This Week in the Toronto Blue Jays Minor Leagues

I took last weekend off so we have two weeks to cover. We will start on May 11 and work to Friday May 23rd.

Transactions

May 11th

RP Neil Wagner  was activated from the 7-day DL. 3B Ryan Schimpf was sent back down to New Hampshire after playing 9 games and hitting .160 with a home run. New Hampshire saw the return of Kenny Wilson from his short stint with the Minnesota Twins.

May 12th

A busy day in Blue Jay land which saw RP Chad Jenkins and INF Jonathan Diaz recalled to Toronto, C Erik Kratz optioned to Buffalo, and 3B Andy LaRoche was activated from the 7-day DL. New Hampshire placed 1B Mike McDade on the 7-day DL, activated SS Peter Mooney from the 7-day DL, and released OF Brian Van Kirk. In Dunedin 1B Kevin Patterson is placed on the 7-day DL and 3B Kellen Sweeney was activated from the 7-day DL. Lansing Lugnuts placed Top Prospect 1B Matt Dean placed on the 7-day DL, activated C Seth Conner from the 7-day DL, OF Chaz Franks was called-up from the Vancouver C’s, and OF Carlos Ramirez was sent to extended spring training after struggling to start the year.

May 13th

Toronto recalled OF Kevin Pillar from Buffalo. Pillar was on fire and the call-up was well deserved. 2B Chris Getz was sent down to Buffalo to make room for Pillar. Getz would later announce his retirement. New Hampshire called-up Pierce Rankin from Dunedin.

May 14th

Toronto called-up RP Neil Wagner and C Erik Kratz from the Bisons.  The Bisons activated RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx from the 7-day DL.

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May 15th

LHP Sean Nolin was placed on the 7-day DL with a left groin strain by the Buffalo Bisons. OF Anthony Gose was recalled to Toronto from Buffalo.

May 16th

OF Brad Glenn got promoted to Buffalo from New Hampshire where he was hitting .235 with 5 HR in 36 games. New Hampshire called-up OF Matt Newman from Dunedin. Dunedin activated OF Marcus Knecht from the DL.

May 17th

Lansing activated RHP Yeyfry Del Rosario and placed RHP Tom Robson on the DL.

May 19th

After a short stint with the Blue Jays RHP Marcus Stroman was optioned back to Buffalo. Buffalo placed RHP Gregory Infante on the 7-day DL. LHP Raul Valdes was assigned to Buffalo after being acquired from the Houston Astros for cash.

May 20th

LHP Rob Rasmussen was called-up to Toronto from Buffalo. New Hampshire place OF Mike Crouse on the DL and called-up RHP Blake McFarland from Dunedin where he was 2-0, 3.98ERA, 2 saves in 20.1IP.

May 21st

New Hampshire placed RHP Scott Gracey on the DL and activate 1B Mike McDade for the DL. Dunedin placed RHP Kramer Champlin on the DL, called-up Kamakani Usui from the GCL.

May 23rd

Toronto Blue Jays call-up Liam Hendriks to make the start on Friday. Hendriks was having a great start in Buffalo with 5-0 record and 1.48 ERA. Dunedin activated 3B Kellen Sweeney from the temporarily inactive list.

Affiliates In Review

Buffalo (24-19)

The weather played havoc on the Bisons schedule with 3 games getting postponed. They are in 1st place but this is a close division with the last place Rail Riders only being 2 GB. The Bisons are 5-5 in the past 10 games.

Player of the Week – Newly called up OF Brad Glenn went 8/23, good for a slash line of .348/.400/.478 and 5 RBI. This could have gone to OF Darin Mastroianni but I thought Glenn being moved up a level was more deserving.

New Hampshire (16-30)

The Fisher Cats have been losing a lot of games in May and are currently 1-9 in their past 10 games. This team is struggling to produce any offence.

Player of the Week – RHP Deck McGuire made 2 starts getting a no-decision in both starts but he went 7.1 and 8.0 IP in both starts and allowed 3 runs over that time. He held opponents to a .157 average in those starts.

Dunedin (33-13)

The D-Jays hold a 4-game lead in the FSL North over Lakeland Flying Tigers. They are 6-4 in the past 10 games and are just playing good baseball. I wouldn’t be surprise to see some of these players get promoted soon.

Player of the Week – There is now way to pick one player so here we go: RHP Kendall Graveman is 3-0 since May 12th, CP Arik Sikula has 4 saves since May 12th, Dalton Pompey is hitting .325/.400/.675 with a HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB, 6 K, and 3 SB in the last 10 games and SS Jorge Flores is hitting .300/.364/.333 with 6 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K, and SB in 10 games. The true player of the week needs to go to C Derrick Chung who has been hitting .452/.541/.645 with a HR, 5 RBI, 3 2B, 6 BB, 5 K.

Lansing (23-23)

The Lugnuts week was just like their season, perfectly even with a 5-5 record.

Player of the Week – C Santiago Nessy must be watching what Derrick Chung is doing with the D-Jays because he has been hot over his past 10-games hitting .371/.405/.571 with a HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 9 K. Nessy is hitting .333 in May to erase a slow April start.