Minor League Roundup (July 9th to July 15th)
Every week I’ll be diving into the Blue Jays system to see how the up and comers have fared in the past 7 days. I’ll only be looking at the prospects in the system, so, sorry to the Ruban Gotay types out there, you’ll continue to be ignored.
Its very important to note, that while this is can be a useful exercise, its important to not take the stats put up in the minor leagues as gospel. Minor league numbers can very often be deceiving, the calibre of competition can frequently vary wildly (often within the same game eve), and frequently skills that allow you to thrive in the minors wont translate at all to the majors (such as being a mistake hitter, or relying on a trick pitch for strikeouts). Also, minor league teams don’t do advanced scouting, so holes in a players game that can be exploited at the next level won’t become apparent. So take anything I’m saying here with a healthy grain of salt.
Today I’ll be covering the High A ball Dunedin Blue Jays, then tomorrow I’ll be closing the week off by looking at the Low A Lansing Lugnuts (and their very exciting rotation) & the short-season Vancouver Canadians, plus a very brief look at the kids starting out in the complex league.
We’re a little light on content today, because Dunedin just don't have a lot of real prospects on the roster.
Dunedin Blue Jays (A+)
Dunedin is a team that isn’t exactly teeming with prospects, but they’ve had a great season overall, and are currently leading their division of the Florida State League. It’s a strange situation, because not only do they not have a lot of highly regarded prospects, but they don’t even have a bunch of minor league veterans who are destroying the ball, and worth a profile. So as a result, this will be a fairly short section, where I am only looking at 3 players, and one of them is a reliever who I don’t know much about, but who’s numbers kinda stand out.
One other thing to mention, is that while most fans are aware that numbers in Vegas get inflated due to the favourable hitting environment, they might not be aware that the Florida State League’s reputation is the exact opposite. Its viewed as the toughest league to hit in overall.
July 9th – 4-1 Loss v. Tampa Bay (5 Innings)
July 11th – 4-1 Win @ Jupiter
July 12th – 7-2 Win @ Jupiter
July 13th – 2-1 Loss @ Jupiter
July 14th – 9-3 Win @ Jupiter
July 15th – 5-2 Loss @ Fort Myers
Hitters
Marcus Knecht – Left Fielder – 22 Years Old
Yearly A+ Line – 367 PAs, .203/.297/.388 10 HRs, 49 RBI, 42 Runs, 108 Ks, 38 BBs, 2 SBs, 1 CS,
Weekly Line – 18 PAs, .167/.167/.333, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 2 Runs, 5 Ks, 0 BBs
June 9th – 1/2 – 1 2B, 1K
June 11th – 0/4 – 1K
June 12th – 0/4 –
June 13th – 0/3 – 1 K
June 14th – 2/5 – 1 1B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 2 Runs, 2 Ks
June 15th – 1/4 – 1 1B
Knecht’s relatively disappointing season continued this week. He has increased his power production (even despite playing in the FSL), but that has come at a dramatic downturn in his contact rate. You love to see players develop power as they age, but you want that to come authentically, not due to a change in his approach at the plate. His strikeout rate has spiked dramatically, as has his contact rate. Unless he manages to temper that, this isn’t a serious prospect we need to worry about going forward.
Pitchers
Asher Wojciechowski – RH Starter – 23 Years Old
A+ Yearly Line – 93 IP, 7-3 W-L, 3.57 ERA, 1.211 WHIP, 7.3 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 0.3 HR/9
July 11th – Win, 7 IP, 0 Runs, 2 Hits, 5 Ks, 2 BBs, 0 HRs
Wojciechowski has rehabbed his status as a prospect with a repeat season in the Florida State League. The main way he’s done this is by dramatically decreasing his HR rate down from over 1.0/9 IP down to under .3/9. Without knowing batted ball statistics, I cant tell if this is something that he’s changed to keep the ball on the ground more, or if its just a fluky decrease in HR/FB rate.
That being said his start this week was very encouraging. Just 4 base runners over 7 innings sure looks promising.
Danny Barnes – RH Reliever- 22 Years Old
A+ Yearly Line – 36.1 IP, 1-2 W-L, 22 Saves, 1.98 ERA, 1.294 WHIP, 10.7 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 0.7 HR/9
July 14th – 1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 Ks, 0 BBs
I’m not going to lie, I dont know a lot about Danny Barnes, but his numbers are kind of jumping off the page, and at least might be a guy to keep an eye on. He’s still pretty young, and his success last year in Lansing is being repeated this year in Dunedin. Only 1 appearance this week, but another clean inning. Considering he was a 36th round pick out of the Ivy League, I think he’s already exceeded expectations, so who knows where he goes from here.
I'll be back tomorrow to take a look at the Lansing Lugnuts, & Vancouver Canadians. See you then.
