Adonys Cardona warms up during Spring Training 2012 (Image via MLBProspectPortal.com)

Name: Adonys Cardona

Position: Right Handed Pitcher

Date of Birth: 01/16/1994 (19)

Acquired: Signed as an International Free Agent in July 2010 ($2,800,000 USD)

High School: N/A

College: N/A

Height/Weight: 6’1”/170 lbs

Bats/Throws: R/R

Awards and Accomplishments:

• Ranked 11th on 2012 top 30 prospects list

2012 Statistics and Analysis

0-1, 15.2 IP, 15 H, 11 ER, 1 HR, 10 BB, 20 K
6.32 ERA (3.58 FIP), 1.60 WHIP, 11.49 K/9, 5.74 BB/9, 1.25 GO/AO

Adonys Cardona had a very good professional debut with the Gulf Coast Blue Jays in 2011, which led many – myself included – to believe he’d spend the 2012 season in Bluefield or Vancouver. If the Blue Jays had plans of doing so, they were quickly put on hold during the spring when Cardona went through some arm soreness. At just 18 years old, the organization felt no need to push Cardona, instead choosing to hold him back in Florida where they could keep a better eye on him through the entirety of the season. The results obviously weren’t where they were expected to be, as Cardona struggled mightily, particularly in the control aspect of his game. Despite being limited to a three-inning maximum, he walked batters in six of his eight appearances, for a rather unsightly 5.74 BB/9. The strikeout rate remained strong, as after punching out 35 batters in 31.2 innings in 2011, he struck out another 20 in just 15.2 innings this past season. That number really speaks to the quality of his stuff, as even when he has no real idea where his pitches are going, he can still generate swings and misses.

Scouting Report

Video (via MLBProspectPortal.com)

Delivery Mechanics

Adonys Cardona is listed at 6-foot-1, but I’m not entirely sure I buy that measurement. He looks much bigger on the mound, and he complements the height with an overhand arm slot. By coming over the top, he creates a natural downward plane on his pitches, which is an excellent choice for a pitcher whose repertoire focuses more on vertical movement than horizontal. The mechanics are sound, as Cardona has a smooth and easy arm action that makes it appear as though the ball is flying out of his hand.

Pitch Arsenal Breakdown

Like almost every 19 year old pitcher, Cardona’s pitch arsenal is built around a power fastball. The four seam offering regularly clocks in the 90-95 mph range, which is a significant improvement upon years past. When he originally signed, Cardona sat between 86-90 miles per hour, but as he’s grown physically, the velocity has grown with him. There’s potential for even more growth with the pitch, as Cardona is still just a teenager and has some room on his frame to add muscle mass. Beyond the velocity, the heater has impressive explosion and life. The ball explodes out of his hand thanks to the aforementioned easy arm action, and the fastball is very heavy because of the overhand release and the sinking motion he adds to the pitch. Overall, the fastball has at least plus potential, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it grades out as plus-plus in his twenties.

Cardona features a pair of offspeed pitches, and while both have been impressive at times, consistency remains a glaring flaw. His primary breaking ball is a near 12-to-6 curveball that has big break and is thrown with good velocity. He can get impressive spin rotation on the pitch, generating sharp, late bite. Cardona’s biggest issue with the curveball is consistent location, which leads back to a mechanical flaw. He has a tendency to release the pitch early, which not only causes it to be up in the zone more often than it should be, but it makes it easier to discern from the fastball and make an adjustment. While it’s presently below average, most feel it has the potential to be a plus pitch if he cleans things up, as it meshes very well with his overhand arm slot. Rounding out the arsenal is a straight changeup. It’s definitely a work in progress, but considering Cardona just completed his age 18 season – when most pitchers are still in high school – it’s fairly advanced. His natural arm action creates a lot of deception, and he has good velocity separation from the fastball while throwing the change in the low 80’s. He’s still struggling with location and to find the balance between firmness and fade, but overall the pitch has above average potential and should be an effective weapon against lefties.

Projection

The perfect world projection for Adonys Cardona would be a number two or three starter, but if durability issues remain a long term problem, he could be an elite reliever.

