SB Nation - Adeiny Hechavarria

Steve Pearce Hits Cleanup, Yankees Win 2-1 Anyway

Matt Keegan — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 02:26:10 -0000

Tonight's game included Mike McCoy, Moises Sierra, Adeiny Hechavarria and Steve Pearce in the starting lineup. A close game played sometime other than September featured all four of those players. The fact that these players made an appearance in a game at all is amazing by itself, but they started and played the whole game. Steve Pearce hit cleanup for the Yankees in the middle of a pennant race. Injuries make weird things happen.

Both the Yankees and Blue Jays have been hit with major injuries, and tonight their effect was painfully obvious. A game started by Phil Hughes and Ricky Romero at Yankee Stadium ended with a total of three runs scored. This would be nearly unthinkable two months ago. Tonight both guys walked away with a high quality start and, for the most part, did it pretty easily.

Hughes was one run better, though, allowing his lone run on an opposite field homer to the aforementioned Hechavarria. With that home run, Hechavarria joins the ranks of Maicer Izturis for players to hit their first home run of the season off Yankee pitching. That was only a blip on the radar as Hughes did exactly what he should do to a team that struggles for offense, giving up only four hits and striking out five over seven innings. You can only beat the team field against you, so lack of offense or not, it's good to see Hughes pitch as well as he did. David Robertson and Rafael Soriano did the rest, with Soriano picking up the save in angry fashion. If ridiculous complaining about skipping out on the media is going to lead to those kind of results, he needs his own personal exit out of the stadium.

The Yankees offense came courtesy of a Nick Swisher single in the third and a sacrifice fly from Curtis Granderson in the fourth. Romero hasn't been good this season, but he does still have the ability to stifle an offense from time to time. Four through nine in the batting order mustered just three hits and a walk against the lefty. Yes, Romero can still do that, but with Mark Teixeira out for awhile and Alex Rodriguez still recovering, the offense is going to have to come from somewhere. Jeter, Swisher and Cano can try to do it all, but some help with the heavy lifting would be nice in the meantime.

A win is a win, though, even when it's really underwhelming against a hittable pitcher. Good on Hughes to pick them up when there was a really good chance from the start that two runs would be the only offense. Steve Pearce was a starter and the cleanup hitter. We kind of knew something like this might happen, and apparently so did Hughes.

Box Score. Math Class.

Play of the Game: Hechavarria's home run (-10.4%). The Yankee honors go to Swisher for his RBI single (+10.1%)

CC Sabathia will face off with J.A. Happ tomorrow afternoon in the series finale.

Adeiny Hechavarria and Anthony Gose Sent To Minors

Tom Dakers — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 03:16:56 -0000

Adeiny Hechavarria and Anthony Gose are on their way back to Las Vegas. Neither looked great in their first look at major league pitching, but. I figured Adeiny would get to stay until Brett Lawrie was ready to return. Someone has to play third, but the team thought different. Brandon Morrow comes off the DL to start tomorrow's game and Yunel Escobar is back from paternity leave. By tomorrow night I'll have internet again and won't have to try to post from my phone anymore.

SB Nation Q&A Exchange: A Chat With Bluebird Banter's Tom Dakers

Greg Kirkland — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 21:00:16 -0000

Last night I had the pleasure of participating in an E-Mail Q&A exchange with Tom Dakers of Bluebird Banter. I was asked to answer questions for him in their "View From The Other Side" segment and I decided to follow up with questions of my own. I appreciate that Tom took the time to answer my questions and wish the Blue Jays the best of luck this series, even though I hope we sweep them unmercifully.

1. Who is your favorite Blue Jay to watch?

It changes daily, but most of the time it has been Edwin Encarnacion. I always cheer for the underdog, and Edwin, to say the least, has never been a fan favorite. Or a team favorite for that matter, we let him go to the A's on a waiver claim 2 years ago, they released him and, thank goodness, we picked him up again. He's hitting .288/.385/.564 with 29 home runs and he's showing really nice defense at first base. He is very patient at the plate, he goes up looking for his pitch and will wait until he gets it, then hits it hard. I'd hate to think what this season would be like without him.

2. The injury bug has plagued the Blue Jays all year. How well do you think the Jays would have done if they remained healthy?

