July 21, 2012; Boston, MA, USA; Toronto Blue Jays catcher

The Jays couldn’t muster anything against he A’s. Travis Snider drove close to getting over the wall, but aside from that, the bats were docile in the latest loss to the red hot Oakland squad. There isn’t much to talk about on the Jays front, aside from saying Ricky Romero had nightmares last night and needs to find himself ASAP. What everyone really wants to know is just how long will J.P. Arencibia be out of action after taking a ricochet off the hand and fracturing it.

The current word is “at least 6 weeks”, which in my mind means just short of the rest of the regular season. We certainly hope that he makes a full recovery and gets back to action as soon as possible, but we can’t help but ask who’s going to take over behind the plate over that span?

Jeff Mathis is the first name that will likely pop out of people’s mouths. Well, he certainly fits the bill as a dependable and defensive specialist catcher, but the most games Jeff has caught in the majors in one season was 94 in 2008. He currently sits at 27 games caught in 2012 and is going to need some help behind the plate, no doubt about it.

Yan Gomes is the next obvious choice, since he has worked with most of the pitchers currently up with the Jays. However, he has only caught 4.1 innings while up with the Jays this season while also filing in at 1B, 3B, and in LF. He’ll need to sharpen up to take on the backup role, if that’s the current plan, but at least he has 33 games caught while in Las Vegas and will likely be good-to-go for the amount of playing time he’ll get behind the plate. One note for Gomes is that he only caught 22% of base stealers this season in AAA.  (more…)

Las Vegas 51s (more…)

Anthony Gose is set to make his major league debut with the Blue Jays this week. (Original photo)

After a rough start to his inaugural Triple-A campaign in which he hit .216 with a .583 OPS in April, Gose has turned things around this season with the 51s. Though he has still struggled against left-handed pitching, the California native has managed to bring his average up to .292 with an OPS over .800 while adding a league-leading 29 stolen bases.

I was able to chat with Gose for a few minutes in a recent trip to Las Vegas, where the 21-year-old touched on the mechanical adjustments he’s made this season, his two-strike approach and the defensive side of his game, among other things.

Obviously you’ve been seeing the ball well lately, what’s been different now compared to the first month of the season?

“Slowing things down at the plate. Working with Chad on some mechanical flaws early in the season and trying to iron those out. I’m still working on that, and just trying to stay as consistent as possible with the mechanics and being slow and under control at the plate.”

Speaking of mechanical adjustments, you made a lot of them last year. Has it been nice to just go out there and hit this year a bit more?

“Yeah, it’s been fun. I’ve definitely seen the lowest of lows at the beginning of the season and I’m starting to play a little better so it’s definitely been fun and been a transition.”

It’s easy to see your improvements to your two-strike approach. How have you worked on that this season?

“Just really staying within the zone even with two strikes and not expanding outside the zone. Putting the ball in play more, not trying to do too much with it and just put it in play and give yourself a chance to get on base.”

How are you different as a player this year than you were with New Hampshire last year?

“I’d say I’m a little more consistent at the plate, I’ve cut down on my swing a bit, it’s not as big of a swing.”

I remember hearing that, at the major league level, your tools have the ability to change the outcome of a series. How important is your work in the outfield to you?

“I just take a lot of pride in my defense, that’s what’s really going to carry me throughout my career is running the bases and playing good defense and being able to put the bat on the ball more consistently — just trying to do what I can to help the team win. Saving runs helps the pitcher, helps the team, sometimes changes the momentum and gets us back into the dugout.”

Does periodically playing a corner outfield spot matter to you, or do you just want to be in the lineup every day regardless of position?

“You know, I’ll play anywhere they put me. They can put me in right field, I don’t know, I’ll play anywhere. I ‘ll catch for them. I just want to be on the field and play and have a good time.”

- JM

The broadcast team related the injury to an earlier scoring play, when Bautista was forced to reach for the plate and seemed to put a lot of pressure on his wrist in the process. However, there seemed to be more damage done on the follow through of his extreme torque swing, as he finished it and bent the wrist in an awkward position. His left wrist will definitely need at the very minimum a few games to heal, but it’s more likely that he’ll need to more time off than just a few games. Wrist injuries tend to be finicky, and if not addressed correctly the first time they show themselves, they can linger for a very long time.  (more…)

After spending the bulk of his 2011 season at Triple-A Omaha in Kansas City’s minor league system, Chavez didn’t like the way he performed and went to winter ball, where he reverted back to a more normal arm slot and abandoned the sidearm angle that he threw from while with the Royals.

