Jay Blue: This year's Canadians Biggio, Murphy, Smith, Williams
RHP Patrick Murphy earned pitcher of the year honors with the Vancouver Canadians. Photos: Jay Blue.
Vancouver Canadians 2016 Report, Part 1: Blue Jays from Away Awards
By Jay Blue
Blue Jays from Away
Next up in the Blue Jays’ organization are the Vancouver Canadians, a club which has struggled over the past two years after winning the Northwest League title from 2012-2014.
The Vancouver Canadians, the only minor league team still in Canada, had a 29-45 record and, despite the contributions of several newly drafted prospects, finished second last in the league with 4.12 runs scored per game (0.7 runs below league average) by an offense that was 0.1 years younger than league average (at 20.9 years old). The pitching was only slightly better giving up 5.16 runs per game, third last in the league, at an average age of 21.2 years (also 0.1 years younger than the league).
Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game Champion
For those of you who followed the minor league reports here, you’ll know that I “awarded” Player of the Game (PotG) accolades on a game-by-game basis. It should comfort you to know that I’ve been keeping track of these daily awards and my rationale for the system is as follows.
The Player of the Game Awards were determined by a number of factors that included who I thought had the most impact on the game and who might have gone “above and beyond.” Most nights, there was just one Player of the Game. If there was, he earned one point. If I thought that either a) no one stood out enough to merit a single PotG, or b) two or more players were outstanding and deserved mention, I split the point up into two, three or four shares. If two players earned PotG mention, they each received 0.5 points and if three players earned mentions, they each received 0.33 points, etc. There were occasions that I felt that no one merited the award and therefore, I did not give out any points.
Cavan Biggio 7.33
J.B. Woodman 5.67
Christian Williams 4
Rodrigo Orozco 3.67
Jacob Anderson 3.58
D.J. McKnight 3.41
Javier Hernandez 3.33
Deiferson Barreto, Joshua Palacios 3.17
Bryan Lizardo 3.08
Lance Jones, Yeltsin Gudino 2.83
Juan Tejada 2.75
Patrick Murphy 2.5
Nash Knight 2.17
Justin Maese, Geno Encina 2
Nate Abel 1.83
Dalton Rodriguez, Mike Ellenbest, Luis Sanchez, Josh Reavis 1
Andy Ravel 0.67
Mattingly Romanin, Grayson Huffman, Matt Smoral, T.J. Zeuch, Evan Smith, Denis Diaz 0.5
Andres Sotillo, Griffin Glaude, David Jacob 0.33
Cavan Biggio, the son of former MLB All-Star Craig Biggio and the Jays’ 2016 fifth-round draft pick and is our 2016 Player of the Game Champion for the Canadians.
Blue Jays from Away Player of the Year
While Biggio had the Player of the Game Championship clearly sewn up for the Canadians, the Player of the Year is definitely a different player. While Biggio had a solid first professional season with a .282/.383/.366 slash line, two other players selected higher than him by the Blue Jays this year were better. It’s a tough call between Joshua Palacios, who had a .909 OPS with a .355/.437/.473 slash line but only 126 plate appearances, and J.B. Woodman who hit .272/.375/.421 but played 54 games with 232 plate appearances. Despite the brevity of his assignment to Vancouver, Joshua Palacios’s dominance makes him the Player of the Year!
Honourable mention: J.B. Woodman, Cavan Biggio
Blue Jays from Away Pitcher of the Year
The winner of our (starting) Pitcher of the Year award is much clearer. Patrick Murphy was the club’s only starter to really have an above-average season throughout the entire season. While Justin Maese was outstanding in five starts before his promotion to Lansing, Murphy made 13 starts and logged 69 2/3 innings for the Canadians, earning himself a post-season All-Star award from the Northwest League and finally getting a full season of pitching under his belt since being drafted in 2013.
