Results tagged ‘ Geremi Gonzalez ’
DUNCAN SENT TO MINORS
The Blue Jays have sent OF Jeff Duncan to minor league camp. Duncan had a great spring hitting .353 with two triples and 5 RBI in 34 at-bats. The Jays have 31 players left in camp include non-roster players, C Sal Fasano, OF Matt Stairs and Pitchers Josh Towers, Geremi Gonzalez and Victor Zambrano.
Slam! Sports is reporting that Casey Janssen will make the Jays opening day roster and pitch out of the bullpen to start the season.
Jason Phillips, known for his glasses, had laser eye surgery this off-season and had shed the glasses. Phillips went back to the glasses this week after finding out his left eye was still bothering him. He is hitting .132 (5-38) this spring.
LEAGUE BACK WITH CHIEFS, MAYBE…
Righthanded pitcher Brandon League who never really was able to pitch this spring has been optioned to Syracuse. The hard throwing reliever has had trouble with his velocity and will likely spend time in Dunedin before making an appearance in Syracuse with the Chiefs.
The Blue Jays meanwhile need to make a few decisions this week now that League will not be part of their plans to start the season.
The rotation is nearly set with Roy Halladay, AJ Burnett, Gustavo Chacin and Tomo Ohka set. The fifth spot should go to Josh Towers who has pitched well enough to earn another chance.
BJ Ryan, Scott Downs, Brian Tallet, Jason Frasor also should be assured spots. That leaves John Thomson, Victor Zambrano, Geremi Gonzalez, Jeremy Accardo, Casey Janssen and Francisco Rosario all fighting for three spots. Zambrano and Janssen look like they are the front runners. While Rosario is out of options, and Thomson won’t begin throwing again until Friday. Gonzalez and Accardo look like they are ticketed to the Chiefs.
The Blue Jays could also help their bullpen by pulling off a late spring training trade or claiming someone off waivers this week.
JAYS BEGIN TO DELETE ROSTER
The Toronto Blue Jays minor league camp opened last week and games for their four affiliates will begin on Wednesday vs the Philadelphia Phillies organization. At the major league level, the parent club has begun sending down players including seven pitchers. Lefty Jo Matumoto joins righthanders Beau Kemp, Josh Banks, Ismael Ramirez, and yesterday Ryan Houston, Jean Machi and Tracy Thorpe found their way back to the Englebert Complex.
Only shortstop Sergio Santos and catcher Erik Kratz have been assigned from the group of non-pitchers.
First glance at the Jays pitching staff only Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, Gustavo Chacin, B.J. Ryan, Scott Downs, Jason Frasor, and Brian Tallet seem to be locks. That leaves probably five spots available and righthanders Jeremy Accardo and Brandon League if healthy will take up two of those. The other three spots, two are starting pitchers and one long reliever.
The candidates, Tomo Ohka, John Thomson, Josh Towers and Shaun Marcum are leading contenders with Victor Zambrano, Pete Walker and Geremi Gonzalez also in the mix. Francisco Rosario is out of options and can’t return to Syracuse.
Pitchers most likely left out and headed back to Syracuse include Dustin McGowan, Davis Romero, who was injured early in camp, Matt Roney, Ty Taubenheim, Lee Gronkiewicz, Blaine Neal, and Brian Wolfe.
WINTERBALL
We wanted to give our readers a quick update on some potential Chiefs playing winter ball right now.
Rob Cosby has appeared in 19 games for Caguas in Puerto Rico and is hitting .284 with five doubles, two triples, one HR and 9 RBI.
Lee Gronkiewicz is pitching for Obregon in Mexico and is 3-2 with a 4.76 ERA and 5 saves with 3BB and 25K in 18 appearances.
David Purcey pitched in one game for Mayaguaz in Puerto Rico giving up one run in three innings.
Beau Kemp is pitching for Aragua in Venezuela and has appeared in 21 games going 3-2 with a 3.51 ERA, 12BB and 17K.
Geremi Gonzalez is pitching for Magallenes in Venezuela and is 1-1 with a 0.38 ERA, 10 saves and 7BB and 17K in 19 appearances.
BASEBALL AMERICA TOP 10 LIST
Baseball America has announced their list of Top 10 Blue Jays Prospects for next season. Adam Lind, who SkyChiefs fans got a got look at in the month of August, has been named the Blue Jays #1 Prospect. Other SkyChiefs on the list include catcher Curtis Thigpen #5, pitcher Francisco Rosario #6 and David Purcey #9.
Speaking of Thigpen fans can catch up with Curtis in a live chat on mlb.com, tomorrow, Thursday November 16th at 11:00AM.
Entering play today Thigpen is hitting .284 with two home runs and 19 RBI for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League. The Desert Dogs are leading the Eastern Division with a record of 19-10. Other Blue Jays prospects on the team include Chip Cannon who is hitting .366 with a league leading 11 HR and 29 RBI, Ryan Klosterman (.308 in just 8 games), Dustin McGowan (1-3, 5.59 in 5 starts), Kyle Yates (2-0, 1.13 in 6 games, 4 starts), Jordan DeJong (3-0, 3.00 in 12 games) and Tracy Thorpe (0-0, 4.76 in 11 games).
Geremi Gonzalez who the Blue Jays signed to a Minor League contract this week has pitched in 8 games for the Navegantes del Magallanes in the Venezuelan Winter League and is 0-0 with 4 saves and has not allowed a run in 8.1 innings.
Another free agent the Blue Jays signed this week, Beau Kemp is pitching for the Tigres de Aragua in the Venezuelan Winter League and is 3-1 with 4.19 ERA in 14 games. Kemp, a right-handed reliever pitched in 7 games for Rochester against the SkyChiefs this season and was 0-0, with a 0.84 ERA over 10.2 innings, walking one and striking out four. Nice to have Beau on our side now.