2013 Outlook, Risk, and ETA

Cardona’s main focus for 2013 needs to be staying healthy and building arm strength, as he went backwards in both aspects last season. Given his inning limitations of 2012, he should find himself in a piggy backing system with the Bluefield Blue Jays to open the summer. If things progress as hoped, Cardona should see Vancouver at some point in August, as the organization has put an emphasis on sending elite prospects there before shuttling them off to Lansing the following year. 40-50 innings in 2013 may be the goal for both the player and organization. The process is going to be a slow one, and the risk with Cardona is most definitely in the extreme category. The best case scenario for ETA would be the second half of 2017, and while that seems extremely far away, remember that Cardona will only be 23 at that point. He’s still extremely young, and patience is of the utmost importance.

In terms of page views and feedback (both positive and negative, but thankfully mostly the former), the series was one of the most popular things I’ve done in my two-ish years of writing about the Blue Jays. As such, I’ve decided to break down the system once again, and hopefully another year of experience and knowledge will make the list that much more thorough and interesting to the readers.

The sixth part of the series will look at right handed pitchers, a position where Toronto has one of the strongest and deepest systems in all of baseball. I narrowed the list down to just six pitchers, but I could have gone on for at least twelve to fifteen without scraping the bottom of the barrel if I had enough time and clever classifications.

• Top right handed pitcher prospect to reach MLB (last 5 years): Kyle Drabek
• Right handed pitchers in 2012 Top 30: 12
• Right handed pitcher WAR leaders in MLB (last 5 years): Roy Halladay (14.9), Brandon Morrow (9.6)

The King in the North

Noah Syndergaard – 2012 team: Single-A Lansing
8-5, 103.2 IP, 81 H, 30 ER, 3 HR, 31 BB, 122 K
2.60 ERA (2.21 FIP), 1.08 WHIP, 10.59 K/9, 2.69 BB/9, 2.16 GO/AO

Jays’ pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard can match heat with the best of them at training camp in Duendin. (STEPH ROGERS photo)

For the second straight year, Noah Syndergaard takes the crown as the best right handed pitching prospect in the Blue Jays system. While it may come as a shock to some, it’s something I’ve been confident in for a long time. People were quick to point out his rough start to the season, even labeling him as “overhyped”, but I as wrote a number of times in varying degrees of detail, the piggybacking system the Blue Jays implemented early in the year was holding him back. Once he was unleashed from those chains and restrictions, his potential was unveiled. In the 19 games he started, Syndergaard had a 1.47 ERA (1.66 FIP) and 0.89 WHIP to go along with a 10.17 K/9. He was scoffed at as a signability pick when the Blue Jays selected him in the supplemental first round of the 2010 draft, but with just two years of professional development he’s proven to be a whole lot more than that; he’s on the verge of being one of the better pitching prospects in baseball.

Syndergaard isn’t too far off from what I believe to be the ideal pitching prospect, if there is such a thing. First and foremost, he has the size and build that is capable of throwing 200 to 220 innings year after year. Syndergaard stands 6-foot-5 with a broad and muscular upper body. His lower half is a step or two behind strength wise, and I think it would be wise for him to add ten to twenty pounds onto his listed weight of 200 over the offseason. Pitchers are one of the few positions in all of sports where a “big ass” is beneficial. Syndergaard takes full advantage of his height, utilizing a high 3/4 arm slot to create a steep downward plane on his pitches. His delivery is loose and easy, and he repeats his mechanics well. He’s also a Texan, which is something I’ve come to appreciate in baseball players. Syndergaard has a commanding presence and a fighter’s mindset both on the mound and off the field, always seeking out ways to improve his game.

His physical maturity has a direct correlation with the improvement of his stuff, as through his first few years of high school, Syndergaard was rail-thin and struggling to touch 90 miles per hour. Since adding mass, his fastball has risen three full grades, from fringe average to arguably plus-plus. Syndergaard’s four seam fastball sits in the 93-96 mph range with ease, and has shown the capability of touching 97, 98, and even 99 miles per hour when he reaches back for some extra juice. His two seam fastball is a notch behind in velocity, sitting in the low 90’s, but shows much better life. Syndergaard will bore the pitch in on the hands of right handed batters, and run it away from left handed hitters. He mixes and matches the two pitches well, which is important for a fastball-reliant pitcher like Syndergaard.

