Blue Jays Minor League Report: Surprise, surprise, Orelvis Martinez had another good game, Alan Roden has a strong season, and more!

Photo credit:Mark Kuhlman

1 year ago

The Blue Jays affiliate teams won the majority of their games, and some players in New Hampshire got a hit off a big leaguer!

Blue Jays affiliate teams won four of the six games, as well as a big league win against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday evening.

Let’s look at the best performers from June 20th.

Triple-A:

The Buffalo Bisons dropped the first game of the series 2-1 to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Their record now sits at 31-39 with only five games remaining in the first half.

The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Paxton Schultz

The 25-year-old right-handed pitcher acquired in the Derek Fisher trade had his first quality start on Tuesday evening.

He finished with a line of 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, with both runs coming on homers. In Buffalo, he has a 4.20 ERA and a 6.43 FIP in 15 innings pitched but has had two games with 5+ innings pitched and less than two earned runs out of his three starts.

His numbers were even better in New Hampshire, posting a 3.30 ERA and a 3.04 FIP in 46.1 innings pitched. Moreover, he had a 27.3 K% (15.9% in Buffalo) and a 9.6 BB% (11.1% in Buffalo) with the Fisher Cats.

Schultz touched 94.1 mph on his four-seam fastball, and had a 35 whiff% on it on Tuesday evening. He also throws a cutter, slider, changeup, and curveball.

Players worth mentioning:

Otto López continued to stay hot, as he went 2-5 with a strikeout and Buffalo’s only RBI. After a rough start, he’s slashing .255/.315/.305 in 241 plate appearances.

Nathan Lukes is too good for Triple-A, but also needs playing time in the majors. On Tuesday, he went 2-3 with a walk, a strikeout, and two singles. With Buffalo this season, he’s slashing .344/447/.531 with a homer in 38 plate appearances.

Tanner Morris went 1-2 on Tuesday and drew two walks. For the season, the utility infielder is slashing .255/.344/.373 with three homers in 183 plate appearances.

Double-A:

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats defeated the Somerset Patriots 4-1. Carlos Rodón started for the Yankees’ affiliate team, going three innings and taking the L. Nice.

The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Orelvis Martinez

Since we’ve moved to the Minor League Report everyday, Martinez has to be leading in Player of the Games.

On Tuesday, he went 3-4 with a strikeout, a double, and a hit off Rodón. For the season, the 21-year-old shortstop/third baseman is slashing .225/.322/.530 with 17 homers in 234 plate appearances. Moreover, his wRC+ is now up to 121, and he has a 12 BB% and a 20.9 K%.

He may find his way into MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 midseason update.

Players worth mentioning:

Gabriel Ponce picked up the win on Tuesday, finishing with a line of 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. On the season, the 24-year-old has a 3.65 ERA and a 2.73 FIP in 24.2 innings pitched. He has a 29.4 K% and a 9.8 BB%.

Leo Jimenez and Orelvis Martinez have been the catalysts for New Hampshire’s hot streak the past few weeks. Jimenez went 1-3 with a walk and two RBIs on Tuesday. He’s now slashing .301/.364/.449 with four homers in 173 plate appearances for a 121 wRC+. If Damiano Palmegiani can get going again, New Hampshire is going to have a good second half.

Nick Fraze is pitching in a bulk role this season, but he started Tuesday’s game. He finished with a line of 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. On the season with the Fisher Cats, he has a 2.45 ERA and a 4.75 FIP in 22 innings pitched. He also had a cup of coffee in Buffalo.

High-A:

The Canadians can’t stop winning. After clinching the first half crown on Sunday, they rolled into Eugene (the team that beat them in the 2022 Northwest League Finals) and smashed them 11-4. Vancouver’s record now sits at 37-26.

As with any blowouts, here are a few honourable mentions. Andres Sosa went 1-4 with two walks. Cade Doughty went 2-5 with an RBI, but struck out twice. Michael Turconi went 2-4 with a walk and two RBIs. Josh Kasevich went 1-5 with two RBIs. Gabriel Martinez also went 2-5.

Like I said, Vancouver smashed Eugene.

The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Alan Roden

The 2022 third-round pick continues to have the strongest season of any player from this draft picked by the Jays.

The 23-year-old went 3-6 on Tuesday night, with all three hits being singles. For the season, the outfielder is slashing .289/.407/.423 with three homers in 241 plate appearances. Moreover, he has a 12.4 BB% and 10.4 K%.

You have to imagine that he’ll get the call to New Hampshire during the draft break. Keep an eye on him.

Players worth mentioning:

Dasan Brown has been hot over the past month. On Tuesday, he went 2-5 with a double, two strikeouts, and an RBI. For the season, he slashing .222/.288/.314, but that’s jumping up quickly.

Garrett Spain is a different player than last season. On Tuesday, he went 2-5 with a triple and three RBIs. On the season, he’s slashing .305/.352/.602 with seven homers in just 128 plate appearances for a 141 wRC+. He’s been one of the best hitters in the Jays organization.

Braden Scott struck out the side on Tuesday. The 25-year-old left-handed reliever finished with a line of 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. On the season, he has a 12 ERA and a 10.60 FIP in six innings pitched, but also had a 30.3 K%. Expect these numbers to normalize with more innings pitched.

