his debut, hitting .427 with power in 22 games, until a bout of appendicitis truncated his season. He has picked right up in full-season ball where he left off last year. Bichette teams with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to form perhaps the most formidable left side of the infield in the minors. OF Anthony Alford • Blue Jays Double-A New Hampshire (Eastern) A knee injury and concussion short-circuited Alford’s 2016 season, but he appeared to be in fine form while making his Double-A debut this season. With good feel to hit (.356 average), plate patience (nine walks) and plus speed (seven stolen bases), Alford profiles as an impact table-setter. An Assortment of Max Pentecost Content https://www.milb.com/milb/news/max-pentecost-homers-again-for-dunedin-blue-jays/c-227159238/t-221373896 Max Pentecost went two full seasons without playing the field after a shoulder injury cost him the entire 2015 campaign. Now that he's settling back in on defense, his offense is reaching another level. The Blue Jays' No. 12 prospect went 3-for-5 with a homer on Friday, helping Class A Advanced Dunedin defeat Fort Myers, 8-4, at CenturyLink Sports Complex. The long ball was his sixth of the season and fifth in his last seven games, a stretch during which he's collected 12 RBIs. "I feel a whole lot better this year," Pentecost said. "Last year after taking a whole year off, I was trying to get back into the groove of everything, from getting my timing and my swing down and seeing pitches -- it took a while to get into a groove and feel comfortable. This year in Spring Training I was able to get some at-bats early, and it's been a lot easier to just go with the flow and be ready as opposed to last year." Pentecost singled in his first two at-bats against Miracle right-hander Keaton Steele, once to center field to load the bases in a three-run first inning and to left in the third. After Cavan Biggio homered with one out in the fourth to give the Blue Jays a 6-2 lead, Pentecost followed with a blast to left-center to go back-to-back. "He came in and threw a fastball for a strike and then I kind of swung at one that was low and he went back away with a curveball," Pentecost said. "At that point, I said I'm going to shorten up and see what I can do with it, and I got a hanging slider and was able to put the barrel on it." The 24-year-old backstop struck out against right-hander Williams Ramirez in the sixth before lining out to first against lefty Jonny Drozd in the eighth in his quest for a fourth hit. The three-hit night extended his hitting streak to 13 games, as Pentecost has hit in every contest since going 0-for-4 in the Blue Jays' opener. "I had been getting swing-happy early in the count and swinging at pitches I shouldn't, but I'm calming down, relaxing and making sure I see the pitches well," Pentecost said. "The first couple games, I felt like I was swinging defensively and wasn't attacking the ball -- trying to see it more than hit it. It's good and bad, but I don't go up there with the mindset of taking a walk, I'm just looking for something I can hit. A lot of [my hits] have been jam shots and hits off the end of the bat, but sometimes you just have to take them and run with them." Not only is Pentecost producing at the plate, he's also returned to donning the tools of ignorance this season. Friday was his third game behind the plate and first since April 22, a layoff that's part of the organization's plan to ease him back into a full-time catching routine. The 2014 first-round pick has still spent most of his time at designated hitter this year, logging three more at first base and three as catcher. He's 6-for-12 with two homers, three RBIs and four runs in those games behind the plate and 5-for-14 with three homers, nine RBIs, two doubles and three runs as a first baseman. Pentecost is 9-for-33 with one homer, three RBIs and two runs scored in his eight games at DH. "[Playing the field] keeps you in the game the whole game," Pentecost said. "DHing for the first two at-bats, you're really into it. In the latter half of the game, you're trying to keep yourself focused, stretched and warm, it's a little tough. Once you start playing in games again, it brings more fun to it." https://2080baseball.com/2017/05/minor-league-roulette-prospect-notes-for-the-week-ending-april-30/ Max Pentecost, C, Blue Jays (High A Dunedin, Florida State League) Ht/Wt: 6’2” / 191 lbs B/T: R/R Age (as of April 1st, 2017): 24 yrs, 1m Season Stats: .328/.353/.641, 21 H, 2 2B, 6 HRs, 16 RBIs With a stretch of bum luck now in the rearview mirror, including missing the entirety of the 2015 season due to shoulder surgery, Pentecost and Blue Jays’ fans are celebrating the simple fact that the 24-year-old is healthy again. For the 2014 first-round pick (#11 overall), health has been the biggest obstacle, preventing Pentecost from displaying his full potential. After 74 games split between Class A and High A in 2016 – where he was used as a DH exclusively and slashed .302/.361/.486 over 319 plate appearances – he’s returning to Florida for his second season with High A Dunedin. So far, Pentecost