King

No one cares dude.

Zaun is typically a big fan of the sacrifice bunt.

Woops.

Dickey is pitching a gem.

Looks like GD and North are having a good time at the game, nice to see.

Nah I'm not.

Yeah I get you just the personal attacks get to be a bit much at times I think he needs some internet etiquette counselling

No need for insults dude just calm down.

Winnipeg Represent!

http://clutchlings.blogspot.ca/2016/05/a-look-at-pair-of-prospect-pitchers-on.html The Lansing Lugnuts are one of a shrinking number of minor league teams that do not stream their in-game video and play-by-play commentary over MiLB.tv, so my exposure to the Lugs so far this young season has been limited to a few games, and some observations made by eyewitnesses. This weekend, with Lansing travelling to Midland, MI, to take on the Great Lakes Loons, the games have been streamed, so I've been able to make up for some lost watching. On Friday, the Loons and Lugnuts played a twilight doubleheader - what made this game interesting was the pair of pitchers Lansing named to start the games - LHP Ryan Borucki, and RHP Patrick Murphy. The two have only recently arrived in the Midwest League, and while they came from different directions, both are trying to re-establish their baseball careers after missing significant time with injuries. Borucki was considered one of the top high school prospects in Illinois prior to the 2012 draft. A growth spurt of nearly 8 inches between his sophomore and junior years put him firmly on the prospect radar, but after tearing his UCLwhile pitching a no-hitter in his senior year, his stock plummeted. He opted to rehab his elbow, and given his athleticism, build, and 90-93 fastball with late life, the Blue Jays did not give up on Borucki, and took him in the 15th round, and signed him for third round money to talk him out of his college commitment to Iowa. That UCL finally did give way after 4 promising GCL outings in his draft year (10Ks in 6IP), and he missed all of 2013 recovering from Tommy John surgery. 2014 was a coming out party for Borucki. Starting in Bluefield, he pitched well enough to rank as Baseball America's 12th-ranked Appy League prospect (even though he pitched only a half short season there), and capped his year off with 7 shutout innings for Vancouver in a playoff game. BA ranked him just outsider of the Blue Jays Top 10 prospects, but was quite high on him: He has shown pitching aptitude by reducing the effort in his delivery and reducing the height of his high elbow in the back, producing more consistent plane to his heater from his loose, quick arm action. His top secondary offering is a plus changeup. He has a feel for his changeup and for throwing strikes. Borucki currently shows a below-average to fringe-average curveball and may begin using a slider that is more conducive to his three-quarters arm slot. Heading into 2015, I had fully expected to see him make his full season debut with Lansing. He experienced elbow and shoulder soreness throughout spring training, however, and the club opted to keep him in the warmer confines of Extended Spring Training. His only competition in 2015 was one outing in the GCL in early July, followed by a pair with Vancouver, before being shut down for the season. Finally healthy, the club opted to keep him close to the team's medical facility in Dunedin this year, rather than ship him out to Lansing. And the results were not pretty. Florida State League hitters feasted on Borucki, hitting him at a .421 clip, before the organization decided the time was right to send him once and for all to the Midwest League earlier this month. He had a decent outing in his first start, giving up only 3 hits and 1 run over 5 innings, walking only one batter and striking out 5. His start against Great Lakes was his second since arriving at Lansing. Borucki threw a tidy 8-pitch first inning, sandwiching a swinging K around a pair of soft flyouts. Against the heart of the Loons order in the 2nd, Borucki gave up some hard contact, allowing a run on three hits. LF Andrew Guillotte was fooled on a line drive, and took a few steps in before realizing the ball was over his head, resulting in a double and a run scored. Borucki gave up a run-scoring single after that, and in total needed 16 pitches to escape the inning. Borucki's third inning was a much better effort, a 15-pitch 3-up, 3-down frame that saw a swinging strikeout and a pair of weak groundouts. He needed 20 pitches to finish off the fourth, issuing a one out walk, and finishing with a swinging punch out. Lugs broadcaster Jesse Goldberg-Strassler was impressed with Borucki's change: Ryan Borucki may be able to toss 95 mph, but his changeup is awesome. Offspeed, offspeed, offspeed. The Loons were helpless in the 4th. Things