King

<-------- DDL Thread

Sanchez.

Competitive Walks Counter: BB, BB

Pitch 1 was a strike on the pitch tracker. Competitive walks counter: BB

Time for Sanchez to shut it down.

Wow nice play by Crawford!!

9pm start time for me. I'll have to stay up past my bed time tonight

Hi Everyone. Go Jays tonight.

Gruber needs some internet etiquette counselling.

Urena is 2/4 with a Dinger. SRF 3IP 2H 0ER 4BB 4K Tellez 0/4

Clutchlings ‏@Clutchlings77 10m10 minutes ago #BlueJays prospect Francisco Rios promoted from Lansing to Dunedin. http://clutchlings.blogspot.ca/2016/05/a-look-at-francisco-rios.html 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.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-stroman-sanchez-relishing-opportunity-hit/ TORONTO — There was a little extra life around the Rogers Centre batting cages Saturday morning as Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and J.A. Happ stepped out of the Toronto Blue Jays dugout carrying pine tar, batting gloves and 32 ounces of lumber each. That trio of Blue Jays starters will take the mound during Toronto’s three-game series in San Francisco this week, which means they’ll also be taking at-bats under National League rules. The veteran Happ has pitched for years in the NL and been through this all before. But the 20-somethings Stroman and Sanchez have never taken an at-bat in the majors, and are relishing the opportunity. "You grow up wanting to be in the big leagues as a hitter," says Sanchez, who played shortstop for his entire life until the Blue Jays drafted him as a pitcher. "At least that’s how it was for me. And now I get a chance. So I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be cool." "I miss it—I miss it a lot," added Stroman, who played second base at Duke University. "Obviously the first priority will be to get the bunt down if there’s guys on. But if not, I’m pretty excited to swing it." And swing it they did Saturday morning, against Blue Jays third base coach Luis Rivera, who was throwing flat batting practice fastballs at around 60-mph. Blue Jays hitters stretching nearby heckled and jeered, especially when Stroman and Sanchez were in the box, offering constant commentary on the cuts the young pitchers were taking. The young starters had fun with it, grinning and celebrating every time they made solid contact. They each hit a pair of pitches over the wall, and made sure everyone within earshot knew it had happened. Stroman even got an enthusiastic bear hug from Ryan Goins after his second long ball to left field. "It’s pretty funny how they’re all amped up. They think they’re going to go out there and hit homers," Happ said after taking his cuts. "And maybe they will, who knows? They’re confident guys—that’s for sure. All I’d tell them is this game has a way of humbling people. So, we’ll just let the game play out and we’ll see. Either way, it’ll be fun to watch them out there. I love their enthusiasm." Happ actually has hit a homer in the majors, off Josh Collmenter in 2011. He ambushed a first-pitch cutter and sent a no-doubter 387-feet into the right field bleachers. He got the ball back from the fan that caught it and still has it at home. "I definitely got lucky with that one," he says, bashfully. "My first at-bat that day I flew out to the warning track, so they gave me the green light to go ahead and swing it. I was fortunate enough to run into one." Last year, when the Seattle Mariners sent Happ to the Pittsburgh Pirates at the trade deadline, he knew there was a good chance his new team could be headed to the post-season and he didn’t want to be a liability. So he began logging daily sessions in the batting cages in hopes of improving his swing. "I worked quite a bit at just trying to catch up, get up to speed and be reasonable up there," Happ says. "You’re so overmatched anyways, and then you’re out of the National League for a while and you aren’t hitting regularly, and then you jump back in and it’s really a challenge." Happ went 2-for-22 with the Pirates down the stretch, with three sacrifice bunts and 13 strikeouts. He never did get to hit in the post-season as the Pirates were eliminated in the NL wild card game, but all that work showed during batting practice at Rogers Centre as he made hard, line drive contact much more consistently than his younger peers. "I don’t know if I’d say I’m looking forward to hitting again," Happ says. "But it’s always interesting. I do like a lot of the things about National League baseball." One of those is certainly a somewhat easier out against the opposition pitcher. Happ will get Matt Cain, who’s 4-for-53 since the beginning of 2014. Sanchez will get Jake Peavy, who actually has three hits in 10 plate appearances this season, but is a career .170 hitter. But unfortunately for Stroman, Madison Bumgarner awaits. The Giants ace isn’t just one of the best left-handed starters in the game; he’s also an accomplished hitter who swatted five homers last season and has a .718 OPS in 177 plate appearances since 2014. "I don’t even get that free out," Stroman says, nonplussed. "Bumgarner’s one of the better hitting pitchers in the game. Actually, he’s just a great hitter in general. But I’m excited. It’s going to be fun to get in the box against him." Stroman hasn’t taken an at-bat of any significance since 2011, when he played both ways for Duke, making 30 starts at second base on the days he wasn’t the starting pitcher. He batted .250/.321/.358 in 120 at-bats that year, hitting 9 doubles and a pair of triples. He says he was an aggressive free-swinger at the time, one who looked to take scrappy at-bats and put the ball in play. "I’m not going to put my weaknesses out there. You’re not getting the scouting report," Stroman says. "But I think I’ll be okay. I was ACC freshman of the year as a position player. So, I know what I’m doing." The last time Sanchez took competitive at-bats was as a senior at Barstow High School six years ago. He hit .403 that season. "I had a couple walk-off homers; a lot of two-homer games. High school was fun for me, I’ll just put it like that," Sanchez says. "I thought I could hit. I was only 17-years-old, but I had some pop." Stroman and Sanchez, two of the more self-assured young men you’ll meet, haven’t been shy to let their teammates know about their acumen as hitters before they were drafted. The home runs they hit during batting practice only fed the fire. "These guys, man—they think they can hit," says Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada, shaking his head with a grin. "I guess all pitchers think they can hit. But it’s going to be a lot different than what they’re used to. It comes out a lot quicker at this level. They might learn the hard way it’s not that easy."

