Jay Blue on Bluefield season: Alicea, Guerrero, Jones, Scott

Vladimir Guerrero had a successful first pro season with the Bluefield Blue Jays. Photos: Jay Blue.

Bluefield Blue Jays 2016 Report
Part 1: Blue Jays from Away Awards
By Jay Blue
Blue Jays from Away
It’s that time of year that we begin our reports summarizing the season for the Blue Jays’ minor league affiliates. We continue with the Blue Jays’ Rookie level team in the Appalachian League, the Bluefield Blue Jays.

The plucky Bluefield Blue Jays, under the usual tutelage of Dennis Holmberg had a strong season, just missing the playoffs with a 37-31. The Blue Jays scored the most runs in in the league, averaging 5.51 runs per game with a lineup that averaged 0.4 years above the league. The pitching was right around league average (0.01 runs per game better than average, actually) and was fifth in the league by giving up 4.84 runs per game with a pitching staff that was 0.4 years younger than the league average.

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game Champion
For those of you who followed the minor league reports here, you’ll know that I “awarded” Player of the Game (PotG) accolades on a game-by-game basis. It should comfort you to know that I’ve been keeping track of these daily awards and my rationale for the system is as follows.

The Player of the Game Awards were determined by a number of factors that included who I thought had the most impact on the game and who might have gone “above and beyond.” Most nights, there was just one Player of the Game. If there was, he earned one point. If I thought that either a) no one stood out enough to merit a single PotG, or b) two or more players were outstanding and deserved mention, I split the point up into two, three or four shares. If two players earned PotG mention, they each received 0.5 points and if three players earned mentions, they each received 0.33 points, etc. There were occasions that I felt that no one merited the award and therefore, I did not give out any points.

Bradley Jones 12.5
Nash Knight 7
Vladimir Guerrero, Nick Sinay 5
Reggie Pruitt 3.5
Jesus Severino 3.33
Cam O’Brien 3
Kalik May 2.83
Osman Gutierrez, Levi Scott 2.5
Juliandry Higuera 2
Edward Olivares, Connor Eller 1.5
Ridge Smith, Kyle Weatherly 1.33
Christian Cox Juandy Mendoza, Jose Espada, Denis Diaz, Earl Burl III, Hansel Rodriguez, Lance Jones, Yennsy Diaz 1
Matt Morgan Brayden Bouchey, Angel Alicea 0.5
Javier Monzon, Chris Hall 0.33

The clear winner for the Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game Champion is Bradley Jones. Jones was dominant in the Appy League in his draft year, and despite not having the most size for a corner infielder, slugged his way to the league home run title.

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Year
While the powers that be may be cheering for Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. to win this award, Guerrero was certainly not the best offensive player on the Bluefield Blue Jays. In limited playing time, Javier Monzon, Lance Jones, Cam O’Brien and Nash Knight all had better years, despite all being 5-6 years older than Vladdy. Still, no one compared to 21-year-old Bradley Jones who destroyed the Appalachian League with a .291/.336/.578 slash line that included 18 doubles, a triple and 16 home runs.

Honourable mention: Cam O’Brien, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

Blue Jays from Away Pitcher of the Year
The Pitcher of the Year contest is much more closely contested than the Player of the Year. The pitchers were not particularly dominant but through his ability to eat innings and to maintain (and even improve) his effectiveness despite moving up a level, the winner is Osman Gutierrez. Gutierrez threw 65 innings (leading the club) while posting a 3.88 ERA and 1.38 WHIP, striking out 22.8% of batters (up from his GCL rate of 20.0% in 2015) and walking 7.3% of batters (steady from his previous year’s totals).

