Blue Jays send Alford, Tellez, others to minor league camp

The Toronto Blue Jays reassigned another group of players to minor league camp on Saturday, including top prospects Anthony Alford and Rowdy Tellez

Several of Toronto’s top prospects have been reassigned from major league camp to the minor league side, including outfielder Anthony Alford, first baseman Rowdy Tellez, and shortstop Richard Urena.

None of the names above were considered to have a strong chance at cracking Toronto’s opening day roster, but the depth that Toronto has accumulated at the MLB and triple-A levels allows them to be rather flexible with the their roster decisions (and the timing of said decisions) this spring.

The three top-10 prospects struggled in their small sample of plate appearances this spring. Alford went 1-for-10 (.100), Tellez went 2-for-11 (.182), and Urena went 3-for-14 (.214). The trio did earn rave reviews however, Urena especially over the past week, for their cumulative body of work in camp. This experience was, after all, for the purpose of development.

Outfielder Roemon Fields hit .250 in his spring experience and, if he can continue to hone in on his stolen-base tool, he could be a sneaky candidate to surface in September as a speed specialist. Fields stole 46 bases between Dunedin, New Hampshire, and Buffalo in 2015

Scott Copeland threw three innings this spring without allowing a walk or a hit, and should provide the organization with quality depth from the triple-A Buffalo level.