Honourable mention: Justin Maese, TJ Zeuch
Blue Jays from Away Reliever of the Year
The Reliever of the Year award was a little trickier to decide on. The club’s best reliever was only involved in nine games and the choice came down to Geno Encina and Griffin Glaude. Both had ERAs in the low twos but Encina was just a little bit better over the course of the season. With 26 2/3 innings, Encina had a 2.02 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and a 26.2% strikeout rate. While Griffin Glaude struck out batters at a slightly higher rate (27.2%), Geno Encina’s miniscule 3.7% walk rate, better WHIP and better ERA make him our Reliever of the Year.
Honourable mention: Griffin Glaude, Nick Hartman
Blue Jays from Away Most Improved Player
Absent a true “Most Improved Player” on the Vancouver Canadians, this award becomes the “Comeback Player of the Year” and goes to Patrick Murphy who, between his drafting in the third round of the 2016 draft and the start of this season, had only thrown four innings of competitive baseball. Coming back from injury after injury, Murphy had a stellar year for the Canadians.
Blue Jays from Away Best Newcomer
The Blue Jays stocked the Vancouver roster with several of their college-age draft picks from 2016, the best newcomer to the Jays’ organization for the Canadians was Joshua Palacios who posted a .909 OPS in his Age-20 season coming out of Auburn University. Palacios hit wherever he was, with 13 games in the GCL and finished with a stellar, nine-game audition for the Lansing Lugnuts.
Honourable mention: Cavan Biggio, J.B. Woodman, TJ Zeuch
RHP Denis Diaz ...
Part 2: Starting Pitchers
The Canadians had a very stable group of starting pitchers in the 2016 season with a few minor changes over the course of the season and just one set of piggybacking starters.
While he didn’t lead the club in innings pitched, Dalton Rodriguez did make the most starts, throwing 62 2/3 innings over 14 starts for the Canadians. Rodriguez struggled in his Age-19 season as he pitched at the highest level, on average 2.3 years younger than pitchers in the Northwest League. Rodriguez had a 6.18 ERA (but a 5.01 FIP) in his tenure while also having a 1.90 WHIP, a low 13.8% strikeout rate and a high 11.5% walk rate. Rodriguez, a 6-foot-1, Mexican righty, could move up to Lansing next year (after three seasons in short-season ball). While he’s not striking out a lot of batters, he’s getting a ton of ground-ball outs (2.19 ground outs per air out) and had very high .372 BABIP and would benefit from better infield defense behind him.
The 6-foot-4 righty Patrick Murphy is a physical specimen in the mold that clubs like in their starting pitchers and finally put together a healthy season, earning several accolades including the Blue Jays from Away Pitcher of the Year award for the Cs. Murphy, 21, started the season mostly working out of the bullpen in Lansing, putting together a 4.29 ERA and 1.81 WHIP in 21 innings with 20 strikeouts but 14 walks. When sent to Vancouver for the opening of the short season, he was much more dominant, posting a 2.84 ERA and 1.35 WHIP with a 16.1% strikeout rate (much lower than it was in Lansing) but a 7.7% walk rate (almost half of what it was in Lansing). Murphy was the club’s most reliable starter and has set himself up well to increase his innings load in Lansing in 2017.
Dominican righty Luis Sanchez jumped from the GCL and Appy Leagues in 2015 to the Northwest League in 2016, throwing 52 2/3 innings over 12 starts with Vancouver. At 22, Sanchez isn’t particularly young for the level and he struggled to confound batters, escaping with a 4.61 ERA (but a 5.48 FIP) and 1.67 WHIP, walking 13.2% of batters and striking out 11.2%. Sanchez may well repeat the level in 2017.
Denis Diaz, 21, split his season in 2016 between Bluefield and Vancouver, making seven starts with the Canadians after pitching well in Bluefield. In the rookie league, he had a 2.91 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 21 2/3 innings before his promotion, walking six and striking out only 12. Diaz started all seven games in which he appeared with Vancouver but struggled with his control, walking 28 batters in 28 innings and giving up 25 runs leading to a 7.71 ERA with just 14 strikeouts. Diaz probably will need to prove himself again in Vancouver next year.
