April 25, 2019

By Jay Blue

Blue Jays from Away

As we near the end of April, we're going to take a look at who's hot and who's not and look at some of the performances that pop out when we look at small sample sizes. In this edition, we look at the double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

Who's Hot

Santiago Espinal - Espinal is starting off the season well, leading most players on the club with a .792 OPS (Gunnar Heidt has a 1.117 OPS but he's just played four games for the Fisher Cats). He's also hit six doubles and a home run through 66 at bats and has just 12 strikeouts with a .303/.352/.439 slash line.

Ryan Hissey - While he's the back up catcher, he's been swinging a hot bat with a double and a home run to go with a .290/.371/.419 slash line.

Alberto Mineo - Mineo's bat has been torrid to start the season but he's cooled off since his hitting streak ended. He's still hitting .305/.344/.373 but the lack of power and lack of walks will bring down his overall OPS numbers.

Kirby Snead - Snead is leading the club with a tiny 0.27 WHIP in 7 1/3 innings. He's got four saves and has allowed two unearned runs on just two hits with nine strikeouts.

Yennsy Diaz - Diaz is having a strong start to his career in double-A. He's been notoriously hard to hit for a couple of seasons now and his 0.85 WHIP is pretty stellar. He's given up six earned runs in 17 2/3 innings but he's also allowed four home runs.

Ty Tice - Tice has 15 strikeouts and just three walks in 10 innings and while he's given up six runs, just there of them have been earned.

Bryan Baker - Baker has given up just two hits in seven innings and hasn't allowed a run but he's walked seven batters, so that's a red flag to watch out for.

Jackson McClelland - Similarly, McClelland has 14 strikeouts in just 10 1/3 innings but has walked six and given up two home runs, so while the overall numbers are solid, there are a couple of red flags (the walks and home runs) to keep an eye on.

Tayler Saucedo - Saucedo has a miniscule 0.66 ERA thanks to the fact that he's given up just one run on the year in 13 2/3 innings. Saucedo is walking too many batters (nine) but he's managed to avoid major damage so far.

Who's Not

Brock Lundquist - Lundquist may be turning a corner with both of his extra-base hits coming in recent days but right now, hoe's hitting just .170/.254/.245 in 53 at bats.

Kacy Clemens - Likewise, Clemens hasn't hit much so far this year, posting a .553 OPS in 15 games with just two extra-base hits (both doubles). That said, he's walking more than Lundquist and striking out less.

Kevin Smith - With an OPS just over .600 (.601), Smith is struggling in his first exposure to double-A and is tied in second place on the team for strikeouts with 20 (tied with Chad Spanberger), but the worst part is that he's walked only three times.

Hector Perez - Perez has an awful 8.78 ERA and 2.55 WHIP, walking nine in 13 1/3 innings despite striking out 21. Like so many other young pitchers, it's clear that there's solid stuff but he's struggling to throw quality strikes.

If you like us here, like us on Facebook!

The 2019 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook is available now! Visit the Handbook page for more information!