unravelled a bit for Borucki in the 5th. Great Lakes scored a pair of runs, but a pair of defensive miscues by 2B Aaron Attaway didn't help. Borucki gave up a leadoff single, then the next batter hit a slow roller to Attaway, who tried to tag the advancing runner but missed, allowing the runner to move to second. Borucki then gave up back-to-back singles, allowing the runner to score. With two out and runners on first and second and two out, Attaway booted a fairly routine groundball, allowing another run to score, and continuing the inning. Borucki seemed to lose his composure a bit, and gave up a rocket to right field to the next hitter, bringing in the fourth run of the inning, which came to and end when RF Josh Almonte threw out the hitter who reached base on Attaway's error at 3rd base. Borucki needed 22 pitches to get out of the inning, and while he left the ball up and gave up some hard contact, he deserved a better fate. At 81 pitches, Borucki was still allowed to come back out for the 6th inning. As a player who needs to make up for lost development time, the organization seems to want to let him pitch his way back into the prospect picture. It proved to be a good move by Manager John Schneider, as Borucki retired the first two hitters on six pitches, and after a hit batsman, got a swinging strikeout to end his night. While Borucki touched 95, he sat mostly 90-92 in this game, and maintained that velo throughout. His size allows him good extension on his delivery, and there was some of that late life on his fastball. Borucki shows excellent feel for his change, which has been graded a 60 pitch on the 20-80 scale. His slider is a work in progress. At 6'4", Borucki looks like a starting pitcher - he looks like an athlete on the mound. The time he has missed means that he has dropped considerably behind his draft class peers, but he's well on pace to surpass his career high of 57 innings pitched. Given this lost development time, it's still too early to write him off as a prospect. He has a number of things to work on, pitch economy being among the biggest, but he just needs to pitch. One note about the game - I was improved by the progress C Ryan Hissey has made behind the plate. He still is a bat-first type of receiver, but his pitch-blocking skills have improved considerably. Like Borucki, righthander Murphy has missed significant development time due to injury. Taken in the third round of the 2013 draft, he missed his whole senior year of high school due to a torn UCL, but the Blue Jays were prepared to wait. His 2014 season was limited to 4 GCL innings, and he was shut down for all of 2015 after suffering from arm numbness and pain in spring training. The reports on Murphy from extended were good, and once the midwestern weather warmed up, his promotion to Lansing was only a matter of time. He threw a pair of relief innings on May 14, and made his first start in 22 months this past weekend in the second game of the doubleheader. Murphy looks something like a right-handed Borucki on the mound, and at 6'4"/220, has a starter's build. He gets a good downhill plane on his pitches, and consistently pounded the lower part of the strike zone in the first two innings. Murphy needed only 7 pitches to get out of the first, but a 11-pitch AB by Great Lakes Ariel Sandoval to finish the second may have fatigued him. In the third inning, Murphy struggled with his command, falling behind hitters, and getting to three balls to 4 of the 6 hitters he faced. Still, Murphy battled, and was seemingly on his way out of the inning when Lansing SS J.C. Cardenas rushed this throw on a groundball, skipping it to first, where 1B Conor Panas was unable to scoop it. Murphy loaded the bases with a pair of walks, prompting a visit from Lugnuts' pitching coach Jeff Ware. The next batter lined Murphy's first pitch up the middle off of his shin and into foul territory along the first base line. One run scored, but Panas alertly caught the runner rounding third too far in an inning-ending rundown. Murphy threw 15 pitches in the 2nd, and 32 in the 3rd. He threw 54 pitches, 35 for strikes, and recorded 6 groundouts, against 0 flyball outs. He walked two and struck out a pair. He sat in the low 90s, and showed a curve that was more 11:30-5:30 than 12-6 or 11-5, but he was able to throw it for strikes, dropping it into the strike zone for his two K's - it has plus potential. He's at least a month behind other starting pitchers at this point (truth be told, I was surprised they left him in after pitch number 30 in the 3rd, but since it was his last inning, that had to be why he was left in), and like Borucki, just needs the ball every 5th day. One thing is for sure - the Blue Jays are growing a wealth of promising power starting arms in the system.

