April 21 Minor League Report

Apr. 23, 2012; Flushing, NY, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher

(47) pitches during the first inning of game one against the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Buffalo Bisons (11-4)

Veteran righty Miguel Batista made his third start for the Bisons, and, finally, it was a good one. The former Toronto Blue Jay (and Pirate, Expo, Cub, Marlin, Diamondback, Royal, Mariner, National, Cardinal, Met and Brave) had made two previous starts this season since signing a minor league deal with the Jays but didn’t get past the third inning in either one of them. On Sunday, however, 42-year-old Batista threw six strong innings, giving up just one run on one hit to lead the Bisons to their seventh straight victory 4-1 over the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. The offense got the job done with seven singles and five walks, with third baseman Andy LaRoche the only player to rap two hits.

Hitting:

Mike McCoy – 1/5, 2 K
Anthony Gose – 1/5
Mauro Gomez – 0/3, BB, 2 K
Luis Jimenez – 1/4, R, K
Eugenio Velez – 0/2, R, 2 BB, 2 K
Lance Zawadzki – 1/3, 2 RBI, BB, K, E, SB
Mike Nickeas– 0/4
Ryan Goins – 1/4, RBI

Pitching:

Miguel Batista – W, 6 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 3 K
Brad Lincoln – 2 IP, 2 K
Neil Wagner – S, 1 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, K

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Miguel Batista

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (8-10)

It was a rough day all around for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats as they fell to the Binghamton Mets 15-2 on Sunday afternoon. While starting pitcher Deck McGuire didn’t have his best stuff, his bullpen also couldn’t hold the fort when called upon and the defense also let down the pitching, making three errors that led to four unearned runs. McGuire had given up five runs through four and a third innings and faced loaded bases when he was pulled from the game in favour of Chorye Spoone. Spoone couldn’t limit the damage: he threw a wild pitch, scoring one, and walked three of the next four batters (around a strikeout) scoring the last two of McGuire’s inherited runners. Spoone himself was then lifted in favour of Canadian Trystan Magnuson.

There was little life for the offense on Sunday; only shortstop Kevin Nolan, right fielder Ricardo Nanita and catcher Sean Ochinko had two hits apiece while two other Fisher Cats had one each. Nanita made his count, hitting a long solo home run in the fourth inning. Second baseman John Tolisano and third baseman Kevin Ahrens were responsible for the three errors (Ahrens had two), all on fielding plays. Tolisano has made seven errors thus far this season, but since the Blue Jays’ closest “true” second base prospect is in Single-A Lansing, if Tolisano continues to hit, he will be given the opportunity to work on his skills at second.

Roster Note: OF Brad Glenn was placed on the temporary inactive list (my assumption from tweets is that he’s going home for the birth of a child) and OF Brian Van Kirk was activated from the disabled list.

Hitting:

Kenny Wilson – 0/4, BB, K
Kevin Pillar – 1/3, BB
Ryan Schimpf – 1/3, 2 BB
Clint Robinson – 0/5, K
Kevin Nolan – 2/4
Ricardo Nanita – 2/4, 2 R, HR, RBI
Sean Ochinko – 2/4, RBI
Kevin Ahrens – 0/3, BB, K
John Tolisano – 0/3, BB, K

Pitching:

Deck McGuire – L, 4 1/3 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 6 BB, 0 K
Chorye Spoone – 1/3 IP, 3 BB, 1 K
Trystan Magnuson – 1 1/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R (3 ER), 1 BB
Tommy Hottovy – 1 IP
Fernando Hernandez – 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K
Joel Carreno – 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 2 K

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Ricardo Nanita

Dunedin Blue Jays (13-4)

#1 Blue Jays prospect Aaron Sanchez took to the hill again on Sunday looking for a bounce back start from his four-inning, three-earned-run effort his last time out. Sanchez was in fine form today leading the Dunedin Blue Jays to their fourth consecutive win, 9-1 over the Daytona Cubs. In doing so, Sanchez set personal season highs for innings pitched (six and two-thirds) and strikeouts (five) while limiting batters to just two hits and one walk. One of the biggest concerns for Sanchez has been whether he will be able to command his 97 mph fastball and sharp breaking pitches, and so far this season, he has shown excellent control, walking only seven in his first twenty and two-thirds innings in the higher-quality Florida State League.

