Blue Jays Minor League Report: Alek Manoah struggles in the Florida Complex League, Enmanuel Bonilla has a nine-game hit streak, and more!
5 months ago
Today’s Minor League Report is going to be a little bit shorter, as there were only three scheduled affiliate games on Tuesday.
Only the High-A Vancouver Canadians, FCL Blue Jays, and DSL Blue Jays played, so we’ll start in Vancouver.
High-A:
The Vancouver Canadians defeated Spokane 2-1, bringing their overall record to 40-29. Moreover, their second-half record is now 2-2, and they gave Spokane their first second-half loss.
Every player except for Garret Spain had a walk, but he was one of only two players to walk on Tuesday night.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Michael Dominguez
The 22-year-old right-handed pitcher continued to pitch well as of late, finishing with a line of 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.
In the month of June, Dominguez has a 0.46 ERA and a 4.08 FIP, along with a 21.1 K% and a 14.5 BB%. Over his last six starts dating back to May 23rd, he has a 1.26 ERA and a 3.91 FIP in 28.2 innings pitched, along with a 21.7 K% and a 13.9 BB%.
Prior to this hot stretch, he had a 9.16 ERA and a 7.52 FIP, along with a 32.1 K% and a 21.4 BB% in 18.2 innings pitched, so it seems apparent to me that his approach has changed a bit.
Overall, he has a 4.37 ERA and a 5.34 FIP in 47.1 innings pitched, along with a 26.1 K% and a 17.1 BB%. While he’ll need to drop the walk rate down, there’s definitely something here with Dominguez.
Players worth mentioning:
Alan Roden was nearly the first three-peat Player of the Game. The 23-year-old outfielder had his third straight multi-hit game, going 2-4 with an RBI and two singles. For the season, he’s slashing .299/.413/.434 with three homers in 264 plate appearances.
Michael Turconi was one of the only other players (Dasan Brown and Gabriel Martinez were hit by pitch) to reach base twice. The 24-year-old infielder went 1-3 with a walk. For the season, he’s slashing .303/422/.485 with four homers in 180 plate appearances for a 143 wRC+
Florida Complex League:
The FC: Jays fell 13-5 to the FCL Yankees, and well, we’ll get into why soon. Their season record now sits at 5-11.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Martin Gimenez
My favourite thing about writing about FCL and DSL guys is a lot of them haven’t hit their first professional home run. So when they do, as the 19-year-old Martin Gimenez did on Tuesday afternoon, it makes me happy.
The third baseman/shortstop went 2-3 with a walk, a strikeout, and four RBIs. For the season, he’s now slashing .297/.422/.405 with a homer, and two extra base hits in 45 plate appearances.
His 31.1 K% still remains on the high-side and is something that will need to improve as he climbs the minor league ladder, but his 128 wRC+ is trending to be the most by far in his career (23 in 2022, 69 in 2021, nice). He’s also increased the walk rate from 7.1% to 13.3%.
Players worth mentioning:
Alek Manoah is someone we have to talk about. I don’t really want to, but a big leaguer finishing with a 2.2 IP, 10 H, 11 ER, 2 BB, 3 K is something I can’t just avoid mentioning in these reports. What’s the issue? I have no idea. It could be a mix of the yips, weight issues (per TSN’s Scott Mitchell) mechanical issues, and the pitch clock. At this point, who knows., Hopefully it’s sorted out soon, as I’m starting to panic.
Luis Garcia was the Player of the Game on Monday, and he had another strong game on Tuesday. The 19-year-old infielder went 2-4 with two strikeouts and two singles. For the season in the FCL, he’s slashing .283/.353/.417 with a homer in 68 plate appearances.
Edward Duran continues to play very well this season, going 1-3 with a strikeout and a walk on Wednesday. The 19-year-old catcher/first baseman was acquired in the Jordan Groshans trade last summer, and is slashing .333/.533/.381 with a 30 BB% and a 13.3 K% in 30 plate appearances. He is also the first one to be called up to Single-A when they need an extra catcher.
Dominican Summer League:
The DSL Jays fell 14-6 to the DSL Orioles Orange, brining their season record to 7-9.
A few players deserve honourable mentions, sucha s Railin Tejada, who went 2-5 with two RBIs and a strikeout. Jarold Montealto also had a good game, going 2-4 with two singles.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Daniel Pérez
Wouldn’t you know it, Daniel Pérez once again, had a good game/ He went 2-4 with a walk, an RBI, and a double
For the season, the 21-year-old first baseman is slashing .333/447/.462 in 49 plate appearances, with a homer, a 12.2 BB% and a 14.3 K% for a 141 wrRC+.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he is promoted to the FCL by the end of the season. In fact, I could see Pérez’s trajectory similar to Rafael Sánchez’s last season, as the pitcher started the season in the DSL and finished it in Single-A.
With that being said, Pérez has been the best performing player from the 2023 international free agent class, even if he is quite a few years older than the average position player.
Players worth mentioning:
Enmanuel Bonilla once again reached base, meaning that in all 16 games he’s played professionally, he has never once failed to reach base. Moreover, in his last 13 games, he has a hit in 12 of them, and has a nine-game hit streak on the go. On Wednesday, he went 2-4 with a strikeout, a walk, and an RBI. On the season, the 17-year-old outfielder is slashing .281/.406/.351 with three extra base hits in 69 (nice) plate appearances.
Faruk De La Cruz also had a multi-hit game, as he went 2-4 with a walk. For the season, the 18-year-old catcher/first baseman is slashing .226/.328/.302 with a 13.1 BB% and a 19.7 K% in 61 plate appearances.
Maykel Minoso continues to have a strong season, as he went 2-5 with two strikeouts and two RBIs on Tuesday. For the season, the 17-year-old catcher/second baseman is slashing .298/.365/.351 with no homers in 63 plate appearances. He’s significantly improved since last season, when he slashed .161/.333/.161 with no homers in 39 plate appearances.
Setting up for Thursday’s Minor League Report:
All four full season affiliates are in action, while the rookie league teams have the day off.
Buffalo’s game starts at 1:05 PM EST, as they face off against the Worcester Woo Sox. Casey Lawrence toes the rubber, and it’s the first game of the second half for the Bisons.
It’s also New Hampshire’s first game of the second half, and they have Chad Dallas on the mound to take on the Portland Sea Dogs. Their game starts at 7:05 PM EST.
Kevin Miranada will start for the Vancouver Canadians, as they take on Spokane at 10:05 PM EST.
Dunedin’s game starts at 6:10 PM EST, and it will be on MiLB.tv. There is not scheduled starter yet, but Alex Amalfi started the game to open last week, so he could get the go ahead.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Brennan_L_D.
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