Setting the stage for the three Blue Jays affiliates in the hunt for the postseason
1 year ago
The Blue Jays currently own the final wild card spot, but did you know that three affiliates are also in the hunt for the playoffs?
The Triple A Buffalo Bisons, the High A Vancouver Canadians, and the Low A Dunedin Blue Jays are all within at least three games of a spot. Let’s discuss their chances to make the postseason.
Buffalo Bisons:
The Blue Jays Triple A team currently sits three games back of first place in the International League East division. They currently sit behind the Durham Bulls (Tampa), Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Philadelphia) and the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Miami).
Buffalo has five more series’ left, five games against Worcester (6th in the ILE), Gwinnett (7th in the ILW), Syracuse (9th in the ILE), Rochester (8th in the ILE), and Scranton (5th in the ILE).
If they were to make the playoffs, they’d face off against the winner of the International League West champion in one game, before taking on the Pacific Coast League champion in another one-game playoff.
A lot of the best relievers in the Blue Jays organization currently play for the Bisons, including Hayden Juenger, Brandon Eisert, Adrian Hernandez, and Matt Gage. On offense, the Bisons are led by Otto Lopez, Spencer Horwitz, and Gabriel Moreno.
Chavez Young and Tanner Morris are also on the 7-day IL, so once they come back, it’ll be a big boost for Buffalo. Furthermore, Julian Merryweather, Tayler Saucedo, and Nate Pearson will also be rehabbing with the team (or currently are).
Vancouver Canadians:
The most exciting race of them all, the Canadians currently sit 1.5 games back of the Eugene Emeralds for the second-half championship. However, the San Francisco affiliate won the first half, so the second half is between Vancouver and Colorado’s affiliate in Spokane.
If Eugene wins the second half, the team they will play in the finals will be determined by the league’s second-best overall record. Vancouver currently has a two-game lead over Spokane.
Speaking of which, the Canadians are visiting Spokane with six games left in that series. Wednesday night plays host to arguably the most important night of the season for both teams, as they have a doubleheader.
After the series wraps up, the Canadians will return home to play the first-placed Eugene Emeralds. So in reality, there’s little margin for error, especially this week.
If the Canadians manage to win the division or have a better overall record than Spokane, they will play a five game series against the Eugene Emeralds to determine the winner of the Northwest League.
The Canadians have one of the deepest rosters in the Jays organization. Starting with position players, they have Damiano Palmegiani, Dasan Brown, Alex De Jesus, Gabriel Martinez, Rainer Nunez, and Leo Jimenez.
Despite having some of the best pitching prospects in the organization promoted to New Hampshire, the Canadians still have a deep pitching staff. This includes Abdiel Mendoza, Michael Dominguez, Chad Dallas, Trenton Wallace and Dahian Santos.
Not just that, but their bullpen has quite a few impressive relievers, such as Naswell Paulino, Eric Pardinho, Connor Cooke, Garrett Farmer, and newcomers T.J Brock, Mason Fluharty, and Devereaux Harrison.
This week, you can only listen to Canadians on the radio, before being on MiLB TV next week, their final week.
Dunedin Blue Jays:
After a dismal first half which saw the Dunedin Blue Jays go 28-38, expectations for the team to win the second half weren’t very high. However, since the injection of drafted players, they are 15-4 since August 9th.
The team sits in first place in the Florida State League West with a game up on the Bradenton Mauraders. Furthermore, the Tampa Tarpons are just 2.5 games back, which is also who they’re playing this week.
The Jays will play the Palm Beach Cardinals (first in the FSL East division) starting September 6th, which will be their last series of the season. The Bradenton Mauraders play Clear Threshers (6th in the FSL West), while the Tampa Tarpons will play the Daytona Tortugas (last in the FSL East Division).
The Blue Jays will have a tall task ahead of them, but with players such as Cade Doughty (6 homers in 79 plate appearances), as well as Josh Kasevich, Devonte Brown, Peyton Williams, Ryan McCarty, and Alan Roden, the team is in good hands to potentially win the second half.
If they do, they’ll play a three-game series against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. If they win that, they’ll play another three games against the FSL East champion.
Either way, it’s shaping up to be some exciting baseball for the minor leagues!
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Brennan_L_D. Don’t ask me about the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
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