Blue Jays Minor League Report: Josh Kasevich hit his first professional home run, Alex De Jesus has his best game yet, and more!
5 months ago
Like with most minor league reports, there’s some good, and some bad in here.
Not only did the big league Blue Jays get hit hard, but the high minors had a tough time. Let’s look at the standouts from each game, as well as a few players worth mentioning.
Triple-A:
The Buffalo Bisons were down 4-0 before even getting a chance to bat, and eventually fell 6-0 to the Syracuse Mets. Their record now sits at 29-35.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Jay Jackson
On Tuesday night, the 35-year-old righty finished with a line of 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.
With the Buffalo Bisons, he has a 6.87 ERA in 18.1 innings pitched, with a 34.1 K% and a 6.1 BB%. His MLB numbers are better, as he has a 1.59 ERA and a 4.50 FIP in 5.2 innings pitched.
We’ll likely see Jackson in the big leagues again this season.
Players worth mentioning:
Davis Schneider went 1-4 with a double, his 12th of the season. He’s now slashing .273/.392/.561 with 14 homers in 227 plate appearances. It may be time to call him up.
Junior Fernández had a solid game in relief for the Bisons, finishing with a line of 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. After a rough start, Fernández’s ERA sits at 4.71, along with a 24.8 K% and a 9.8 BB%.
Spencer Horwitz continues to hit a bunch of doubles, as he went 1-4 with a double, his 16th, on Tuesday evening. He’s now slashing .301/.421/.829 with two homers in 254 plate appearances.
Double-A:
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats fell 9-1 to the Akron RubberDucks, bringing their record to 30-27. With the loss and a Somerset and Portland win, the Fisher Cats now fall 5.5 behind the Portland Sea Dogs for first place.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Sem Robberse
The Pitching Dutchman had a solid game, finishing with a line of 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.
The 21-year-old righty has a 4.47 ERA in 58.1 innings pitched in Double-A this season. He has a solid 24.2 K% and a 9 BB%.
It appears that Robberse may spend the entire season in Double-A, but it’s nice to see his K% rise from 18.3% last season.
Players worth mentioning:
Orelvis Martinez went 1-3 on Tuesday and added a walk for good measure. His updated stats are now a .220/.321/.854 slash line with 16 homers in 213 plate appearances. He’s made the adjustments, and he’s looking like a Top 100 prospect again.
Damiano Palmegiani didn’t register a hit on Tuesday night, but he walked twice in his four plate appearances. The 23-year-old first baseman/third baseman is slashing .276/.389/.859 with eight homers in 221 plate appearances. He also has a 14.2 BB%.
High-A:
The Vancouver Canadians beat the Hillsboro Hops 9-1, bringing their record to 32-25. Colorado’s High-A team also won on Tuesday, meaning that the two teams are in a deadlock for the first half title with eight games remaining.
Like with all blowouts, we’ll list a few honourable mentions. Devonte Brown went 1-2 with three walks, Cooper Benson finished with a line of 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, and Ian Churchill made his High-A debut.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Alex De Jesus
The prospect that the Jays received in the Mitch White deal took a while to get adjusted to a new organization, but he has been great as of late.
On Tuesday, he went 3-3 with two homers, a double, and two walks for three RBIs. Since May 16th, De Jesus is batting .312/.389/.597 in 90 plate appearances, with four homers and 10 extra base hits.
It appears he’s finally starting to adjust, as he’s now slashing .236/.315/.468 in 197 plate appearances.
Players worth mentioning:
Michael Dominguez would have won the Player of the Game in any other game, but De Jesus decided to go supernova. WIth that being said, the 22-year-old right-handed pitcher finished with a line of 5.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. He would have had a quality start if not for an error. His ERA now sits at 5.26 after two strong outings.
Josh Kasevich went 1-4 with a walk and a strikeout in five plate appearances. However, he also hit his first professional home run to drive in three runs! The 60th overall pick is slashing .298/.379/.338 on the season in 177 plate appearances.
Dasan Brown has had a good couple of weeks now that continued into Tuesday, as he went 3-5 with an RBI. He also stole his Canadians-leading 17th base of the season, only being picked off once.
