Thursday, May 30, 2013

I'm Taking a Break

2012 sucked. It was horrible. Everybody got injured. It felt like anything that could go wrong, went wrong. And then the Blue Jays won the winter crown for best off-season, and were picked by most baseball experts to win the AL East. The team was stacked with talent when opening day came, and everything looked up.

You know the rest. Injuries happened, players under performed, and the Jays just had a stroke of bad luck that lasted for the entire month of April. It has continued into May, and the Jays currently find themselves under .500 this month. It still isn't too late. It's only May, but I don't have faith anymore. How can I? Thing's aren't looking up.

R.A. Dickey is not the same pitcher he was from 2010-2012. His velocity has diminished to a point where his average speed on his knuckleball is it's slowest it has been since 2009(75.1 MPH so far in 2013), and his fastball velocity is the slowest it has ever been in his career, close to 3 MPH less than his  average.  Mark Buehrle is slowing down with age, and at his best he was a #3, so his future doesn't look bright. Ricky Romero doesn't need an explanation. He flat out can't get hitters of any kind or level out. Jose Reyes is awesome, but there is only a certain amount of times you can get injured before it just becomes a natural thing, and your body can't handle it. Brandon Morrow is giving up way too many home runs, and is striking out batters way less than he used to. It's concerning too say the least, even given the sample, because it's not like he has such a huge sample of success either.

Those 5 players are owed close to $70 MILLION next year, and I am only confident one will perform well. But, I'm not confident Reyes can perform well and stay healthy. $70 Million is more than 50% of what Rogers will allow this team to spend.

I understand that this is more than a one year thing, it's a 3 year thing. But, this roster, even if everything goes right, only is a 90-93 win team, and everything never goes right. With no extra cash to replace broken parts and try to patch it together, I'm not confident this Jays team will contend in this 3 year window.

There are positive things as well,though. Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, and Adam Lind are very fun to watch offensively. The bullpen has been fine, and Casey Janssen and Brett Cecil don't allow hitters to do anything. The problem is that the positives don't outweigh the negatives.

So, I'm taking a break. It's only going to be a week or two, but I won't be watching the Jays or blogging about them until June 9th at the earliest. West coast games are coming up that I would have probably not watched anyways, and with my exams coming up in school this is a perfect time for me to study, and put the Jays aside. I'm not sure if I'll be on the podcast these next couple of weeks, I might be, I might not. I'll have to see. I'm also going to try to stay off of twitter as well, so if you need to contact  me, do it elsewhere(Facebook, email). I will allow myself to watch Round 1 of the draft, but that is all.

These are depressing times for a Jays fan, and I can't take it anymore. Hopefully, when I come back, things will be a little bit better, and I'll be able to watch them without screaming and shutting the game off in the first few innings. But, even if things do turn around, the Jays have a lot of dead money in their pockets, and things won't be getting any easier over the next few years.


Monday, May 27, 2013

BlueJaysPlus Podcast Episode 10: Nolin, Gibbons, & an Interview with @CraigCalcaterra

It was a pretty eventful weekend in Blue Jays land as we saw a major league debut go sour, John Gibbons almost losing a game with his managing, and Munenori Kawasaki win a game(and give a fantastic interview afterwards). On this episode, our 10th, we talk about Sean Nolin's less than 2 innings of fame, John Gibbons and his managerial tactics, lineup construction, and we interview Craig Calcaterra of HardBallTalk to talk Braves. We hope you've enjoyed our first 10 episodes. As always, leave your comments below so we can continue improving. Thanks for listening!



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Arrested Development: Blue Jays Edition

If you're not familiar with the TV show Arrested Development, you should be. It was a comedy that aired on Fox from 2004 until 2006, when it was cancelled mid season after the show could never pick up strong ratings. It was an award winning comedy though, and many believe it to be the best comedic show in the past 10 or so years. Anyways, the show was brought back for a 4th season exclusively on Netflix yesterday(Sunday May 26th 2013), with a 15 episode season. A few days before that, Halosdaily.com, an Angels blog site, published an article comparing characters from the "unofficial official show of baseball bloggers everywhere" to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I read that article, and immediately thought to myself that I need to do the same for this site, but compare the AD characters with the Blue Jays. I talked over some of them with Ewan, and we came up with these. Thanks to HalosDaily for the fantastic idea. I hope you will get as much enjoyment from reading this as I had writing it. I will be using most of the HalosDaily's description of each character from the show(with permission from the author, Andrew Karcher of course).