The rest of Syndergaard’s arsenal is still in the development stage. His primary breaking ball is a 12-6 curveball that he throws in the 78-82 mph range. He generates plenty of swings and misses, but has had trouble consistently finding tight movement. Syndergaard began to work in a slider as the season wore on, and the early signs are encouraging. Thrown in the mid-to-high 80’s, the pitch meshes well with his arm slot, as it has two-plane movement as opposed to the frisbee-like sliders thrown by pitchers with lower arm slots. Syndergaard’s fourth pitch is a circle changeup with arm side fade. It has nice drop when thrown in the low-to-mid 80’s, but can get a little firm when thrown any harder than that. The arm speed on the pitch is good, and he disguises it well when his two seam fastball is working.

Command remains elusive to Syndergaard, as he’s still mostly a control pitcher. For someone who only turned 20 at the end of August, that’s more than acceptable. His stuff has allowed him to get away with a lot of things early in his career, but High-A, where he’ll open the 2013 season, could be a different story. It’s one of the bigger jumps in the minor leagues, and Syndergaard will be receiving a full workload for the first time in his career. He’ll need to learn how to pitch when he doesn’t have his best stuff, which is a process every pitcher must go through. Even if there are a few bumps in the road this season, the strides he’ll make with command and pitchability will be huge for his career in the long run. Needless to say; I’m excited.

Question Mark

Aaron Sanchez – 2012 team: Single-A Lansing
8-5, 90.1 IP, 64 H, 25 ER, 3 HR, 51 BB, 97 K
2.49 ERA (3.41 FIP), 1.27 WHIP, 9.66 K/9, 5.08 BB/9, 2.22 GO/AO

In terms of raw stuff, Aaron Sanchez is the top pitching prospect in the system, and one of the best in baseball. Unfortunately, there’s a lot more to pitching than just stuff (though it’s awesome to have), which is why, for me, Sanchez takes a back seat to Noah Syndergaard and falls into the Question Mark category. The former supplemental first round pick has two glaring issues that will determine how successful he can or will be in the future; durability and command – or lack thereof, and both problems were on display during the 2012 season. Sanchez dealt with forearm soreness during July, and while he only missed two weeks worth of games, that’s not something you want to see with a 20 year old. He also visibly tired as the season wore on as well, resulting in arm drag and poor command. In his 90.1 innings, he walked 51, hit seven batters, and threw six wild pitches.

The durability concerns are based upon his lanky frame, as at 6-foot-4, he weighs just 190 pounds. His limbs are long and lean, with lots of room for added mass all over. Of the Lansing (soon to be Dunedin) Three, the organization will definitely need to take it the slowest with Sanchez. His inning jump was the smallest, but he was clearly the most impacted, and anything beyond a 30-inning hike in 2013 could prove to be damaging in the long term. The mechanics are clean, as he’s balanced and smooth in the delivery, and follows through with very easy arm action from the 3/4 arm slot. His lack of strength in his lower half has a negative impact on the consistency of his mechanics, as once he begins to tire his pitching base weakens and his release point falls apart. When this happens, the command problems I mentioned above really begin to creep up.

The stuff truly is dynamite. Sanchez’ fastball is on the same level as Syndergaard’s, sitting in the 92-96 mph range and touching as high as 98 miles per hour. The pitch has natural sinking action, and can explode on hitters because of the deceptively easy action in his delivery. It’s already at least a plus caliber pitch, and with improved mechanics (leading to more consistent life) it should settle in as an easy plus-plus offering. His curveball is the best breaking ball in the system, with similar future grades to his fastball though it’s a step behind at present. Sanchez uses his long arms to generate a tight spin rotation on the pitch, giving it great depth and break. He does an excellent job of getting both called and swinging strikes in the zone, but he’s still learning how to make hitters chase down and in the dirt. Sanchez has continued to work on the changeup he really only began using at the professional level, and it’s still below average. He has good arm speed on the pitch which aids with deception, but he’s still trying to smooth out the fade required for swinging strikes.