The rest of the team had an outstanding day with the bats: every man in the lineup registered at least one hit, and all but two drove in at least a run. Derrick Chung (normally a catcher, but playing third base today) and designated hitter Kevin Patterson had two hits and two RBI each while right fielder Gabe Jacobo and left fielder Matt Newman also had two hits apiece. Newman has shown surprising power this season, hitting his first home run of the year on Sunday. He now has six doubles and the one home run, contributing to a .311/.415/.511 triple slash line.  Joining Newman on the home run train was first baseman K.C. Hobson. Hobson went yard for the second consecutive game, and Dunedin Blue Jays radio voice Tyler Murray informed me that Hobson definitely got a hold of this one, calling it a “LASER SHOT.”

Hitting:

Jon Berti – 1/5, RBI, 2 K
Matt Newman – 2/5, 2 R, HR, RBI, K
Andy Burns – 1/5, R, 2B,
K.C. Hobson – 1/4, R, H, HR, RBI, 2 K
Gabe Jacobo – 2/4, 2 R, RBI, K
Kevin Patterson – 2/3, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K
Pierce Rankin – 1/4, R, 2 K
Nick Baligod – 1/3, RBI, BB
Derrick Chung – 2/4, 2 RBI

Pitching:

Aaron Sanchez – W, 6 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K
Marco Grifantini – 1 1/3 IP, 1 BB, 1 K
Tony Davis – 1 IP, 1 BB, 3 K

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Aaron Sanchez

Lansing Lugnuts (4-9)

The Lansing Lugnuts made a game of it, but ultimately dropped their third contest in a row, losing to the Fort Wayne TinCaps 7-5 on Sunday. Starter Daniel Norris was off to his best start of the season, having given up two runs through four innings, but ran into trouble in the fifth inning, surrendering three consecutive singles (and two runs) to start the inning. Reliever Ben White came on to get out of the inning, but not before loading the bases and allowing the last of Norris’s inherited runners to score.

The Lugnuts had a big inning in the top of the sixth, loading the bases on walks to Seth Conner, Dalton Pompey and Jorge Flores. Second baseman Christian Lopes, right fielder Carlos Ramirez and left fielder Chris Hawkins hit consecutive singles scoring four runs and third baseman Kellen Sweeney reached on a fielding error by Fort Wayne that allowed the Lugnuts’ fifth run to score, tying the game at five. The TinCaps got back out front in a hurry with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the sixth inning by Rodney Daal and scored one more off reliever Ben White before Wil Browning came on to get two strikeouts to end the threat.  That was all the Lugnuts could muster, however and the score remained 7-5.

Center field prospect Dalton Pompey had another great day for the losing side. He went two for three with a walk and a run, giving him three very good games in a row. The Balbino watch continues: first baseman Fuenmayor is now hitless in his last six games and has only one hit in his last ten. In that span, he is one for thirty-six with sixteen strikeouts.

Hitting:

Dalton Pompey – 2/3, R, BB
Jorge Flores – 0/3, R, BB
Christian Lopes – 1/4, R, RBI, E
Carlos Ramirez – 1/2, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, CS
Chris Hawkins – 1/4, RBI, 2 K
Kellen Sweeney – 0/4
Balbino Fuenmayor – 0/4, 1 K
Seth Conner – 1/3, R, 2B, BB
Emilio Guerrero – 1/4, K

Pitching:

Daniel Norris – 4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 3 K
Ben White – 1 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 1 HR
Wil Browning – 1 2/3 IP, 2 BB, 5 K
Ian Kadish – 1 IP

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Dalton Pompey

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