***Don't read the first few and stop, because some of the best are at the end.(The best comparison is at the end).

George Bluth
The patriarch of the Bluth family, George’s meddling often runs his real estate firm, the Bluth Company, into the ground. Also, he ends up in prison and is the suspect of some Saddam-aided “light treason.”
This was definitely the hardest character there was too match. I came up with 3 people who could fit the bill, although none is as good as Andrew's comparison to interfering owner Arte Moreno. The first is Nadir Mohammad, CEO of Rogers, and the owner of the Blue Jays. The problem with this one is that he doesn't really meddle in the Blue Jays affairs, and gave Beeston and Co. the go ahead to increase payroll this year, when it made sense to do so. The second is the aforementioned Paul Beeston. I don't really like this one either, as he works together with AA, and has not run this team into the ground.EVER. The third and final idea I camp up with is none other than J.P Ricciardi. He ran this team into the ground, and the contracts he handed out to Vernon Wells, Alex Rios, and others, were criminal. He 100% deserved to be jailed for locking the team into such bad contracts for so many years.

Michael Bluth
Michael takes over the Bluth Company when George goes to prison and is entrusted to right the ship, ultimately achieving “not buy” success. Often though, Michael finds he lives in his father’s shadow and can’t run the company as he sees fit, even though he isn’t impervious to poor decisions.
This is obviously Alex Anthopolous, Blue Jays GM. AA took over for Ricciardi after he was fired, and his approach ever since is a "not buy" one in the Free Agency market. He was also entrusted to right the ship of the Blue Jays, just like Michael Bluth was entrusted to right the ship of the Bluth Company. Just like Bluth, AA often lives in the shadow of J.P because years of J.P's bad drafting has kept the upper levels of the farm system dry.
.
Lucille Bluth
Luccile is George's husband, and Michael's mother. Now, from HalosDaily...
Cold-hearted, Lucille is a master manipulator, often pitting the Bluth children against each other to do her bidding. Always seems one step ahead of everyone and typically gets what she wants.
I also had a hard time coming up with this one, but ultimately decided on John Farrell(well, Ewan did, I couldn't think of one). He is a cold hearted jerk, who manipulated the entire city of Toronto to think that he truly wanted to be here! He caused turmoil in the clubhouse and in the Front Office, and was thinking one step ahead when he signed here. He truly is the exact same as Lucille Bluth.

Buster Bluth
Buster is the youngest of the 4 Bluth children. He has his hand bitten off by a loose seal, and needs to wear a hook as a replacement. Ewan and I came up with a few options.

1. Dustin McGowan, Josh Johnson, & Steve Delabar have all had their fair shair of arm injuries, just like Buster Bluth. The comparisons were just way too easy.
2. Brad Lincoln is the outside the box comparison for Buster, because of the "hook" they both possess. Buster, has the literal hook(on his arm), and Lincoln has the wicked curve ball, often referred to as "The Hook".

G.O.B (George Oscar Bluth)
He's the oldest Bluth child. His name is an acronym, and he's a magician. R.A Dickey is obviously his best comparison. Robert Allen Dickey is considered a magician by many with his mastery of the knuckleball, which, just like an illusion, the hitters cannot see.

Another comparison is J.P. Ricciardi, again. He has the acronym, but mostly, he is cocky, young, and doesn't have a clue. No offense, J.P.(actually, take offense).

Lindsay Bluth Fünke
Michael’s twin sister, Lindsay is often asked to accomplish tasks for the Bluth Company, the simplest of which she fails to perform. Her intentions are often good, as she takes up many a charitable cause. At a charity auction where the winner receives a date with Lindsay, the buyer wildly overpaid, as she was scarred and sunburned from a day saving the wetlands. Unfortunately, she also has a habit of irresponsibly spending the Bluth Company’s dwindling resources.
I came up blank on this one, and Ewan chose Travis Snider because he is a failed prospect. If you have any, let us know with a comment, tweet, facebook message, email, anything!