has collected 21 hits, including six home runs, which puts him on pace to surpass his 2016 total easily, while slashing a smooth. .324/.347/.618. Defensively, Pentecost has split his time between first base and his normal backstop position, and he’s yet to produce an error at either position in 63 chances. In fact, the right-hander has just one error over his 114-game pro career. If Pentecost can stay the course health-wise, the Blue Jays should finally be able to see the versatility, and overall production, that he can offer when he’s in the lineup every day – ultimately justifying the lofty 2014 pick. The Education of Sean Reid-Foley https://clutchlings.blogspot.ca/2017/05/the-education-of-sean-reid-foley.html 2015 was a coming out party for Toronto Blue Jays RHP Sean Reid-Foley. Sent to Lansing to begin full-season play in only his second pro season, the 2014 2nd rounder fanned 90 Midwest League hitters in 63 innings, earning a promotion to Dunedin in the second half. Last year, he was sent back to Lansing to work on commanding his fastball, and after another half season in Michigan he was on his way to Dunedin once again, having seemed to have conquered his control issues. The knock against Reid-Foley, possessor of a mid 90s fastball and wipeout slider, was that he would lose his mechanics mid-game, driving up his pitch count because he was unable to make the necessary adjustments. Equipped with a new, simplified delivery, Reid-Foley missed a lot of bats in 2016, but more importantly was working deeper into games, and those comparisons to Jonathan Papelbon seemed to go away. Sent to AA to begin this season, Reid-Foley has had his struggles against the more advanced hitters of the Eastern League, and has gone beyond the 3rd inning only once in his first five starts. The Blue Jays have been protective of his young arm (at 21, Reid-Foley is one the youngest players in the league), but his most recent start on April 29th against Binghamton was a microcosm of his season to date. Some mechanical issues, command problems, bad luck, and some plain old bad pitches have been behind his rough initiation to AA. Reid-Foley was a victim of some misfortune in the 1st. After fanning the leadoff hitter with a swinging K, he was ahead 1-2 on the 2nd hitter, who then slapped a ball that was slicing away from SS Richard Urena into shallow Leftfield for a hit. Three pitches later, the next hitter lined a pitch that LF Harold Ramirez took a circuitous route on, and it bounced off the warning track and over the wall for a double. A sacrifice fly to RF Jonathan Davis brought in Binghamton's first run, but Reid-Foley retired the final batter of the inning on a pop up to Urena. In the second inning, Reid-Foley gave up some soft and medium contact and found himself facing leadoff hitter Champ Stuart for the second time with runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs. Reid-Foley threw a pair of strikes to Stuart, but then threw four consecutive balls to load the bases. He regained his composure to induce what might have been an inning-ending groundball to the next batter, but 2B Tim Lopes booted the ball, allowing a run to score. After retiring the side on a grounder to Urena, Reid-Foley was already at 42 pitches on the night through only two innings. In the third, he fell behind the leadoff hitter 3-1, and then gave up a longer Home Run to LF on a pitch that caught altogether too much of the strike zone. Reid-Foley walked the next hitter on 4 pitches, and had considerable trouble repeating his delivery through much of the inning - sometimes, he would appear to briefly pause mid-delivery, others he had obvious difficulty coming up with the right arm angle. He gave up three more hits in the inning, as three runs crossed the plate. A swinging K on his 29th pitch of the inning brought an end to both the frame and Reid-Foley's evening after only three innings and 71 pitches. Cause for concern? Not really. Reid-Foley's numbers on the season would likely look a little better (5.65 ERA, .311 BAA, 2.04 WHIP) if he was given a bit of a longer leash, which will probably start to happen this month. At A ball, Reid-Foley could always rely on his four seamer up in the zone to put hitters away; AA hitters, if this start was any indication, are less inclined of offer at it. If there is a positive on the night, it's that his slider appeared to be working quite well, but its effectiveness was diminished by his inability to command both sides of the plate with his fastball. Some better quality pitches, more consistent mechanics, and some better defence behind him will help Reid-Foley iron out his issues as the season progresses. It certainly isn't time to dust off those Papelbon comps and consider a move to the bullpen; Reid-Foley still profiles as a #2 or #3 starter, but as this spring has shown, he's still young and has a lot to learn. Jarrett Grube hoping for a shot in the Big Leagues http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/big-read-minor-league-lifer-jarrett-grube-hoping-shot-blue-jays/ Upon arrival at Coca-Cola Field on a cold, windy Saturday morning in late April, Jarrett Grube