ftfy

http://clutchlings.blogspot.ca/2016/05/another-look-at-jon-harris.html The incredible long weekend weather here in Southern Ontario helped to put what was a crummy April (from a couple of perspectives, personally) firmly in the rear view mirror. 7 weeks ago, Lansing's Jon Harris made an abbreviated full season debut under Arctic conditions in Midland, MI, against the Great Lakes Loons. What a difference nearly two months makes. We're wearing shorts, riding bikes, and thinking about dipping our toes into Georgian Bay, and since that two-thirds of an inning stint, Harris hasn't given up a run - a stretch of 32 innings - covering six starts. In his last start, he threw a career-high 7 innings and 11Ks against Fort Wayne. On Victoria Day, he may have topped that effort with another 7 shutout innings, and another 11 strikeouts in a return visit to the Loons' nest. Harris was just filthy and nasty in this outing - here are every one of those 11 Ks: In facing Great Lakes, Harris was going up against a team with the lowest (.209) batting average in all of minor league baseball - the Lugs are the third worst hitting team in the minors, but were a game over .500 heading into the contest, thanks to their pitching. Loons hitters were simply overmatched against Harris. This was a "school day" game, with a 10:30 start, and hundreds of screaming kids in the stands. Players, understandably, are sometimes less than thrilled with the noise, early start, and the high morning sun. After not getting out of the first inning as a result of hitting his pitch limit in his last visit to Midland, Harris needed only 14 to retire the side in the first this time, striking out the 2nd hitter on a 96 mph fastball. He was even more economical in the 8-pitch 2nd, despite giving up a loud leadoff double off the left field wall on the first pitch. Harris gave up a single in the third, and struck out a pair. He was using his fastball command to get ahead of hitters, and then either using his sharp slider or an elevated fastball to put the hitter away. Harris' fastball tails away from right-handed hitters, and when he got ahead two strikes on a hitter, he was completely in control. Harris needed only 6 pitches to retire the side in the 5th, and began mixing in curves and changes in the 6th, his longest inning of the day at 21 pitches. By the 7th, as his pitch count began to close in on 80, he began to fatigue, and Great Lakes hitters began to make more frequent contact. He gave up a one-out double that CF Lane Thomas may have lost in the early afternoon sun, but then retired the next two hitters on two pitches to complete his day, and extended his scoreless innings streak. One of the truest test of a pitcher is how he handles himself when his stuff is either off or fading, and Harris passed it with flying colours. For the day, Harris gave up only 3 hits and walked one through 7 innings. He threw 84 pitches, 58 for strikes. Harris recorded 5 outs via the ground ball, and 3 by fly balls. He had 13 swinging strikes. Harris was in complete command of the Great Lakes hitters, and C Justin Atkinson showed some decent framing skills behind the plate. When Atkinson set up on the outside corner on right-handed hitters, they had no chance. Harris blew hitters away with his fastball, mesmerized them with his slider, and kept them honest with his curve and change. There's really little left for him to prove at this level, and you have to think the only thing keeping the organization from moving him up to Dunedin is the two starts he missed when he returned home to Missouri for a funeral.

Derrick Chung converted from infielder to catcher a few seasons ago.

Big League Jew cutting Matt Adams for Chad Green has worked out excellently.

Santos is Luis or Sergio?

Maybe if Atlanta throws in Freeman and Swanson/Albies

Ya and about 7 from the peg, there were lots of people from Sask though which is obviously a longer drive. Could tell by all the roughrider jerseys.. lol

I was at all 4 games. Felt like home games with there being more Jays fans than Twins fans. Fun weekend!

I was listening to the Twins feed Park Audio on MLB.TV and it lines up with what Donaldson said after the game. I couldn't understand what Donaldson said to the Twins dugout, though. They were showing Eduardo Nunez throw the ball around, when a bunch of yelling was going on, and when Donaldson said something back he was facing the umpire.. and then the ump tossed Donaldson, he yelled "I wasn't even f***ing talking to you" among other things. Here is Donaldson yelling at the dugout, and the ump just about to throw his hand. http://i.imgur.com/whnMMJW.png and then right after the ejection, he was pointing at the Twins dugout. http://i.imgur.com/rwx9ccb.png Dumb ejection.