The recurring theme is his lack of command, which is why he receives the Question Mark label for me. Sanchez can get the ball into the zone, sometimes, but even when he does, he has little feel for where the pitch is going. If he could more precisely locate his pitches, his stuff would play up so much better. A lot of his struggles in the second half came as the result of consistently poor location, as the only area he appeared capable of hitting was the upper part of the plate. Sanchez has the athleticism and baseball acumen to resolve these problems, but it’s most certainly going to be a process, and a slow one at that. Remain patient, because more so than any other player in the system, if Sanchez gets himself right, he has absolute superstar written all over him.

On the Rise

Roberto Osuna – 2012 team(s): Rookie-Bluefield, Low-A Vancouver
2-0, 43.2 IP, 32 H, 11 ER, 2 HR, 15 BB, 49 K
2.27 ERA (2.79 FIP), 1.08 WHIP, 10.10 K/9, 3.09 BB/9, 1.08 GO/AO

Osuna delivers a pitch for the Vancouver Canadians (Image courtesy Battersbox.ca)

I’m not sure any Blue Jays prospect made a bigger splash during the 2012 season, so Osuna fits the On the Rise moniker perfectly. When Toronto signed the then-16 year old Osuna, he was pitching for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico in the Mexican League, which is a remarkable feat considering that many feel the league is roughly the equivalent of Triple-A baseball. He (or his rights-holding team, anyways) received a 1.5 million dollar signing bonus in July 2011, and Osuna was thrown right into the fire this past summer. Not only did he makes his debut stateside, he skipped the Gulf Coast League altogether, starting his career with Bluefield. After four starts and three relief appearances with the club, Osuna received a promotion to Low-A Vancouver where he finished the year with five starts. His Vancouver debut on July 28th, however, was the organization’s best start of the season; Osuna pitched five shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk, while striking out an incredible 13.

Despite no discernible physical development, Osuna’s stuff has taken a significant leap forward over the past year. His fastball has risen to the 91-94 mph range consistently, and Osuna has shown the ability to gear up for some 96 miles per hour heat when required. One of his greatest strengths is his fastball command, which is arguably the most important trait for a young pitcher to learn, and likely the main reason he’s been able to dominate hitters well above his age group. Furthermore, he’s already excelling in pitchability, as he adds and subtracts from his fastball to mess with timing and keep his opposition off balance.

He mixes and matches even further with a split-change that carries plus potential. The offspeed pitch is thrown in the 77-82 mph range, giving it excellent velocity separation while showing both break and deception as he maintains arm speed through the release. There’s isn’t a complete consensus on what Osuna throws for a breaking ball, as while some classify it as a curveball or slurve, others have labeled the pitch a slider because of the bite and two-plane movement. Whatever you want to call it, the pitch rounds out Osuna’s arsenal well, and could become above average as he’s already shown he’s comfortable throwing it in most counts and against both lefties and righties.

Osuna has a sturdy build at 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, which is why many have labeled him as lacking projection. While he’s unlikely to burst up another two inches and add 20 pounds, he’s proven over the past year that improvements in mechanics and baseball acumen can be far more important to development than just physical projection. Osuna has a legitimate mid-rotation starter ceiling, and the next step in the quest to reach that goal will be Lansing. It’s expected he’ll be on a tight leash innings-wise just like Syndergaard, Sanchez, and Nicolino were last season, but Osuna could reach the majors as a 20 year old if things unfold as the Blue Jays hope.

Dream on Me

Adonys Cardona – 2012 team: Gulf Coast Blue Jays
0-1, 15.2 IP, 15 H, 11 ER, 1 HR, 10 BB, 20 K
6.32 ERA (3.58 FIP), 1.60 WHIP, 11.49 K/9, 5.74 BB/9, 1.25 GO/AO

Adonys Cardona warms up during Spring Training 2012 (Image via MLBProspectPortal.com)

When the Blue Jays signed Adonys Cardona as an International Free Agent in the summer of 2010, they gave him the largest bonus ever for a Venezuelan player; 2.8 million. That’s how highly the organization thought of the right hander, and why they remain high on him even after a derailed season. Cardona made his debut as a 17 year old in the summer of 2011, appearing in 10 games in the Gulf Coast League. He showed impressive stuff, racking up 35 strikeouts in 31.2 innings. In a bit of a surprise move, he was re-assigned there this past summer. There were rumors he was dealing with arm soreness in the spring, and those reports appear to have been actualized as he appeared in just eight games, totaling 15.2 innings. Even with the apparent setback, he’ll still be just 19 years old on Opening Day, and Cardona has more than enough raw talent to catch up to some of the more highly touted arms in the system.