I know I'd be drinking less without all the injuries. It has just been sad. We are numb to it all now. We lost 3 starting pitchers in a 4 game stretch in early June. Our closer was lost for the season in April. 2 other bullpen pitchers are gone for the season. And, in the past month we've had 5 position players hurt, though Colby Rasmus is back now. Jose Bautista, Brett Lawrie, J.P. Arencibia and Adam Lind are all on the DL and we have a bunch of Triple-A players in their place. Well, Triple-A players and Jeff Mathis. It has been interesting to see top prospects like Anthony Gose, Adieny Hechavarria and Moises Sierra in the lineup but, coming up a little earlier than we would have liked, they are having their struggles with the bats. Without all the injuries, I think we'd be in the battle for the Wild Card spot. When Sergio Santos went on the DL, it took a month or so for manager John Farrell to figure out how he wanted to close out games, and we lost a few we should have won. Then, when he's getting the bullpen figured out, to lose 3 starting pitchers inside a week.That would be tough on any team. Now that the starting pitching and bullpen are coming around, we lose our best bat (Bautista), our leadoff hitter (Lawrie), our starting catcher (Arencibia) and our DH (Lind). Let's just say it hasn't been a lot of fun.

3. Can you give us a scouting report on the pitchers the Yankees will face this weekend?

Ricky Romero has not had a good year. Our number one pitchers, at least going into the season, hasn't pitched like a number one at all. He's been tentative, seemingly afraid to throw strikes. Of course, falling behind hitters isn't the way to go about things. He's walked 4.9/9 this year. Ricky has looked better his last 2 starts, so I'm hoping he is coming around. Aaron Laffey is a journeyman lefty, who got thrown into the starting rotation when all the injuries happened. His first few starts were pretty good, but the last 3 have looked like someone that shouldn't be in the rotation. I think, if his start tomorrow isn't good, he'll be replaced when Brandon Morrow comes back, hopefully next week. When he is doing well, he's getting by with smoke and mirrors, he's gotta change speeds and fooling batters to have success. J.A. Happ came over in a 10 player trade with the Astros. He was in our bullpen but he made his first start for us last weekend. It didn't go well, 4 earned in just over 4 innings. Another lefty (you are seeing all lefties), he doesn't throw all that hard, tops out about 92, has a good curve, slider, change, all the normal stuff. He is a flyball pitcher, which isn't the easiest thing to be in the AL East. He really hasn't impressed me yet. He's going to have to show something if he wants a spot in our rotation next year.

4. Who are some players in the Blue Jays farm system to look out for in the future?

Some are here now. Anthony Gose is a terrific defensive outfielder, has a great arm and is very fast, I'm not sure his bat is quite ready yet. Adeiny Hechavarria is a great defensive shortstop, who we are playing at third while Lawrie's hurt. Again the question is the bat, in time it should come around. Among ones not up yet, Travis d'Arnaud is our top prospect, a good defensive catcher who can hit. He had a .333/.380/.595 slash line in Vegas, before going down with a posterior cruciate ligament tear. If he hadn't been hurt we'd have seen him up to fill in while Arencibia's hurt. Jake Marisnick is a 5 tool outfielder currently in Double-A. We have a number of good pitching prospects, most of whom are a year or two away yet. Noah Syndergaard, Justin Nicolino, Daniel Norris, Adonys Cardona, Matt Smoral and Marcus Stroman.

5. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Blue Jays?

The strength, at the moment, is the bullpen. The Jays made three trades, before the deadline, each netting us some arms for the bullpen. Adding the power arms of Brad Lincoln, Steve Delabar and Brandon Lyon has made the bullpen deep and strong. Weakness? Suddenly it has become our offense. We were the first team to get to 500 runs scored, but with of our best bats going on the DL, we've been struggling to score.

6. Do you like Rogers Center or would you prefer the Blue Jays build a new stadium without turf?

I think we'll all prefer real grass. Rogers Centre is still an ok place to watch a game but the turf looks lousy. Unfortunately, I don't see a change happening soon.

7. What is the best thing, or your favorite thing, to eat at Rogers Center?

You know, one of the things that could be improved, at Rogers, is the food. But they do have a good carved roast beef sandwich. Last time I was there I had a nice jerk chicken sandwich. But the concessions could use an updating. They also could use more beer choices. There are a number of good microbreweries in the Toronto area, the team should bring in some of those beers.

