August 28th Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Merryweather and Pearson touched up in relief appearances

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The system went 4 and 2.

Buffalo- The Bisons fall to 2-8 over their past 10 games in a slugfest with the Red Sox. Otto Lopez and Tyler White had two-hit games while Danny Jansen hit a 3-run homer in his rehab start. Julian Merryweather allowed one run on two hits, walking one, and striking out two in 0.2IP. Nate Pearson allowed one run on 2 hits, striking out 2 batters in one inning.

New Hampshire- Chris Bec reached on a throwing error and stole 2nd base, Reggie Pruitt hit an infield single, Tanner Kirwer singled to left field, Samad Taylor went down swinging, and Vinny Capra sent an 1-0 pitch over the wall in LF for a grand slam. Capra supplied all the offences the Fisher Cats would need for the W. Kevin Vicuna and Nick Podkul had 2 hits. Demi Orimoloye stole two bases. Brandon Eisert picked up his 1st AA win with two shutout innings. Marcus Reyes also supplied two innings of shutout relief.

Vancouver- The Hops jumped on Alex Nolan for 4 runs in the 1st, 3 runs in the 3rd, and 2 runs in the 4th. Nolan served up 4 HR but gave his team some needed innings. Willy Gaston threw 3 scoreless in relief of Nolan. Spencer extended his hit streak to 17 games with two hits. Horwitz was joined by Rafael Lantigua and Orelvis Martinez with two-hit games. Horwitz has home runs in back to back games.

Dunedin- With the score 0-0 heading into the 9th inning, the D-Jays got a two-run home run off the bat of PK Morris, 2-0. MacKenzie Mueller added an RBI single later in the inning, 3-0. Hunter Gregory, in his 2nd professional game, gave up a home run in the bottom half of the 9th but held the Flying Tigers off for his first save.

Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons (56-41)

Loss 7 to 6

HR- Jansen (1)

Starter- Casey Lawrence 5.0IP, 7H, 4R, 2BB, 3K, and 1HRA on 92 pitches

L- Rafael Dolis (0-1, 3.00ERA)

Double-A

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (47-49)

Won 5 to 1

HR- Capra

Starter Johnny Barbato 3.0IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 2K on 45 pitches

W- Eisert (0-1, 3.18ERA)

H- Reyes (3)

Advanced-A

Vancouver Canadians (46-55)

Loss 9 to 6

HR- Horwitz (8) and Will Robertson (4)

Starter- Alex Nolan 4.0IP, 10H, 9R, 1BB, 3K, and 4HRA on 75 pitches

L- Nolan (0-5 8.92ERA)

A-Ball

Dunedin Blue Jays (45-56)

Won 3 to 1

HR- Morris (9)

Starter- Nathaneal Perez 6.0IP, 4H, 0R, 1BB, 6K on 81 pitches

W- Harry Rutkowski (2-1, 3.18ERA)

SV- Gregory (1)

FCL

FCL Blue Jays (21-20)

Won 9 to 3

HR- Victor Mesia (2)

Starter- Santos 2.2IP, 5H, 2R, 2BB, 4K

W- Martinez (1-0, 2.51ERA)

DSL

Blue Jays (19-12)

Won 7 to 6

HR- none

Starter- Caruci 5.0IP, 6H, 2R, 1BB, 4K

W- Santana (1-1, 6.30ERA)

H- Ochao (1)

BSV- Acosta (2)

SV- Medina (2)

Top Performers:

• Buffalo- Otto Lopez (2-for-4, R, BB), Forrest Wall (1-for-3, 2BB, 2K, CS), Jansen (1-for-4, R, 3RBI, HR), Tyler White (2-for-5, R, RBI, 2B, K)
• New Hampshire- Eisert (2IP, H, 4K), Reyes (2IP, H, BB, K), Capra (1-for-4, R, 4RBI, HR), Vicuna (2-for-4, K), Orimoloye (1-for-3, R, 2SB, BB, K), Podkul (2-for-4, RBI, K)
• Vancouver-GAston (3IP, 2H, 2K), Lantigua (2-for-4, R, BB, 2B), Morris (1-for-5, R, 2RBI, 2B), HOrwitz (2-for-3, R, 2RBI, BB, K, HR), Robertson (1-for-3, R, 2RBI, BB, HR)
• Dunedin- Rutkowski (2IP, BB, 2K), Steward Berroa (2-for-4, R, K, 2B, SB), Morris (2-for-4, R, 2RBI, HR), Harrison Ray (2-for-4)
• FCL- De Castro (2-for-2, R, 3RBI, HR, BB)
• DSL- Beltre (2-for-5, R, RBI, 2B), Munoz (2-for-4, 2R, RBI, BB, 2K, 2B), Giminez (2-for-4, 1R, 1BB, 1K), Arnaez (2-for-4, R, RBI)

Player Spotlight

Today we turn our attention to Victor Mesia

Baseball America has the 18-yr-old ranked as the Toronto Blue Jays system’s 12th best prospect. BA rave about Victor’s ability to make contact, ‘driving the ball with impact’. BA also feels Mesia has the ability to stick behind the plate, giving the Blue Jays yet another future catcher with an impact bat in their system.

The native of San Juan de Los Morros, Venezuela, started behind the plate for the FCL Blue Jays and batted 7th. Victor Mesia hit a 2-out 3-run home run in his 1st at-bat, 5-1. He doubled in his next at-bat in the 3rd inning. He scored on a Riklebin De Castro home run, a 3-run shot.

Mesia finished 2-for-3 with two runs, three RBI. In 56 at-bats, the talented 18-yr-old has a .304BA with a .888OPS while hitting 5 doubles, 2 HR, and driving in 13RBI. He has 6 walks and 10 strikeouts in 20 games.

The Groshans and Martinez Show

Jordan Groshans got a day off. Jordan Groshans owns a .289BA with a .818OPS. He has 7HR, 22 doubles, and 38RBI.

Orelvis Martinez played 3rd and batted 4th for the Canadians. He went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Martinez doubled and singled. After struggling for most of August since promotion, Martinez has been swinging a hot bat of late with a .320BA and .866OPS, two doubles, a HR, and 4RBI over the past 7 days.

With Vancouver, the 19-yr-old has a .204BA with a .640OPS. He also has 3 double, and 5HR while driving in 14RBI.