Like nearly every potentially elite pitching prospect, Cardona is armed with a promising fastball. Over the past two years it’s risen from the 86-90 range up to the 90-95 mph range consistently. The fastball has good life and he commands it well given his age. One of the most promising aspects with Cardona’s fastball is the potential growth to come. He’s still a string bean at 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds, and while he doesn’t have the broadest of frames, there’s plenty of room for some physical maturity.

Cardona throws a curveball, but at present it’s struggling to be an average pitch. The offering has hard, late break, but it’s easy to pick up out of his hand, particularly when his release point is early. His overhand arm slot really benefits the vertical drop of the pitch, so if he can improve his mechanical consistency and match his release point to his fastball, the curveball could be above average. Cardona’s third pitch is a changeup that he’s shown surprising feel for. His quick and easy arm action really aids in the deception, as the pitch is difficult to distinguish from his fastball. Like most young pitchers, Cardona is still working on balancing firm and fade, as he will occasionally throw the changeup too hard. Control of the offspeed pitches hasn’t been as much of a problem as command, where Cardona is still below average.

Under normal circumstances, when a pitcher has two years of short season ball under his belt, you expect him to make the leap to a full season club in his third year. Unfortunately, that’s not going to be the case with Cardona. He’s fallen so far behind innings-wise that he definitely needs a third year in short season, though hopefully it will be with Bluefield or Vancouver. Once he gets back on track, health permitting, you can start thinking about Lansing in 2014, and so on. For now, the best course of action is the safe one, and that sees Cardona attempting to build his arm strength up to 40-50 innings in 2013.

The Bullpen Guy

Marcus Stroman – 2012 team(s): Low-A Vancouver, Double-A New Hampshire
3-0, 19.1 IP, 16 H, 7 ER, 1 HR, 9 BB, 23 K
3.26 ERA (2.89 FIP), 1.29 WHIP, 10.71 K/9, 4.19 BB/9, 1.92 GO/AO

Stroman pitching for the Orleans Firebirds in the Cape Cod League during the 2011 season (Image via JaysProspects.com)

The Blue Jays selected Marcus Stroman with the 22nd overall pick in the 2012 draft, which was quite a coup when you consider that Baseball America ranked him as the 10th best available talent. Teams likely shied away from the right hander for two related reasons: his size, and his undefined role. Stroman stands just 5-foot-9 while weighing 185 pounds, which is hardly the ideal body type for a pitcher. As such, even though he did work as a starter for Duke during his college days, most feel his future is in the bullpen. While serving as Team USA’s closer in the summer of 2011, he pitched 8.1 shutout innings, allowing no hits, just one walk, while striking out 17. Clearly, he’s comfortable in the role. Unfortunately for Stroman and the Blue Jays organization, he received a 50 game suspension late in the season for a “performance enhancing drug”, which cut his year short and will delay his debut in 2013.

Working in the bullpen, Stroman has two pitches that already grade as at least plus, which is why, among others, Keith Law of ESPN felt that he could have been pitching in games in Toronto this past September, suspension be damned. His fastball plays up in short bursts, as while he sat 92-94 mph in the rotation, he ramps up to the 93-96 mph range in the bullpen, while touching as high as 98 miles per hour. One of Stroman’s strongest traits is that despite his diminutive build, he maintains velocity extremely well. The fastball has impressive arm side run and sink, but he has more control than command of it at this point, leading him to occasionally catching too much of the plate.

Stroman’s highest rated offering is his slider, which was arguably the best breaking ball in the 2012 draft. It has excellent depth and sharp, hard biting break while clocking in the 82-84 mph range. It’s his go-to pitch, and for good reason, as he has excellent command of the slider and can throw it both in and out of the zone against both lefties and righties. Stroman has begun to throw a cutter more often, which at 86-90 mph is nice middle ground between his two best pitches. It bores in on the hands of left handed batters, while breaking away and out of the swing plane of right handed batters. He rounds out the arsenal with a solid, mid 80’s changeup that benefits from his quick arm action. It’s a little firm, as its vertical drop isn’t quite where you want it.