8. What are your feelings towards this team's future?

I think the future is bright, there are a lot of good players in the minor league system, and our GM Alex Anthopoulos seems to know what he is doing, as much as I didn't like him trading away Travis Snider for a reliever. We are close. The offense, when everyone isn't hurt, is very good. Alex has put together a good bullpen. We are short a starting pitcher or two, I'm hoping there will be some moves made in the offseason to shore up the rotation. This year has just been nuts, with all the injuries, but the future should be better.

Blue Jays on Baseball America's Best Tools Survey

Tom Dakers — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 17:43:38 -0000

Baseball America has their 'Best Tools' survey up (subscription required) and there are a few Blue Jay farm hands on the list.

In the PCL:

Best Baserunner: Anthony Gose (but he didn't win fastest baserunner, Adam Eaton won that).

Best Defensive Shortstop: Adeiny Hechavarria. He's listed as their 'Easy Call'.

Best Infield Arm: Adeiny Hechavarria . After watching him, these past few games, I believe it

Best Defensive Outfielder: Anthony Gose.

Best Outfielder Arm: Moises Sierra.

In the Eastern League:

Best Defensive Third Baseman: Mark Sobolewski.

Midwest League:

Best Hitting Prospect: Kevin Pillar.

Best Pitching Prospect: Aaron Sanchez.

Best Changeup: Justin Nicolino.

Best Reliever: Ajay Meyer.

No Dunedin players made list in the Florida State League.

Series Preview: Misery Loves Company

Jason Collette — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 20:19:11 -0000

The Rays have certainly had their share of injuries this season, but they welcome in a team can shares their pain in many ways. Toronto currently has seven pitchers on the 60-day disabled list including 3/5ths of their pre-season rotation and their closer. Add to that losing their opening day catcher, first baseman, and their franchise player, and it is no wonder the Toronto Blue Jays have fallen below .500 after being competitive for most of the season.

In all,the Jays have used ten different starting pitchers this season and 30 different pitchers have taken the mound.That includes a completely retooled bullpen after additions at the trade deadline to replace some of the injured relievers. One of the new faces to Rays fans will be J.A. Happ who takes the mound tonight as one of the two lefties the Rays will face in this series. The Rays have had their fare share of offense struggles this season which have been exacerbated when they face left-handed pitchers of any shape and size. Hopefully, tonight's return of Evan Longoria will help that situation.

Longoria was sorely missed as the team went 41-44 without out and scored just 3.86 runs a game. Before the injury, the team was 15-8 and scored 4.61 runs per contest. How much has Longoria's bat been missed? In his extended absence, the 3rd and 4th hitters in the lineup have gone 146 for 643 (.227) and have hit just 12 home runs and driven in 55 runs (from Rays communications department)

Stats	Rays	Blue Jays
wOBA	0.300	0.323
wRC+	91	102
BB%	9.7%	8.1%
K%	21.4%	19.3%
BABIP	0.274	0.281
FIP	3.67	4.67
xFIP	3.74	4.24
SIERA	3.61	4.15
K/9	8.42	7.12
BB/9	3.17	3.60
BABIP	0.285	0.292

Regressed ZIPS RoS batter platoon splits (sortable):

Player	Projected wOBA vs. RHP	Projected wOBA vs. LHP
Edwin Encarnacion (R)	0.361	0.393
Brett Lawrie (R)	0.338	0.361
Colby Rasmus (L)	0.343	0.304
Yunel Escobar (R)	0.310	0.320
Kelly Johnson (L)	0..321	0.333
Jeff Mathis (R)	0.265	0.286
David Cooper (L)	0.302	0.279
Anthony Gose	0.289	0.316

I answered some questions for our SBN friends at Bluebird Banter today and their site manager, Tom Daker, answered some for us:

DRB: I've been on record saying Edwin Encarnacion had a 40 home run season in his bat but I am a renowned E5 fanboy. Did Jays fans ever think they'd see this kind of season out of him?