Tobias Fünke
Tobias is a never nude, and is always acting homosexual, even though he insists he is straight. J.P Arencibia is loved by the entire female fan base, and, deep down inside, he is just like Tobias. Well probably not, but it would be very ironic if he was.

Maeby Fünke
Often the quickest wit on the show, Maeby has a knack for excelling in multiple roles, whether that be running a movie studio or winning Inner Beauty pageants.
Maeby is the daughter of Lindsay and Tobias, and is unquestionably the best character on the show(well at least that's my opinion). She is a movie producer at age 15, making her parts on the show often the funniest. Like Andrew wrote above, she excels at everything. Her greatest comparison would be a 5-tool player, but because the Jays sadly don't have any of those, we go to the next closest thing in Jose Reyes. Reyes can hit, run, and throw, the equivalent of being a producer, winning pageants, and being 15 all at the same time.

George Michael Bluth
George Michael is the awkward, unathletic child of Michael who stutters a lot. Remind you of a certain left fielder? Yes, Melky Cabrera! He plays a horrible outfield, and last year after receiving the All Star GAme MVP, he said "thank you the fans", while stuttering and looking awkward as ever. A product of him not being fluent in English of course, but still a perfect comparison.

Ann Veal
"Her?" is how the characters on the show react to Ann, who is George Michael's girlfriend, and G.O.B's girlfriend at different times in the show. When Alex Anthopolous signed Mark DeRosa to be the 25th man, most Torontonians were saying "Him?" as most believe there were better fish in the sea(there weren't, by the way).

Annyong Bluth
Annyong. Adopted from Asia, the youngest Bluth became a regular part of the family.
 Munenori Kawasaki of course. Adopted from Asia(well the Mariners, but they adopted him from Asia), and the newest full time Blue Jay.

STEVE HOLT!
Holt is G.O.B's son, and is a cocky jock in high school. Basically the current version of BRETT LAWRIE.

Kitty Sanchez
Sanchez is George's former secretary, who, part of her body is artificially enhanced. Making the easy connection to both Melky Cabrera, and Marcus Stroman.

When Sanchez leaves Michael and the company, she flashes him, and says the famous line “Say goodbye to THESE, Michael!"

Just like Michael had to say good bye to THOSE, we had to say good bye to Noah Syndergaard & Justin Nicolino this past off-season. We miss you, boys. 

Oscar Bluth
George's hippy twin brother does a lot of drugs. Jeremy Jeffress does a lot of drugs, and especially likes to smoke "Sauteed Aspargus".

That's it. If you have any other comparisons, which I'm sure you do, let us know with a comment, tweet, email, facebook, whatever.

Big thanks to both Andrew Karcher for the idea, and Ewan Ross for helping out.

You can follow me on twitter, @gideonturk. To connect with the site, Follow us on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Sean Nolin's Debut


Sean Nolin’s First Career Start


                There weren’t too many positives about Nolin’s first Major League start. He, although, showed decent control in the first with the fastball (92-89 mph). He didn’t show much control with the change (84-80 mph). The curveball (71 mph) got hit hard, but was well controlled, as it seemed the Oriole hitters knew it was coming, maybe because of extended loop, so the spots didn’t much matter. The one ball that left the park was a slow curve that was out of the zone, as Hardy golfed it over the left field wall. Nolin then gave up a single, but got a ground ball to end the inning.
In the second, the fastball didn’t touch 92, and sat at 88, as he only recorded 1 out, then was lifted from the game. The secondary stuff continued to be hit hard, and Nolin shied away from his curveball usage. He started to leave balls up, and lost most control, possibly due do his cross-body arm action (as pointed out by @SherLander). This arm action can cause a complete loss on control, and it looks like that’s what happened to Nolin in the second, making him pitch more to the heart of the plate, where he can’t survive, ask Ricky Romero.
                Overall, Nolin didn’t impress a sole, nor should a guy who should be in AAA. He shows promise, but needs to tighten the breaking pitches, and clean up his mechanics in the minor leagues. Anthopoulos needs to realize that Buffalo is not in the PCL, and stop rushing guys from AA. There are better hitters in AAA, where the pitchers can face greater adversity before the big league call up. 