The starter versus reliever debate with Stroman will continue until the Blue Jays come out and share their intentions, which with this front office, isn’t likely to happen anytime soon. I think the bullpen role is the correct one, but unlike most people I don’t see him as a closer type. The effort in Stroman’s delivery could prevent him from ever throwing 200 innings in a season, but I can’t peg him in as a 60 inning guy either. I’d like to see the Blue Jays utilize him in a hybrid reliever role, where he’d receive the innings of a long man, but would pitch in high leverage scenarios. A team’s most dire situation is rarely with no outs in the ninth, and having a pitcher like Stroman capable of coming in during the 6th or 7th inning with runners on and shutting the opposition down for two or three frames would be incredibly valuable. It was a role many talked about with Tim Lincecum when he was drafted, and while he had an extremely high peak, the starting rotation has clearly worn him down at just 28.

Remember the Name

Alberto Tirado – 2012 team(s): GCL Blue Jays, Rookie-Bluefield
3-2, 48.0 IP, 32 H, 14 ER, 0 HR, 17 BB, 39 K
2.63 ERA (2.89 FIP), 1.02 WHIP, 7.31 K/9, 3.19 BB/9, 1.35 GO/AO

Alberto Tirado (Image via BlueJays.scout.com)

The hype train has quickly picked up on this young Dominican, as he’s gone from under the radar prospect to the middle of the spotlight in just a few months. Tirado was signed as 16 year old during the 2011 International Free Agency period, and received a rather ho-hum bonus of just 300 thousand dollars. The Blue Jays clearly had their projection goggles on, however, as Tirado has long levers and a thin, athletic frame. His delivery is just as promising, as he uses his lower half well and his arm action is very loose and easy. Since signing, he’s continued to grow and add muscle, which has seen a noticeable augmentation in his stuff.

Previously struggling to register 91 on the gun, Tirado is now comfortably sitting between 91 and 94 miles per hour and commanding it well. He’s touched as high as 95 and 96, but consistent readings at that level may not come for another year or two. Coming in from a low 3/4 arm slot, the pitch has a bit of natural cutting action away from right handed batters. Tirado complements the fastball with a power slider that shows late break on two planes and serious depth. The slider has superseded a once promising curveball, a pitch the Blue Jays organization clearly feels is less conducive to success with his arm slot. He completes the arsenal with a changeup that is surprisingly advanced, and uses it to put away left handed batters.

Tirado finished his debut season with three starts for Bluefield, but the more important number is the 48 total innings he threw. Whether he starts with Bluefield or Vancouver next season, Tirado should be looked upon to consistently throw five innings or 70 pitches per outing in order to further build his arm strength and prepare for full season ball in 2014. If Tirado performs as well as we hope and expect next June and July, I wouldn’t be shocked if he finds himself in the Midwest League at some point in August.

So after digesting the wealth of Jays knowledge now at the stadium, I made it a priority to talk to LaCava after Tuesday’s game to see if he would be willing to answer a few questions before the end of my trip. I was actually taken aback at how nice and accommodating he was, as he was willing to answer questions right then and there. We made small talk and briefly discussed Rollins, who LaCava said conceals the ball while working at a quick pace, and Anthony DeSclafani, who he called “another Blue Jays special” before bringing up Shaun Marcum.

I had left my recorder up in the press box, though, so after discussing a few other tidbits, I was going to have to connect with LaCava later in the trip for the interview instead, which turned out to be just prior to Thursday’s game. Considering the amount of front office staff in attendance, not to mention that Lugnuts manager John Tamargo Jr. was absent for the first two games of the week, LaCava was, as expected, very, very busy on this trip with things to do and so many people to talk to. I’d like to sincerely thank Mr. LaCava for giving me the time of day amid his hectic schedule not just once but twice, and for being so gracious in his responses as well.

I really enjoyed hearing his insight to the questions below, and I hope you do as well. My questions are in bold, with LaCava’s answers in plain text.

Sticking with Lansing first-off, a guy like Justin Nicolino, obviously he has the plus change and a good curveball too. Fastball velocity, though, is it an issue at all? Or do you see him adding a couple of ticks to it?