I'm away for a bit so i won't be able to do these again until Tuesday Someone else can make their own edition if they wish

Hale isn't messing around

http://i.imgur.com/HBSATJN.png http://i.imgur.com/EPscXZF.png http://i.imgur.com/FAJ9gCx.png With the sun shining down on Coca-Cola Field, A.J. Jimenez beamed even brighter. Buffalo's catcher knocked in four runs in a four-hit performance as the Bisons out-mashed the Mud Hens to 7-5 victory Wednesday afternoon. The perfect day at the plate boosted the Puerto Rican's batting average from .194 to .242. "It was a good day overall. The hits came, I got some guys around the bases and I got the big hit," said Jimenez, now 8-for-12 over a four-game hitting streak. "It's a good feeling." The good vibes were also felt by the rest of Buffalo's batters as the Herd got to Chad Bell, making his first start of 2016, early and often. Andy Burns led off Buffalo's half of the first with a triple to the wall in right-center field. Darrell Ceciliani followed up by ripping a double to the corner in right, putting the Bisons on the board after just four pitches. Matt Dominguez then walked before he and Ceciliani came around to score on Jimenez's first hit of the afternoon. Ceciliani and Dominguez each singled to left to get offense going again in the second inning. Then, with two out and the bases loaded, Jimenez had his grounder knocked down by second baseman Alberto Gonzalez, but hustled down the line hard enought to beat the throw at the first base bag. While the Mud Hens were still occupied with Jimenez, Dominguez took the opportunity to scamper home from second to put the Herd up 5-2. The Bisons returned the favour to Jimenez in the both the fifth and seventh. Junior Lake chauffeured him home twice, each following a double from the 26-year-old. "We had a little talk today about going out and having fun," manager Gary Allenson said after the rare, offensive outburst. "We got [the offense] from some guys that had been struggling, hopefully it can be contagious." Buffalo hadn't put seven on the board since losing 8-7 to Rochester in extra innings on April 26th. In his fifth start of the year, Roberto Hernandez allowed four hits and a pair of runs in the first inning before putting up three hitless frames. The 35-year-old was then tagged with three hits and three runs in the fifth, all coming on Tyler Collins' towering blast over the Toyota sign on center field wall. Hernandez mixed in three strikeouts and a walk while throwing 83 pitches over five innings of work, evening his record at 2-2. Chad Jenkins and Pat McCoy were each credited with a hold, combining for 2.0 scoreless innings of work. Ryan Tepera picked up his third save of the season with a six-out effort of his own. BISONS NOTES: Wednesday marked the second time this season that A.J. Jimenez has had a four-RBI game…Buffalo's bullpen has allowed just 6 of 48 inherited runners to score…After sending nine men to the plate in the first, the Herd has now batted around three times in 2016…The Bisons beging a four-game set with the Red Sox tomorrow...Devon Travis is expected to start at second base and play seven innings on Thursday as part of a rehab stint for the Blue Jays. http://i.imgur.com/5t7rmpD.png http://i.imgur.com/SR2Mvn6.png http://i.imgur.com/c0TWvqC.png http://i.imgur.com/wDdPJmV.png http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/9/2/136664792/cuts/KC_Hobson_Game_Story_1_9eg0sufe_y9bdjwf3.jpg KC Hobson PORTLAND, MAINE - The New Hampshire Fisher Cats got big performances from K.C. Hobson and Matt Dean to batter the Portland Sea Dogs 8-2 Wednesday night at Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine, ending their seven-game road trip on a high note. The