Jay Blue: Giving the Fisher Cats roster an in depth look

LHP Shane Dawson (Draytonn Valley, Alta.) is bound for double-A New Hampshire. Photo: Jay Blue.

LHP Shane Dawson (Draytonn Valley, Alta.) is bound for double-A New Hampshire. Photo: Jay Blue.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats Opening Day Roster Announced
By Jay Blue
Blue Jays from Away

The Blue Jays released their minor league opening day rosters and we’ll bringing them to you over the next few days with our thoughts . . . and we’ll also look at how we did in our predictions! You can find our pitching predictions here and our hitting predictions here.

Starting Pitchers
John Anderson
Jason Berken
Shane Dawson
Jeremy Gabryszwski
Casey Lawrence

Taylor Cole (DL)

How did we do?
Three out of five. If you include Taylor Cole. I found out about Cole’s injury while I was in Dunedin and I also completely expected John Anderson and Casey Lawrence to be starting in New Hampshire. Not seeing Conner Greene in the NH rotation is a surprise and I thought Murphy Smith would be starting like he did down in Dunedin last year. The other two pleasant surprises were seeing Shane Dawson and Jeremy Gabryszwski starting the year in Double-A. I think the level will test both of them although Gaby’s control and command impressed me during spring training. That said, I did have Berken and Gabryszwski as “other possible starters” and I had Dawson as a ‘Wildcard Starter” so I think I come out looking better than at first glance.

Relievers
Danny Barnes
Wil Browning
Brady Dragmire
Colt Hynes
Daniel Schlereth
Chris Smith
Murphy Smith
John Stilson

How did we do?
Seven out of eight. What did we get wrong? We had Jason Berken in the bullpen and not the rotation and Murphy Smith in the rotation and not the bullpen. We also had Dustin Antolin in the bullpen. Other than that, it’s pretty much as I thought it would be.

Catchers
Wilkin Castillo
Jorge Saez

Derrick Chung (DL)
Martin Medina (DL)

How did we do?
Two out of three (ish). I did mention Jorge Saez in my prediction as a possibility but I got Castillo, Chung and Medina. Robinzon Diaz is nowhere to be found on any of the rosters, however.

Infield
Jon Berti
Matt Dean
Jorge Flores
K.C. Hobson
Shane Opitz
Rowdy Tellez

How did we do?
I’ll call it six of eight. I had all six of these guys on my list but I also had Andy Fermin (who wasn’t assigned to a team) and Emilio Guerrero who starts the year on the DL in Dunedin. I also thought Matt Dean would continue to play first base but he’s been moved back to third base (finally playing on a team without Mitch Nay) and will probably man the hot corner across the diamond from Rowdy Tellez and K.C. Hobson. The biggest omission from my predictions is second baseman Christian Lopes who is not on the New Hampshire roster to start the year.

Outfield
Roemon Fields
Melky Mesa
Ian Parmley
Dwight Smith

How did we do?
Three out of four. Parmley is not a surprise but the fact that Matt Newman wasn’t in spring training or assigned to a team is a curiousity. The biggest surprise is that the Jays are being a little more cautious with their top prospects and the fact that Anthony Alford is not in New Hampshire to start the year is a big indication.

Overall, we’ve got a high rate of success through the first two teams. The Jays aren’t pulling too many surprises on us although the Dawson/Gabryszwski tandem moving up from Dunedin is interesting and encouraging to pitchers who don’t overwhelm hitters with big-time velocity.

 

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