The Blue Jays claimed Chavez off waivers back in October and removed him from their 40-man roster in December. The initial plan with Chavez, a full-time reliever since 2005, was to have him serve as a bullpen long man, but according to Stanley, things changed after spring training.

“I think the theory on that was that Pete Walker and the pitching coach and myself, in spring training, [determined that] if he’s going to be a middle relief pitcher in the big leagues then we need to start him to build up his innings,” Stanley said. “And that was the theory, not knowing that he’d pitch so good as a starter.”

This season with the 51s, Chavez has compiled a 3.84 ERA in 70 1/3 innings (12 starts), with one complete game, 65 strikeouts, a career-low 1.9 BB/9 and a career-low 1.123 WHIP.

In addition to throwing a four-seam and two-seam fastballs, Chavez throws a power slider/cutter that’s around 89 or 90 mph, a changeup and an average curveball that Stanley said is made better by his other pitches. Now that he’s no longer throwing sidearm, Chavez is also starting to throw a splitter.

Repertoire aside, Stanley spoke very highly of the 28-year-old as a person.

“He’s a really big competitor, he’ll do whatever you ask,” Stanley said. “He’s a guy that’s on or around the plate; he’s not wild. He just doesn’t throw it down the middle. He’s a pitcher not a thrower.

“When he goes out there you know you’re going to get at least six, so it’s a good feeling for a pitching coach.”

About three weeks ago, it was reported in May that the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks from Japan tried to pry Chavez away from the Blue Jays with a two-year, $3 million contract, but Toronto rejected the deal. Now, with injuries to Brandon Morrow, Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison, keeping Chavez worked out for the Blue Jays, who have called on him to make the first major league start of his career tonight at Miller Park.

Right-hander Jesse Chavez makes his first major league start tonight for the Blue Jays. (Original Photo)

Adam Lind exited Thursday night's Las Vegas 51s game early after fouling a ball off of his shin. (Original Photo)

Chris Woodward made an impromptu appearance at first base for the 51s in the top of the fifth inning, when Adam Lind was removed from the game for an unknown reason. However, 51s manager Marty Brown implied after the game not to read too much into the move.

“He just hit a foul ball off his shin,” he said, adding that Lind was spotted limping in the clubhouse after the game. “He hit it pretty solid off of his shin, so we’ll see. He’s kind of day-to-day, we’ll see how he is tomorrow.”

Offensively, designated hitter Travis d’Arnaud got the 51s on the board in the first inning with a hard-hit RBI double to the gap in left center for his 20^th two-bagger of the season.

After Colorado Springs scored four unanswered runs to take a 5-1 lead, the 51s made it a 5-3 game in the bottom of the sixth on two-run double by third baseman Kevin Howard. After d’Arnaud and right fielder Moises Sierra drew walks, Howard, who finished 3-for-4 on the night, roped an 0-1 pitch to the opposite field down the third base line.

Sierra, who hustles on every play and legged out an infield single earlier in the game, scored all the way from first with a head-first slide at home plate to narrowly beat the throw.

While Brown didn’t seem too thrilled with the head-first slide, the 51s skipper certainly enjoys the way Sierra plays the game.

“We’ll have to talk about that tomorrow,” Brown said of the slide. “But you have to appreciate the way he goes about playing the game. He comes [to the park] with the idea of going 100%. He’s fun to have around.”

The Sky Sox got to 51s starter Andrew Carpenter early, as a sacrifice fly in the first inning and back-to-back doubles in the second quickly put two runs on the board. Carpenter ran into a jam in the top of the fourth, when Sky Sox first baseman Chad Tracy roped a pitch to left fielder Eric Thames for a leadoff double.

Thames dove to try and make the play, but the ball deflected off of his glove and rolled to the outfield wall behind him. A walk and a sacrifice bunt after that put runners on second and third with one out, but Carpenter was able to escape the inning unscathed after getting two key ground outs.