Fisher Cats (19-19) earned their fifth win of the road-trip, bringing their record back to .500 on the season. The Sea Dogs (15-26) only managed three hits against New Hampshire's pitching staff, all in the first four innings. Hobson ended a grueling 0-for-26 slump with a first-inning, bases-loaded triple to blow the game open. New Hampshire put a crooked number up right away in the top of the first inning against Portland starting pitcher Justin Haley (L, 3-3). Roemon Fields drew a leadoff walk, and advanced to third base when he tried to steal as Jon Berti worked a walk and catcher Ali Solis threw the ball into center field. On a double steal, Berti was caught stealing, but Fields took home, making it 1-0 Fisher Cats. Haley then walked Rowdy Tellez and Dean, and Dwight Smith, Jr. singled to load the bases. Hobson sliced a bases-clearing triple into the right-field corner, giving New Hampshire the 4-0 lead and chasing Haley from the game. Portland cut into the lead in the bottom of the first inning against Fisher Cats starting pitcher Jason Berken. Leadoff man Cole Sturgeon worked the count full, and took Berken's tenth pitch over the right-field fence for a solo homer, cutting New Hampshire's advantage to 4-1. The Fisher Cats and Sea Dogs traded runs in the second inning, as Jorge Flores singled to lead off against Portland reliever Rob Wort, and moved to third when Fields' bouncer up the middle was booted by shortstop Tzu-Wei Lin. With one out, Rowdy Tellez cracked an RBI single to right to make it 5-1. In the bottom of the frame, Aneury Tavarez ripped a triple to left, and came in on a groundout to third by Wendell Rijo, trimming the New Hampshire edge to 5-2. New Hampshire doubled their lead in the top of the sixth inning against Portland reliever Nik Turley. Flores worked a leadoff walk, and moved to second on a bunt single by Fields. Berti and Tellez both struck out, but Dean crushed a 3-1 fastball to straightaway center field for a three-run homer. The blast was the third of the year for Dean, and it put New Hampshire out in front 8-2. Bergen threw four innings in the start, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk while whiffing three. Danny Barnes (W, 2-0) tossed two perfect frames of relief with three strikeouts. Murphy Smith posted two flawless innings with two strikeouts. Wil Browning finished the ballgame, walking one and fanning one in a shutout inning of relief. The Fisher Cats return home Friday to take on the Hartford Yard Goats, with righty Casey Lawrence starting for New Hampshire against Hartford right-hander German Marquez. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m., and Bob Lipman and Tyler Murray have the call starting at 6:15 on the Fisher Cats Radio Network. Join us Friday for WMUR's "Play Ball for CHaD" night, where we help raise money for the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock! Tickets are available online at NHFishercats.com or by calling 603-641-2005. http://i.imgur.com/lzhfpzP.png http://i.imgur.com/rWiwRkh.png http://i.imgur.com/gGmSXdi.png http://www.milb.com/assets/images/6/9/6/178949696/cuts/_22_Alford_T43A4057_k9kb7k0c_bam159t2.jpg Anthony Alford DUNEDIN, FL - The Dunedin Blue Jays (17-23) used a four run sixth inning to propel themselves ahead of the Fort Myers Miracle (22-18) on Wednesday with a 5-3 win. The Jays were down 3-0 when they put up the four spot on RHP Keaton Steele (L, 1-4) in the sixth inning. Prior to the Jays taking the lead, RHP Kyle Westwood allowed three runs over five innings. Up 1-0 in the fourth with a runner on, CF Max Murphy lifted a high fly ball to left field that took a hard ricochet off the wall. Murphy chugged all the way around the bases, sliding into home