“Well, I think there’s more in there. He’s just turned 20, or he’s turning 20, and physically there’s still some growth, if you look at him he’s got more future growth I think. Already he’ll show you 92, he doesn’t pitch at 92, but his velocity’s creeping up since he signed, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a little bit more fastball. Not that he needs it, because honestly with the angle that he pitches at, the changeup, and the improving curveball, we think he’s got the weapons to be one heck of a starting pitcher in the big leagues right now, even if he doesn’t get more velocity.

Speaking of weapons, Aaron Sanchez. In terms of that changeup, that third pitch, how’s it coming along?

“We think it’s going to be the third plus pitch that he has. Fastball velocity it keeps getting better, and movement, and angle, and command of it just continues to get better and better. His breaking ball is an out pitch, it’s a knockout curveball, and his changeup is, at times, plus also. So that’s three out pitches we think, and he’s just 19.

It’s pretty easy to get excited about him.

“Oh yeah, yeah. We think he’s got a great future.”

Keeping with the Lansing starters, how did the whole piggybacking concept come to fruition this season?

“Well piggybacking’s been done in the past in other organizations, especially with younger pitchers. It’s a way to get a five-month season out of pitchers who normally, if you just let them go full go, would run out of innings by, at the latest, mid-July. We’re trying to get them into a mindset of going five months which is a full minor league season — ultimately we want them to go six months — and to protect them during their teenage years where they’re being asked to do more and they’re still growing, they’re still physically growing. It’s our way of making sure we do the right things by them from a health standpoint.”

Going all the way down the ladder to the Gulf Coast League, a guy like Griffin Murphy, the top prep left-hander of the 2010 draft, he’s not getting talked about much with guys like Nicolino and Daniel Norris in the system right now. How’s he coming along?

“I haven’t seen him since spring training, but in the spring it looked like there had been some improvement, the velocity was starting to get back into that 90 range. Right now it’s just more of an opportunity and waiting. The guys that we wanted to come here we deemed were more ready for this level, and we haven’t really sat down and done the short-season rosters yet, but I’m hopeful that he’s going to, obviously, be a part of one of those teams.”

Jacob Anderson and Dwight Smith Jr., they get lumped together a lot. Can you expand a bit on each player individually?

“Well they’re very different. I mean Jacob is 6’5″ and a longer muscle guy, and Smitty is more of a compact, stronger-type build. Anderson’s got future physical development, and Smith does too, but not as much projection on the body. So physically, there are big differences. Smith we feel is going to be able to play center field, so we’re going to have him do that, and Anderson will be on a corner, and it looks like it’s going to be right field. So he’s got enough for a right field arm.”

A guy like Adonys Cardona, there’s a ton in there, he’s just starting to get noticed it seems. Do you think that’s because he’s an international signing and because of his age?

“Yeah, he’s that much younger, he’s two years younger than these guys here [in Lansing]. He’s 18, and these guys are turning 20 at some point, 19/20. He’d be a junior at high school here in the States. He’s just a little under the radar but he’s got just great potential. He’s got an extremely quick arm, a very, very athletic body that’s projectable as well. He’s got a chance to throw really hard some day. He already, as a 17-year-old, was throwing 94 and even 95, so we think he’s got a really bright future as well.”

With rookie league numbers, the consensus is to not read too much into them and take them with a grain of salt. At what point or level, if at all, do the Blue Jays pay attention to a player’s statistics?

“I think we certainly look at the numbers in the low levels too, but obviously the further away from the major leagues, the less the numbers mean. You can go back to amateur baseball, for instance, you go to a high school game, and we don’t really know how to evaluate numbers in high school baseball. But certainly at the major league level, at the other end of the spectrum, it is what it is: a guy’s numbers are his numbers, and you just work backwards. The further away from the major leagues, the harder the numbers are to predict in future performance, but you can still gather information. I think we’re probably more concerned by bad numbers than we are impressed with good numbers.”

With the draft coming next month, how do you feel about it both talent-wise and having five selections in the first 60 picks?

“Well Andrew Tinnish, our scouting director, is the point man on the draft. Alex, myself and Perry Minasian, our pro scouting director, have seen some players from the draft for Andrew, but I don’t really have the pulse on it like I would like to, to really comment on the strength of it and things like that.”

