Last August 30, the Toronto Blue Jays announced that they signed a right handed pitcher from the Diablos Rojos del Mexico named Roberto Osuna. A glance at his birth date showed that he was born in 1995. Nineteen-freakin'-ninety-five. He is just a year older than Joey Kirby. It was enough to not only make me feel old, but it even made leaflover4ever of all people feel old. You can read this pre-signing scouting report about Osuna from Baseball Prospectus.
The 17-year old started off 2012 as a Blue Jay in rookie-level Bluefield, but after 7 games he was promoted to join the Vancouver Canadians (short season A). Last night, he made his debut for the C's against the hated Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners affiliate) at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Osuna struck out the first batter he faced (Jamodrick McGruder) then proceeded to strike out the 12 more batters, giving up just a hit and a walk, in his five-inning outing. The young Osuna faced 19 batters, with 8 whiffing and 5 being punched out. According to MjwW, he threw 75 pitches, 57 of which were strikes, causing AquaSox batters to miss 23 times on 38 swings. His velocity started at 94, peaked at 95, and had a few at 92 to go along with a sharp breaking ball. It was a performance that certainly turned a few heads and probably made a Osuna a few more fans, including Justin Nicolino:
What a performance by the young buck osuna tonight. That kid is unreal!
— Justin Nicolino (@J_Nicolino22) July 29, 2012
Roberto Osuna left in the 6th with a 5-1 lead in favour of 2012 first round pick Marcus Stroman, who added 2 more K's through 2 innings of 1-hit ball. In the 8th, Canadians manager Clayton McCullough called on the services of Bryan Longpre, a 25-year old who has been demoted from Dunedin to Lansing to Vancouver so far this season. Longpre struggled in his only inning, giving up a run on 3 hits, but he added another notch on the strikeout tally.
With the C's enjoying a comfortable 6-1 lead into the bottom of the 9th, McCullough gave the ball to Matt Johnson. Johnson was a shortstop for Vancouver to start the season, but after an impressive showing of velocity pitching in a blowout against the very same AquaSox a month ago, it was decided that he would be better served as a pitching convert. Johnson did not have a good time in his 9th professional apperance on the mound last night, being tagged with 4 runs on 3 hits after striking out 2 and getting the AquaSox down to their last strike twice. Unfortunately, the inning (and game) was extended after 2B Daniel Arcila booted a routine grounder. After a pitching change, Zack Breault gave up a game-tying 3-run homer to Mike Zunino, the 3rd overall pick in this year's draft. Unfortunately, Breault also coughed up the game-winning hit to Jamodrick McGruder (I love typing out his name) in the 10th.
Canadians lose 7-6 despite a 6-1 lead with two outs in the bottom of the 9th. Canadians pitchers finish with 19 strikeouts.
Here are the highlights on the offensive side for the Canadians:
- Nicholas Baligod: 3-for-5, 2B, RBI. He also showed off his canon arm a couple times from right field.
- Ian Parmley: 2-for-5, 2B, 3B, 2 R, 1 K.
- Kellen Sweeney: 2-for-4, 2B, 3B, 1 RBI, 1 R
Capsules for the Las Vegas, New Hampshire, Dunedin, Lansing, Bluefield, and GCL Jays games after the jump.
Las Vegas 51s 7 Salt Lake City Bees 2
Mississaugan Shawn Hill with an impressive start, stinging the Bees with a 7-inning 5-hit shutout effort. Two David Carpenters (?!) pitched in the game, one for the 51s and one for the Bees, with both of them throwing a shutout inning. Chad Beck had a rough return to AAA, Allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk in the 9th (including an RBI double to Robinzon Diaz).
Offensive highlights:
- Moises Sierra: 2-for-3, 2B, R, RBI, BB
- Eric Thames: 2-for-3, R, 2B, RBI
- David Cooper: 1-for-4, HR
- Mike McCoy: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB, 2K
- Adieny Hechavarria: 1-for-5, R, RBI, 2K
Thanks for the summary, Joey Kirby!
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 5 Altoona Curve 1
Deck McGuire is in the midst of a disappointing season, but in this game he limited the Curve to 4 hits and no runs in 7 innings pitched. His 3 walks were balanced by 3 strikeouts in his 5th win of 2012. Following McGuire were Matt Daly, who had two K's in his inning of work, and Trystan Magnuson, who allowed Altoona's only run in the 9th.
Offensive highlights:
- Brad Glenn: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
- John Tolisano: 2-for-4, 3B, 1 RBI
- Sean Ochinko: 2-for-4, RBI
- Ryan Goins: 1-for-5, 3B, RBI, K
Charlotte Stone Crabs 13 Dunedin Blue Jays 6
Casey Lawrence pitched 6 innings in his start for Dunedin, but the 24-year old was pinched by the Stone Crabs, giving up 6 earned runs on 9 hits despite striking out 8. Charlotte's starter Braulio Lara and reliever Alex Koronis gave up 6 runs themselves in the first 6 innings, so Lawrence escaped a loss in this one. Unfortunately, Dunedin's relievers (Cody Evans, Randy Boone, Brandon Kaye) did not fare well at all, giving up 9 runs in the top of the 7th, after Lawrence allowed the first two batters to reach.
Dunedin will hopefully get some pitching help from tomorrow's starter, Brandon Morrow, who is making his first rehab start. Morrow is expected to throw two innings.
Offensive highlights:
- Marcus Knect: 1-for-3, HR, BB
- Ryan Schimpf: 2-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 K
- Oliver Dominguez, 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB
South Bend Silver Hawks 5 Lansing Lugnuts 9
Anthony DeSclafani won his 9th game for the Lugnuts, giving up a single run on 6 hits. He struck out 3 and walked 1 in his 5-inning start. Philip Brua, Ian Kadish, and Aleson Escalante finished the rest of the game. Kadish, the Bear Jew, struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced in his only inning, but Escalante was roughed up for 3 runs on 4 hits in the 9th.
Offensive highlights :
- K.C. Hobson: 4-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI
- Kevin Patterson: 2-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI, K
- Kenny Wilson: 2-for-4, RBI, R, BB, K
- Khris Schaeffer: 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2K
Bluefield Blue Jays 2 Princeton Rays 8
GCL Blue Jays 7 GCL Tigers 1
A bit of arithmetic shows that the Jays' minor league affiliates gave up 11 runs in the 9th inning yesterday (yelp). Only three "Blue Jays" teams (Dunedin, Bluefield, Gulf Coast League) escaped with a scoreless 9th like their big league namesake.