At 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds, T.J. Zeuch is an imposing presence on the mound. The 21 year old was selected by the Blue Jays with their first-round pick of the 2016 draft and he had a strong beginning to his pro career, spending much of his debut season in Vancouver. Zeuch threw three hitless innings in the GCL before coming to Vancouver where he added 23 innings to resume, posting a 3.52 ERA and 1.13 WHIP, striking out 24.2% of batters while walking only 5.5%. Promoted to Lansing where he made two starts, Zeuch gave up eight runs in eight innings but walked only two and struck out 14. Look for Zeuch to start his Age-21 season in 2017 back with the Lansing Lugnuts to open the year.
I’m going to consider Mike Ellenbest and his piggyback partner as starter since they were used in an almost exclusive piggyback arrangement after their selection in the 2016 draft. Ellenbest, who turned 22 in August, threw 30 1/3 innings, starting five of his 11 games and had a 4.45 ERA (4.00 FIP) and a 1.62 WHIP. Ellenbest’s control was very good, walking only 6.6% of batters but struck out 15.3% although he did keep the ball on the ground very well, with a 1.46 GO/AO ratio. Ellenbest will likely move up to Lansing next year.
Selected in the seventh round of the 2016 draft, Ellenbest’s piggyback partner was Andy Ravel, 21. Ravel is a slim, 6-foot-2 righty but allowed a 5.12 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in his professional debut, striking out only 13.0% of batters but had good control, walking on 6.5%. Unfortunately, Ravel is a fly ball pitcher, getting just 0.57 ground outs per air out and gave up five home runs over the 31 2/3 innings he threw with Vancouver. Look for him to join Ellenbest in Lansing next year.
Evan Smith ...
Part 3: Relief Pitchers
Most of the relievers in the Vancouver Canadians’ 2016 bullpen were players who had been in the Jays’ system for at least one year previous to this one. They also generally had fairly defined roles.
Jackson McClelland, 22, led the Vancouver Canadians in appearances after getting just 5 1/3 innings in 2015 in his draft year. The 6-foot-5 righty pitched his way to a 3.26 ERA and 1.35 WHIP over 30 1/3 innings with a 19.7% strikeout rate and a 7.9% walk rate that should have him working in the Lansing bullpen to start 2017.
Our runner up in the Reliever of the Year race was Griffin Glaude, an under-sized (5-foot-9), 24-year-old righty from Arkansas. Glaude has worked his way up to Lansing in his second professional year but spent most of 2016 with Vancouver, with excellent results. He had a 2.36 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over 34 1/3 innings with an impressive 27.2% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate. In two innings in Lansing, things didn’t go very well, as he allowed five runs on seven hits with just one strikeout. Still, things should go more smoothly for Glaude in 2017 when he returns to Lansing (or possibly Dunedin) to start the season.
In his Age-20 season, lefty Evan Smith has seen some struggles as he spent most of the year back in Vancouver. Smith started the year in Lansing, making four April appearances and allowing eight runs over 5 1/3 innings before heading back to extended spring training and then Vancouver. Smith couldn’t get over his struggles back in the Northwest League (where he spent most of 2015), throwing 32 innings out of the bullpen with a 7.03 ERA and 1.78 WHIP. Still, he struck out 21.9% of batters and walked 9.3% but a .402 BABIP made it difficult for him to keep runners off the bases. Despite being in the Jays’ system since 2013, Smith has just turned 21 and will certainly get another chance to start the year in Lansing in 2017.
The Blue Jays’ ninth-round pick in this year’s draft, righty Nick Hartman, got his feet wet in professional baseball with the Vancouver Canadians, tossing 24 innings with a 3.00 ERA and 1.50 WHIP. Hartman showed good control, walking 6.5% of batters but only struck out 15.7%. Look for Hartman to move to Lansing in 2017.
The sixth-round pick of the Jays in the 2014 draft, Grayson Huffman has struggled in his professional baseball journey after a very strong debut in his draft year. In his Age-21 season with Vancouver, Huffman had a 6.35 ERA and 1.84 WHIP but his FIP of 3.91 indicates that he really wasn’t that far out of his depth. His high BABIP (.387) combined with a very good ground-out-to-air-out ratio of 1.55 means that a lot of balls were likely finding holes that might otherwise be fielded with better quality infield defense. Huffman struck out 18.4% of batters, a solid figure, while his walk rate was high at 11.8% but it was still down from the 13.0% he walked last year. All in all, 2016 was a development year for Huffman but he could take another step forward in Lansing in 2017.