for an inside-the-park home run. Steele held Dunedin scoreless through the first five innings, but four runs on five hits in the sixth inning did him in. After a walk and single, CF Anthony Alford slapped a two-run double to right-centerfield. Alford also singled in a run in the seventh, giving him his first extra-base hit and first multi-hit game of 2016. With two outs in the sixth, DH L.B. Dantzler doubled down the right field line to bring in Alford, tying the game. C Mike Reeves promptly singled to right, scoring Dantzler and giving Dunedin the lead for good. RHP Connor Fisk (W, 2-0) set down all six batters he faced to earn his second win in as many outings this year. RHP Adonys Cardona (H, 4) tossed a scoreless eighth before the Jays saw some drama in the ninth. LHP Matt Dermody (H, 2) came out to close the game and surrendered three singles while recording one out. With the bases loaded, RHP Carlos Ramirez (S, 4) induced a flyout of 2B Tanner Witt bringing up the previously 3-for-3 C Brian Navarreto with the tying run at second base. Ramirez struck out Navarreto looking to end the game, handing Dunedin their second consecutive win. The final game of this four game set will be at 6:30 pm on Thursday. RHP Justin Shafer will square off against RHP Felix Jorge. http://i.imgur.com/J9FzgSv.png http://i.imgur.com/N7dZb3y.png http://i.imgur.com/hgccJx1.png http://i.imgur.com/NpINNmk.png http://www.milb.com/assets/images/3/9/0/178853390/cuts/Harris_4049_v5jfvvfm_j4b2i6wm.jpg Jon Harris FORT WAYNE, Ind. - 2015 first-rounder Jon Harris struck out 11 batters in seven scoreless innings, and Ryan Hissey delivered a pinch-hit RBI single in the tenth inning, bringing the Lansing Lugnuts (19-17) a 1-0 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps (20-19) in a Wednesday matinee at Parkview Field. Harris, rated the Blue Jays' #4 prospect by MLB Pipeline, set new career highs in both strikeouts and innings pitched, limiting Fort Wayne to only four hits and one walk. The Missouri State product lowered his ERA to 1.05 and extended his scoreless streak to 21 consecutive innings. He has allowed only one unearned run in his last 25 innings. But three TinCaps pitchers matched zeroes with Harris and reliever Josh DeGraaf through nine innings, forcing extra frames. With one out in the tenth, Gunnar Heidt doubled down the right field line against new Fort Wayne reliever Gerardo Reyes (Loss, 2-1). Two batters later, Hissey pinch-hit for Jake Anderson and sent a hard grounder toward first. The ball bounced up on Brad Zunica and hopped away. The first baseman gloved it desperately and shoveled late to Reyes at the bag, all the while Heidt sped all the way around from second base. DeGraaf (Win, 3-3) held the TinCaps off the board in the eighth and ninth innings to earn the victory, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out two. Dusty Isaacs (Save, 5) pitched a perfect tenth, striking out two. Heidt led the Lugnuts' offense with a 2-for-4 performance, and Andrew Guillotte went 1-for-4 to extend his on-base streak to 14 games. The rubber match of the three-game series will be held at 7:05 p.m. Thursday. Nuts left-hander Angel Perdomo (2-1, 1.98) receives the start against TinCaps right-hander Enyel De Los Santos (2-1, 2.64). Kings 3 Stars of the Night 1) Jon Harris: Toronto's first round pick from last season finally showed why he was taken in the 1st round going 7 innings with 11 strikeouts. 2) A.J. Jimenez: The once highly touted Blue Jays "catcher of the future" went 4/4 with 2 doubles. 3) Anthony Alford: Alford continued his turn around from a rough start to the season going 2/4 with a double. Kings Platinum Arencibia 1) Lane Thomas: Thomas went 0/4 with 3 strikeouts.