Single-A:

The Dunedin Blue Jays fell 10-4 to the Clearwater Threshers, by far the best team in the Florida State League. Dunedin’s record now sits at 31-33.

The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Robert Robertis

I pegged Robert x2 to have a breakout season, but he’s struggled in his first full season at Single-A. Still, he went 2-4 with a triple, a strikeout and an RBI on Tuesday evening.

For the season, the 20-year-old outfielder is slashing .192/.295/.244 with a homer and a 29 K% and a 12 BB% in 183 plate appearances. Last season in the FCL, he slashed .290/.353/.402 with a 9.2 BB% and a 20.2 K% in 119 plate appearances, so I still have a lot of hope for him.

Players worth mentioning:

Glenn Santiago went 2-4 with a double and strikeout on Tuesday. The 22-year-old utility player is slashing .234/.341/.338 with three homers in 182 plate appearances.

Ryan McCarty has been great over the past two weeks, and that continued on Tuesday. He went 2-4 with a strikeout and two singles. For the season, he’s slashing .253/.341/.467 with six homers in 177 plate appearances.

Tucker Toman had a strong game for Dunedin on Tuesday. He went 1-3 with a double, two walks, and also drove in a run. For the season, the 77th overall pick in the 2022 draft is slashing .242/.355/.346 with two homers in 251 plate appearances.

Florida Complex League:

The FCL Jays defeated the FCL Yankees 13-8 to bring their record to 5-7.

The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: Luis Garcia

When you hit a triple and a home run in the same, you’re usually going to get the Player of the Game.

The 19-year-old utility player went 2-4 on Tuesday and added a walk. He also hit his second professional home run.

For the season in the FCL, Garcia is slashing .255/.294/.404 with a homer in 51 plate appearances. His numbers in Dunedin are a bit better, as he’s slashing .294/.368/.294 in 19 plate appearances.

The next step for Garcia is to drop his elevated strikeout rate (27.5% in the FCL, 31.6% in Single-A) back down to his 13.2 K% in the DSL back in 2021.

Players worth mentioning:

Nolan Perry faced his first adversity as a professional on Tuesday. He finished with a line of 5 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, his first tough start in three attempts. With that being said, him being stretched out to five innings and striking out five and walking one is still encouraging.

Jean Joseph probably could have also won the Player of the Game, as he went 3-4 with a walk and two RBIs. Despite a .204/.315/.217 slash line in the DSL last season, the Blue Jays must’ve liked what they’ve seen in the off-season to promote the 18-year-old to the FCL. He’s slashing .333/.486/.407 with no homers in 35 plate appearances. He has an even 22.9 K% and BB%.

Edward Duran had another strong game on Tuesday. He went 1-4 with two RBIs, two walks, and two strikeouts. The 19-year-old is slashing .412/.583/.471 with five RBIs in 24 plate appearances between the FCL and Single-A.

Dominican Summer League:

The DSL Jays defeated the DSL Diamondbacks Red on Tuesday by the score of 9-3. They are now above .500 on the season, as this win brings their record to 6-5.

The Blue Jays Nation Player of the Game: David Guzmán

Guzmán signed as an international free agent in the 2023 class, and has intrigued me since day one.

Despite standing at 5’7”, 160 lbs, the 17-year-old outfielder has shown that he has some power in his bat. On Tuesday, he went 3-4 with his third double of the season. For the season, he’s slashing .211/.388/.368 with a homer in 49 plate appearances. Moreover, he has a higher BB% (18.4%) than K% (8.2%) and has four extra base hits.

Rookie League stats are always a bit overblown, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen from Guzmán.

Players worth mentioning:

Enmanuel Bonilla has reached base in all 11 games that he’s appeared in this season, and has a hit in seven of his last eight games. On Tuesday, he went 2-5 with an RBI and two strikeouts. For the season, he’s slashing .225/.354/.300 with three extra base hits in 48 plate appearances.

Daniel Pérez is having an insane season in the DSL. Yes, he’s 3.3 years older than the average position player, but he’s slashing .417/.533/.583 with a homer in 31 plate appearances. His BB% has dropped quite a bit to 16.1%, but his K% is still below it at 12.9%.Pérez went 2-5 with two strikeouts and three RBIs.

Faruk De La Cruz went 2-3 on Tuesday, all three of which were singles. The first baseman/catcher is slashing .263/.364/.368 on the season in 44 plate appearances.

Setting up for Thursday’s Minor League Report:

The Triple-A Buffalo Bisons have Casey Lawrence on the mound, with their game starting at 6:35 PM EST. The New Hampshire Fisher Cats’ game starts at 7:05 PM EST, with Chad Dallas on the mound.

For the lower minors, Vancouver’s starter will be Ryan Jennings, and their game starts at 9:35 PM EST. Dunedin’s starter is yet to be determined, but Rafael Ohashi started last Tuesday, so I’d be expecting him when they get underway at 11:00 AM EST.

Like every Wednesday, the rookie league teams are off for the day.

As always, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Brennan_L_D.