BB: As always, it depends on the fan, I've always thought he could be good, but I didn't expect 40 home runs this quick. The average Blue Jay fan hated him, he was called lazy and worse. Even the team lost faith in him, letting him go to Oakland, on a waiver claim, back in 2010. Fortunately the A's didn't realise what they had either. He has always been a streak hitter, prone to long slumps, but this year he's been very consistent. If he has had slumps, they don't last long. He goes up looking for his pitch and if he doesn't get it, he's willing to take the walk.

DRB: Has the Jays' training staff run out of ace bandages yet this season? The amount of injuries the team has dealt with has been unreal. Any updates on health status and who may be back in this series?

BB: Man, I hear the M*A*S*H type in my head at the start of every game. It is possible that Brett Lawrie and/or Colby Rasmus could be back this series, both are listed as day-to-day, Lawrie with a muscle strain in his side and Rasmus with groin tightness, but every injury we've had has turned out to be worse than first expected. As for the rest:

• Brandon Morrow should be back in the next couple of weeks, he is rehabbing in the minors from an oblique strain.

• Jose Bautista hurt his wrist or forearm on a swing, he went on the DL, but we were told he was progressing 'better than expected'. Well, his 15 days were up last week and he's not back. They have given us no suggestion of when he might be back. The injury is apparently worse than what we were led to believe.

• Adam Lind is on the DL with 'back tightness'. At first we were told he was only on the DL to open a roster spot. Since we were running with an 8 man bullpen, bench spots were at a premium. His 15 days are up at the end of the week but it sounds like he might be out longer

. • J.P. Arencibia broke his hand, he might be back in September.

• The others: Jason Frasor, Kyle Drabek (Tommy John), Drew Hutchison (Tommy John), Sergio Santos, Luis Perez (Tommy John), Dustin McGowan and Jesse Litsch will not be seen on a playing field again this year.

DRB: When the Rays do get on base, they do like to run. How are the Jays doing in controlling opponents' stolen bases this season?

BB: Our new full-time catcher (see injury list), Jeff Mathis has been very good at cutting down base stealers, catching 38% of those trying to take a base on him. I'd be careful about running on him. Yan Gomes, who'll likely catch one of the games, hasn't been run on yet in his 6 games behind the plate. I'd think you would want to run on him

DRB: Are things really that bad that Yunel Escobar has to hit cleanup vs. LHP as he did Sunday against the A's? How has John Farrell been putting lineups together with all of the injuries?

BB: It isn't the way I'd do it but Farrell has had as many as 5 recent call ups in the lineup. Add in that Jeff Mathis has been the main catcher and there isn't much that Farrell can do to make it look like a major league lineup. Pity us. On the flip side of that, Anthony Gose, Moises Sierra and David Cooper have added some life to the team.

DRB: Romero had his best start in eons his last time out but still walked four batters. In fact, it was his second straight start of allowing 3 runs or less. Was this from improvements or just a side effect of pitching at Seattle and at Oakland?

BB: Yeah, he has looked better the last couple of starts. I guess he best was to say it is that he went after the batters. For the longest time, he seemed to be afraid to throw strikes. He'd get himself behind in the count and either give up a walk or serve up a batting practise fastball right down the middle. The last two starts, for the most part, he was getting ahead of batters and then having them chase his pitches. I wouldn't say that he is 100% back, we are moving in the right direction.

DRB: The bullpen had to throw over 17 innings in the series against the A's and now the team is flying from coast to coast adding jet lag issues to the arm slag issues. What is the state of bullpen these days and what is the pecking order in front of Casey Janssen now?

BB: The pecking order is something that Farrell is still working out. We've made a couple of trades, that have added some arms to the pen, and I think Farrell is still trying figure out where everyone fits. Casey has been great in the closer role, but we haven't had many chances to make use of a closer for the last couple of weeks. Darren Oliver has been great in the 8th inning slot. I think Farrell is going to have Brad Lincoln share that role with him. Earlier innings will go to some combination of Brandon Lyon, Steve Delabar and Aaron Loup. The bullpen is greatly improved, and much deeper, than what we had earlier in the season.

DRB: Anything else Rays fans should know about the Jays?

