May 17 Minor League Recap/May 18 Preview

 

Justin Atkinson
Justin Atkinson

 

The big club wins again while the minor league teams split their four games.

 

 

Buffalo Bisons 1, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 2

 

The Bisons dropped a squeaker after another strong game from Liam Hendriks, this time in front of Jays’ GM Alex Anthopoulos. Buffalo News sports reporter Mike Harrington talked to Anthopoulos who said that “He’s [Hendricks is] why I came.” Later in the article, Anthopoulos is quoted as saying that “Liam puts himself in there [the conversation for the open starting role in Toronto] with the performance and the other thing is you don’t have to have a 60- or 80-pitch first appearance.”

Hendriks threw seven strong innings, allowing just one run on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts to drop his ERA to just 1.48.John Stilson threw a shutout inning and Bobby Korecky gave up the winning run to the IronPigs. For the anemic offense, Mike Nickeas hit his first home run of the year and walked twice while Ryan Goins went 1/2 with three walks.

Roster Moves: Thanks to Minor Leaguer (at Bluebird Banter), we’re informed that the Blue Jays have lent part-time Bisons outfielder Ricardo Nanito to Los Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican league.

Player of the Game: Mike Nickeas and Liam Hendriks

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 5, Binghamton Mets 6

 

The Fisher Cats can’t catch a break, dropping another close game to the Mets and falling to ten games under .500 at 15-25. Matt Boyd had his best outing for the Fisher Cats so far, going five innings and allowing three runs on five hits and just one walk while striking out four. John Anderson surrendered three runs in 1 2/3 innings and Tyler Ybarra finished the game, striking out three in 2 1/3. The offense was pretty much the Ryan Schimpf Show as he blasted two more home runs, bringing his total to seven on the season, going 2/3 with the two solo blasts and a walk to bring his batting average to .297. Jon Berti had a pair of hits and a stolen base (his 16th) and Andy Fermin continues to torch the ball with two more singles.

 

Ryan Schimpf
Ryan Schimpf

Player of the Game: Ryan Schimpf

 

Dunedin Blue Jays 5, Bradenton Marauders 1

 

The D-Jays racked up their 30th win of the season by getting a couple of runs in the first and fifth and then a three-run double by K.C. Hobson blew the doors open. Hobson appears to be heating up, going 2/5 with the three RBI and extends his FSL RBI lead with 36 on the season. Christian Lopes was the DH, going 2/4 while Jorge Flores increased his batting average to .333 thanks to a 1/2 game with a walk and a stolen base. Dwight Smith was on base three times with a doulbe and two walks. On the mound was Kendall Graveman who threw six strong innings, striking out three and allowing just seven hits (and no walks). Blake McFarland threw two scoreless while Danny Barnes finished it off with a scoreless ninth. Notably, Dalton Pompey didn’t play for the second consecutive game.

Player of the Game: K.C. Hobson and Kendall Graveman

 

Lansing Lugnuts 8, Dayton Dragons 3

 

The Lugnuts got a vintage (from last year) performance out of Shane Dawson as he went the first five innings of the game, allowing only two hits and one walk while striking out three and getting five ground ball outs (to just one fly out). Alberto Tirado struggled more in his three innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits (including a home run) and two walks with three strikeouts. On the offensive side of things, L.B. Dantzler went 2/4 with a double and three RBI while Santiago Nessy remained hot, going 2/4 with a double as the DH. Justin Atkinson went 2/3 with a walk and his first home run of the season, scoring twice and driving in a pair.

Player of the Game: Two Canadians share the award today – Justin Atkinson and Shane Dawson

 

 

May 18 Preview

 

Buffalo Bisons (21-18)

 

I’ll be in Buffalo to catch Shawn Hill‘s start against Lehigh Valley and David Buchanan. Buchanan, despite just having turned 25 and pitching very well this year, isn’t really considered a prospect. He’s got a 5-0 record with a 3.18 ERA, 42 hits and 16 walks in 39 2/3 innings and 31 strikeouts. Hill, on the other hand, is a 6-foot-2, Mississauga-born, 34-year-old righty who has struggled in his two starts since moving up from New Hampshire. He’s allowed 10 earned run sin 12 innings but has a very good 11-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio and is allowing six groundouts for every fly out. You can watch too, either from Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo or on MiLB TV at 1:05 pm.

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (15-25)

 

The Fisher Cats would much rather the Binghamton Mets go home but they’ll have to play them one more time in this series, starting today at 1:35 PM ET. Tyler Pill (1-5, 5.16 ERA) goes for the Mets while Casey Lawrence (2-4, 3.24 ERA) goes for the ‘Cats. This one starts at 1:35 PM ET.

 

Dunedin Blue Jays (30-11)

 

Taylor Cole
Taylor Cole

 

The D-Jays are home to Bradenton and send Taylor Cole to the mound for a 1:00 PM start. Cole is 3-1 with a stellar 2.31 ERA and 56 strikeouts in just 46 2/3 innings so far for the Blue Jays. He’s also only allowed one home run all season and has a very strong 1.36 Ground Out to Air Out ratio.

 

Lansing Lugnuts (20-21)

 

Matt Dermody
Matt Dermody

 

Matt Dermody takes the hill for the Lugnuts in their final game of their series against the Dayton Dragons. Dermody, 23, is coming off an outstanding start against the Bowling Green Hot Rods in his last appearance, throwing eight shutout innings and allowing just four hits and one walk with six strikeouts. He faces Sal Romano, a 20-year-old righty from Connecticut who has been putting up very solid numbers in his second season in the Midwest League. Romano has a 3-2 record with a 3.30 ERA but, importantly, has an excellent 2.19 GO/AO ratio and appears to rely on getting ground balls, with a consistently low strikeout rate.

 

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