Blue Jays Down Under: The Aussie League update

Update on Toronto Blue Jays’ players in the ABL for the weekend of December 3rd

The Canberra Cavalry are riding a five-game winning streak into this weekend’s play in Australia with six members of the Toronto Blue Jays on their roster.

At 7-4, the Cavalry sit tied atop the ABL with the Sydney Blue Sox.

Here is a look at how the young Blue Jays are performing:

OF D.J. Davis  

Davis is getting steady reps in Australia, but the quality still isn’t there. The former 17th overall pick in 2012 has gone 4-for-40 (.100 AVG) with one double and 13 strikeouts. He’s only managed two walks and is 2-for-4 in stolen base attempts, which remains his highest-ceiling skill.

After posting a sub-.200 batting average and .558 OPS with the Dunedin Blue Jays in 2016, the prospect shine on Davis is wearing thin.

C Mike Reeves

Reeves is a player worth monitoring in the Blue Jays’ system this off-season and in 2017. The Canadian catcher has battled injuries recently, but profiles well behind the plate and is really beginning to turn the corner with his bat.

Over nine games with the Cavalry, Reeves is batting 13-for-38 (.342) with four home runs, two doubles, a triple, and13 RBI. That’s all good for an OPS of 1.180.

This isn’t to say that Reeves will sustain his early ABL pace, but coming off a productive season in advanced-A Dunedin, the 26-year-old could be a late bloomer as he creeps up the organizational ladder.

OF Josh Almonte

The 22-year-old has struggled with the bat over the past two seasons in the minors, but is hitting .351 over 10 games in the Australian League and has already swiped seven bases (7-for-7). He stole just 11 bases in 95 games between Lansing and Dunedin last season. Almonte has also walked five times, which is an area that’s given him trouble in the past.

RHP Josh DeGraaf

DeGraaf, a late-round college pick in 2015, has already proven to be a nice piece of organizational depth for the Blue Jays through two seasons. He currently leads the Cavalry with 14.0 innings pitched over his first three starts.

The 23-year-old right hander owns a 4.50 ERA and has walked nine batters already, but also has racked up 13 strikeouts along the way. After giving the single-A Lansing Lugnuts 94.1 innings of quality work in 2016, DeGraaf could be in line for a job in Dunedin should a rotation spot be available.

Next: Non-tender Blue Jays targets: The position players

RHP Andrew Case

Case has a 4.50 ERA over 8.0 relief innings with the Cavalry, tying him for the heaviest workload among the Canberra bullpen arms. He has struck out seven and walked three.

The Canadian right-hander was suspended 50 games last season after missing a drug test, but did put up some very nice numbers with the Lugnuts following his return.

RHP Jackson Lowery

The Blue Jays signed Lowery as a non-drafted free agent in 2015 and have gotten some valuable innings from the former Arkansas Razorback. Between Vancouver, Lansing, and Dunedin last season, Lowery put up a 3.06 ERA with nearly one strikeout per inning and showed the ability to work multiple frames.

Australia hasn’t been terribly kind to Lowery thus far, though we’re only looking at a sample of 5.2 innings. The right-hander has allowed four earned runs (6.35 ERA) with six walks and seven strikeouts.