BB: A season that started with so much hope has disintegrated into a mess of injuries and inconsistent play. The fun part now is watching the young players. Adeiny Hechavarria, Gose, Sierra and Cooper have given us something to watch, as we try to fight our way back to .500. We've been .500 19 times this season. If we can pick up a couple of wins, we'll be there yet again. It really feels like the Jays are underdogs right now, so any win feels that much sweeter.

Blue Jays Outright Andrew Carpenter to Triple-A

Blaine Blontz — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 14:00:42 -0000

The Toronto Blue Jays have outrighted right-hander Andrew Carpenter to Triple-A. Carpenter was designated for assignment this weekend.

Carpenter was one of the Blue Jays’ roster casualties following the promotions of shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria and right-hander Jesse Chavez. Left-hander Brett Cecil was also optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding roster move.

Carpenter had appeared in six games for the Blue Jays this season, allowing five earned runs over nine innings pitched. The 27-year-old struck out nine batters and surrendered six walks over this span.

Carpenter has also pitched for Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate this season, logging seventy-four and two-thirds innings over twenty-one appearances, including twelve starts. He maintained an ERA of 3.38 during this time, with 6.8 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9.

Carpenter has appeared in a total of twenty-three games at the major league level over the past five seasons; three years as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies and one season each with the San Diego Padres and Blue Jays.

Blue Jays Leave West Coast With A Win Against The Athletics

Minor Leaguer — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 23:46:49 -0000

Blue Jays 6 Athletics 5

Game 4 of the four-game series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Oakland Athletics started off with speed and excitement, courtesy of Rajai Davis and Anthony Gose.

In the top of the 1st inning, leadoff hitter Rajai Davis lined a double to left field to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. Davis' longest career hit streak was 14, recorded in September 2009 with the A's. Rookie Anthony Gose came up and dropped a very nice bunt on the first pitch from A's starter Tommy Milone. Catcher Derek Norris had a little bit of trouble handling it before he snapped a quick throw to Chris Carter at first base, barely getting Gose. Because Davis was on the move with the pitch, he was able to run all the way around to score the game's first run. It had seemed like a long time since Toronto scored first in a game--it's surprisingly fun!

The A's quickly tied the game up in the bottom of the 2nd on a Norris double, and took a 3-run lead in the following inning with one big swing by Josh Reddick. Aaron Laffey did not look good to start the game, but settled down quite nicely and faced 1 above the minimum for his final finished the game with an OK line: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 4 K. Not bad for someone who shouldn't be in a Major League rotation, I guess.

After the big inning by Oakland, Edwin Encarnacion answered by hitting a 2-run homerun in the next half-inning to close the deficit to 4-3. In the next inning, we saw the baseball gods give mercy to the Blue Jays finally. Moises Sierra and Adeiny Hechavarria led of the inning with two quick outs, and then Rajai Davis appeared to have hit an inning-ending popup to short, but it was not caught by anyone because the bright Californian sun. After a Gose double and an intentional walk to Encarnacion, Yunel Escobar ripped a 2-run single to left field then Kelly Johnson hit a short looper to plate Encarnacion to make it 6-4 Jays.

Brandon Lyon, Aaron Loup, and Steve Delabar came out to pitch the 7th and 8th, with Lyon giving up an RBI-double to Coco Crisp. Lyon struck out the side in the 6th and Delabar had a key strikeout to end the 7th.

Casey Janssen was then called in to finish the game in the 9th with the score at 6-5 for his first save situation since mid-July. It became a bit of a nervous ninth.

Derek Norris hit two balls hard and deep against Janssen, but both thankfully landed foul, before whiffing on a great pitch by the Blue Jays' closer. Janssen then walked Brandon Moss, who was pinch ran for by Eric Sogard. The next batter, Jemile Weeks hit a line drive down the 3rd base line for extra bases, but Yan Gomes made a great snag and threw it across the diamond to a stretched out David Cooper to double up Sogard. The game ended up like it started--with an exciting play.

Blue Jays of the Day! Yunel Escobar (+.193), Edwin Encarnacion (+.185), Casey Janssen (+.183--although he should some of the WPA with Gomes and Cooper), Kelly Johnson (+.111), the Sun (+?).

Aaron Laffey got the win but had Suckage Jay numbers (-.128), and Jeff Mathis barely qualified (-.100).

