Jays Journal » Luis Perez

The End of Jo-Jo in Toronto, and Other Jays Player Moves

Mat Germain — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 11:41:46 +0000

Since I didn’t get to watch yesterday’s game, I thought I would comment on the moves the Jays have made of late and how they affect the team as a whole. The End of Jo-Jo Reyes in Toronto I believe that most Jays fans predicted long ago that Reyes was not going to last very [...]

The End of Jo-Jo in Toronto, and Other Jays Player Moves - Jays Journal - Jays Journal - A Toronto Blue Jays Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

Jays Get Pronked, The Jays Pen Just Isn’t “Right”

Mat Germain — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:38:00 +0000

I went to bed after a long hard day believing that the Jays had this one in the bag. But, knowing that things happen quickly sometimes, I changed the channel on my TV, brought it back to the game (so it wouldn’t add 2 hours of baseball I had watched to the DVR) and set it to record the last inning. What I saw when I watched it this morning was about as horrible a game-ending as one could imagine. (more…)

2011 Las Vegas 51s Projected Opening Day Roster

Mat Germain — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:52:27 +0000

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2011 projected opening day roster for the Las Vegas 51s is listed below! This projected roster was obtained from the LV website, available here, and some minor adjustments (such as adding Lawrie to the roster). Manager - Marty Brown / Batting Coach - Chad Mottola / Pitching Coach - Tom Signore C - Brian Jeroloman, Ryan Budde [...]

2011 Las Vegas 51s Projected Opening Day Roster - Jays Journal - Jays Journal - A Toronto Blue Jays Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

Jays Affiliate Assigments Begin

Mat Germain — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:40:11 +0000

The following players have been asigned to some of the Jays affiliates over the last few days. It does not guarantee that these players will begin the 2011 season with these teams, but it’s an indication that it is the plan, for now. Since all of the recent assignments deal with AAA and AA rosters, those are the ones I will present below. Here are the additions that the Jays have made to those affiliates:

AAA Las Vegas

Assignments: (more…)

Winter League Update December 2010: Pitchers

Jared Macdonald — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 19:19:40 +0000

I last took a look at Jays pitching prospects in the winter leagues on November 14th, and the majority of them have either continued their success or improved on it.

Here’s a rundown of what the Jays’ pitching prospects have been doing recently down south:

RP Winston Abreu:

Another great under the radar pick up by Alex Anthopoulos that Mat Germain touched on yesterday, here’s a look at his efforts in the Dominican Winter League through 11 games:

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Winter League Update: Pitchers

Jared Macdonald — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 21:14:31 +0000

Congratulations to Vernon Wells for winning the 2010 Branch Rickey Award, an award for recognizing outstanding charity work. Each MLB team had elected a nominee, and Wells was recognized for his Perfect 10 Foundation, creation of the Vernon Wells Home for Single Mothers, and work with the Jays Care Foundation.

As for the Winter League update, the Jays have a total of 10 pitching prospects playing winter ball this year. Virtually every one of the Jays pitchers are having impressive campaigns, except for Matt Daly, who seems to be struggling in the Arizona Fall League (11ER in 9.1 innings).

Here’s a look at the success the Jays’ pitching prospects are having so far:

SP Marc Rzepczynski:

Rzepczynski is obviously the most well known Jays player on this list, not only because of his major league experience, but also his ridiculous numbers in the Arizona Fall League so far through 5 starts:

3-0, 0.69 ERA, 26.0ip, 2 ER, 21 hits, 8 BB, 20 Ks, 1.12 WHIP, .223 opp. avg

Marc leads the AFL so far in innings pitched and ERA. He has gone at least 6 innings in each of his last three starts, and he hasn’t given up any home runs. He is really increasing his trade value if needed, but hopefully he can carry this success into next year and have a strong spring. (more…)

Jays Rebound, Marcum Sets The Tone

Mat Germain — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 11:15:39 +0000