walked into the Buffalo Bisons clubhouse to check in and grab a sandwich off the buffet table. Grube knocked on a door and let pitching coach Bob Stanley know that he was good to go for his between-starts bullpen session. He then walked back into the hall, nodded hello to stadium staffers and walked to a maintenance area hastily set up as the home team’s makeshift dressing room. Earlier in the week the downtown sewage system failed and the plumbing in the Bisons’ space failed — the manager’s and coaches’ offices escaped damage, but the players’ room had to be closed off for repair. Of the myriad things that test minor-league ballplayers daily this was just the latest. The dictum applies in baseball as it does in all facets of life: Everyone has to be somewhere. Grube and his teammates were wishing they were somewhere else, and not just because their real estate in the clubhouse had been taken over by plumbers and general contractors. No, everyone on the Buffalo Bisons wishes he was somewhere else simply because the International League is nobody’s life ambition. Triple-A is not the ultimate destination, just a stop along the way that hopefully lasts no longer than necessary. In the makeshift dressing room a couple of spots have been vacated, those previously occupied by two other starters in the Bisons rotation, Casey Lawrence and Mat Latos. Grube overheard a trainer talking about the flights that Lawrence and Latos had to make to get to Los Angeles to catch up to the Toronto Blue Jays. Grube has seen it with dozens of teammates hundreds of times over the course of his career. It’s part of the routine, their routine anyway. He’s only had to pack twice himself. And for his trips to the majors, he didn’t need more than a carry-on. http://assets1.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/SN-GRUBE-01.jpg We can look at Major League Baseball from any number of angles. We can look at it as physics, with spin rates and exit velocities. We can look at it as mathematics, with WARs and WHIPs. We can look at it as a big business, with hundreds of millions shuffled around, assigned to those who best combine physics, mathematics and free agency. Thus, MLB is at once fascinating and no easy thing to get all romantic about. We look at minor-league baseball in an entirely different light. Small is unspoiled. Small is quaint. Small is accessible. Sure, minor-leaguers are effectively chattel of MLB clubs, but they run out onto diamonds away from the bright lights. If you like minor-league baseball, you think of yourself as a purist. Your love of the game — this bucolic, idyllic version — is somehow so much more righteous. If you buy all that stuff about the minor leagues, you might not love this story. You might not want to know how unbelievably cruel the game can be to those who love it most. Namely, Jarrett Grube, a right-hander who pitched his first pro game with the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2004 and ran out to the mound in 459 more games in the minors through to this spring. Grube has gone 93-76 over his 13 seasons with 17 teams in five MLB organizations, and played in the Mexican, Venezuelan and Dominican Winter Leagues as well as a couple of turns with an unaffiliated independent-league team. He has criss-crossed the continent, cumulatively spent whole years on buses, pitched to thousands of batters you’ve never heard of. There’s no easy way to summarize Grube’s peripatetic time in the minor leagues, switching teams and organizations in the off-season or in midstream. His career MLB line, however, is simplicity itself. 2014 LAA: One game, 2/3 of an inning, 1 hit, 1 home run, no walks, no strikeouts, 13.50 ERA. Jarrett Grube was raised on a hog farm near Corunna, about a half hour outside Fort Wayne, Ind. “Our son had his chores and he worked hard but he wasn’t as much of a farmer as his sister, Shanna,” says Danny Grube, a soon-to-be-retired inspector for a gas company. The father, a former catcher, taught the son to pitch, squatting down and giving him targets to hit when he was six years old, coaching him all through Little League, which he was first called up to at age seven. “Corunna never had a great team — mostly because it was hard to find kids to play in a town of about 250 people,” Danny Grube says. “A lot of the time I’d let Shanna go through the order once — she could fool them the one time — and then bring in Jarrett to pitch the rest of the way.” This isn’t quite a case of a marginal prospect making a slow, steady rise before hitting a plateau in Triple-A and coming to rest there. Grube played junior-college ball about four and a half hours from Corunna at Vincennes and moved on to the University of Memphis where he was voted to the All-Conference USA team. The Colorado Rockies took him in the 10th round of the 2004 draft and sent him off to short-season A in Tri-City. He moved up a level a year — Asheville, Modesto and Double-A Tulsa in 2007, where he put in two summers. As he moved up he went from starter to spot starter to exclusively bullpen. He was in the clubhouse when guys were summoned into the skipper’s office, when younger