Blue Jays prospects Zeuch, Case impress in Fall ball

Right-hander T.J. Zeuch has been dominant in Arizona Fall League action, allowing only one run in 14 innings in four games. Photo Credit: Jay Blue

By Jay Blue

Blue Jays from Away

And we're back with another update on how our Blue Jays' minor leaguers are doing in their winter and fall league action!

Arizona Fall League

The AFL is one of the more prestigious fall leagues that brings together a number of baseball's top prospects in competition against each other in the beautiful confines of Arizona. This year, the Blue Jays are associated with the Peoria Javelinas and the club sent seven players and all have gotten into action so far.

Jonathan Davis is up to 13 games this fall, hitting .260/.351/.320, showing his ability to get on base with six walks (and nine strikeouts) while stealing three bases and hitting three doubles.

Lourdes Gurriel is surging, bringing his line up to .276/.288/.483 over 15 games. Of course, the biggest concern is that he's not walking (at all) and has struck out seven times in 58 at bats (a very good ratio). Gurriel has six doubles and two home runs, showing some power.

Max Pentecost hasn't done much since our last update, sliding to a .216/.293/.324 line with a double and a home run with four walks and 15 strikeouts in 10 games.

Righty Andrew Case has yet to give up a run but only threw one inning in the past week. He has tossed seven innings and has allowed just four hits and no walks with four strikeouts.

Jackson McClelland gave up another two runs, giving up six in total over six innings, walking two and striking out four for a 9.00 ERA.

Danny Young keeps struggling, giving up another five runs and now has allowed 11 runs (10 earned) over five innings with 14 hits against him and three walks.

T.J. Zeuch continues to roll, allowing only one run over 14 innings in four games, giving up just seven hits and four walks with 11 strikeouts.

LIDOM (Dominican Winter League)

The Dominican Winter League is a legendary league that has hosted many Blue Jays stars over the years. This year, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got to make his debut while various other players in the organization joined a number of teams.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is struggling a bit in the Dominican, sliding to a .255/.345/.353 slash line, hitting just a double and two triples in 51 at bats while adding to his strikeout total this past week. He's now struck out six times with six walks and two stolen bases.

Teoscar Hernandez has rebounded somewhat, hitting .250/.327/.386 in 11 games. He's got a double, a triple and a home run, with five walks and nine strikeouts.

Jason Leblebijian hasn't played since our last update and is hitting .143/.200/.143 with two singles in 14 at bats. Usually when a player doesn't play for a while in the winter leagues, he's suffered an injury and has gone home. I'm not sure what the case is for Leblebijian.

While he hasn't hit for much power in the Dominican, Reese McGuire took a couple of walks this week, improving his line to .250/.323/.250 with seven singles in 28 at bats. He's still struck out 11 times (which is too much for 28 at bats) but seems to be finding a groove.

Richard Urena only had two at bats this week, and is hitting .172/.250/.207 with five hits (including one double) in 29 at bats).

Lefty Jose Fernandez allowed a run this week and has given up one run in five innings on just two hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Luis Santos, added a scoreless inning to his resume this winter, giving up a run on two hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings with four strikeouts.

Chris Smith had a good week, adding two scoreless innings to his total (now up to five), with five strikeouts and two walks overall.

LVBP (Venezuelan Winter League)

Like the Dominican Winter League, the Venezuelan league has a long history although it will likely not be the place many American players go to get winter reps in due to complicated security issues there.

Yeltsin Gudino saw some action, going 1/2 with a walk and a strikeout in just one game so far.

Gregorio Petit was 0/1 with a run in his only game.

Jose Tabata finally saw some action, going 0/2 in his one game so far but has a .333 OBP and two strikeouts.

Adonys Cardona has a 4.05 ERA, down from last week, over 6 2/3 innings, giving up eight hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

Nicolas Medina, 17, continues to be used sparingly, racking up only four innings in eight outings. he's given up just one hit and one walk with two strikeouts.

Kender Villegas brought his ERA down to 8.31 over 8 2/3 innings, with 13 hits and three walks, striking out three.

LMP (Mexican Winter League

Norberto Obeso played in one more game and is 1/7 for a .143/.143/.143 slash line.

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The 2017 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook is now available! Check out the Handbook page for more information!