Toronto Blue Jays Winter League update: 28/11/2015

Nov 7, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Toronto Blue Jays infielder Rowdy Tellez during the Arizona Fall League Fall Stars game at Salt River Fields. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Time to wrap up the Blue Jays’ Rowdy Tellez, Chad Girodo, Roemon Fields and Brady Dragmire‘s successful seasons in the Arizona Fall League and check in on some Blue Jays in Australia and in the Caribbean.

It’s been too long since the last Toronto Blue Jays Fall/Winter league update, and for that I apologize. The AFL is done, but there is still lots of baseball being played, so lets get caught up.

Arizona Fall League

Salt River Rafters

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Tripp Keister guided the Salt River Rafters to 16-13 record, finishing 1.5 games back of the East League Champs and eventual Fall League Champions Scottsdale Scorpions. Unlike many other Major League teams, Toronto didn’t send down a long list of their Top Prospects; however, they did send some interesting players who should make some noise in 2016.

Rowdy Tellez

Tellez showed his strengths in Arizona, making the the AFL All-Star team. Tellez started at 1st and batted 4th going 1-for-4 with a run, a double and 2 strike outs.

Rowdy appeared in 21 games, batting .293 with 4 home runs and 17 RBI. Toronto’s 7th ranked prospect (according to MLB Pipeline) finished tied for the team lead in HR and RBI.

“We’re very pleased with his performance,” Jays interim general manager Tony LaCava told The Star’s Brendan Kennedy. “We challenged him as a young player to go (to the fall league) and he has far exceeded our expectations.”

According to Brendan Kennedy, Tellez was working hard on his fielding “taking 100 groundballs and 30 picks everyday before practice.

Emilio Guerrero

After a slow start, Guerrero batted .282 over his final 10 games to finish batting .254/.312/.366 in 19 AFL games. Emilio is a free swinger at the plate, striking out 19 times and drawing 6 walks. He hit 1 home run and 5 doubles, droving in 12 run and going 3-for-4 in stolen base attempts.

Guerrero has a projectable frame and some upside if he can put it all together. It’s good to see him get some extra reps in Arizona after only appearing 80 games in 2015.

Roemon Fields

Many people I spoke to about Fields felt that he would be exposed and out of his element in the AFL. For the first few games they were right, but Fields hit .290 over his final 10 games to raise his average to .253.

Despite not getting the hits early in the AFL season, Fields continued to show good bat control and pitch recognition. Ultimately, Reomon showed that he is developing into a legitimate lead-off hitter by leading the league in SB (14-for-21) and finishing 2nd in BB (17).

For all those that don’t know Fields background, get ready to read all about him next year because there is no doubt in my mind that he will make his MLB debut in 2016.

Chad Girodo

Chad made the best of his AFL experience, putting up big numbers and putting his name into the fold to compete for a spot in the Blue Jays 2016 bullpen. Girodo finished with no record, a 1.80ERA allowing 2 earned runs in 10 innings of relief and was named to the All-Star game.

He did a great job of inducing ground-balls with 2.00 GO/AO and help opponents to a .225 BA.

Chad is very deceptive throwing from the left-side and being a side-arm pitcher, but he doesn’t throw anything straight which is good because lacks an overpowering fastball.

Look for Girodo to impress in the Spring, but to start the year in Buffalo.

Jeremy Gabryszwski

The 6’4″ Texan threw 23.1 innings, finishing with one win and 2 losses. He posted a 4.63 ERA allowing ER in all 6 games he appeared in….not the results he was hoping for.

Jeremy will never put up huge strike out numbers, striking out 11 and walking 6. The 6 walks is a bit of a surprise, as he tends to limit the number of free passes he issues (31 in 129IP with Dunedin in 2015).

Justin Shafer

Shafer may have bit off more than he could chew in Arizona. After throwing 95.1 IP between Lansing and Dunedin Shafer struggled in 2 of his final 3 appearances, giving up 3 runs in both appearances. Justin finished with 0-1 record and 7.00 ERA in 9 innings of work…small sample size.

Shafer allowed one earned run through his first 4 outings (7IP) before allowing 3 runs in one inning. He had a 1-2-3 inning in his next appearance but failed to register an out, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks in his final outing.

Justin walked 5 and struck out 10, but opponents held a .324 BA against him.

Brady Dragmire

Drags finished with no record, a solid 0.82 ERA over 9 appearances and 11 IP. He held opponents to a poultry .132 BA and seemed to induce groundballs at will (3.75 GO/AO). Dragmire used his mid-90’s fastball strike out 14, while walking 4.

Like Girodo, Brady’s AFL performance put him on the Jays radar for internal bullpen options. It’s possible that his dominance of AFL batters made it easy an decision toadd him to the 40-man roster instead of risking the chance of losing in the Rule V draft.

Next: David Harris and Jason Leblebijian tearing it up down under

Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Australian Baseball League

Canberra Calvary

David Harris

The 24-year-old from Houston, Texas continues to swing a hot bat for the Calvary, hitting .375 with 11 walks, 13 strike outs, 2 stolen bases, and 2 home runs. Harris has scored 17 runs and driven in 9, while batting primarily out of the lead-off spot.

Betsided

Harris has appeared in 19 games, playing 13 games in CF, 6 games in RF and one in LF posting an overall RangeFactor of 2.42 and fielding percentage of 1.000.

In his last 10 games, Harris has hit .333 going 12-for-36, with 7 runs, one RBI, 7 walks and 7 K’s. Keep up the good work David.

Jason Leblebijian

In 22 games, Leblebijian is leading the Cavalry in hitting with  35 hits and .385 batting average. He’s hit 4 home runs, 9 doubles and 28 RBI.

Jason’s play at short is solid, posting a 4.45 RangeFactor and .951 fielding percentage with 5 errors and 13 double plays.

Jason has hit .488 (20-for-41) with 10 runs, a home run, 14 RBI, 2 walks and 5 K’s in his last 10 games.

Derrick Loveless

The 22-year-old Loveless is slowly coming out of his early season struggles hitting .267 the past 10 games. Derrick has split time with David Harris in CF and RF, posting a 1.30 RangeFactor and 9.63 fielding percentage.

Overall, Loveless is .210/.338/.387 with 2 HR and 6 RBI.

Colton Turner

The 24-year-old Tuner has started two games and made 4 relief appearances, posting one win and one loss. He currenly holds a 5.60 ERA with 11 walks and 9 K’s over 17.2 innings.

Phil Kish

Kish has allowed one run in his past 5 outings and 7.2 IP. The 26-year-old has one win, zero loses and a 5.25 ERA. He has walked 4 and struck out 8 in 12 innings of work and has looked much better after allowing 5 runs over his first 3 appearances.

Next, let’s take a look at the Blue Jays prospects in the Caribbean Winter Leagues…

Next: On to the Caribbean Winter Leagues