Single-A:
The Dunedin Blue Jays defeated the Lakeland Flying Tigers 9-3 on Tuesday, bringing their record to 29-29. Although they are way out of a playoff spot, finishing the first half (eight games remaining) with a .500 record would be big for the team.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Manuel Beltre
The 19-year-old shortstop hit his third home run of the season, and went 2-3 at the plate with two walks.
His three homers are a career-high, and he’s slashing .246/.354/.709 in 162 plate appearances. He’s slowly but surely rising his stock in the farm system.
Players worth mentioning:
Tucker Toman played well Tuesday, going 3 for 5 at the plate with two strikeouts, a double and two singles. The 77th overall pick in the 2022 draft is now slashing .235/.348/.685 with two homers in 221 plate appearances.
Ryan McCarty continues to stay hot, as he went 2-4 with a walk and two strikeouts on Tuesday. Both of those hits were doubles, and he’s now slashing .255/.339/.821 with six homers in 166 plate appearances.
Robert Robertis had a poor start to the season, but has come on as of late. On Tuesday, he went 3-5 with a RBI and a strikeout. Robert x2 is now slashing .189/.289/.520 on the season.
Florida Complex League:
The FCL Jays beat the FCL Phillies 9-8, moving their record to 2-5 for the season.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Jean Joseph
The 18-year-old outfielder went 3-3 Tuesday afternoon, adding an additional two walks.
Last season in the Dominican Summer League, he slashed .204/.315/.217 with no homers in 185 plate appearances. Moreover, he had a rather low 15.1 K% and a solid 11.9 BB% for a 60 wRC+.
As he grows older, he’ll bump his .013 ISO up.
Players worth mentioning:
Nolan Perry made his second professional appearance, and his first professional start Tuesday afternoon. The 19-year-old finished with a line of 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. Selected in the 12th round of the 2022 draft, the New Mexico product is pitching well.
Yhoangel Aponte had a solid game for the FCL Jays on Tuesday, going 2-5 with a walk, a RBI, and two strikeouts. He’s slashing .217/.308/.525 on the season in 26 plate appearances.
Edward Duran was the Player to be Named Later in the Jordan Groshans trade last season, and he made his debut on June 6th. He went 2-3 on Tuesday, along with two walks and his first extra base hit in the Blue Jays organization. Good stuff.
Dominican Summer League:
The DSL Blue Jays were smashed 13-2 by the DSL Padres Gold on Tuesday, bringing their record to 3-4.
The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Faruk De La Cruz
The 18-year-old catcher/first baseman had two of the four hits the DSL Jays had on Tuesday, including hitting his third double of the season.
Last season, he slashed .212/.336/.274 with a 14.2 BB% and a 16.4 K% in 134 plate appearances for an 80 wRC+.
He’s off to a bit of a slow start in 2023, but he has an excellent eye at the plate, and could add more power as he gets older.
Players worth mentioning:
Adrian Meza went 0-1 during the game, but walked three times. He now has eight walks in just 31 plate appearances compared to three strikeouts. Good stuff from the 2023 international free agent signing.
Anuedi Escanio drove in the two runs the DSL Jays scored with a single. He went 1-2 with a walk and a strikeout. The 18-year-old who signed during the 2022 international free agency period is slashing .417/.500/.583 in 14 plate appearances.
Setting up for Wednesday’s Minor League Report:
For the upper minors, the Buffalo Bisons have a start time of 7:05 PM EST with Paxton Schultz on the mound. The New Hampshire Fisher Cats have a 6:35 start time, and Chad Dallas is expected to start. They are 5.5 games back of the Eastern League Northeast leaders, the Portland Sea Dogs, for the first half title with 11 games remaining.
For the lower minors, Vancouver has a 10:05 PM EST start time, with Adam Macko expected to start. They are tied for first place in the Northwest League standings with eight games remaining. The Dunedin Blue Jays don’t have an expected starter, but if we were to stick with the rotation, Rafael Ohashi should start.
The rookie league teams will be off, returning on Thursday.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Brennan_L_D.
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