Blue Jays MiLB Standouts: Vlad Jr. debuts and Bisons charge

A look around the top performers for the Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Organization for the week that ended 6/26

Triple A – Buffalo Bisons
Record 43-34 (2nd Place 2.0 GB)

The Bisons have been enjoying nothing but success this past week.  They have only lost one game in their past seven and are currently on a six-game winning streak.  They have been winning in blowouts and in close games alike as they look to take first place.

Jesus Montero continues to be a one-man wrecking crew as he raked in seven RBIs this past week.  He is currently on a five-game hitting streak and is 12-for-28 (.429) with two homers over the past week.  David Adams has been a hitting machine and is on a seven-game hitting streak.  He has scored six runs and drove in six while going 7-for-21 (.333) over the past week.

On the mound Scott Diamond added a excellent start to his resume as the Jays may be looking for some innings from another starter.  Diamond pitched seven innings of shutout ball the other day and picked up the victory.  He only allowed four hits and a walk to a talented Indianapolis Indians club.  He also struck out four.

MVB – Jesus Montero

Double A – New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Record 32-42 (4th Place 20.0 GB)

A 3-4 week for the Fisher Cats still has them falling further back in the standings.  Ryan Lavarnway has been hitting the ball hard over the past week and has a hit in his past four starts.  He was 6-for-14 (.429) with two home runs and five RBIs.  The team has not been hitting well in the past week as they only were able to score three runs or more in three of their seven games.  Those three games happen to be their wins.

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Those stats would lead people to believe that the pitching staff has been pitching well.  They only surrendered more then four runs in one game this past week.  So its been a week of lacking run support behind good pitching.  Shane Dawson had a decent start in which he allowed just one run during 5.0 innings.  Luis Santos did similar in his start this week as he also pitched 5.0 innings and surrendered only the one run.  Neither pitcher would factor into the decision for their starts however.

Casey Lawrence got into two starts this week and was dominant in both.  After a pair of terrible outings were he allowed five runs and at least 10 hits in each he has captured some control.  This week he pitched 12 innings and only gave up one run.  Lawrence appears to have found something of late and allowed just 11 hits and five walks over those innings while striking out 14.

MVFC – Casey Lawrence

Single A+ – Dunedin Blue Jays
Record 3-1 (2nd Place 1 GB)

The second half of the season kicked off for the Gulf Coast League this week and the D-Jays got going on the right foot.  The past week was a mix of the first and second halves and the D-Jays charged into the second half with a 6-1 record over their past seven.

Jorge Saez has been supplying some pop with the bat as he hit two homers in four games this week.  To top him, though, Emilio Guerrero cracked three homers in the past week.  Guerrero has been ripping the ball up of late and has a hit in the past 10 games he has played in.  Over the past week he went 11-for-24 (.483) and scored eight runs while driving in six.  Richard Urena has also hit in his past 10 games and has scored six times.

Conner Greene started the week on a high note with a seven-inning performance where he did not allow a run and struck out seven.  In his second start he allowed three runs over just four innings and walked four batters.  Chris Rowley pitched a solid five-inning performance and allowed only one run en route to the win.  The performance of the week might have been the continued evolution of Sean Reid-Foley as he impressed in his second D-Jays start.  He tossed six innings and allowed just three hits while not issuing a free pass.  He picked up his second win and struck out three.

MVDJ – Emilio Guerrero

Single A Full – Lansing Lugnuts
Record 4-0 (1st Place – GB)

Lansing also enjoyed the fun of the mid-season reset as they quickly jumped to a 4-0 record.  This week everything has been clicking as the offense has come up big and the pitchers have kept most offences down.  John La Prise has had a hit in each win and has scored five times while driving in four in the first four games.  Juan Kelly has been an RBI machine as he picked up six this past week and hit a home run.  Max Pentencost remains hot as he currently holds an eight-game hitting streak.  During the four games this week he scored six times and drove in four while going 8-for-16 (.500).

Tayler Saucedo had the performance of a lifetime as he threw a complete game shutout to pick up the win.  He allowed nine hits and walked two but struck out four and limited the damage throughout the game.   Saucedo was able to top an excellent Ryan Borucki start earlier in the week.   Borucki pitched eight innings and allowed just one run while striking out eight on his was to a win.  Pitching has been plentiful over the past week.

MVL – Tayler Saucedo

Single A Short – Vancouver Canadians 
Record 6-4 (1st Place – GB)

The Canadians have been enjoying some early success but have been having issues on defence as they have committed plenty of errors thus far.  They have been able to win despite that issue though as the season gets underway.  Jacob Anderson is the early leader in batting average and has been hitting the ball hard.  He picked up his first homer and four RBIs this week.  This year’s 5th round draft pick Cavan Biggio has been off to a hot start as he is 7-for-21 (.333) and ha scored four runs with two RBIs over the past week.

Patrick Murphy got into two games this past week and over 12 innings allowed just three runs on 10 hits.  He also only walked one batter and struck out seven.  He only picked up the win in his second start but has been looking great as he is stretching his innings.  Dalton Rodriguez pitched a shutout through 6.1 innings and allowed just three hits.  He picked up the win for his effort.

MVC – Dalton Rodriguez

Next: Monday Mailbag - History of the Edwing

Rookie level – Bluefield Blue Jays
Record 2-2 (2nd Place 1.0 GB)

A rain-out pushed off the opener for the BB-Jays but they did not disappoint once they hit the field. The start of the season held the hype of seeing the debut of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and he produced right off the bat.  He hit two homers, collected seven RBIs, and three runs scored in his first four games.  Nick Sinay has picked up a pair of RBIs and two runs scored as he has gotten off to a good start.  Edward Olivares has collected 10 total bases thus far and has a home run.  He has doubled, tripled, and homered in on his way to picking up three runs scored and three RBI.

MVBBJ – Vladimir Guerrero Jr.