It wasn’t a great day to be a Blue Jays affiliate team.
All four teams were in action, with all four teams losing on Friday evening, not great. Still there were some interesting notes from the games. Moreover, the Blue Jays have signed a pitching prospect from Australia, so that’s fun.
Let’s dig in!
Orelvis Martinez homers twice in Buffalo’s defeat
On Friday evening, the Buffalo Bisons played the Columbus Clippers, losing 9-3 to Cleveland’s Triple-A team.
The team only had three hits, Nathan Lukes had a single, while Orelvis Martinez hit two home runs. The first one gave the Bisons a 1-0 lead, while the second one gave the team a 3-2 lead.
Orelvis Martinez (@BlueJays No. 2 prospect) continued to show his power by homering in a third straight game, including hitting a pair on Friday night for the @BuffaloBisons: https://t.co/o1cKrkLVvO pic.twitter.com/z4U3RI6t0a
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 20, 2024
Alek Manoah made the start in his third rehab appearances, pitching well with a 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K line, while giving up a home run and getting hit near a sensitive area. All in all, it was an encouraging sign for the 26-year-old.
Alek Manoah gets hit with a ball, he's okay though. pic.twitter.com/y8lfXYqAxI
— Ryley Delaney (@Ryley_L_D) April 19, 2024
It all went downhill in the sixth inning though, as Brendon Little finished with a line of 1 IP, 2 H, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K, while Connor Cooke finished the inning giving up three earned runs in a third of an inning pitched.
Troy Watson finished the game, giving up an earned run, a walk, and striking out two batters in his inning of work.
Chad Dallas will be on the mound for the Bisons on Saturday.
New Hampshire once again lose late
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats were tied in the latter part of the game, similar to the past two games. This time, they were walked off in the bottom of the ninth, losing 3-2.
Andres Sosa hit his first home run of the season, while Gabriel Martinez hit his sixth double of the season, he’s off to a great start so far. Other players with a hit were Rainer Nuñez, Garrett Spain, and Michael Turconi.
Here's Andres Sosa's home run from yesterday evening! First of the season for the catcher. pic.twitter.com/9DH7TrdzHA
— Ryley Delaney (@Ryley_L_D) April 20, 2024
As for their pitching, Devereaux Harrison made the start and finished with a line of 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K with a home run given up, which is by far his best start of the season. Alejandro Melean ate some innings as well, pitching two innings with a hit and walk given up, but also a strikeout.
Trevor Clifton was tagged with the loss, pitching an inning + and giving up an earned run, two walks, and two strikeouts. Ian Churchill was the pitcher on the mound when the Portland Sea Dogs walked it off, and he gave up a walk and a single which ended the game.
Vancouver move to .500 for the season
For the past two seasons, the Vancouver Canadians have been the best affiliate team in the organization. However, with an 8-6 loss to the Eugene Emeralds, they moved to 6-6 for the season.
Unlike the first game of the series, the Canadians hit the ball, totalling 10 hits. Jeffrey Wehler hit the team’s only home run of the game, making it 6-4 in the top of the seventh. The only other extra-base hit belonged to Jackson Hornung, who hit a double.
Here's Jeffrey Wehler's home run from last night! His first home run of the season, and this was his third hit of the game. pic.twitter.com/gO2I6Qfbhl
— Ryley Delaney (@Ryley_L_D) April 20, 2024
Wehler had three of the Canadians ten hits, with Dasan Brown and Ryan McCarty picking up multi-hit games as well. Jace Bohrofen and Nick Goodwin also finished with singles.
In terms of pitching, Geison Urbaez started the game and finished with a line of 4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K to bring his season ERA to 1.08. Josh Mollerus finished with a line of 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, while Chay Yeager pitched an inning and two thirds and walked + struck out a batter.
Johnathan Lavallee was tagged with the loss, giving up four earned runs in the bottom of the eighth, while Naswell Paulino had to pitch the final third of an inning for him.
The Canadians will play a doubleheader on Saturday, with the first game starting at 8:05 PM ET.
Dunedin play another barn burner
One thing is certain about the Dunedin Blue Jays this season – they score a lot of runs. On Friday evening, they lost 10-7 as they gave up five runs in the final two innings, not great.
Cristian Feliz hit his second home run of the season, a blast that was over 108 mph off the bat. He’s only hitting .121, but he reminds me a lot of Rainer Nuñez.
Cristian Feliz crushes a solo 𝐇𝐑!🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/71KYDFEM1z
— Dunedin Blue Jays (@DunedinBlueJays) April 20, 2024
However, Dunedin’s players did hit a ton of doubles, as Alexis Hernandez, Roque Salinas, and Ricardo Balogh all had at least one double, with the latter hitting two. Moreover, Balogh and Salinas both had multi-hit games, with Salinas reaching base with a hit three times. Bryce Arnold also had a multi-hit game
Fernando Pérez made the start for the D-Jays, and finished with a line of 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. According to Savant data, he averaged 92.1 mph with the fastball and maxed out at 94.7 mph. Pérez also generated a game-high 12 whiffs for a 29 whiff%.
J.J. Sanchez finished with a line of 2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K to bring his season ERA to 1.69, while Eliander Alcalde was tagged with the loss, finishing with a line of 1.2 IP< 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K with a home run given up.
Jerry Huntzinger finished the inning for Alcalde, pitching two thirds of an inning with a strikeout, with a season ERA of 3.86.
Transactions in recent times
The Blue Jays have signed a right-handed pitching prospect from Australian named Manny Ramirez. The transaction page lists him as “Juan Ramirez”. Gate 14’s Avery Chenier was the first to find it on Twitter.
The Blue Jays have reportedly signed Manny Ramirez… from Australia pic.twitter.com/S1QZbxU268
— Avery Chenier (@AveryChenier) April 20, 2024
Moreover, the Jays have also released a handful of players. Cawrin Salcedo was signed in January 2023 and released on Friday, he had a 10.80 ERA in 13.1 innings pitched with the Dominican Summer League Jays in 2023. Osvaldo Pacheco also signed during the 2023 IFA period and had a 5.93 ERA in 13.2 innings pitched in the DSL.
Another pitcher, Omar Munoz, signed in 2022 and posted a 5.84 ERA in 24.2 innings pitched last season. While another Omar, Omar Romero was signed during the 2022 IFA period, and slashed .196/.388/.235 in 67 plate appearances last season with the DSL Jays.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.