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Don’t expect Vlad to jump to Buffalo any time soon
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Cam Lewis
May 28, 2018, 12:06 EDTUpdated: May 28, 2018, 12:09 EDT
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Blue Jays prospects shuffled around a bunch this weekend. Jordan Romano went up to Triple-A before a start and then got sent back down and Kevin Smith rode his breakout performance up to Single-A Dunedin. None of these transactions, however, involved Toronto’s most important name. Vlad Jr. remains in Double-A.

On Vlad…

We got another tease this weekend when Vlad posted an Instagram story at Game 7 between the Cavs and Celtics in Boston. I mean, it was hardly a tease because we know that the Fisher Cats play an hour down the road, but still.
Vlad is absolutely murdering Double-A. Like, it’s unethical what he’s doing down there. I’m sure pitchers feel physically ill and get violent anxiety before having to face him because they know he’s going to balloon their ERA. Vlad is slashing a .431/.480/.713 line through 45 games and it appears as though the league presents virtually no real challenge for him.
I think we know that the Jays are going to play the service time game with their superstar. That sucks, because we’d all love to see him come up and make 2018 worth watching, but welcome to the business of baseball and being owned by a company like Rogers. Still, you’d think the Jays would at least send Vlad up to Triple-A Buffalo to give him some kind of challenge, right? Because at this point playing against the kids in Double-A seems like tee-ball for him.
Based on an article by Rob Longley around words from Ben Cherington, the Jays are happy with Vlad in New Hampshire. 
“He’s getting such good work done in New Hampshire with that particular group of players and staff,” Cherington said. “Though his offensive performance has been exceptional, obviously, we feel like there’s benefit to him being there for a little longer because he’s getting really great work in every day. The coaches there and our manager John Schneider have just developed an excellent collaborative environment and a lot of that is because Vladdy himself has been so collaborative. That’s an important factor in the development of any player.”
This really just seems like a more elaborate way of saying the uhhhh he needs to work on his glove thing. I don’t know. There’s merit to it, I guess. But to me it just reeks of a cover-up for the real issue, which is service time. I mean, can Vlad really not learn how to catch the ball and run the bases at the big league level? Don’t the Blue Jays themselves have the best coaches in the organization on their big league squad? Isn’t that the best way to learn?
I dunno, I’m just an idiot with a laptop, I don’t know anything about developing baseball players. Anyways, the point of this is that Vlad isn’t going to be jumping out of Double-A in the immediate future. It’s best just to accept it.

Other Large Adult Son updates…

https://twitter.com/CanadiansPR/status/1001125874991644672
Jordan Romano has been a low-key very good pitcher in Toronto’s system over the past few years. He had a strong season at Single-A Dunedin last year and he’s been ridiculously good for Double-A New Hampshire this year. Through eight starts and 53 innings, Romano owns a 2.04 ERA. He was recalled for one start with Triple-A Buffalo as the team was playing in a double-header and went five innings allowing just two runs. He now has nine wins in 10 starts over the course of 2018.
The other big name to watch is Kevin Smith who’s been Toronto’s breakout prospect this year. Smith has slashed a .355/.407/.639 line in Low-A Lansing this season which is pretty similar to what Bo Bichette did at the level last year. Of course, Smith is 21 years old, but it’s still promising nonetheless. He was sent up to Dunedin today so it’ll be interesting to see if he can continue to swing the bat at an elite level. If he does, the hype train can get rolling.
A more negative update to slide in here… Anthony Alford is having a hell of a time in Buffalo this year. He’s slashing a .143/.198/.158 line with 28 strikeouts through 103 plate appearances. Have the injuries caught up with him?

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