In the fifth, after a walk and a single put runners on first and second, Carpenter gave up another double, this time to former Angels third baseman Brandon Wood. Cut-off man Adeiny Hechavarria cleanly relayed Thames’ throw from left field with a perfect toss to home, but catcher Paul Phillips couldn’t hold on to the ball when he tried to make the tag and two runs came in to score.

Carpenter finished his outing having allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits with three walks. He didn’t have his best stuff on the night, and his manager said that Sky Sox hitters took advantage of balls left up in the zone.

“He didn’t really establish his fastball like he has in some other outings,” Brown said. “Obviously he’s the type of guy that uses all of his pitches from the get-go and is more of a command guy. He got the ball up in the zone a few times today and it ended up hurting him, but it was an unusual outing.

“He usually gives you a really good start and gives you a chance to win.”

After right-hander Bobby Korecky gave up one run on three hits in the sixth, 37-year-old Tim Redding, who hadn’t pitched since June 3, surrendered a one-out solo home run in the seventh. In the next at-bat, Redding made a nice barehanded throw on a bunt by Sky Sox left fielder Brandon Roberts, and though the throw was in timE. Roberts was ruled safe as Woodward came off the first base bag.

In his first Triple-A appearance of the season, right-hander Ronald Uviedo worked around a double to throw a scoreless ninth. Uviedo, 25, managed a 3.10 ERA in 29 innings for Double-A New Hampshire prior to Thursday night.

Scott Richmond (5-4, 5.89 ERA) takes the hill for the 51s tonight on a Fireworks Friday at Cashman Field.

Making his first Triple-A start of the season following a 3.38 ERA over his last 10 outings with Double-A New Hampshire, Cecil was in control for most of the night. Facing a Tucson lineup of almost entirely right-handed hitters, Cecil limited the Padres to seven singles in the first six innings, working primarily on the outer half of the plate except against Padres first baseman Matt Clark, Tucson’s lone left-handed hitter.

Brett Cecil gets a visit from the 51s' trainer after getting hit with a comebacker in the first inning. (Original photo)

Cecil’s heavily-used fastball periodically touched 89 mph and hit 90 twice, but was otherwise thrown almost exclusively at 88 mph with the occasional 85/86. If he missed outside with his fastball it wasn’t by much, and he was hitting his spots with it when he needed to. He didn’t have his best curveball, as it sat between 75 and 78 mph and was up in the zone more often than not, but his slider, which touched 85 mph, and his changeup, which sat 80-82 mph, looked really good when compared to some of his outings in the past.

Cecil ran into some trouble in the top of the seventh, when Padres right fielder Jonathan Roof followed up back-to-back one-out singles with a RBI double from  to put runners on second and third. A groundout plated Tucson’s second run, but a heads-up throw to third from 51s shortstop Jonathan Diaz got the second out of the inning. After a hard-hit double to left center put runners on second and third once again, though, Cecil was pulled from the game.

“I think I was just trying to do a little bit too much, I knew that it was probably going to be my last inning,” Cecil said of the seventh. “I would’ve liked to end the game with no runs but I was just trying to do too much, trying to make my fastball firmer.”

Clint Everts came on in relief and fired a wild pitch that scored the third run of the game, which was charged to Cecil. Even still, Cecil was pleased with the outing, that had a final line of three earned runs on 11 hits with six strikeouts.

“No walks, I gave up a few more hits that I would’ve liked to, but it was pretty good I thought,” Cecil said of his quality start.

After taking a 13-hour bus ride with the Fisher Cats from New Hampshire to Richmond on Monday for a three-game series against the Flying Squirrels, Cecil was notified of his Triple-A assignment at 9:30 pm that night. Going off of a six-hour nap, Cecil traveled all day Tuesday to make it in time for his start with the 51s.

Cecil said the hectic travel schedule didn’t affect his start, but the new Las Vegas climate did.

“I don’t think it was [the travel], as much as just coming back to the air up here,” he said. “I told one of the guys that I was out of breath throwing my pen warming up for the game. When I’ve come to Vegas [in the past] I’ve had at least a few days to get accustomed to it, but having come here, I went straight to the hotel and then right to the ballpark so obviously I didn’t spend much time outside.

