Posts Tagged 'brett cecil 2012'

Blue Jays Minor League System Monthly Review – May, 2012

Published June 12, 2012 Monthly Minor League Recap 2 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s time for the monthly Toronto Blue Jays minor league system and prospect update.  Let’s take a look at how the top names in the system performed for the month of May.  All of the top rated prospects will be accounted for with a few exceptions, Daniel Norris, Jacob Anderson, Dwight Smith Jr, Joe Musgrove and Adonys Cardona are still in instructional league (rookie ball) and do not have registered stats yet this year.

Check out the full April review to compare numbers.

Any player rated or mentioned in my top 15 prospect piece are in bold.

LoA – Lansing Lugnuts, Record 44-20, 1st place

2012 AB AVG OBP SLG OPS 2B HR BB K
(OF) Chris Hawkins 232 310 347 397 743 11 1 13 34
(C) Carlos Perez 189 265 341 423 764 15 3 23 28
(3B) Kellen Sweeney 140 179 297 207 504 2 0 23 30

 

 

 

No real changes here with the exception of Kellen Sweeney, who might be making his last appearance on this list unless he shows a marked improvement.  Perez continues to show a decent bat with some patience and a bit of pop.

2012 IP H ER BB K HR ERA WHIP
Justin Nicolino 47.0 38 7 9 45 2 1.34 1.00
Aaron Sanchez 43.0 22 4 23 38 0 0.84 1.05
Noah Syndergaard 39.2 41 19 13 51 3 4.31 1.36

Syndergaard has really struggled since his dominating April, Nicolino has continued his dominance as has Aaron Sanchez. 

HiA – Dunedin Blue Jays, 41-22, 1st place

2012 AB AVG OBP SLG OPS 2B HR BB K
(OF) Jake Marisnick 202 262 338 431 768 13 3 16 44
(OF) Michael Crouse 128 195 297 297 594 8 1 18 44
(OF) Marcus Knecht 213 221 321 418 739 14 8 30 71

 Jake Marisnick hasn’t hit a homerun in over a month and has been scuffling at the plate.

2012 IP H ER BB K HR ERA WHIP
John Stilson 54.1 56 17 19 47 2 2.82 1.38
Asher Wojciechowski 57.1 64 31 11 44 3 4.87 1.31
Sean Nolin 72.2 62 19 17 73 7 2.35 1.09

Sean Nolin continues to raise his stock significantly with some dominating numbers while Stilson continues to strike out batters at a solid clip but is giving up too many hits.  It was a rough month for Asher Wojciechowski who raised his ERA to 4.87 from 3.09. 

Double-A – New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 22-40, 6th place

2012 AB AVG OBP SLG OPS 2B HR BB K
(1B) Mike McDade 225 311 391 498 889 12 10 27 42
(C) AJ Jimenez 105 257 295 371 666 4 2 5 14

 Ho-hum.

2012 IP H ER BB K HR ERA WHIP
Joel Carreno 29.2 21 14 12 31 4 4.25 1.11
Chad Jenkins 51.0 67 36 14 20 10 6.35 1.59
Brett Cecil 42.2 44 16 14 34 2 3.38 1.36
Deck McGuire 64.1 73 48 25 45 9 6.72 1.52

 Brett Cecil has finally started to turn it around after a dreadful start fighting off an injury.  He might be called upon to help out the big league club if Brandon Morrow is hurt for any length of time.

Triple-A – Las Vegas 51s, 36-21, 3rd place

2012 AB AVG OBP SLG OPS 2B HR BB K
(RF) Travis Snider 96 333 411 604 1.015 11 5 14 19
(C) Yan Gomes 166 349 379 590 970 19 7 7 34
(1B) David Cooper 161 298 378 497 875 12 6 22 19
(CF) Moises Sierra 232 297 358 474 832 11 10 20 53
(SS) Adeiny Hechavarria 257 327 375 455 830 17 4 21 51
(C) Travis D’Arnaud 231 333 383 593 976 18 14 18 45
(CF) Anthony Gose 266 289 365 414 778 12 3 29 64
(1B) Adam Lind 89 416 471 663 1.134 7 5 12 19

These numbers speak for themselves.  Anthony Gose, Travis d’Arnaud and Adeiny Hechavarria have simply been on fire.  I included Adam Lind for reference sake as he has been extremely hot since the demotion. 