Minor League Update: Buffalo Bisons (AAA) #2

How about that custom link up there?
Buffalo Bisons
26-19 (1st place International League North Division)

Not much has changed since I last wrote about the Bisons. Jim Negrych is still a non prospect who is having BABIP caused success, the offense as a whole is the best in the International league, and the pitching is still one of the worst in the league. That recipe has allowed the Bisons to maintain their division lead in the IL's North division, even though they have been slipping as late.

There are some new faces that I'll be looking at today because of various injuries, transactions, and performances, so it won't be repetitive like you might expect. Joining us is the awful Ricky Romero, the not so awful Jim Negrych, prospect John Stilson, and some other guys.

Before I start, I want to apologize for being late with this. I went through one of those stages this week where I was too lazy to write anything. I will have the Fisher Cats update posted on Monday like it is scheduled to be. As always, leave your comments about the article, my writing, or really anything in the section below. Enjoy!

Jeremy Jeffress-RP-Age 25
Jeffress made his AAA debut in 2013 a couple of weeks ago after appearing in 3 FSL games with Dunedin, and the flamethrower has had success as expected. Like Ricky Romero(who I'll be getting to soon), Jeffress' main issue is his control. Even if he can't get the control working, he will find success as he is doing now because of the stuff he does possess. Jeffress was put on the 7 day DL yesterday, so he will miss a week or two with an undisclosed injury. It's all about control for JJ, so until he works that out, he won't be doing drugs with Rob Ford up here in Toronto.

Dustin McGowan-RP-Age 31
The extremely small sample size the oft-injured McGowan makes it impossible to trust the stats for McGowan at this point. I watched his second rehab game in Buffalo, the one where he allowed 3 earned runs while only getting one out. I thought he looked pretty good until his 5th batter, where he started to lose control. The hits were soft ground balls, and he was keeping the ball down in the zone and on the outside corner. His velocity was also a little low, but that shouldn't be of concern. I don't want to go much farther into McGowan because I will be writing an article about him in the next few days.

Todd Redmond-SP-Age 28
Redmond has only started one game so far this season, so I'm not going to bother writing about him. The sample is way too small. Don't expect anything out of him, as he is just another card in AA's waiver game.

Ricky Romero-SP-Age 28


The Romero case is fascinating. He cannot keep the ball in the strike zone. He has walked 17 to 3 strikeouts this season while pitching for the Bisons, and has a FIP close to 7.00. He can't get major leaguers out, and he can't get AAA hitters out. I don't expect him to be in Buffalo for much longer, as it is getting to a point where it will be better for him to be back in Dunedin where he can work with various coaches at the Dunedin complex. The Jays(and AA) messed up big time when they ruined his development by calling him up early. This season is a write off for Romero in my opinion, and he should just try to focus on putting the ball in the zone, even if he gives up hits. Something has to change for this guy, or else he'd be fortunate to even spend the rest of his career in AAA.

Michael Schwimer-RP-Age 27
Schwimer's results look good so far, except for the walks of course, but it's obviously a really small sample for him as he was injured to begin the season, and only started playing games around 2 weeks ago. He doesn't figure to get any time with the Jays this season, and like Redmond, he's a candidate to be taken off the 40-man roster soon.

John Stilson-RP-Age 22
Injury is the cause for Stilson's lack of innings this year, but it does finally look like the Jays have converted the big righty to the bullpen, where scouts say his stuff plays better. With fellow top prospect Sean Nolin getting the call to pitch for Toronto today, Stilson isn't very far behind, and if another reliever is lost for a significant amount of time, look for Stilson to be a prime candidate to fill in. He is striking guys out so far in his limited work at a good rate, he is said to have looked good in his game for the Bisons. The walks are an issue, but once the sample is bigger than 2 tiny innings, that will come back down to normal for Stilson, around 4 per 9, which is probably the only thing keeping him from the Blue Jays.