players like Franklin Morales, who was only 21, would get promoted and be on their way to the Show. Still, he pitched effectively enough to believe that it was a matter of time before he’d follow them. In 2009 it came apart. “I wasn’t really hurt but I tried to pitch through some tightness,” Grube says. “It was a rough season.” Splitting the campaign between Tulsa and Triple-A Colorado Springs, he went 1-3 with a 6.56 ERA in 18 games before the Rockies released him in early June. It could have ended there, and for most minor-leaguers it would have. Grube, then 27, started over almost from scratch, pitching for Southern Maryland in the independent Atlantic League. “I had to get healthy, show what I could do and re-establish myself as a starter,” he says. “And that’s what I’ve done most of the way ever since.” Across 12 starts through the end of the Indy-league season and eight starts the following spring, Grube showed enough to get picked up by the Seattle Mariners — he reported to West Tennessee in Double-A and worked his way up to Triple-A Tacoma. The next season he did just about the same thing, dividing time between Double- and Triple-A, getting his starts but watching others get the call. In 2012 Grube took a step sideways and down rather than the jump up — he went from the Mariners’ Triple-A squad to Arkansas, the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He was 30 and if it wasn’t already there the label of minor-league journeyman was stuck on him. He held out hope that the stars would still line up, though, and in his third season with the Halos they finally did, however briefly. http://assets1.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/SN-GRUBE-02.jpg Grube was with the Salt Lake City Bees for the 2014 season and between starts. On a Friday night in late May, he was in the dugout charting pitches for a game that stretched into extra innings. At the end of the night he was called into the manager’s office and greeted by grim faces — he was told that he had messed up the charts. It seemed like an extreme reaction but Grube was left dangling until manager Keith Johnson told him that he was getting called up. That’s baseball: Such momentous occasions provide too sweet an opportunity for a good prank. Johnson told Grube that the Angels were going to be in Oakland Saturday night and he was to be there. Grube didn’t have any illusions about his role — he wasn’t getting called up to start, just to fill in as long relief in a bullpen that had been overworked. And of course, getting any particular showcase was the last thing on his mind. The call-up set off a not-quite-24-hour series of events that were more frantic than magical. “Because it was a night game and because of the time difference it was real late by the time I called my wife [Alyssa] and she had her phone off,” Grube says. “I called my folks and my mom asked what was wrong and I told her that she’d want to wake up dad for this.” On Saturday night, Grube was summoned out of the pen in the eighth inning of a small blow-out and in less than ideal circumstances: one out and two men on for the heart of the A’s order, Josh Donaldson, Yoenis Cespedes and Derek Norris. After getting Donaldson to line out to third baseman David Freese, Grube got behind in the count 2-0 before Cespedes yanked a three-run homer to left. Grube managed to get out of the inning when Norris lined out to shortstop Erick Aybar. A scoreless top of the ninth sent the game into the books as an 11-3 Oakland win. And Grube went into the books as that single line, at age 32. Alyssa and her mother managed to make it from Fort Wayne but Grube’s parents just missed out. “We got there in what we thought was enough time but the shuttle that was taking us to the ballpark, the driver didn’t speak English and we got there a half-hour late,” Danny Grube says. “Missed it, but we managed to get some pictures in uniform the next day.” And after that, Grube was sent back down to Triple-A. Last August Grube thought he might get a shot to better his career line. He was back in the Mariners organization and it looked for all the world like he was going to get a second chance. By the middle of the month, the Mariners bullpen was stretched to breaking during a home-stand and a game that went 15 innings had management reaching down into the organization for temporary help. Grube was set to start the next day, so he’d be good to go in long relief if necessary. He had his ticket for Seattle and again there were phone calls to family and a scramble to make travel arrangements. Before the game, the Mariners’ radio broadcasters brought in Grube and asked him about getting his chance to pitch in a major-league game at age 34. “I’ve faced quite a few big leaguers, but it’s all just kind of my journey. Right now, I couldn’t be happier being up here with everybody.” He could have been happier with the way things turned out, though. “Felix [Hernandez] ended up pitching a gem — seven innings giving up three hits and a run with a low pitch count,” Grube says. “There was no need for middle [relief]. They went straight to their set-up and closer.” It’s hard to say