Jays Journal » Jarrett Hoffpauir

The Jays Must Be Reading Jays Journal!

Mat Germain — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:41:36 +0000

If you read my June 16th post entitled “Old is New Again, Cito Gets Antsy”, you already know that I was advocating for Jarrett Hoffpauir to be called up to take a shot at the 3B job. I had been under the impression that it would be at another player than Edwin Encarnacion, but his demotion does make sense if the Jays are in fact going to play Jarrett Hoffpauir at 3B.

Jarrett Hoffpauir was hitting .332/.383/ .539 this season in AAA and can fit into the lineup either at the top or at the bottom while playing 2B, 3B, or even in the OF.

I am surprised to see this move being done so soon after I commented that it should be done. It makes me wonder if my site is bugged! Either that or I should change professions to become a “visionary”. I don’t think so. But as I stated in my previous article:

Since old is new again and it is Cito’s last season managing the Jays I doubt that we’ll see changes until the deadline comes around and AA makes some moves, but I am hopeful anyhow that players like Jarrett get the shots they are earning in AAA. He’s the perfect compliment to this lineup and gets on base at a higher rate than any Jays player currently in the lineup on a regular basis. Bring him up and have a look see, that’s my call of the day. (more…)

Old is New Again, Cito Gets Antsy

Mat Germain — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:26:27 +0000

The Jays have some serious problems with their lineup and their quest to produce runs. How else could you explain having 3 guys who are hitting below .230 this season as your 1-2-3 hitters? I really don’t care how many HRs Jose Bautista has hit this season or what kind of slump he is in, he will never be an effective lead off hitter. The day the Jays brought Fred Lewis and had him leading off in I thought finally, the Jays have a top of the order guy on the team. While teams have definitely been able to get Fred out by continuously going inside on him, he is still able to fight through some quality ABs and has shown improvement in driving the inside pitches for singles. So why go back to having Bautista leading off, even if it is for a game or two? The reason this old lineup was brought in by Cito was to keep the majority of the order intact, but does it help the Jays to have one of their best RBI producers at the top of the lineup and how does it make sense to move HIM around? Sure, they want to get Jose’s bat going again, but hitting lead off doesn’t make any sense to me. (more…)

Oh Jays Bats, Where Art Thou?

Mat Germain — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 12:38:59 +0000

This is exactly what the problem is with a team full of guys who swing for the fences every time they take a swing: they get in droughts. In this case, it just ends up being that all of them are in a drought simultaneously. When you go to Colorado and can’t get 1 run in against a pitcher like Jason Hammel, you know your club’s having run scoring issues. It has gotten so bad that Cito Gaston has even opted to play small ball – bunting guys from 1st to 2nd! Who would of thought that would ever happen?

Well, when the guy at the plate is Jose Molina, you really have no choice. So where are the Jays bats? Is this really a drought, or just a more accurate picture of what the Jays have than what we saw during the first 2 months of the season? Everyone knew that Jose Bautista and Alex Gonzalez couldn’t keep up the pace they were on, but most did believe that Adam Lind and Aaron Hill would pick up that slack and keep things going for the Jays as a result. Instead, all bats are quiet and hidden….in AAA! (more…)

Jays Prospects Review

Mat Germain — Sun, 30 May 2010 12:13:10 +0000

Before we head into the draft, I thought it was important to take a gander at what we currently have on board and how well players are doing in the Jays minors. Here is the first of many instalments of the Jays Prospects Review, where I’ll list the Hot, Cold, Trailing off the map, and Skyrocketing prospects in the Jays system.

Hot Jays Prospects:

2B Jarrett Hoffpauir AAA - Hit for the cycle for the second time this season in AAA and is hitting .353 with 5 doubles, 1 triple, and 3 HRs over his last 10 games. He’s doing everything in his power to get the call to the bigs and could actually become some pretty decent trade bait. (more…)

Jays Keeping Pace

Mat Germain — Sat, 29 May 2010 14:55:05 +0000

I left for an unexpected trip with the Canadian Forces late last week and did not have much access to the internet, so I apologize for the lack of recent content. I caught up with all of the news in Jays land upon my return, and I’m glad to see that the Jays are keeping pace with the AL East elites. In fact, other than the Boston Red Sox who are on a bit of a roll over their last 10 games (7-3), the remainder have stayed around .500 over that span.

What caught me by surprise the most was numerous salvos being thrown around by Alex Anthopolous that point to the Jays being buyers in this market. He does make that evident with lots of caution that the Jays would have to continue their strong start for the next month or two in order to be “real’ buyers, but there are a few great reasons for the Jays to buy between now and the trade deadline. (more…)

Top Jays Prospect Performances to 26-Apr-10

Mat Germain — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:44:04 +0000

I thought it would be fun and informative to keep tabs on the top prospects performances the Jays have by way of categories. I’ll only look at 5 categories for the top 5 players in each category and give a small blurb about each outcome. This will be updated every 3 weeks or so.

Top Batting Averages

Bradley Glenn – LoA Lansing – .389
Raul Barron – HiA Dunedin – .366
Brian Jeroloman – AA New Hampshire – .348
Mark Sobolewski – LoA Lansing – .333
Travis d’Arnaud – HiA Dunedin – .328

To have 2 catchers in the top 5 AVG players in the minors for the Jays is yet another indication of just how strong they are at the position all the way through the minors. the one name most people probably don’t recognize much is Raul Barron, a 24-year old 2nd baseman who is a little over age at his level, but is having an impressive year nonetheless.