2012 IP H ER BB K HR ERA WHIP
Jesse Chavez 63.2 54 26 13 60 7 3.68 1.05

Brett Cecil Demotion Highlites Blue Jays Questionable Starting Rotation

Published April 3, 2012 Jays Rumours 1 Comment
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

If there was an area a team needed improvement the most to potentially contend in the 2012 MLB season I would think the Toronto Blue Jays rotation would rank near the top of the short list.  With Jays nation abuzz with energy and excitement seeing the young team play with confidence in spring training one can’t help but think how far this team could go if they had added a starting pitcher or two to solidify the rotation.

With the news today that Brett Cecil has been option to AA and in his place oft-forgotten prospect Joel Carreno called up to take his place a giant spotlight has been shined on a glaring weakness.  Ricky Romero is a fine starting pitcher, and while he is not flashy, he is a real grinder.  He has the true talent of a number two but the dogged determination of an ace.

After that, while there is some definite upside, all bets are off.

*Speaking of bets, Intertops.com ranks the Toronto Blue Jays as the 8th most likely team to win the World Series in 2012, just behind the Tampa Bay Rays. 

Over/under set at 81.5

We have discussed Brandon Morrow in detail but to summarize he is an electric talent but riddled with question marks.  Is he simply the AL version of Ricky Nolasco?  A pitcher with fantastic peripherals and average results or can he put it all together in 2012?  The fact even our number two pitcher in the rotation has such question marks shows how fragile the group is.

Brett Cecil was slated to be our number three pitcher, he of the ZIPS projected 5.00+ ERA, 6.50+ spring ERA and current ticket holder of a bus to AA Dunedin.  I had very little confidence in Cecil heading into spring training, less now obviously.  His velocity was down, confidence seemingly back but result not matching the renewed efforts.

His replacement is an interesting guy in Joel Carreno, a seldom discussed prospect who has looked good in stretches for both the Jays in 2011 and as a starting pitcher in the minors.  He was lights out in the pen last season in the majors (15.2 IPs, 1.15 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 3.5 K/BB) and has an intriguing combination of pitches.  But still, he is a crapshoot at best, especially slotted (for now) as a number three starting pitcher in the AL East.

Henderson Alvarez is another guy with underwhelming statistics (strikeout numbers) but a pitcher I do actually like and have confidence in going forward.  He attacks the zone with a solid fastball and can keep it on the ground and hopefully out of the ballpark.  Again, he seems solid but to count on him for 200+ quality innings seems like a reach.

Finally how could you mention Jays starters and questionable without discussing Kyle Drabek, the teams number one (or two) rated prospect from a season ago.  After his sizzling debut versus the Seattle Mariners Jays fans were ready to forget about old’ Roy (ok, not even remotely true) but his season quickly came crashing into AL east reality. 

In short, he stunk.  He stunk badly.  However as bad as he was (did I mention he was bad?) Drabek is still a young guy with a big fastball and a competitive spirit.  I wouldn’t expect an ERA below 4.00 but if he can give the team 160-175 innings with a 4.50 ERA and 1.35 WHIP that would be a welcome addition as a number four/five starter.

Dustin McGowan will begin the season on the disabled list and given his long injury history is another long shot candidate to add any tangible value.

Much of what I have written should come as no surprise and Alex Anthopoulos is no fool.  He knew coming into the offseason the serious question marks surrounding the team’s starting pitching and if you believe the rumours he was interested in acquiring at least one or two of Gio Gonzalez, Mat Latos, Yu Darvish, Matt Garza, Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt.

While I still don’t think 2012 is our season (though stranger things have happened) I am excited for the day when our robust offensive attack is matched by an equally impressive young starting pitching crew.  Five above average starters are needed to compete in the ruthless AL East against the three terror squads located in New York, Boston and Tampa Bay.

Blue Jays Spring Training Recap – April 2, 2012

Published April 2, 2012 Spring Training Game Recaps Leave a Comment
Tags: ,

Coming off a terrible 2011 regular season Brett Cecil was hopeful to turn around his career with a solid season in 2012.  After a brutal outing this afternoon there has been talk he might not even have a rotation spot locked down.  The Tigers struck early and often and ended winning 11-8, read the full boxscore here. 

Brett Cecil was hammered over 4 innings, giving up 11 hits and 7 earned runs.  His spring ERA jumped to 6.48 with the rough outing.  Cecil won’t be given much of a leash in the regular season so he had better hope he gets off to a decent start.