Chad Jenkins, who was called up before the game today, was in Oakland, but did not see any action. He joins the rest of his new teammates on a flight to Tampa, Florida, who will rest tomorrow before starting a three-game series against the Rays. Let's see if these new-looking Blue Jays can make it three wins in a row!

Monday Morning Media Mashup: Orange Edition

Minor Leaguer — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 13:00:36 -0000

Overall, it was a good week for Blue Jays baseball. Yes, Luis Perez, Sergio Santos, and Travis d'Arnaud are gone for the season, Jose Bautista lost the Home Run Derby, and the Blue Jays couldn't pickup a win for Ricky Romero on Friday....

OK alright, it hasn't been the best of weeks for Toronto's team, but hey--over 91,000 fans saw the Jays take two games against the Cleveland Indians this weekend. They are now 45-44 (.506), just 1.5 games back of the Baltimore Orioles for the final playoff spot. And of course, Alex Anthopoulos managed to extend the contract of Edwin Encarnacion, and the Baseball Writers' Association of America decided to honour Canadian sportswriter Bob Elliott on his lifetime of achievement in covering the Montreal Expos and the Toronto Blue Jays. The J.G. Taylor Spink Award is the writers' version of the Ford C. Frick Award, and it includes a plaque in the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in Cooperstown. Congratulations, Bob Elliott, on the tremendous honour!

The title for today's links post comes from a tweet from Blue Jays farmhand (and double Tommy John survivor) Johnny Anderson (@j0hnny_A), who asked:

Are oranges called oranges because they're orange, or is the color orange called orange because oranges are orange? #hmmm
— Johnny Anderson (@j0hnny_A) July 15, 2012

That was a question I was wondering about a couple years ago when a linguist friend of mine told be that the word "orange" was first used to name the fruit. It wasn't until relatively recently that the word "orange" was used regularly to describe the colour, which was described as "yellow-red" for a long time. The more you know. Here are your Monday morning links:

Blue Jays Related

Blue Jays pitching casualties unexplainable - Toronto Star
Dr. Glenn Fleisig, a lead researcher at Dr. James Andrew's sports medicine institute, believes that the rash of pitching injuries in Toronto is more random than systemic. He also adds that complete muscle tears don't generally happen on one single pitch; it probably signifies that a pitcher has been pitching through the pain of multiple microscopic tears.

Edwin Encarnacion and the Anatomy of Contract Value - Grantland
Just in case you missed it on Friday, here is Jonah Keri's take on Edwin Encarnacion's contract extension.

A Different Viewpoint on Edwin Encarnacion’s Contract - Mop-Up Duty
Matthias Koster over at Mop-Up Duty looks at who Edwin Encarnacion is at the plate. Protip: never throw him down and in.

So That’s That: Santos Needs Surgery, Out for the Year - Drunk Jays Fans
Drew Adequateservice writes about Sergio Santos' year-ending decision on getting surgery on his labrum, and tries to evaluate on what impact his loss has been on the Blue Jays.

San-toasted - The Tao of Stieb
The Org Guy gives you his two cents about Sergio Santos' injury and explains why this is nothing like the Mike Sirotka deal.

Looking at the rest of the AL East - Pinstripe Alley
Meatface gives a Yankees fan's perspective on the rest of the AL East in a FanPost up on the Yankees' SB Nation community. Like everyone, he notes that pitching is the Jays' weakness, and suggests names like Matt Garza and Jason Vargas.

Baseball coach brings his beautiful calligraphy to the dugout - The Globe and Mail
John Allemang writes a piece on Don Wakamatsu's lettering on Blue Jays lineup cards. If you want one of your own, just head to the memorabilia corner of the Blue Jays Shop at Rogers Centre.

Down On The Farm

Moniker Madness - MiLB.com
One of my favourite things about the Minor League Baseball website is their annual Moniker Madness bracket, where fans get to choose, elimination style, the best name in the minor leagues. Previous winners were Houston Summers, Will Startup, Dusty Napoleon, Rowdy Hardy, and Seth Schwindenhammer.

