Blue Jays Minor League Report: Alex De Jesus hit his second career cycle, Manuel Beltre hit his fourth home run, and more!
4 months ago
This season, a no-hitter and now a cycle has been achieved by the Vancouver Canadians!
On Tuesday, the Blue Jays affiliates went 2-3, along with a big league win. It’s worth noting that the DSL Jays were also rained out, with this game being made up on July 19t.
Let’s dig in.
Triple-A:
The Buffalo Bisons fell 4-2 to the Rochester Red Wings, bringing their full season record to 37-44, and their second half record to 3-3.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Tanner Morris
Last season, the then 24-year-old was one prospect who was quickly raising his stock, after dominating Double-A.
His tenure in Triple-A hasn’t been nearly as dominant, but he did go 2-4 with a double on Tuesday.
For the season, the 25-year-old infielder is slashing .253/.341/.371 with three homers in 211 plate appearances, along with a 10.9 BB% and a 22.3 K%, the latter being the highest in his career, and the former being the lowest.
Players worth mentioning:
Davis Schneider went 1-1 with a single, but also added three walks. For the season, he’s slashing .260/.392/.515 with 15 homers in 291 plate appearances, along with a 17.5 BB% and a 24.1 K%.
Cam Eden went 2-4 with a strikeout and an RBI. He also added his 34th steal of the season, and was picked off for just the second time. For the season, he’s slashing .251/.362/.324 with two homers in 248 plate appearances.
Brandon Eisert was fantastic last season for the Bisons, but has struggled with them this season. On Tuesday, he finished with a line of 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. For the season, he has a 4.70 ERA, a 4.47 FIP, a 28.4 K% and a 9.3 BB% in 38.1 innings pitched.
Double-A:
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats fell 7-6 to the Hartford Yard Goats in the bottom of the 10th inning. This brought their overall record to 36-39, and their second half record to 1-6.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Will Robertson
The 25-year-old outfielder has had a tough season, but had a good night at the plate Tuesday.
Robertson went 3-5 with two RBIs, brining in the game-tying run in the top of the seventh, a fairly clutch hit that gave the Fisher Cats life.
For the season, he’s slashing .195/.295/.390 with eight homers in 227 plate appearances. His BB% is up from 7.9% to 11.5% this season, while his K% is down from 28.2% to 22.5%.
Players worth mentioning:
Orelvis Martinez really likes to take a walk, eh? On Tuersday, he went 1-2 with three walks and a strikeout, along with a double. For the season, the 21-year-old is slashing .230/.342/.500 with an organization-leading 17 homers. Moreover, he has a BB% of 14% (up from 8.1%) and 19 K% (down from 28.5%). Good stuff.
Leo Jimenez has also been fantastic this season. On Tuesday, he went 2-5 with a strikeout and his first double of the season. This season, the 22-year-old is slashing .284/.364/.423 with four homers in 220 plate appearances, along with a 10 BB% and a 14.5 BB% for a 117 wRC+.
Miguel Hiraldo also had a three-hit night, going 3-5 with a strikeout and an RBI. For the season, the 22-year-old is slashing .263/.310/.398 with four homers in 184 plate appearances, but has struggled with a 31 K%. His defence at second base has looked much better this year.
High-A:
The Vancouver Canadians defeated the Hillsboro Hops 8-2, brining their overall record to 45-30, and their second half record to 7-3, now leading the Northwest League.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Alex De Jesus
Could it have been anyone else?!
On Tuesday, Alex De Jesus started off the game with a double. No big deal, he has done that 13 other times this season.
The next plate appearance ended with De Jesus sending the ball out of the park for his tenth home run of the season, now in sole possession of third in the organization.
Once he hit a triple in his next plate appearance, you knew something was up. That was his sixth triple of the year, surpassing the five triples he had prior to this season.
In his next plate appearances, he had a hard hit ball to the shortstop, who had some issues scoping it, leading it to go into the outfield. The scorer made the correct call and gave De Jesus a single.
He hit for the cycle for the second time in as many years, going 4-5 with seven RBIs as well. On the season, the 21-year-old is now slashing .262/.345/.502 with 10 homers in 267 plate appearances, along with a 10.9 BB% and a 25.8 K%.
De Jesus also made a nice pick with the glove, as you can see below.
The Jays may have won this trade.