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25581563 Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes is currently on paid leave as Major League Baseball reviews the information surrounding his offseason domestic violence arrest. The charges have been dropped, as Reyes' wife would not cooperate with police. And now there's a chance Reyes can still face a suspension under the MLB domestic violence policy, and it sounds like it'll be a big one. According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, Reyes' suspension will be at least 60 games and that 80 games "may be a fair ballpark estimate," per his sources. It sounds possible that the suspension could even be longer than that. Let's keep in mind here that reports surfaced that Reyes' wife, Katherine, had visible injuries to several areas of her body, including her neck. Heyman reports the suspension ruling will come down "soon." Reyes, 32, is making $22 million this season, but he would forfeit his salary for the chunk of games he's suspended, so a half season suspension would cost him $11 million. He's also owed $22 million next season. Meanwhile, rookie shortstop Trevor Story is hitting .272/.338/.624 with 11 homers and 24 RBI through 31 games for the Rockies. Basically, while the suspension would give the Rockies some salary relief, he's an expensive problem next season unless he's handed a two-year suspension.

Borucki couldn't make it out of the 3rd inning. 2IP 7H 8ER 3BB 4K (3HR) 73p-46s and... Perdomo couldn't make it out of the 1st inning on his birthday. 0.2IP 1H 4R (2ER) 3BB 1K, 34p-13s

His last start was May 2nd, so no.

Perdomo starts for Lansing again tonight.

Looks like he's ignoring you.

You're welcome.

Hey Gruber! Nice to see you're back.

Doing good man, just enjoying this game on a Saturday afternoon.

Game over

I would pick my man BigBounceyBlueBalls.

Sup Big B, hows it going?

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20160506&content_id=176675934&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb http://www.milb.com/assets/images/6/8/4/176677684/cuts/rios_cropped_qtatid46_djnq90e3.jpg As of Friday, Francisco Rios (2-0) is legally able to buy a drink in the United States. He definitely earned one. The Blue Jays prospect celebrated his 21st birthday by allowing one hit and recording a career-high 10 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings as Class A Lansing blanked visiting Quad Cities, 6-0. "It's a very special day for me," Rios said. "Yesterday [Cinco de Mayo], was a great and important day in Mexico and today is important for me, so I feel so happy to do so well on this day." The 21-year-old right-hander got off to a flying start for the Lugnuts, striking out the side in the top of the first. All three punchouts came on swing-and-misses. After walking Connor Goedert leading off the second, he fanned the next three batters. "I am so happy right now because I am working so hard in my first long season," Rios said. "And it is great that I am starting the season well and the work is paying off." The Mexico native built his successful start by changing levels with his fastball and using all parts of the strike zone to keep the River Bandits off-balance. "The fastball away and the fastball up and in were working all night for me," he said. "And when I was ahead in the count, I could use the slider in the dirt." Rios (2-0) spent all of 2015 with Class A Short Season Vancouver, where he was 3-6 with a 4.27 ERA in 15 games, including 12 starts. He's made a seamless transition to full-season ball, allowing four earned runs in 30 innings for Lansing. "In the short season, you can rest at times," he said. "But at this level, you need to work hard every day. We are practicing or working hard on something every day, like our mechanics or fastball command. I am also working on developing my changeup to complement my fastball and slider." The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder not only is working hard on adjusting to a new level but also to a new language and culture. He said the Lugnuts coaching staff and batterymate Ryan Hissey have done wonders to ease the transition. "My teammates work so hard behind me and my catcher knows the game so well," Rios said. "Every start, the coaches just tell me to be aggressive and get ahead with the first pitch." Now that the business part of his birthday is over, Rios said he's looking forward to the celebratory meal that awaits him at home. "I am going to go celebrate with my paisanos and my house family," he said. "We are going to eat a great dinner to celebrate my birthday, Cinco de Mayo and this game." Josh DeGraaf and Colton Turner combined to work the final 3 1/3 innings, striking out two apiece, to complete the Lugnuts' fifth shutout of the season. Juan Kelly hit Lansing's first home run since April 24 when he took Ralph Garza deep for a solo shot in the seventh. The 21-year-old catcher also hit the Lugnuts' last long ball.