Here's a report from his start earlier this month. https://twitter.com/Clutchlings77 The Blue Jays International Free Agent class of 2012 was a decent one. Not as good as the 2011 class, which featured Roberto Osuna, Jairo Labourt, Dawel Lugo, Jesus Tinoco, and Alberto Tirado, but a quality one just the same. Led by top signing SS Franklin Barreto, who is now Oakland's top prospect after being the centrepiece of the Josh Donaldson deal, the Jays also inked SS Richie Urena (now one of Toronto's top prospects), and LHP Jonathan Torres to six-figure signing bonuses. Lost in amongst the signings that year was one that took place several months later (and for far less bonus money) of RHP Francisco Rios, out of Monclova, a city of just under 200 000 in northern Mexico, not far from the border with Texas. Late IFA signings are the guys who didn't have enough (or show enough) to warrant signing during the Teenaged free agent frenzy that is the July 2 signing date. They might be older, or not toolsy enough, or lacking in physical traits. In Rios' case, at 6'1", his height most likely led to him being overlooked. The Blue Jays saw enough in Rios' athleticism to sign him. While his numbers have not been spectacular, the organization saw enough physical and emotional maturity in him to skip him over the GCL in favour of the Appalachian League when he made his stateside debut in 2014, and advanced him to Vancouver last year, where he was a regular in the C's starting rotation. This year has been a huge coming out party for the righthander. Rios has been brilliant at Lansing in his first shot at full season ball, striking out 12.9 batters per 9 innings, to go along with a tiny 1.20 ERA. After following Rios for much of last year, I wasn't expecting a great deal this year. After finally getting eyes on him during his May 1st start against Wisconsin, I'm now a believer. Rios has a polished delivery which he repeats consistently, and throws from a three-quarters arm slot. He commands both sides of the plate with his fastball - his two seamer has good sink and some tailing action. He throws a four seamer up in the zone with two strikes on a hitter in order to get some swings and misses, but had trouble commanding it during this start. His slider is emerging as a potential wipeout pitch, starting out looking like a fastball, then diving for the outer half of the plate to barrel-dodging country at the last moment with good depth. Three of his 5 strikeouts on the day came on that pitch. Rios also throws a 12-6 curve, which is a work in progress, and threw one or two changeups on the day. His fastball is his bread and butter, however, and while he only topped 93 with it in this start, his ability to pound the lower part of the strike zone with it sets up that slider. Rios breezed through the first four innings of this start against a Wisconsin team that is not loaded with top prospects, but does contain some mid-level bats like Jake Gatewood and Monte Harrison. Rios faced only one batter over the minimum through four, needing only 45 pitches to do so. He attacked the strike zone, consistently getting ahead of hitters over that stretch, never reaching a three-ball count. In the 5th, Rios gave up his first hits and hard contact on the day, but left a pair of runners stranded. Things came a bit undone for him in the 6th. Facing Rios for the second time, Wisconsin hitters turned more aggressive, and were going after his first pitches with regularity. Lansing SS JC Cardenas had to field a grounder on the second pitch of the inning on a short hop, and rushed his throw to first, where converted Catcher Juan Kelly was unable to come up with it for the out. A Rios wild pitch put the runner into scoring position, and he came around to score on a solid line drive base hit. Another single put runners on first and third, and Lugnuts C Ryan Hissey had a bit of a brain cramp, as he failed to check the runner on 3rd before throwing to 2nd to try to throw out the runner attempting to steal. The runner from 3rd came in to score easily. Rios was out of the inning a few batters later, having given up a third run. He gave up some contact in that inning, but his defence let him down a bit - two of the runs were unearned. On the day, Rios threw 82 pitches, 59 for strikes. He had 9 swinging strikes, and was ahead in the count after three pitches to 22 of the 25 hitters he faced. Rios threw 7 ground ball and 7 fly ball outs - while he only gave up two fly balls that could be considered to be of the loud variety, he was helped by the strong Wisconsin spring wind blowing in from rightfield. It was not televised, but Rios had an even more dominant outing on his 21st birthday, May 6th. Rios allowed only one hit in 5.2 innings, fanning 10. He struck out the side swinging, and K'd 6 of the first 7 hitters he faced. Chad Hillman, a Michigan-based prospect hunter, had him hitting 95 with his fastball. I haven't seen a lot of Rios' fielding skills, but his fast-twitch reflexes were on display in an earlier start against Lake County. Rios has struck out 43 batters (2nd highest total in the MWL) in 30 innings this year, and has walked only 8. After three seasons of only moderate success in the minors, it would appear that a bit of an uptick in velocity, more bite on his slider, and improved fastball command have made things look ridiculously easy for him - MWL hitters are simply overmatched when they face Rios. I'm as enthused as anyone about Rios' performance so far this season, but with lower level arms, you have to take a more patient approach, and see how they fare second time around the league, and after that, how well they make adjustments at the next level, where hitters can get around on a fastball better, and have improved pitch recognition. With Rios, Angel Perdomo, Sean Reid-Foley, and a rapidly improving Jon Harris in the rotation, Lansing is a must-follow team at the moment.

He throws a fastball (2 seam and 4 seam), curveball, slider and changeup. But the changeup is not that good right now. His command seems advanced so that helps quite a bit. I wouldn't say it's "TV Stuff in the making", but it should be good enough be a middle of the rotation starter.

How long until Jacob Anderson is released? Hitting .162/.215/.270 with a 49 wRC+ in a primarily DH role. 23 years old can't hit in Low A. The dream is over lads.