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Welcome to our preview of the April 8, 2018 games for the Blue Jays minor league organization!
Will the Buffalo Bisons finally start their season? Nope. They’ve already had their “opener” cancelled for the third time in Rochester. The club is now on the way to Pawtucket where they hope to have better luck tomorrow facing the Pawtucket Red Sox.
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats finish up their four-game opening series against the Hartford Yard Goats with a 3-0 record and Sean Reid-Foley on the mound. They’ve released their lineup and have a new leadoff hitter with Andrew Guillotte at the top of the lineup in center field. Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Lourdes Gurriel follow with Bichette in the DH spot and Gurriel at shortstop. Max Pentecost hits fifth and catches while Cavan Biggio, Harold Ramirez, Connor Panas and Juan Kelly round things out. They’ll face 20-year-old righty Peter Lambert from San Dimas, California (the home of Bill and Ted and their excellent adventures). A second round pick in 2015, Lambert has shown good control, walking only 30 in Advanced-A Lancaster in 2017 while striking out 131 in 142 1/3 innings. Lambert is the fifth-ranked prospect for the Colorado Rockies and I hope the Fisher Cats bring their good wood today at 1:05 pm.
The Fisher Cats are 3-0, and Sean Reid-Foley hasn’t even pitched yet! That changes today as we go for the sweep in Hartford at 1:05 p.m. (And yes, the lineup is still loaded). pic.twitter.com/dDrC39Zl8p
— NH Fisher Cats (@FisherCats) April 8, 2018
The Dunedin Blue Jays (2-1) haven’t tweeted out their lineup but they have it up on their website. For their 1:00pm start, Josh DeGraaf starts with the following lineup behind him:
Joshua Palacios RF
Rodrigo Orozco LF
Logan Warmoth SS
Bradley Jones DH
John LaPrise 2B
Nash Knight 1B
Alberto Mineo C
Ivan Castillo 3B
D.J. Davis CF
This marks Alberto Mineo’s Blue Jays debut since being taken in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft in December. They’ll face Alejandro Requena, a 21-year-old right from Villa de Cura Venezuela and the Clearwater Threshers (who feature former first-round pick Mickey Moniak). Requena was acquired by the Phillies from the Colorado Rockies before the trade deadline and had a 2.85 ERA and 1.09 WHIP with Asheville in the South Atlantic League.
The Lansing Lugnuts (2-0) send righty Graham Spraker to the hill to face the Great Lakes Loons on Sunday Funday! They line up with the following players:
Chavez Young CF
Kevin Vicuna 2B
Kacy Clemens DH
Ryan Noda LF
Kevin Smith SS
Christian Williams 1B
Brock Lundquist RF
Cullen Large 3B
Ridge Smith C
Reggie Pruitt and Samad Taylor get the day off while Kevin Smith slides over from third to shortstop and Cullen Large gets into the action at third base. Brock Lundquist also gets into the action today, giving the Lugnuts a little bit less speed on the bases but they’ll have a little more pop in the lineup with some good line-drive hitters like Lundquist and Large. They face 18-year-old Dominican righty Melvin Jimenez, who tossed 28 innings with Great Lakes last year and had a strong start in his Midwest League career, tossing 28 innings with a 2.57 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, striking out 36 with 12 walks.
Remember, it’s April! All northern games are tentative depending on weather!
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