Shaun Marcum knows exactly what he;s got and knows exactly how to use it. His devastating change up is so awesome that hitters are in a constant state of flux about when to swing. Early swings, pop ups, and ground outs are the direct result of this pitch and it worked for Shaun all day long – with 1 exception being a pitch Ryan Howard recognized enough to tattoo into the center-right field stands. The Jays needed this win to get back on track some and will now be able to concentrate on winning the rubber match.The fact that Marcum was effective set the tone for the Jays in this game and allowed the offense to get things going, slowly but surely.To score 5 runs and have 3 HRs in a game is becoming pretty standard for the Jays as it still seems to be their strategy to knock the snot out of the baseball, regardless of averages that result from this approach.

Brett Cecil has had plenty of time to prepare and watch the Phillies hit, so hopefully he took the right notes. I really do like how Cito set up the lineup yesterday, although I’m not sure it will last. Batting Lind and Hill lower in the lineup gives them more RBI opportunities and is definitely the change of pace both needed to get back on track and motivated.It’ll be interesting to see if he uses a similar lineup today. (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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Jays Minors Review: 23-Apr-10

Mat Germain — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:13:26 +0000

Here is a review of the major events in the minors for the Jays on Friday, 23rd of April:

AAA Las Vegas –Lost 6-4 to Salt Lake (LAA)

LV ran into a hot pitcher Friday, as top prospect Trevor Reckling limited them to 1 run over his 5.1 innings of work.
Robert Ray took the loss after allowing 6 ER over 4.1 IP. He allowed 9 hits and 4 walks in the game.
Brett Wallace hit his 7th HR of the season in this one, with JP Arencibia joining in with his 2nd HR.
Steven Register had a great relief appearance for LV, going 2.1 innings while allowing no hits and 1 walk, striking out 3 in the process.

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LHP Luis Perez (AA) – Best Jays SP Start in Minors

Mat Germain — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:40:55 +0000

Sure, Luis Perez is older than most of the guys he’s up against when considering which pitcher has had the best start to the 2010 season in the minors, but it doesn’t stop the fact that his stuff has been ridiculously great so far. If I asked anyone before the season started “who do you believe will have the best start to the 2010 season as a pitcher in the minors?” I would have received answers like Stephen Strasburg, Aroldis Chapman, Madison Bumgarner, or Jeremy Hellickson. But, none of these great arms have come close to performing at the same level as Luis Perez. Here are his stats so far:

April 8th: 3 IP, 0 hits, 0 walks, 5 Ks

April 13th: 7 IP, 1 hit, 2 walks, 3 Ks

April 18th: 7 IP, 1 hit, 1 ER, 4 walks, 3 Ks

For a total of: 17 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 6 walks, and 11 Ks on the season. He has a 0.53 ERA, hitters are averaging .039 against him, and all this occurred with his 2 starts against some pretty potent teams – Reading (Phillies affiliate, 6-5), and Binghamton (Mets affiliate, 6-5).

Luis hasn’t done all of this out of the blue, as he did do enough last season to get a Futures Game selection. He finished that season with 27 GS, a 9-11 record, 3.55 ERA, 162.1 IP, 112 Ks, 67 walks, and hitters hit .236 against him. What’s most interesting is that when you go back to before 2009, he was getting about 1 K per inning or more on average, whereas now he seems to be more content to pitch to contact, something he may have picked up by watching Roy Halladay in Toronto. Surely he cannot continue at this pace, but he has earned the consideration to be promoted once, or if, a pitcher is promoted from AAA to the Jays. He is old enough and mature enough to handle a jump to AAA, and has obviously learned all he can in AA based on his 2009 and 2010 numbers. Besides, I also believe that Henderson Alvarez (2 GS, 14 IP, 0.64 ERA, 7 hits, 1 ER, 2 walks, 6 Ks) deserves a promotion to AA based on his performance, so the pitchers all of the way down the line are ready to make a step up as required.

It shouldn’t be too long before Perez gets a look in AAA and it’s great to know the Jays have a lot more depth than meets the eye in the minors. Because as we all know, you can never have too much pitching.