Jays prospects Guerrero and Case impress in fall/winter league action
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 has played in eight games, hitting .258/.395/.290 with six walks to go with seven strikeouts. He also has a double and three stolen bases.
Lourdes Gurriel has struggled a bit, hitting .237/.237/.500 with four doubles and two home runs in 38 at bats. The troubling thing about his stat line is that he hasn't taken a walk.
Max Pentecost is heating up in the AFL, boosting his line to .250/.309/.417, hitting a double and home run yesterday, going 4/6 with three RBI.
Righty Andrew Case been lights out with no runs on four hits and no walks in six innings with four strikeouts.
Jackson McClelland has gotten into three games, allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks in five innings with four strikeouts.
Danny Young hasn't allowed a run since our last update and has allowed six runs in 3 2/3 innings with a walk and two strikeouts.
T.J. Zeuch has made the most of his AFL appearances, adding another scoreless outing, giving up just three hits over eight total innings (five in his last appearance), striking out eight and not walking anyone (although he did hit one batter).
LIDOM (Dominican Winter League)
The Dominican Winter League is a legendary league that has hosted many Blue Jays stars over the years. This year, Vlad got to make his debut while various other players in the organization joined a number of teams.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is heating up, hitting .273/.368/.424 with four walks and just two strikeouts. He's also got a double and two triples in 3 at bats.
Teoscar Hernandez has slipped a bit, with a .231/.259/.346 line that includes a double and a triple over 26 at bats.
Jason Leblebijian has played in three games since our last update and is hitting .143/.200/.143 with two singles in 14 at bats.
Reese McGuire has now played in seven games, hitting .227/.261/.227 with five singles and 11 strikeouts in 22 at bats with only one walk.
Richard Urena is also struggling to a .185/.267/.222 slash line with a double in 27 at bats.
Lefty Jose Fernandez hasn't allowed a run in 3 2/3 innings, striking out three and walking one, without giving up a hit.
Luis Santos, has a 1.93 ERA over 4 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit and one walk with three strikeouts.
Chris Smith has seen action three times and hasn't allowed a run in three innings, giving up four hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
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.
Adonys Cardona has now given up three runs on six hits and a walk (and a hit batter) in 5 2/3 innings, bringing his ERA down to 4.76.
Nicolas Medina, 17, is being used in short outings, tossing 2 2/3 innings over five appearances with just one hit and one walk allowed, striking out two.
Kender Villegas has added just 1/3 of an inning to his line since our last update and he's got a 9.64 ERA through 4 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
LMP (Mexican Winter League)
Norberto Obeso started his winter league action by going 1-for-6 in three games, striking out twice.
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The 2017 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook is now available! Check out the Handbook page for more information!