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Hoffpauir Hits Cycle, Dopirak Nails a Walk-Off Grand Slam

Mat Germain — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 11:17:13 +0000

The Las Vegas 51s had an outstanding day at the plate yesterday as they were able to hammer out 17 hits against Sacramento (OAK). Jarrett Hoffpauir and Brian Dopirak were definitely the stars of the show. Jarrett hit for the cycle, starting it off with a home run in the 1st – getting the hard part out of the way, a double in the 3rd, and then got his triple in the 4th inning. Not a bad start to the game! He finished it off with the easiest part, a single, and said that he feels so comfortable at the plate that he never thought about bunting himself on. Well, that bodes well for the Jays, because anyone who watched the game yesterday had to notice Aaron Hill wincing as he ran towards first and refusing to bend his knees to get that ground ball which allowed the first 2 runs to score against the Jays. If those are indications of his health status right now, the Jays may call on someone like Jarrett to fill a bench spot should Aaron return to the DL.

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Jays Minors Review: 24-Apr-10

Mat Germain — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 12:04:37 +0000

Here is a review of the major events in the minors for the Jays on Saturday, 24th of April:

AAA Las Vegas – Lost 2-1 to Sacramento

The 51s were stung by a very effective Trevor Cahill and Sacramento pen, who came in and dominated them over 5 innings (1ER) and 4 innings respectively.
Brad Mills (2-1, 2.19) took the loss despite providing another outstanding start. He lasted 7 innings, allowed 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8. His season totals indicate just how dominant Brad has been this season in AAA: 2-1, 2.19, 24.2 IP (just over 6 innings per start average), 20 hits allowed, 6 ER, 1 HR, 6 BB, 32 Ks, and hitter have a .222 average against him thus far. LHBs in particular are being dominated by Brad as they hold a meager .118 average against him. It’s nice to have this kind of insurance in AAA for the Jays. I’m not hoping he’s required any time soon because the Jays starters have been great thus far, but he is great security.
Josh Roenicke (0.00 ERA over 8.2 IP) was great once again in relief, as he did not allow a hit or walk over 2 innings of work while striking out 3.
It’s surprising that LV only had the 1 run since they did manage 7 hits and 4 walks in the game, they just couldn’t hit with RISP as they were only 1 for 13 in RISP chances in the game.
Jarrett Hoffpauir (.293) was the only LV hitter with 2 hits (including a double), and he also managed a walk.
Brett Wallace (.283) and Chris Lubanski (.273) had 1 double a piece.

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Brett Wallace Hits Second HR of 2010

Mat Germain — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:08:34 +0000

The best outing of this game was definitely SP Robert Ray, who put up 6 great innings of work, allowing only 1 ER in the game. However, he did walk 5 and allow 5 hits, they just happened to be spread apart effectively. Zach Jackson, David Purcey, and Steven Register all chipped in a shut out inning a piece to close out the game for the 7-1 win over Fresno (SF).

However, the story all Jays fans will want to hear about his the fact that Brett Wallace, while playing 1B – not 3B, hit his second HR of 2010. It seems the Jays have already decided to move Brett to 1B and will have to wait until Lyle Overbay is departed to bring Wallace up to MLB. Brian Dopirak, meanwhile, was the DH in the game and went 2 for 4. Jarrett Hoffpauir led the way in hits for the game, going 3 for 5 with a double and also driving in 3 runs. Chris Lubanski was outstanding in the game going 2 for 4 with a HR of his own and a double, while Jorge Padilla had 2 hits as well.

The wins keep coming for Las Vegas, as they now sit atop their division with a record of 4 and 1. They meet Fresno again over the next 3 days.

Brett Cecil Handles Salt Lake

Mat Germain — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:10:06 +0000

He has to be disappointed about being demoted to AAA and is now forced to watch a ton of great starts by current Jays hurlers, but Brett Cecil is doing everything is his power to make sure the Jays keep him at the top of the “next” list.

Brett’s game stats were not overly dominant, but they were effective. He threw 5 innings, gave up 6 hits that resulted in 2 earned runs. More importantly, he struck out 8 hitters and didn’t walk any, which showed his propensity to throw strikes (65 of 92 pitches). Josh Roenicke and Sean Henn followed up his outing with 3 shutout innings of their own, while Rommie Lewis skated with danger, giving up 1 ER over 3 hits but still getting the save in the end (his second of the season).

Chris Lubanski, Jorge Padilla, Jarrett Hoffpauir, and Jesus Merchan all had 2 hits a piece, and Lubanski added a SB. For those wondering how prized acquisition Brett Wallace is doing, he went 0 for 4 (2 strike outs) and is now hitting .214 on the year. Let’s hope that changes some time soon – at least before he is sent down to AA.

Las Vegas is now 3-1 on the season and looking good overall. They should be able to do this well all season long and that winning attitude should transfer well to the Jays when promotions occur. Good stuff! It’s nice to know the Jays have a winner like Brett Cecil waiting in the wings.