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Jays Minors Notes: 25-Jul-10

By Mat Germain

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Here are some Jays minors notes as we begin the last week of July 2010:

  • Adeiny Hechavarria is really beginning to get hot at the plate. The Cuban SS is hitting .349 with 4 doubles and 2 stolen bases during his 10 game hitting streak and now has a .295 average in AA this season. That’s a huge improvement over his sub Mendoza period in HiA.
  • Eric Thames hammered his 19th HR of the season in AA and has a .432 OBP over his last 10 games.  The 23 year old outfielder will surely get a shot at AAA very soon.
  • Adam Loewen hit his 11th HR of the year and joins Thames in terms of great OBP over his last 10 games with a .425 OBP.
  • Merkin Valdez got the start last night for AAA Las Vegas and allowed 12 ER in 2 IP…..I’m fairly certain that this experiment is over and that Merkin will head back to the pen. The squad wound up losing that game to a football score of 21-4. Forget about it, move on.
  • Danny Farquhar was touched up for 3 ER yesterday in AA and now has a 4.62 ERA on the season in 39 outings. Not sure if we should be worried here as he is one of the favorites to make the move up if the Jays deal some pen guys, but he has shown some cracks in 2010, mostly due to his 33 walks in 50 IP.
  • Shawn Griffith threw 4 shutout and hitless innings in Aubun, allowing only 2 walks while striking out 6. The RHP has a lot of work to do to get a move up to Lansing or Dunedin, but this is a great starting point to turn his bad season and 6.00 ERA around.
  • Drew Hutchison allowed 1 ER in his 3 IP in Auburn and now has a 3.06 ERA over 8 GS.  He has only allowed 8 walks to his 32 Ks over that span in 35 IP, and has a very promising whip of 1.00. Look for a promotion to Lansing or Dunedin soon.
  • Henderson Alvarez (7-6) took the loss for Dunedin as he allowed 4 ER in 6 IP. His ERA was raised to 3.90 on the season as a result. The good news is that he walked none and got 6 Ks in the outing.
  • Travis d’Arnaud is mired in a deep slump. Over his last 10 games (37 ABs), Travis has hit .189 with an alarming 14 Ks and .279 OBP. He has yet to hit a HR in July. It is possible that Travis is still dealing with an injury, something that kept him out of games for a while earlier this season, or that he’s rusty since returning from injury. Whatever the case, the Jays have to be hoping he returns to form in August.

With the trade deadline looming, it could very well be that some of these players are dealt. It will be fun to see what the Jays are able to add to their great looking core of guys. Let’s remember that in the short time that Alex Anthopolous has been with the Jays, they’ve been able to add:

I think that Alex has addressed most of the really pressing needs the Jays had when he took over, but that he still would like to add the following if he can before the deadline:

  • A close to MLB ready 3B prospect;
  • A real cleanup hitter if the price is right and teams matchup (Fielder);
  • One or two more top SP prospect(s); and
  • A close to MLB ready OF prospect.

If he finds one these items, I will be very impressed. My best guess is that he may land 1 top SP prospect and another high end SP prospect (Bautista) and 1 close to MLB ready OF prospect (Buck) if he finds the right trade partners. Otherwise, the Jays just need depth across the board, as they have really done a great job revamping their system and filling up the arsenal during the 2010 draft with lots of great arms.

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