Mickey Storey-RP-Age 27
This is the story about Storey(that might have been the worst pun ever, I'm sorry about that). He's a AAAA player, and just like so many names I've already mentioned, he's just a pawn in AA's waiver game.Since going back down to Buffalo after a brief stint up here in Toronto, he has continued to pitch well in 3 innings. Both his strikeout and walk rats are up this year, but I'd expect both to drop as he continues to pitch in AAA. He might be back up for the Jays a few more times this year, but if he is for an extended period of time, then you know something has gone wrong.

Thad Weber (A.K.A Thaddeus)-SP/RP-Age 28
We discussed Thaddeus on last week's episode of the BJP Podcast, and we came to the conclusion that he is a nice little piece to have. He doesn't walk batters, and although he isn't a strikeout machine, he is a good player to be able to shuffle between AAA and Toronto to either spot start or pitch at the back end of the bullpen. His control makes him very attractive, so if he is put on waivers at anytime to be taken off the 40-man, I can't imagine he wouldn't be picked up. I hope AA decides to keep him, as he is one of the few waiver claims AA has made that is actually interesting.

Ryan Goins-SS-Age 25
I've never been a huge fan of Goins, and it doesn't look like he is deserving of a call up anytime soon. The team obviously doesn't feel he is ready, and his stats prove it, as both his wOBA and wRC+ are both well below average. His defense isn't all that great as well, so with the Jays set at short for the next 5 years with Jose Reyes, and Goins not profiling as a second basemen, it looks like a career that involves flip flopping between the majors and the minors is in store for Goins, although so many things can change. He is going to need to pick up his offense if he wants to get back to a mid-level prospect status, and truthfully, I'd be surprised if he is called up this season before September. 

Mauro Gomez-DH- Age 28
Did somebody say AAAA player? Because that is exactly what Gomez is. He isn't "too good" for AAA, but he sure as hell is great there. After being the MVP of the IL last year, he is putting up good numbers once again in 2013. He has been a strong force in the Bisons line up, but he won't be playing on the Blue Jays this year. Like so many of the players in this article, he is just depth. 

Jim Negrych-2B-Age 28
Stop that. Jim Negrych is not good. He is not a major league player. There's a reason he is 28 and still in the minors. He isn't very good. His start is BABIP driven. His BABIP sits at .433 right now after 36 games, and it will only go down, taking his insane numbers with it. He won't be added to the 40-man, he won't be called up, and he won't continue hitting close to .400. It won't happen. He's getting luckier than the 2012 Orioles. OK? Good.

Moises Sierra-OF-Age 24
Sierra deserved the call up when Rajai Davis went down with injury last week, and when it went to Anthony Gose instead, he must have been wondering what he has to do to get the call. He has been playing very well, with the average over .300 all year, and his defense hasn't been to terrible, well, at least the games that I've watched. His arm is awesome, as always. His BABIP is a sky high .381 right now(Still not Negrych level, folks), so expect a regression soon for Sierra. The strikeouts and lack of walks are a concern, and if he does regress and those numbers stay the same, look for Kevin Pillar to skip him on the depth chart.

Josh Thole-C(well not really, but sure)-Age 26
Think JPA's defense is bad(Yes, I do actually)? Thole's is worse! Yup. hard to believe, but it's true. He's nothing more than a backup, and the entire #FreeThole thing really is a joke. JP is the best option we have right now(which obviously isn't so good), so we're stuck with the power hitting, strikeout king for now. Josh is proving that he can hit, although nobody ever really doubted his ability to get on base at a clip around .350 at the major league level. There is quite a lot of BABIP to his hot start, but I fully expect to see Thole hitting above .300 for most of the year, if not all of it. He won't be called up replace Blanco because Dickey likes Blanco, so his only way of getting to the bigs before September is a JP injury. Hopefully that doesn't happen.

DONE!!!!! 4 days late, but it's finally done! Next week, Fisher Cats. 

You can follow me on twitter, @gideonturk. To connect with the site, Follow us on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Jays Legend Epy Guerrero Passes Away in D.R at Age 71

Sad news hits the Jays today, and baseball in general, as legendary Blue Jays scout Epy Guerrero has died at the age of 86. Guerrero is considered one of the best Latin American scouts of all time, and was the leader for the Jays in the D.R when their presence on the island was the largest in baseball.He is responsible for the signing of 86 major league players, and many more who never made it to the bigs.