Acquired as a minor league free agent towards the end of last season, Gabe Noyalis is an interesting player with a big fastball who will need more time to develop his pitching skills. In Vancouver, the 24 year old threw 26 2/3 innings with a 7.42 ERA and 1.76 WHIP, striking out 20.5% but, most problematically, walking 16.5%. Noyalis could very likely return to Vancouver next year, or even get a Lansing assignment out of extended spring training.
The Blue Jays are high on 21-year-old Zach Jackson, their third-round pick in this year’s draft. While he threw one inning in the GCL, Jackson spent the rest of the season in Vancouver, logging 17 2/3 innings with a 3.57 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Jackson was extremely difficult to hit, keeping his opponents’ batting average to .203 despite a .317 BABIP, and he struck out 30.3% of the batters he faced. That said, it’s likely that Jackson will need to refine some of his mechanics as he walked 15.8% of the batters he faced, double the number you’d like to see. Jackson will likely start the 2017 season in Lansing but word is that, if he finds his command, he could move quickly.
Stuart Holmes, 23, split his 2016 season between the same two teams that he played for in 2015, Bluefield and Vancouver. Holmes started his year with Vancouver after a strong 2015 season but struggled with a 9.60 ERA and 2.33 WHIP over 15 innings, striking out 10 and walking nine. Sent to Bluefield at the beginning of August, Holmes improved his numbers,posting a 0.79 WHIP, a 1.93 ERA with a 23.5% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate. Holmes could be back in Vancouver in 2017.
Lefty Nate Abel spent time at three levels for the Blue Jays’ organization in 2016 and the 23 year old was good at each of them. His first stop was a May assignment to Dunedin where he threw 2 1/3 innings, allowing one hit and striking out four before heading back to extended spring training. Abel came out of Florida in early June, joining the Lansing Lugnuts in Dayton and pitching with them until July 9. While with the Lugnuts, Abel had a 3.31 ERA and 1.59 WHIP in 16 1/3 innings, walking 11.3% of batters and striking out 16.9%. Sent down to Vancouver, he excelled, improving those rate stats to a 24.5% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate while having a 1.44 WHIP and 3.66 ERA. Look for Abel to spend more time in Lansing next year.
Enigmatic lefty Matt Smoral had another year of struggles to add to his resume and only threw 13 innings with the Canadians at the age of 22. In those innings, he allowed 19 runs on 15 hits and 16 walks with 18 strikeouts. All in all, it was a disappointing year for a pitcher who has flashed so much potential but hasn’t been able to capitalize. There are big question marks surrounding what might happen with Smoral in 2017.
Our Reliever of the Year comes all the way down here, mainly because he only made 10 appearances in Vancouver but still logged 26 2/5 innings. 6-foot-4 Geno Encina pitched for Vancouver, Lansing and Dunedin in his Age 21 season (he’s 22 now). Encina made his season debut with the Dunedin Blue Jays on July 9 and gave up two runs (one earned) on a home run, a walk, and three hits in three innings with just one strikeout. Moving to Vancouver, Encina was far more effective. After allowing three runs in his Canadians’ debut, Encina allowed just three more runs the rest of the season, finishing with a 2.02 ERA and 1.01 WHIP with Vancouver, striking out 26.2% and walking just 3.7%. He was rewarded for his efforts with a promotion to Lansing where he threw 3 1/3 more scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing just two hits and a walk. After Encina’s excellent year, he’s likely to start 2016 in Lansing.
The Blue Jays signed 6-foot-6 lefty Taylor Durand as a non-drafted free agent out of Western Carolina University and he got into only one game on September 1, giving up two walks and a hit, with a wild pitch, leading to three unearned runs. He could be back in Vancouver for next season.
Christian Williams ...