“As soon as I got out there, near the end of my bullpen I started to feel myself breathing heavy trying to get that thin air into my lungs.”

Catcher Travis d’Arnaud led the 51s’ offense with a 4-for-5 night, and looked every bit like the No. 1 prospect that he is. After fouling a pitch off in the first inning to fall behind 0-2, d’Arnaud took the next pitch for a ball before hitting an opposite-field double down the right field line. In the third inning, d’Arnaud opted to swing at a first-pitch breaking ball, which he drove over the wall in right-center field for a two-run home run, his 15^th of the season.

In his next at-bat, d’Arnaud roped a first-pitch, two-out single to right field and quickly found himself a triple shy of hitting for the cycle in only the fourth inning.

“I was messing around with the guys a little bit about it but that’s about it,” he said about the potential cycle. “I tried not to over-think anything and just stay simple.”

Overlooked in the box score was a stellar defensive play by d’Arnaud. After Cecil had given up back-to-back singles in the top of the fifth inning, d’Arnaud picked his pitcher up by firing an absolute laser to second base to pick off Padres third baseman Jesus Merchan. The throw was on a line — nearly taking Cecil’s head off — and arrived at the bag before Merchan realized what had just happened.

Anthony Gose, starting in left field, also had a nice night on both sides of the ball. In the field, he notched an outfield assist in the top of the fourth after firing a no-bounce throw to home plate that arrived almost two full seconds ahead of the runner, who d’Arnaud simply tagged out standing up. After the play, “ooohs” and “ahhs” were heard from the crowd, along with applause and cheers.

At the plate, Gose executed a perfect squeeze bunt with two outs and the bases loaded in the second inning to reach base and drive a run in. It was easy to see that he’s been working on his two-strike approach as well, as he fouled off a 1-2 pitch to stay alive in the sixth before slapping a single to the opposite field in left. In the bottom of the eighth, Gose roped another 1-2 pitch down the line in left field for a double, finishing the night 3-for-4 with a walk, a double and a RBI.

Center fielder Moises Sierra quietly reached base in all five of his plate appearances and definitely impressed. In addition to getting hit by a pitch and drawing a pair of full-count walks, he hit a first-pitch moon shot over the scoreboard in left field for a solo home run in the fifth.

Sierra’s maximum effort was also noticeable, as he hit a high chopper in the eighth but hustled his way down to first base to beat the throw in a bang-bang play at the bag. He also scored from second on a single earlier in the game to beat the throw at home.

Overall, the 51s’ offense pounded out nine runs on 15 hits, nearly half of which were for extra bases. Adam Lind hit a two-run home run off a curveball for his third homer in two nights and Adeiny Hechavarria hustled out his third triple of the season as well.

The 51s look to complete a three-game sweep of the Padres in the series finale tonight at Cashman Field. Right-hander Jesse Chavez (6-2, 3.68 ERA) takes the hill for Las Vegas.

Signed to a minor league contract by the Jays on December 9, Coello last pitched in the majors for the Red Sox in 2010. In 17 games for Las Vegas this season, the 27-year-old has compiled a 3.22 ERA/3.94 FIP with 38 strikeouts and just 26 hits in 36 1/3 innings. Technically a three-pitch pitcher, Coello favors his 90 mph fastball and will occasionally mix in a low-80′s changeup.

In addition to losing his handle on the strike zone periodically, Coello is a much better pitcher against right-handed hitters — two things that I alluded to in an article back on March 5 after seeing Coello pitch in a spring training game.

“Jays reliever Robert Coello didn’t have the kind of day that he wanted in the bottom of the seventh, as he gave up a wind-carried solo home run to Pirates hitter Nick Evans before walking Yamaico Navarro and hitting Jordy Mercer,” I wrote in the article. “Coello, throwing hard inside to right-handed hitters, finished the day having allowed two earned runs on two hits with a walk, though it could have been much worse.”

Right-hander Robert Coello is the latest reliever to be called up to the Blue Jays. (Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE)

It should be noted that while Coello has walked nine batters in his last three outings and 17 in 36 innings this season, he’s been stretched out from making one-inning relief outings at the end of April to five-inning starts as recently as May 28.