For the Blue Jays, he signed many major league players and all stars, like Tony Fernandez, Carlos Delgado, Alfredo Griffin, Kelvim Escobar and more. He is also credited with the acquisition of George Bell from the Phillies in the 1980 Rule V Draft.

The tweet from Manny Acta, informing us of Epy's death...


RIP Epifanio Guerrero. You have left your mark on this world in a huge way, and you'll be missed.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

BlueJaysPlus Podcast Episode 9: Injuries, BioMechanics, and an Interview with Will Carroll

After missing 1 week, we're back. This time, we talk about the Blue Jays handling of Romero as we bash the Jays roster management once again, we have a nice conversation with Will Carroll (A.K.A The Injury Expert) about mechanics and injuries, we discuss Jim Negrych, and more!!! Want to know what the success rate of rest/rehab over Tommy John surgery is? Listen to the show, and you'll find out.  Hope you enjoy, and please let us know what you think of it by leaving a comment. We are always trying to improve.

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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Farm System Update: Lansing Lugnuts(A)

By: Marshall Henson
Lansing Lugnuts (Class A) - Midwest League – 11-22
As a whole, the team has a few prospects that have become less desirable, like Chris Hawkins and Chris Sweeney, whose bats have never truly translated to the pro level. As well as full of many different types of prospects, and a couple high ceiling arms in Roberto Osuna and Daniel Norris. This team has struggled in all facets of the game this year, and the prospects have not been performing.

Christian Lopes – 20 years old – 2B - (Active)
Team
League
AVG
G
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
TB
BB
SO
SB
CS
OBP
SLG
OPS
LAN
MID
.323
33
133
13
43
6
0
2
25
55
4
21
1
0
.338
.414
.752

Lopes is probably the best hitting prospect in Lansing. He’s off to a brilliant start in low-A, but is bound to regress due to a .376 BABIP, but I could see him sustaining the .300/.330/.400 slash. The 6 doubles, and 2 HRs are promising, showing that he’s finding the grapping power he’ll need to make himself an everyday major league starter in years to come. Lopes is arguably the best middle infield prospect for the Jays, as his ceiling is higher than Ryan Goins’, but he isn’t nearly as close to the major leagues.


Dwight Smith Jr. – 20 years old – OF - (Active)
Team
League
AVG
G
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
TB
BB
SO
SB
CS
OBP
SLG
OPS
LAN
MID
.275
14
51
6
14
2
1
1
2
21
5
12
2
0
.339
.412
.751

Smith Jr. has a ceiling to beware of, but the odds of reaching it continuously decrease. He has been great since the call up from extended spring training, and we can all hope he continues this success. Tools can be scary, and Smith is full of them.

Dalton Pompey – 20 years old – OF – (Active)
Team
League
AVG
G
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
TB
BB
SO
SB
CS
OBP
SLG
OPS
LAN
MID
.274
31
117
22
32
8
3
0
9
46
14
33
8
1
.351
.393
.744

Pompey, a Canadian (*drools*), has had good success thus far this year in Lansing, playing to a .347 wOBA, while having 8 stolen bases. He’s a toolsy outfielder, who can run, field, and slap the ball around the field (with over a third of his hits being XBH). Pompey doesn’t have as of a ceiling as Smith Jr., but could still find himself has a tier two starter, or a 4th OF, especially on a team that values speed off the bench.

Santiago Nessy – 20 years old – C – (7 day DL)
Team
League
AVG
G
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
TB
BB
SO
SB
CS
OBP
SLG
OPS
LAN
MID
.250
12
40
2
10
4
0
0
7
14
2
8
0
0
.302
.350
.652

Nessy is a decent to above average defensive catcher, with raw power, but he strikes out a ton, with minimal walks, and below average ability to get on base. Nessy has struck out over 20% of the time at every level, which isn’t something you want to hear, but the raw power with an ability to field always leaves scouts wanting more.