Part 4: Hitters
Now for the fourth and final part of our report on the Canadians wherein we look at the hitters and how they each did. Remember that to be included here, a player had to get more of his plate appearances with the Canadians than he did with any other team in the Blue Jays’ system. The Canadians had a very stable roster of players who got most of the playing time.
Catchers
A favourite of the Canadians’ fans, Javier Hernandez was the starting catcher for Vancouver in 2016. The 20 year old jumped up to Vancouver (from the GCL) and wasn’t particularly convincing with the bat, hitting .215/.291/.313 in 182 plate appearances. Hernandez had a solid walk rate of 8.2% but struck out 28.6% of the time. Defensively, Hernandez was solid, throwing out 33% of potential base stealers while letting seven passed balls go by. Still 10 errors on the season is quite a high number for the Venezuelan receiver. Look for him as a backup in Lansing next year.
At 22, the primary back up to Hernandez was Andres Sotillo, another Venezuelan catcher. Sotillo made his debut with the Blue Jays in the DSL in 2012 and has been slowly moving up through the ranks despite not making it out of short-season ball yet. Sotillo hasn’t really shown that he can hit with any authority, posting a .200/.274/.263 slash line with three doubles and a home run in 106 plate appearances, striking out in 17.9% of his trips to the plate and walking in 5.7%. He threw out 35% of potential base stealers from behind the plate and made three errors with four passed balls in 21 games. Sotillo is another player who will likely be a backup catcher wherever he goes next year.
Last year’s 38th-round pick, Josh Reavis, 25, also spent time in Vancouver, showing off his good eye at the plate by walking in 16.9% of his plate appearances but really didn’t contribute too much beyond that. Reavis hit .161/.310/.250 in 71 plate appearances after hitting far better in less time with the Canadians last year. Reavis threw out 41% of potential base stealers in 13 games, though. Reavis could move up a little faster and farther than the other two catchers on the Canadians, mainly due to his age.
Brett Wellman, 24, just got into one game defensively (for two innings), and came to the plate just nine times all season, walking three times, striking out three times and going 1/6 with a run.
Christian Williams, who just turned 22 in September, was the club’s everyday first baseman. While I was very impressed with Williams’s ability to make hard contact when I saw him in spring training, it didn’t manifest itself as much in his move to the Northwest league. Williams did tie for the club lead in home runs (four) but hit .236/.341/.340 in 249 plate appearances. Still, his 12.4% walk rate was very good and his 22.1% strikeout rate not bad. Williams will almost surely move up to Lansing in 2017 and try to improve on a decent but not great season in 2016.
Second baseman Cavan Biggio, the Jays’ fifth-round pick in 2016 and the son of Craig Biggio, earned raves for his performance, winning team awards and was named to the Northwest League All-Star team. Biggio hit .282/.382/.366 over 238 plate appearances, with 11 doubles and three triples, stealing nine bases in 12 attempts. Biggio struck out only 11.8% of the time while walking in 12.2% of plate appearances before he was promoted to Lansing where he faltered ab it, hitting .222/.310/.250 in nine games. Biggio will start 2017 in Lansing at the age of 22.
Playing third base everyday was the 19-year-old Dominican Bryan Lizardo (who actually only turned 19 in late July). Lizardo has struggled with the bat but started to show much more power this season than he did last year in the GCL while seeing a reduction in strikeouts (always encouraging). Lizardo hit just .220/.284/.333 with his ISO doubling to .114 over last season. Lizardo hit 15 doubles, two triples and three home runs and walking in 7.5% of plate appearances, striking out in 26.5% (still high, but Lizardo is still very young for his level of play). Lizardo should move to Lansing next year, starting the season at the age of 19.
Another 19 year old, Venezuelan shortstop Yeltsin Gudino played shortstop most of the time for the Canadians. While Lizardo started to show some power, Gudino lost some of his ability to hit the ball despite an excellent walk rate. Gudino hit .226/.338/.258 with four doubles and a triple, while striking out in 19.2% of his 224 plate appearances and walking in 12.9%. Gudino made 22 errors at shortstop, fairly high for a short-season league but not uncommon with young shortstops. He could stay back in the Northwest League for another season but could also move up to Lansing next year to make room for Jesus Severino in Vancouver.