if not getting called up is a fate worse than getting called up and not playing, although to Grube it must have seemed like the latter when he was returned to Tacoma the next day. And likely his parents, too, who had made the trip from Fort Wayne to Seattle in time to see their son sit in the bullpen. The trip to Seattle wasn’t the worst time in Grube’s baseball career. Nor was getting released by Colorado. Nor any time that he was in the clubhouse and another pitcher was getting good news instead of him. No, the worst moment came back in 2007, in the middle of one of his best seasons. Grube was pitching for the Tulsa Drillers and was still a prospect on the rise — he’d wind up going 7-3 with a 2.53 ERA. That summer, Mike Coolbaugh joined the club to work with hitters and serve as the first-base coach. Coolbaugh had been a Blue Jays’ 16th-round draft pick and spent more than a decade in the minors before getting a few weeks in with Milwaukee and St Louis, a whole 44 career MLB games. At 35, Coolbaugh gave up chasing a return to the Bigs and made the decision to try to stick around the game on the management side. On an awful night in Little Rock that July, Coolbaugh was standing in the first-base coach’s box when he was hit by a line drive off the bat of Tino Sanchez. He suffered a catastrophic head injury and died right on the field. “The worst part for me was that we had bussed to Arkansas and Mike had only been with the organization a few weeks,” Grube says. “He reached out to me that night [on the bus]. He had spent the first few weeks trying to get to know the hitters and wanted to get know the pitchers. He said, ‘Hey, man, let go have a few beers together and talk.’ And I said, ‘Oh, man, I gotta pitch tomorrow. Let’s do it after the game.’ He said, ‘That sounds good.’ That next day I ended up throwing and giving up a couple of runs and I was beating myself up in the dugout. I was pretty much right down the first baseline in the dugout and saw the whole thing happen. The worst memory I’ll have in the game. “It was a really hard time that whole summer. Not just going to the funeral and seeing his wife and kids. We played for weeks like we were zombies. We kind of wanted the season to be over with, but we wound up in the playoffs. I was all set to go home and they said, ‘Hey kid, you’re going to the fall league.’ It was like the game wouldn’t let go.” http://assets1.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/SN-GRUBE-03.jpg At 35, even a minor-league lifer has to acknowledge that there might be a life other than the minor leagues. Grube says that he and his wife took time over the winter to talk about committing to another season. “We have a young daughter now and so Alyssa is staying back in Fort Wayne with her,” he says. “I stayed at home this winter instead of playing winter ball. I played the last four seasons in Venezuela and the Dominican, but some things — like being a dad — are more important than baseball.” Grube says that it hadn’t occurred to him that there might be some symmetry in his signing with Toronto this spring. He hadn’t thought of Mike Coolbaugh’s time with the Jays. It had occurred to him in spring training that he was in the same Dunedin clubhouse as one of two hitters he retired that night in Oakland but he didn’t mention it to Donaldson or even introduce himself. “Josh hurt his calf down there and so I just wanted to give him his space,” Grube says. “He’d never remember me anyway. I’m just one of a thousand guys.” To an extent that’s how Grube understands his place in the game. Bisons pitching coach Bob Stanley suggests that Grube is just one of a legion of ballplayers who “get caught up in a numbers game.” He says more player movement through free agency at the major-league level has worked out great for proven players but has hurt those who’ve put in their time in the system and waited for a chance to show their stuff. “It can look like you’re going to get a shot, but then the big-league club goes out and signs someone who takes that roster spot that you’d been aiming at.” When Stanley is asked how he would feel if he had a chance to tell Grube that he was bound for the Jays, the pitching coach demurred. “Like I would any other player, really,” he says. “It’s our job to get players here ready to go to the next level and you’re happy when any of them gets a chance to go up to the big club.” Minor-league baseball is where sentiment goes to die, you suppose. That’s the harsh reality shrouded by all the gauzy romanticism fans embrace. Danny Grube says that he has talked with his son about sticking around the game like Mike Coolbaugh had wanted to. “Maybe it would be a coach or a scout, I dunno,” the father says. “It’s living out of suitcase again and maybe he’d want to have some family time before ever going that way.” That Saturday morning in April it was cold enough on the field at Coca-Cola Stadium for Jarrett Grube to see his breath while throwing his bullpen session, colder still for him to see the two empty stalls in the Bisons’ makeshift dressing room. “Getting one more call-up would mean the world to me,” he says, “the world.”