Prince Fielder and Delmon Young hit back-to-back home runs, the latter being Young’s sixth homer of the spring, as part of a seven-run second inning that allowed Detroit to cruise to an 11-8 victory over the Blue Jays on Monday afternoon in the Tigers’ home finale at Joker Marchant Stadium.

The matchup between the two best records in the Grapefruit League turned early in the Tigers’ favour once Omar Vizquel and Luis Valbuena ran into each other behind second base on Fielder’s popup, allowing Brennan Boesch to score on the errant drop. Young doubled in Fielder for a 2-0 lead.

The real damage came the next inning, when eight consecutive Tigers reached base safely after Blue Jays starter Brett Cecil retired leadoff hitter Jhonny Peralta. The first seven of those were base hits, including Austin Jackson’s RBI double and Boesch’s two-run single.

Up next: The Tigers and Blue Jays wrap up their Grapefruit League schedules with the back end of their home-and-home set, heading to Dunedin for a 12:05 p.m. ET matchup. Max Scherzer will make his final tuneup of the spring for Detroit opposite Henderson Alvarez, who’s ticketed for the fourth spot in Toronto’s rotation after what has been a stingy spring.

Blue Jays Spring Training Recap – March 18, 2012

Published March 18, 2012 Spring Training Game Recaps Leave a Comment
Tags: , , ,

The Blue Jays game was on Sportsnet today and I had a chance to watch.  Anthony Gose entered the game as a pinch runner and quickly made an impression.  He took a huge lead and easily stole second base.  He also had one at-bat and though he struck out he had a good looking, aggressive swing on the first pitch.  He carries himself like a confident big leaguer already and he appears to be a gamer.

The Jays hammered the Phillies and easily won 10-2 on Sunday, read the MLB.com recap here.

 Jose Bautista recorded his third home run of the spring, while Yunel Escobar and Yan Gomes each had a pair of doubles in Toronto’s 10-2 victory over the Phillies on Sunday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

Toronto first got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third off left-hander Cole Hamels, thanks to back-to-back doubles by Gomes and Escobar. Bautista later followed with his sixth RBI of the spring to give the Blue Jays an early 2-1 lead.

That production continued in the third as Toronto recorded four consecutive singles to plate three more runs and chase Hamels from the game. Philadelphia’s left-hander surrendered five runs — four earned — on eight hits without striking out a batter in his fourth start of the spring.

Left-hander Brett Cecil got the start for Toronto and got himself into trouble in the first inning, but was able to minimize the damage. He gave up a one-out triple to centre fielder Shane Victorino, who would later come around to score on a single by Hunter Pence, but that’s all Philadelphia would score off Cecil.

The 25-year-old allowed four hits while striking out two and not issuing a walk in four frames. His fastball was registered between 85-87 mph, but Cecil appeared to be locating the ball down in the zone with more effectiveness.

Up next for the Blue Jays: The Blue Jays have an off-day on Monday afternoon, but right-hander Henderson Alvarez will get the start in a Minor League game and is expected to pitch five innings as he continues to build up his endurance. On Tuesday, Toronto travels to Fort Myers, Fla., to take on the Red Sox at 7:05 p.m. ET. Many regulars are expected to receive the day off, but right-hander Kyle Drabek will get the start against Boston’s Daniel Bard. Dustin McGowan gets to avoid the trip and will instead make a Minor League start.

Blue Jays Spring Training Recap – March 13, 2012

Published March 13, 2012 Spring Training Game Recaps Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Brett Cecil was once again sharp on the mound as the Jays (SS) defeated the Minnesota Twins 8-2, read the full recap here.

Left-hander Brett Cecil tossed three scoreless innings, and Travis Snider and Travis d’Arnaud each drove in two runs to lead the Blue Jays to an 8-2 win over the Twins on Tuesday at Hammond Stadium.

Cecil allowed just one hit while walking two and striking out two, and he hasn’t allowed a run in six Grapefruit League innings.

Left-hander Francisco Liriano started the game for the Twins, and he cruised through the first two innings before giving up four runs in the third. Snider and d’Arnaud hit back-to-back two-run doubles off Liriano to give the Blue Jays an early lead.

Up next: Henderson Alvarez is set to make his third start of the Grapefruit League season when the Blue Jays host the Yankees on Wednesday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. ET in a game that can be heard on an exclusive webcast on bluejays.com.

AL Eastbound On Twitter!

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 643 other followers