Deiferson Barreto, 21, was the principal utility infielder for the Canadians, getting into 46 games and coming to the plate 189 times, playing mostly second base and shortstop but also adding seven games at third base, two at first base and one in left field. While Barreto has hit extremely well in his previous seasons with the Blue Jays, he struggled in 2016, hitting .215/.259/.333 with 11 doubles, two triples and two home runs. While he didn’t strike out a ton, Barreto’s strikeout rate rose to 15.9% and his walk rate sank a bit to 4.8%. Barreto could repeat the year in Vancouver or move up to Lansing and continue in his role as a utility player.
Gabe Clark played 10 games for the Canadians, hitting just .132/.233/.237 before he was released in mid-July.
Mattingly Romanin, 23, played in just 12 games with the Canadians, hitting .229/.426/.343 with a double and his first professional home run while walking in 21.3% of his plate appearances and striking out in only 14.9%. He was invited to instructional league.
Outfielders
Left field belonged to 21-year-old Panamanian Rodrigo Orozco who won the Webster Award for the Bluefield Blue Jays last year. This season, Orozco saw a significant drop in his BABIP (by over 60 points) and thus, had a corresponding drop in his batting numbers after his excellent 2015 season. This year, Orozco hit .241/.348/.289, losing a ton of power despite maintaining his excellent strikeout rate (13.0%) and raising his walk rate to 13.5%. Orozco might move up to Lansing but a repeat of the level in Vancouver could also be in the cards.
Second-round draft pick in 2016 J.B. Woodman patrolled center field in 38 games for the Canadians. Woodman had a strong professional debut, hitting .272/.375/.421 in 54 games for Vancouver, hitting 18 doubles, a triple and three home runs while adding 10 stolen bases. Promoted at the end of the season to Lansing, he continued to crush the ball, hitting .441/.487/.588 in 39 plate appearances. A red flag to keep an eye on for Woodman is his strikeout rate which was sky high in Vancouver at 31.0% and went up in Lansing (33.3%). His walk rate, however, is excellent at 12.9% in Vancouver. Woodman will man center field in Lansing in 2017.
Right field, unlike center and left, was a little more democratically manned. D.J. McKnight led the club in games in right but still only had 145 plate appearances, hitting .228/.310/.409. Despite the good power numbers (seven doubles, five triples, two home runs and a .181 ISO), McKnight also struck out 40.0% of the time, an unacceptable figure going forward. He did walk in a very strong 9.7% of his plate appearances. McKnight, 22, could move up to Lansing but I think the Blue Jays might want to see him cut down on his strikeouts before facing better pitching in full-season ball.
We were all pulling for Jacob Anderson, who finally saw significant playing time for the first time since 2012. Now 23, Anderson started the year in Lansing, playing 27 games and hitting .146/.196/.240 with a 33.3% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate before the short season opened and he was reassigned to Vancouver. There, Anderson improved, hitting .226/.292/.316, dropping his strikeout rate to 17.2% and raising his walk rate to 7.2%, hitting eight doubles and three home runs in 209 plate appearances. Anderson will be back in Lansing to give it another go. Hopefully, getting over 300 plate appearances under his belt in 2016 will help him catch up lost time due to his injuries.
The fourth-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2016, Joshua Palacios opened some eyes this season. Palacios, now 21, started off his season with some pretty pedestrial numbers in the Gulf Coast League, hitting .265/.321/.327 in 13 games. Once he went to Vancouver, however, he started hitting and didn’t stop. In 28 games with Vancouver, Palacios hit .355/.437/.473 with seven doubles, three triples and four stolen bases, walking in 11.1% of his plate appearances and striking out in only 13.5%. Then, after he was promoted to Lansing, he hit .342/.375/.421 with three doubles in just 40 plate appearances. Palacios will be in Lansing in 2017, looking to move up the ladder again after playing at three levels in 2016.
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