Can I get a TLDR on this thread please. Thx

http://www.bluejaysmessageboard.com/threads/7430-GDT-Blue-Jays-Yankees-Game-2-of-3-7-05-Est?p=1151125&viewfull=1#post1151125

Mods.. I urge you to scroll this GDT and determine on how a calm constructive thread was transformed into this BS. Cocky little f***ing know it all dinosaurs always seem to have to ruin a good thing, and it's usually the same old guys who start this s***.

Steve has arrived

It is a fictional TV series.

But Grant77 told us that Latos has cemented a spot just last week!

Yes

It was a great outing. Unfortunately only lasted 45 pitches and he was taken out in the middle of the inning. Hopefully it wasn't an injury, but he threw 75 pitches in his last outing, so to cap him at 45 tonight doesn't make a lot of sense.

There's something about Dodger games that really draws me in. I think I tune into them near every night.

Looks like he has every intention of being a superstar right away. That's fun. The Dodgers could use more studs.

Sano hits a tank shot over the batters eye in CF. CCC the 2nd http://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/mp4/2017/05/03/1345176783/1493774152612/asset_2500K.mp4

http://i.imgur.com/C4TOGrD.png http://i.imgur.com/ZK3EisT.png http://i.imgur.com/zqe0GYr.png http://i.imgur.com/alzuvZI.png http://i.imgur.com/4XLAI2m.png http://i.imgur.com/RjRViwg.png http://i.imgur.com/wkHvGf9.png http://i.imgur.com/07qiO8L.png http://i.imgur.com/Ymah4mx.png http://i.imgur.com/VZJbKp4.png http://i.imgur.com/P49zvNa.png Kings 3 Stars of the Night 1) Ryan Borucki 2) Edward Olivares 3) Mike Ellenbest Kings Platinum Arencibia 1) Jon Harris

You want to meet up?

http://i.imgur.com/WrKPhfd.gif

It's utterly ridiculous to take a massive HR cut like that with two strikes and a runner on second, up by five runs. A base hit gets us a way ahead with one swing of the bat.

It's a real shame Judge wasn't aiming for a soft groundball to left field when he fell behind in the count there. What was he thinking?