In round 1 (ends today), Dunedin Blue Jay Boomer Potts is facing Tyson Van Winkle, Adeiny Hechavarria is facing Bear Bay, Nicholas Baligod is facing Rougned Odor, and "James" Leblebijian (typo by MiLB.com, his real first name is Jason) takes on Zelous Wheeler. Unfortunately, I think Potts would be the only Blue Jays minor leaguer to advance in round 1 (which ends today), but go there and vote now! DunedinPatch has a little piece on why Potts is named Boomer.

2012 Jays Draft Signings a Resounding Success - Jays Journal
Mat Germain thinks the Blue Jays did a good job in the amateur draft this season in comparison to years past. Also has some quick summary statistics of the draft.

Jays' Lansing Big 3 unfazed by rumours - Sportsnet
Alexis Brudnicki writes about how Justin Nicolino, Noah Syndergaard, and Aaron Sanchez, especially how they are dealing with trade rumours (apparently, the Minnesota Twins have been watching Lugnuts games).

Lugnuts starter Sanchez has become one of baseball's top prospects - Lansing State Journal
Lots of love for the Lugnuts Three. Here, Brian Calloway puts the spotlight on Aaron Sanchez.

Jays Journal Prospects Profile: LoA Lansing's OF, Kevin Pillar - Jays Journal
Mat Germain profiles a prospect we don't hear too much about, Lansing Lugnuts outfielder Kevin Pillar.

Alleged slur uttered at Crawford in NH traced to Mass. police officer - New Hampshire Union Leader
Someone allegedly yelled racial slurs at Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford while he was rehabbing with the Portland Sea Dogs at New Hampshire, and it turns out that it could have been a Massachusetts police officer. Crawford is expected to be reactivated from the DL today.

Around The League

Comparing Hitters, the Very New School Way - Infield fly
Greg Wisniewski introduces a cool new feature on Baseball Prospectus that allows anyone to produce batting profiles using Pitch f/x data. He shows a home run location chart for Jose Bautista and Prince Fielder, which made me look up Corey Patterson's home run chart. Remember that eye-level homer he hit last year? It is literally off the chart.

Instant replay? Maybe imperfection is OK - ESPN
"Our culture today wants everything to be right all the time but sometimes perfection is found in overcoming mistakes." I have no idea what Anna McDonald means with that quote. I mean, yes, it is important for teams to overcome an umpire's bad call, but how is that perfection? McDonald writes a rare piece against more instant replay over at ESPN. I don't agree with her stance (or the stance of baseball elders) but it is worth a read.

More Around The League links right after the jump!

Four Pitchers Who Could be Traded - Beyond the Box Score
Talking about Garza, Ari Berkowitz writes about him and three other pitchers that could be pitching for another team come August.

As a 20-year-old rookie, Mike Trout may be the best player in baseball - CBSSports.com
Jon Heyman believes that Mike Trout, having all five-tools as well as baseball smarts, is the best player in baseball. He was the 25th overall pick of the 2009 draft--the Angels received the pick from the Yankees for free agent signee Mark Teixeria (they also got the pick for Tyler Skaggs). It is worth noting that the Blue Jays selected Chad Jenkins five slots ahead of him.

URL Weaver: The Mitchell Report Legacy Edition - Getting Blanked
Weekender Travis Reitsma writes about the uselessness of the Mitchell Report, and has a bunch of links should you feel this post did not have enough. He points out a bit of news that was overshadowed by Sergio Santos' decision to go for surgery: Travis d'Arnaud is also out for the rest of the season and will probably not participate in the Arizona Fall League.

1-3-6-2 Double Play, and Go Ahead Run- SB, E1 - Baseball is Magic
The Yankees turn a pickoff into an inning-ending double play and the San Diego Padres steal the tying run in the bottom of the 9th then go ahead on a throwing error. In the second video featured on this post, you will see one of the worst calls of the year, courtesy of home plate umpire Greg Gibson.

So Ozzie Guillen didn't like something Bryce Harper did with his bat - Nats Enquirer
Ozzie, you're supposed to wait until AFTER Harper homers to complain about pine tar height.

"Our Great League of the West" - Baseball Nation
If you have 26 minutes and 19 seconds to blow, this film on the Pacific Coast League's attempt to become a third major league could prove to be interesting.

Great Moments in Revisionist History: All-Star Game Edition - NotGraphs Baseball
One of the best posts I've ever read on NotGraphs. And that's saying something.