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Minor League Report: All four 'A' affiliates are on road trips this week

Originally posted on Bluejaysnation  |  By Ryley Delaney  |  Last updated Jun 4, 2024 4:00 PM ET

It’s Tuesday, so that means we’ll be looking at the upcoming series for the “A” level affiliates.

Moreover, the Dominican Summer League started on Monday, but the DSL Jays team was rained out, meaning their season started Tuesday. We’ll also look at the Florida Complex League Blue Jays’ win on Monday.

Let’s dive into the latest edition of the Minor League Report!

FCL Jays walk-off the FCL Tigers

The Florida Complex League Blue Jays scored five runs in the third inning, along with a run in the bottom of the fourth, before the FCL Tigers tied it in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the ninth, the FCL Jays walked it off, winning 7-6.

Maykel Minoso and Arjun Nimmala  had the only extra-base hits of the game, as both had a double. On top of that, Minoso, Enmanuel Bonilla, and Robert Robertis had multi-hit games. Other players with a hit were Adrian Meza, Yeuni Munoz, Kekai Rios, Kendry Chirinos, and Carlos Vasquez, while Sam Shaw walked thrice.

Ryan Watson made his affiliated debut, finishing with a line of 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K with a home run given up. Luis Torres gave up two unearned runs in two innings pitched while striking out three and walking a batter. Raudy Gomez also gave up an unearned run in three innings pitched, striking out two and walking a batter. Lluveres Severino got the win, walking a batter in his two innings of work.

Buffalo heads to Lehigh Valley

The Buffalo Bisons will play a six-game set against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, who are 23-32 for the season. Buffalo’s chances of winning the first half are all but gone, as they are 10 games back of the league leaders with a 30-27 record. Still, a lot of their players have a lot to play for, namely to make the Jays’ squad.

One such player who should be called up is Spencer Horwitz, who is slashing .322/.451/.500 in 246 plate appearances with the Bisons this season. Like last season, he has a higher BB% (16.7%) than K% (15.4%) and has also hit four home runs, two in his last two games. He also leads the International League with 20 doubles.

Addison Barger had a tough 2023 after a breakout 2022 season, but he’s returned to form in 2024. With the Bisons, he’s slashing .269/.401/.510 with seven homers in 178 plate appearances for a 138 wRC+.

Orelvis Martinez played well at the start of the season, but it’s been a tough go of things since April 26, as he’s slashing .183/.283/.367 with six homers in 128 plate appearances for a 67 wRC+. Still, his 13 homers lead the organization.

New Hampshire takes on Erie

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (23-28) take on the Erie SeaWolves (28-21). New Hampshire is the fifth-worst team in the Northeast division, but is just five games behind Portland. Erie are one game back of the Akron RubberDucks, who the Fisher Cats played in their last series.

Devonte Brown has been New Hampshire’s best hitter this season, which begs the question once again, how was he undrafted? This season, the 24-year-old outfielder is slashing .282/.381/.423 with four homers in 181 plate appearances. The K% of 37.6% is certainly worrisome, but a 12.2 BB% is nice, and his 132 wRC+ leads the teams.

Josh Kasevich was acquired in the draft Brown wasn’t selected in, and for the first time in his three professional seasons, he’s looking like a second-rounder. The shortstop is slashing .311/.364/.389 with a home run in 206 plate appearances for a 116 wRC+.

Alan Roden may not be hitting for average this season, as he’s slashing just .263/.373/.433 compared to .310/.421/.460 the season prior. However, he has six homers in 204 plate appearances, a similar sample size to his tenure last season.

Left-handed pitcher Trenton Wallace has been the best starter for the Fisher Cats, as he has a 2.53 ERA and a 4.18 FIP in 42.2 innings pitched. Their bullpen has been good as well, as Jimmy Burnette (1.89 ERA, 2.72 FIP), Eric Padinho (1.31 ERA, 2.34 FIP), Adrián Hernández (2.57 ERA, 4.62 FIP) and Ryan Boyer (2.81 ERA, 4.28 FIP) have been lights out.

