Jay Blue: Blue Jays minor league round-up - May 4

Toronto Blue Jays prized pitching prospect Nate Pearson started on Opening Day for the triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Tuesday. Photo: Jay Blue

May 4, 2021

By Jay Blue

Blue Jays from Away

Holy crap, it's been a while since I've done one of these!

It's been a weird 20 months since the last time I've written a minor league report and the minor leagues have undergone a massive reshaping, but it's great to be back!

Buffalo Bisons 6, Worcester Red Sox 1

The Buffalo Bisons got out to an early lead, and the pitching staff dominated the Red Sox as the Herd won their first game of the season playing out of the Trenton Thunder Ballpark 6-1.

Who was on the mound? None other than Nate Pearson, who would have been in Toronto had an groin injury not caused him to be held back from the Jays' Opening Day roster. Pearson showed why he belongs in the big leagues, working on some mechanical adjustments to ease the strain on his body and struck out eight Red Sox hitters in 3 2/3 innings, walking only one while giving up a run on four hits. He was followed by Tayler Saucedo who threw 2 1/3 scoreless, stranding the bases loaded, giving up two hits while striking out two. Kirby Snead had a scoreless inning, walking one while Jeremy Beasley, in his Blue Jays' organization debut, struck out one and walked one in one inning. Bryan Baker finished it, striking out one in the ninth.

Forrest Wall led the offence, going 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBI and two runs in the leadoff spot while Breyvic Valera also had a pair of hits including a double, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run. Josh Palacios was 2-for-3, driving in two with a walk but was caught stealing while, at the bottom of the order, Juan Graterol (2-for-3, R) and Logan Warmoth (2-for-3, 2B, R) each had two hits. Tyler White was 1-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run while Cullen Large (1-for-4) also hit a double.

W: Tayler Saucedo (1-0)

Player of the Game: Nate Pearson and Forrest Wall

Roster Notes: Joey Murray was placed on the 7-day injured list while Tayler Saucedo, Connor Overton, Richard Urena and Nash Knight were added to the Bisons' roster from the Alternate Training Site.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 11, Portland Sea Dogs (BOS) 2

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are being considered one of the most stacked minor league rosters going into 2021 with several Top-100 prospects on the club. They delivered on their hype, beating up on the Portland Sea Dogs by an 11-2 score in the opener.

2020 first-round pick Austin Martin took the first professional pitch he saw to the outfield for a single and he followed that up with another one, going 2-for-4 with a walk in his public professional debut. Gabriel Moreno, however, had the most hits, going 3-for-5 with a double, a walk, two RBI and three runs for the Fisher Cats while Otto Lopez (Montreal, Que.) had a pair of hits, going 2-for-6 with an RBI and a run. Chavez Young was 2-for-4 with two walks, two singles, three RBI, a run and a stolen base and Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, Ont.) was 2-for-6 with an RBI but also struck out four times. Kevin Vicuna was 2-for-6 with a double, two RBI and a run. Jordan Groshans walked twice, scored twice and had a single while Samad Taylor hit a double, going 1-for-5 with a run. Brock Lundquist hit the lone home run, going 1-for-4 with a walk.

Starting on the mound was lefty Zach Logue, in his second go-round at double-A. He was dominant, allowing just four hits and a walk in five innings, earning the win and striking out five. He was followed by Brody Rodning who threw two scoreless innings, allowing a hit and a walk with one strikeout. Fitz Stadler struck out two in his inning of work, but gave up two runs on two hits with a walk. Emerson Jimenez finished it, striking out one in the ninth.

W: Zach Logue (1-0)

HR: Brock Lundquist (1)

Player of the Game: Zach Logue and Gabriel Moreno

Vancouver Canadians 0, Tri-City Dust Devils (LAA) 4

In their debut at the class-A Advanced level, the Vancouver Canadians were shut out by the Tri-City Dust Devils, losing 4-0 to the Angels' affiliate.

The C's had their best on the mound with Adam Kloffenstein leading the way through 3 2/3 scoreless innings, though he did walk four and give up three hits with three strikeouts. Luke Gillingham allowed two unearned runs on a hit and two walks, striking out four in 1 1/3 innings while Andrew McInvale allowed two more runs on two hits (including a home run) and a walk with three strikeouts. Sam Ryan finished it, walking one in the eighth.

Catcher Philip Clark had the best game of the bunch, going 1-for-1 with a single and three walks. Tanner Morris (1-for-3, BB), D.J. Neal (1-for-4) and LJ Talley (1-for-3) also added singles. Spencer Horwitz walked twice and committed an error at first base while Ronny Brito also had a throwing error at third base.

L: Luke Gillingham (0-1)

Player of the Game: Phil Clarke

Dunedin Blue Jays 7, Tampa Tarpons (NYY) 11

While the Vancouver Canadians played a tight, low-scoring game, the Dunedin Blue Jays got into a slugfest with the Tampa Tarpons, falling 11-7 after tying things up in the top of the 6th.

One of my favourite guys from seeing Bluefield play in 2019 was Justin Ammons who batted leadoff for the D-Jays and went 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and a run (although he did strike out three times). Also going deep was Addison Barger who was 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and a run. Aside from those two players, the Jays had just two hits with Miguel Hiraldo going 1-for-5 with a stolen base and Mack Mueller going 1-for-4 with a walk, a double, an RBI and a run. Mueller was also picked off and caught stealing. Catcher Zach Britton was 0-for-2 but walked three times and scored once. Jhon Solarte was also 0-for-1 with three walks and a run. Top prospect Orelvis Martinez was 0-for-4 with a walk.

It wasn't pretty on the mound as the Blue Jays walked 12 batters, striking out only nine. Adrian Hernandez started, going 2 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits (one HR) and three walks with four strikeouts. Grant Townsend followed stranding two runners but giving up two runs of his own on two hits (one HR) and three walks. Juan DePaula took the loss, giving up five runs on three hits (one HR) and two walks with two strikeouts over 1 1/3 innings. Brandon Eisert allowed two inherited runners to score and gave up an unearned run on a hit and a walk with a strikeout while Alejandro Melean allowed a run on a hit and three walks with two strikeouts in two innings.

L: Juan De Paula (0-1)

HR: Addison Barger (1), Justin Ammons (1)

Player of the Game: Addison Barger

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