Players worth mentioning:
Alan Roden likely would have won the Player of the Game on any other day, as he went 2-2 with two walks. For the season, he’s slashing .313/.431/.442 with three homers in 290 plate appearances, along with a 13.4 BB% and a 9.3 K% for a 142 wRC+. That’s second in the organization behind Michael Turconi’s 143 wRC+.
Michael Dominguez had another strong start Tuesday, finishing with a line of 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 8 K. For the season, he has a 4.13 ERA and a 5.17 FIP in 52.1 innings pitched. Moreover, he has a 27.4 K% and a 17.4 BB%, which will need to drop as he moves up a level.
Single-A:
The Dunedin Blue Jays defeated the Tampa Tarpons 4-2, brining their overall record to 38-38, and their second-half record to 6-4, one game behind the leading Clearwater Threshers.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Manuel Beltre
It hasn’t been talked about a lot this season, but Manuel Beltre is breaking out. On Tuesday, he went 1-4 with two strikeouts and a home run.
The 19-year-old shortstop is now slashing .256/.366/.385 with a career-high four homers in 233 plate appearances, along with a 12 BB% and a 20.2 K% for a 113 wRC+.
Not only are his stats impressive, it’s also important to remember that he just turned 19 years old in June, so he’s also one of the youngest players in the Florida State League.
Players worth mentioning:
Jeffrey Wehler continues to have a strong performance after strong performances with Dunedin. On Tuesday, he went 2-4 with a strikeout and an RBI, along with his third double of the season. For the season, the 24-year-old infielder is slashing .388/.483/.653 with two homers in 58 plate appearances. He may need to be tested at a higher level.
Lazaro Estrada also needs to be tested at a higher level at this point. The 24-year-old started the game and went 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. For the season, he has a 3.05 ERA and a 1.97 FIP in 41.1 innings pitched, along with a 35.7 K% and a 6.4 BB%.
Ryan McCarty had another good game Tuesday, going 1-3 with a walk, a strikeout, and his 15th double of the season. The 24-year-old infielder is slashing .247/.348/.462 with seven homers in 222 plate appearances. He may be moved up to High-A during the all-star break.
Florida Complex League:
The FCL Jays lost 10-7 to the FCL Tigers, bringing their overall record to 7-15.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Yhoangel Aponte
Speaking of breakouts, Yhoangel Aponte is having a great season with the FCL Jays this year. On Tuesday, he went 2-4 with a walk and two RBIs, while also hitting another home run.
For the season, the 19-year-old outfielder is slashing .239/.365/.451 with three homers, tying a career-high, in just 85 plate appearances. Last season in the FCL, he had the same number of homers in 165 plate appearances (and a much worse slash line).
The one concern for Aponte is the elevated strikeout rate. It has jumped from 29.1% to 34.1% in just a season. As he moves up to Single-A, he’ll need to do a better job dropping the swings and misses.
Players worth mentioning:
Yeuni Munoz hit his first home run of the season, going 1-4 with a walk, a strikeout, and an RBI. For the season, he’s slashing .220/.304/.380 with that homer (and five doubles) in 56 plate appearances. Like Aponte, the 19-year-old outfielder has an elevated 33.9 K%.
Hyun-Jin Ryu made his first appearance in a game since June 1st, 2022. The 36-year-old lefty finished with a line of 3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. If he can find his 2020 form (and Manoah finds his 2022 form), the Jays have a serious six-man rotation on their hands.
Edward Duran is just a fascinating player that the Jays received in the Jordan Groshans trade. On Tuesday, he went 2-4 with a double and is now slashing .324/.357/.486 with a home run in 46 plate appearances in the FCL. He’s also appeared in two games in Single-A.
Setting up for Thursday’s Minor League Report:
There are only four games on the tap for Wednesday. The Buffalo Bisons take on the Rochester Red Wings at 6:45 PM EST, with Zach Thompson on the mound. The New Hampshire Fisher Cats take on the Hartford Yard Goats at 7:10 PM EST, with Andrew Bash starting the game.
The Vancouver Canadians resume their series with Hillsboro at 10:05 PM EST, with Kevin Miranda toeing the rubber for that game. The Dunedin Blue Jays look to continue their good start to the second half, as they take on the Tampa Tarpons at 6:30. Davis Feldman gets the start for the Jays Single-A team.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Brennan_L_D.
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