Chris Hawkins – 21 years old – RF – (Active)
Team
League
AVG
G
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
TB
BB
SO
SB
CS
OBP
SLG
OPS
LAN
MID
.239
29
109
7
26
2
2
1
5
35
6
19
2
2
.278
.321
.599

Hawkins was taken in the third round in 2010, a round after Sweeney, which hasn’t particularly been a good draft for Blue jay hitting prospects. Hawkins seemed promising in 2010 and 2011, but has been average at best in the last two years. Off to a very lackluster offensive start to 2013, with 76 wRC+, which isn’t impressive whatsoever. Hawkins, like Sweeney(read on), has faded away when it comes to his prospect status.

Kellen Sweeney – 21 years old – 3B – (Active)
Team
League
AVG
G
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
TB
BB
SO
SB
CS
OBP
SLG
OPS
LAN
MID
.185
29
92
10
17
4
1
2
8
29
13
26
0
0
.290
.315
.605

Sweeney was a high profile bat taken in the second round of the 2010 June draft, and has yet to really live up to any certain hype. He’s been really bad thus far in his career, with a complete inability to hit for average or power. Still has the potential, just needs to find a groove.

Roberto Osuna – 18 years old – SP – (7 day DL – possible TJ surgery)
Team
League
W
L
ERA
G
GS
CG
SHO
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
GO/AO
AVG
LAN
MID
1
2
3.63
5
5
0
0
0
22.1
15
10
9
4
4
31
1.24
.179

Osuna was off to another dazzling start at a tantalizing age, striking out 35.2%(!) of the batters he had faced, until injury struck. He hasn’t started since April 30th, and may not anytime soon, with possible Tommy John surgery looming. Hopefully the Jays decide to operate sooner rather than later.

Daniel Norris – 20 years old – SP – (Active)
Team
League
W
L
ERA
G
GS
CG
SHO
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
GO/AO
AVG
LAN
MID
0
3
10.07
7
6
0
0
0
22.1
34
28
25
2
13
16
1.78
.343

Norris isn’t a 10 ERA pitching in low-A, but he’s striking out less, while walking more batters, which isn’t helping his cause. This all equates to a 5.08, which is horrendous. Norris remains a high ceiling arm, but if he continues to walk and strike guys out at a similar rate (13.8 K% - 11.2 BB%), he won’t ever reach that ceiling. Norris simply needs to harness his control, and he’ll be just fine. He did have a relatively good start the other night, but he still had 3 walks in 4 IP, so his control is still an issue.

Javier Avendano – 22 years old – SP – (Active)
Team
League
W
L
ERA
G
GS
CG
SHO
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
GO/AO
AVG
LAN
MID
2
2
5.13
7
7
0
0
0
33.1
32
24
19
1
20
31
1.13
.246

Avendano, along with Cole,(continue to read on) dominated in Vancouver last year, but has been on an adjustment period thus far. His ERA seems to be inflated, along with Cole’s, because of minor league defense, as seen by a lower FIP (3.62). He doesn’t have the ceiling of the likes of Osuna or Norris, but if everything goes just right he could be a back end starter, but profiles best in the bullpen, and probably never makes it.

Taylor Cole – 23 years old – SP – (Active)
Team
League
W
L
ERA
G
GS
CG
SHO
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
GO/AO
AVG
LAN
MID
1
2
4.50
7
7
0
0
0
34.0
36
22
17
1
17
29
1.61
.271

Cole is the oldest of the pitching prospects, and also projects as a bullpen pitcher, like Avendano. Cole is striking out as many batters as last year, but walking almost twice as many, which makes you wonder about his control as he progresses.

Griffin Murphy – 22 years old – RP – (Active)
Team
League
W
L
ERA
G
GS
CG
SHO
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
GO/AO
AVG
LAN
MID
0
1
4.50
7
0
0
0
0
12.0
12
8
6
0
5
8
1.23
.245

Murphy is a lefty reliever, and could move up the rankings quickly with success, but isn’t off to a great nor bad start, albeit a small sample size. Not necessarily a top prospect, but he could have a future in Toronto, because if you’re a lefty and can breathe, you’re valuable (see Evan Crawford).
*Note: I would’ve included Justin Jackson in the report due to his uniqueness, but the sample size (4.1 innings) is insufficient.

All stats from Monday May 13th

Back to the top next week, when Gideon takes a look at Buffalo for the second time this year.