I was talking to C.J. Ebarb about John Stilson, and he said that Stilson wants to almost cut your throat out when he’s on the mound because he’s just that fierce. He’s starting right now in Dunedin, is that the long-term plan or vision for him, to give it his all as a starter?

“With all the kid pitchers we get, we’d like to at least explore starting just to see, because starters are so much more valuable than relievers. If you can get 200 innings as opposed to 60, those 200-inning guys are so hard to find, so you want to make sure that you explore that. We think Stilson has the weapons to start, and we’re going to give him a chance. We’re going this year and we’re going to evaluate him periodically, but so far so good.”

I heard Michael Crouse had a very good spring. I was only down there for a week, but there were whispers that he had a great spring overall. Can you give an update on him?

“I haven’t seen him yet, in fact going there next, but obviously Michael is a talented kid. It’s only been six weeks down there so it’s really hard to put a lot of stock into such a small sample, but obviously I look forward to seeing him when I get there. He had such a good year here, and we expect him to do the same down there.”

To me, he just screams upside.

“Yeah, he’s a toolsy, very talented kid. He can run, he can throw, he’s got power, and he’s getting better each day, he’s rapidly improving. From the day he signed to this point, he’s come a long way.”

Shifting up to Vegas, Yan Gomes has started to play third base. Has he boosted his stock, especially given his versatility?

“Yeah he definitely has. He’s put himself on the map, on the radar so to speak. We’ve been blessed to have all this catching with J.P. Arencibia, Travis d’Arnaud, [A.J.] Jimenez, [Carlos] Perez, and you’ll hear about [Santiago] Nessy, who was a kid in the Gulf Coast League last year. Yan has just kind of flown under the radar but he had a really nice spring training, a great camp, and we felt like he deserved to go to Triple-A and that he earned the opportunity to go to Triple-A. But with Travis there we didn’t know how to get him the playing time, and he had played a little bit of corner infield in the past, so we felt that we could have him do that and get more at-bats in, and then when Travis has a day off he gets some catching as well. So it was two-fold, one to increase his versatility, and the other to get him more playing time in Triple-A.”

Is the hitting environment in Las Vegas frustrating from a developmental perspective when it comes to evaluating a player’s progress?

“Ideally you’d like it to be more of a fairer environment, for both hitters and pitchers. In this case it’s tough on our pitchers and a little easier on our pitchers, but there are ways to normalize the numbers. Our guys up in the office, [Baseball Information Analyst] Joe Sheehan and [Assistant General Manager] Jay Sartori, they’re always trying to, I guess, translate what happens in Vegas and normalize the numbers. They only play half their games there, so we do get the benefit of seeing them in other places. It certainly favors the hitters there, there’s no question about that, but the league’s been out there forever and Vegas has been a minor league affiliate for a long, long time, and the cream of the crop will come to the top, right?”

Also, after the interview and while sharing a quick elevator ride, Santiago Nessy was brought up again (I forget how). I asked about some of the whispers that the young catcher could eventually move out from behind the plate given his body type, and LaCava quickly dismissed that, stressing that Nessy’s future is behind the plate and that “he’s not going anywhere”.

- JM

So much so, that I decided to divide the pitchers into separate posts for starters and relievers for this affiliate. Outside of Colby Broussard, there will likely never be any buzz in the future surrounding the majority of the relievers that the GCL Jays used this season because of their ages relative to the level or their transition from the Dominican Summer League. The starters, however, are quite different, since there are some recognizable names in that group, so here’s a look at them on their own.

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Highlights include Darin Mastroianni returning to form in Las Vegas, Henderson Alvarez impressing everybody once again in New Hampshire, Dustin McGowan‘s longest start of the season in Dunedin, a solid rebound outing from Aaron Sanchez in Bluefield, and starts by Adonys Cardona and 2011 46th overall draft pick Joe Musgrove in the Gulf Coast League.

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I’m all for kids starting off their careers at a level low enough for them to succeed, but Justin Nicolino, for one, is proving that he may very well belong at a level of play 2 levels highers than the SS North Western League. He, along with many others, is proving that the Jays landed quite a few gems in the 2010 draft.

Here are the current hottest Jays Prospects:

Justin Nicolino (more…)