A former 20th round pick by the Cincinnati Reds in 2004, Coello spent the entire 2011 season in the Chicago Cubs’ minor league system, managing a 4.19 ERA in 34 games (116 innings) split between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa.

- JM

With his appearance, the Sao Paulo native will be the first Brazilian-born player to play in the big leagues.

A 10th round pick by the Blue Jays in 2009, Gomes dominated short season ball in his draft year, clubbing 27 extra base hits at the plate while throwing out 34% of basestealers. The following year in 2010, he needed just seven games with Class-A Lansing before playing the rest of the season with High-A Dunedin, where he hammered 21 doubles and nine home runs in only 233 at-bats.

Despite showing promise on both sides of the ball, Gomes has always been lower on the Blue Jays’ organizational depth chart, behind top catching prospects Travis d’Arnaud, A.J. Jimenez and Carlos Perez.

Yan Gomes will make his MLB debut tonight at Rogers Centre. (Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE)

But in addition to earning a brief promotion to Triple-A last season, Gomes closed out his 2011 campaign on a high note with Double-A New Hampshire, reaching base in 24 of his final 29 regular season games with a .288 average and .914 OPS over that span — higher than d’Arnaud, the eventual Eastern League MVP.

Even with successful minor league seasons under his belt, Gomes reported to spring training this season with little fanfare. He did, however, manage to work his way deep into camp as one of the final cuts and left quite an impression on various members of the Jays’ front office and coaching staff, including manager John Farrell.

So when Gomes, in addition to catching and DHing periodically, started playing third base and more at first base this season, he continued to open eyes. The fact he went on a tear at the plate — Pacific Coast League and BABIP aside — in his first 33 games this season to the tune of a .359 average and .956 OPS certainly opened those eyes even further.

So when the Blue Jays optioned first baseman Adam Lind and withdrew third baseman Brett Lawrie‘s suspension appeal in the same day, one right before their first three-game interleague series of the year, calling up Gomes seemed to make the most sense given his options.

I wrote an article on him last October entitled, “Keep an eye on Yan Gomes“, and that still holds true today. He might not get the same coverage as other catching prospects in a well-stocked Blue Jays minor league system, but he does have some pop in his bat and his versatility should come in handy over the next few days.

Gomes’ first major league at-bat will come against right-hander Phil Hughes, which is perfect considering his OPS against right-handed pitching was almost 200 points higher than against southpaws last season. Gomes, a right-handed hitter, has hit nearly all of the home runs in his professional career against right-handers as well.

It’s always exciting to watch a player’s big league debut, and you can catch it live on Sportsnet at 7 p.m. ET.

-JM

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Talking to a scout, Rosenthal relayed that the anonymous talent evaluator felt that d’Arnaud looked like Yankees catcher Russell Martin in his early days with the Dodgers, and that d’Arnaud could play in the Majors right now.

The Blue Jays have high hopes for Travis d'Arnaud. (Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE)

“The Jays, as I’ve written before, are in no rush with D’Arnaud. J.P. Arencibia lacks d’Arnaud’s upside and only recently has started hitting, but the Jays like the way he handles their staff,” Rosenthal added.

Should d’Arnaud develop into — or even exceed — the 27-double, 14-home run, .285 hitter and Gold Glove-caliber defender that Martin was from 2006-08 for the Dodgers, I’m sure that the Blue Jays’ front office would be more than pleased, especially considering that the young catcher was the more unknown player received in the Roy Halladay trade over two years ago.

While d’Arnaud, ranked the 17th-best prospect in baseball by Baseball America before the season, hasn’t exactly hit the ball the way many people thought he would in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League this season, his season at this point has been far from a disappointment. Though his current .141 ISO is his lowest since 2007 and well below the .231 mark he managed with New Hampshire in 2011, d’Arnaud has two home runs in his last three games and has improved his pitch recognition at the plate, drawing more walks and cutting down his strikeout rate all while playing above-average defense.

D’Arnaud should see a September call-up at the very least this season, but depending on how Arencibia performs on both sides of the ball in the coming months, we could very well see the Las Vegas 51s catcher before then.

- JM

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