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Minor League Report: Zach Britton hit his first home run in nearly a year, Fernando Pérez made his Single-A debut, and more!

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On Friday, all “A” level affiliates kicked off their season, on top of the already ongoing Triple-A season.

That begs the question, who were the day’s biggest standouts and what were some interesting storylines? Well, that’s what this article will look to answer.

Buffalo Bisons split the double header

In the first game of the double header, Blue Jays top prospect Ricky Tiedemann made his second start of the season, finishing with a line of 1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 0 K, struggling with command with his velocity down, likely due to the weather.

However, the Bisons lost the first game 9-7, but managed to make it a close game with six runs in the top of the seventh. Nathan Lukes hit his second home run of the season, while he, Addison Barger, and Rafael Lantigua all finished with multi-hit games.

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The second game went significantly better for the Bisons, as they beat the Worcester Red Sox 5-0 to bring their season record to 5-0. No home runs were hit in this game, but both Orelvis Martinez and Will Robertson hit doubles, with the latter having a multi-hit game and picking up two RBI. Every play except Lukes and Max McDowell had at least one hit.

In terms of pitching, Andrew Bash started the game and went 3 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, while Brandon Eisert, Zach Pop, and Connor Cooke all registered a strikeout.

New Hampshire is undefeated

In Double-A action, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats defeated the Binghamton Rumble Ponies 5-2, kicking off their season with a win.

Starting with the pitchers, Michael Dominguez started the game and finished with a line of 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. The walks are still somewhat concerning, but the fact he was the Opening Day starter is a good sign of how the Blue Jays organization views him.

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Abdeil Mendoza made his upper-minor debut, finishing with a line of 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, as did Ian Churchill. Ryan Boyer picked up the save, only his third save in professional ball.

In terms of home runs, Garrett Spain hit his first career Double-A home run, while the returning Zach Britton hit his first home run since April 12. It sucked not watching him last season except for the 17 games early in the season, because the dude is just electric to watch. Britton also picked up a double and had three RBIs.

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The other two players with multi-hit games were Rainer Nuñez and Miguel Hiraldo, with the former being on a similar redemption tour to Britton. Alan Roden and Josh Kasevich both had hits as well.

Vancouver lose in their opener

I really wish this game was on MiLB.tv, as Colorado’s High-A affiliate will be streaming this season, but not this game apparently. Why? Well, Chase Dollander made his professional debut and finished with a line of 5 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. Dude is going to be the ace of the Rockies in short order.

Anyway, looking at how the Blue Jays prospects did, Dasan Brown was the only player in the game to hit a home run, making it 4-2 for Spokane, which ended up being the final score. In total, they only registered three hits with Dylan Rock hitting a double and Nick Goodwin hitting a single.

As for the pitchers, Ryan Jennings had a strong start finishing with a line of 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. It’s not a bad sign when a fourth-rounder kept up with the ninth-overall pick in the 2023 draft. Alex Amalfi made his High-A debut and finished with a line of 1.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, while Jonathan Lavallee made his organization debut and finished with a line of 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.

Dunedin Blue Jays couldn’t get much going either 

Both lower-minor teams struggled to get hits, with the Dunedin Blue Jays picking up just two hits and four walks.

Fernando Pérez made his Single-A debut, finishing with a line of 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. The newly minted Top 30 Blue Jays prospect averaged 92.3 mph on the fastball, touching 94.1 mph and tied for a game-high eight whiffs.

The prospect he was tied with was Carson Pierce, who was signed as an undrafted free agent after the 2023 draft. Personally, I see a lot of similarities with Trevor Richards, as Pierce’s changeup has a high spin rate (averaged 2407 RPM) while the two-seam fastball averaged 92.5 mph while maxing out at 95.2 mph. What a fantastic pick up. 

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In terms of the bats, the only two players with his for the Blue Jays were Victor Arias and Arjun Nimmala, who also picked up the only RBI of the game. Both those players reached on a walk as well, with Braden Barry and Yhoangel Aponte being the only other two players to reach via a walk.

As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Brennan_L_D.

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO