Blue Jays Morning Brew: Donaldson, Pentecost, international signings

The Blue Jays wrap up the first “half” of the season today with a matinee start against the Detroit Tigers

Pentecost at the plate
At Sportsnet, Jeff Simmons spoke with top catching prospect Max Pentecost about his focus on performing offensively as he works towards a return behind the plate.

“I’m more comfortable than I have been,” Pentecost told Simmons,” and there’s a lot of positive stuff coming out. The throwing is still bugging me a little. We’re still making progress with that but the main focus is the bat.”

Rios, Perdomo on display
The coming MLB All-Star Break will also feature two of the Blue Jays brightest pitching prospects at the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Games at Petco Park in San Diego. Francisco Rios and Angel Perdomo have both earned spots on the World Team, and Alykhan Ravjiani of MLB.com spoke with Gil Kim, the Blue Jays director of player development about the two young pitchers. Along with Sean Reid-Foley, Conner Greene, and Jon Harris, the first half of 2016 has represented a collective step forward for the Blue Jays top pitching prospects.

A scary story:
Josh Donaldson is getting better. Dave Cameron recently had an excellent story at FanGraphs about the reigning American League MVP who is still finding ways to improve.

“Somehow, when aging curves seem to be getting more extreme, Donaldson is getting better as he gets older,” Cameron said. “Now 30, he’s having a better year than he did in his MVP season last year, and if he keeps finding ways to improve his game, he may very well add another trophy or two to his resume before his career ends. That’s not bad for a guy who looked like a 4A player less than five years ago.”

Jays Nest Podcast episode 81
If you missed last Wednesday’s episode, you can catch the Jays Nest Podcast here where we talk trade deadline, robot umpires, take your listener questions and a whole lot more. Subscribe here and enjoy!

The Jays’ Nest Podcast- Talking Toronto Blue Jays – Jays Nest 81- Early Blue Jays Trade Rumors & More!

Troy Tulowitzki versus fastballs
Shaun Doyle of Jays From the Couch broke down the recent resurgence of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki at the plate, and it’s got a whole lot to do with hitting the fastball. Not only did Tulowitzki have trouble hitting the fastball early in the year, he had trouble picking up, allowing several strike-three fastballs to pass over the heart of the plate without swings.

The Hutchison conversation
Andrew Robichaud of TSN looks at Drew Hutchison and what happens next, which is a conversation that’s worth more play than it’s getting. Hutchison has pitched very well for triple-A Buffalo, doing all the Blue Jays could have hoped, but still needs to prove that he can be a consistent MLB-level starter. He’ll surely have his chance, but hasn’t carried his triple-A success into the majors in a (very) small sample size this year.

Next: Blue Jays trades in hindsight: Where are they now?

Blue Jays’ international signings
Circling back to the Blue Jays international free agent signings, Shi Davidi has the details here at Sportsnet. Toronto could not chase the big fish after spending big on Vlad Guerrero Jr. last year, but added 13 players including two signed for $300,000 (the maximum they were allowed to spend this season).