Vancouver is in Everett

The Vancouver Canadians will head to Everett to face the AquaSox. So far this season, the Canadians have a 23-23 record, whereas the AquaSox have a 23-27 record. Vancouver is just 3.5 games back of the lead in the Northwest League.

Dasan Brown has had a great bounce back season, as he’s slashing .270/.373/.421 with five homers in 177 plate appearances for a 134 wRC+. The K% is down, the BB% is up, and he’s just two homers away from matching his career-high seven he had in 463 plate appearances last season.

Aside from Brown, the Canadians offence is carried by 2023 draftees. Brennan Orf is slashing .219/.348/.438 with three homers in 89 plate appearances for a 128 wRC+. Nick Goodwin is slashing .226/.350/.421 with five homers in 160 plate appearances for a 126 wRC+, while Jace Bohrofen is slashing .239/.381/.358 with two homers in 169 plate appearances for a 123 wRC+.

Ryan Jennings has been their best starter this season, rocking a a 2.23 ERA and a 3.67 FIP in 36.1 innings pitched, along with a 23.4 K% and a 9.7 BB%. Chris McElvain has a 2.87 ERA and a 4.11 FIP in 37.2 innings pitched. 

Their bullpen is led by Anders Tolhurst, who has a 1.83 ERa and a 1.67 FIP in 19.2 innings pitched, along with a 31.6 K% and a 3.8 BB%. Justin Kelly was great in the pen, but was called up to Double-A recently, expect the same for Tolhurst. Rafael Ohashi has a 2.75 ERA and a 3.55 FIP in 19.2 innings pitched, while long-man Grayson Thurman has a 3 ERA and a 4.36 FIP in 24 innings pitched.

Palm Beach hosts Dunedin

The Dunedin Blue Jays will head to Palm Beach to face off against the Cardinals and former D-Jays catcher, Sammy Hernandez. He was the player involved in the Génesis Cabrera trade, and is slashing .312/.421/.391 with nine doubles in 164 plate appearances this season for a 143 wRC+.

Minor League Rule 5 draftee Alexis Hernandez leads the team this season with a 124 wRC+ as he’s slashing .236/.362/.396 with four home runs. Victor Arias has a .253/.370/.377 slash line and has a 122 wRC+, and that’s about it for qualified hitters with a wRC+ above 100, as Yhoangel Aponte, Manuel Beltre, Jean Joseph, and Edward Duran all have wRC+ around the 100-105 range.

Cristian Feliz has a 98 wRC+, but his nine home runs are the second-most in the organization. He’s slashing .180/.283/.407 with an insanely high 43.4 K% in 173 plate appearances. The power is there, I’m not sure the first baseman has the hitting tools for the next level though.

Nolan Perry has been the D-Jays best starter, posting a 0.68 ERA and a 3.45 FIP in 13.1 innings pitched, along with a 30.5 K% and a 16.9 BB%. Fellow 2022 draftee Gage Stanifer has a 4.35 ERA and FIP in 20.2 innings pitched, but has been lights out over his last four starts. Juanmi Vasquez is pitching in a bulk-inning role, and has a 0.73 ERA and a 4.24 FIP in 12.1 innings pitched.

The D-Jays have 10 pitchers with 10 innings or more pitched with a sub 4 ERA, they include Perry, Vasquez, Landen Maroudis (who won’t pitch again this season), J.J. Sanchez, Keiner Leon, Aaron Munson, Connor O’Halloran (who pitches for Vancouver now), Carson Pierce, Juaron Watts-Brown, and Fernando Pérez.

Rookie league notes

As I was writing this article, the Dominican Summer League kicked off, with the DSL Jays playing the DSL Cardinals. We’ll look at how that game went in tomorrow’s edition of the Minor League Report!

me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.

This article first appeared on Bluejaysnation and was syndicated with permission.

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