Honourable mention: Juliandry Higuera

Blue Jays from Away Reliever of the Year
The Reliever of the Year award has more competition than the pitcher of the year. The Bluefield bullpen featured several strong pitchers including Connor Eller, Chris Hall and Canadian Brayden Bouchey, however, Angel Alicea was, in my mind, the most dominant pitcher for the club. While Eller and Chris Hall both had better WHIP ratios, Alicea’s 32 2/3 innings compared only with Eller and his 2.76 ERA was slightly worse than Eller’s (and Hall’s was better than both of theirs). Still, Connor Eller benefited from a .227 BABIP and struck out 24.6% of batters (walking 6.7%) but Alicea still held batters to a .220 average despite a .338 BABIP and struck out a full third (33.3%) of batters while walking only 7.4%. This, to me, speaks of the ability to dominate hitters, with the high strikeout rate plus giving up so few hits despite the fact that more balls in play went for hits. Congrats to Angel Alicea!

Honourable mention: Connor Eller, Chris Hall, Brayden Bouchey

Blue Jays from Away Most Improved Player
The Most Improved Player is an interesting award with several criteria. A player needs to be in at least his second season in the organization while also showing improvement from year to year, preferably at the same or a higher level than the year previous. The reason I like this award the most is it shines a light on a player who may be on the verge of breaking out. This year’s award goes to first-baseman Levi Scott. Scott was a 28th round pick in 2015 and, despite being 22 in the Gulf Coast League least year, struggled to a .589 OPS while showing glimpses of power in his massive 6-foot-5 frame. This year, he began to deliver, improving his OPS by 135 points, hitting .253/.312/.412 with 12 doubles and five home runs in almost exactly the same amount of playing time.

Blue Jays from Away Best Newcomer
This is another category in which it might be fashionable to go with Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. as his first year of professional baseball was certainly excellent considering his age and the level he was playing at. That said, the member of the Blue Jays’ 2016 draft class (or 2015 international free agent class) who had the biggest impact was 21-year-old Bradley Jones who led the entire league in home runs.

Part 2: Starting Pitchers
It’s time to look at the seasons that the starting pitchers for the Bluefield Blue Jays had in 2016. There was less “piggybacking” with the starters this year and as such, we’ll use our regular criteria for including them here. If a pitcher threw most of his innings with the Bluefield Blue Jays and at least half of those appearances in Bluefield were starts, he’ll be discussed here.

Osman Gutierrez, 21, continues his progression through the Blue Jays’ minor league ranks. After three years in the DSL, Gutierrez had a decent season in the GCL last year and moved up to be the Bluefield Blue Jays’ Pitcher of the Year, leading the club in starts and innings with 11 and 65 (respectively). Osman improved in ERA (3.88) and WHIP (1.38) while also maintaining his walk rate (7.3%) and increasing his strikeout rate (22.8%). Gutierrez’s 6-foot-4 frame is likely going take his predilection for ground balls (1.45 ground-outs-to-air-outs ratio) to Lansing next year where the Nicaraguan righty will finally get a chance to pitch a full season.

Yennsy Diaz (pronounced “Jen-sie”) appeared to regress in his second year with the Blue Jays but the 19 year old tantalized with a stunning six-inning, two-hit, one-walk, eight-strikeout performance on August 2. Unfortunately, Diaz went on to allow at least five runs in three of his remaining five starts (and in the other two starts, he walked nine batters in nine innings combined). Diaz is known to throw hard (up to 97 mph according to some reports) but has yet to really harness his velocity, getting hit hard, allowing nine home runs in 56 innings and posting a 5.79 ERA and 1.54 WHIP, with an 18.8% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate. Because of his young age, there’s no problem with Diaz spending another year in Bluefield.

Jose Espada, a Puerto Rican high schooler drafted by the Blue Jays in the fifth round of the 2015 draft was one of the eye openers in the GCL last year. Espada took a step back when he moved up a level to Bluefield this year, starting 10 games and throwing 53 innings with a 4.92 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. While Espada continued to show good control with a 5.3% walk rate, he wasn’t fooling as many batters, striking out 14.1% (down from 22.8% in the GCL last year). Espada probably has the makeup to move up a level, possibly to Vancouver, but he’ll have to throw stuff that’s a little trickier to hit in order to recapture his 2015 success at a higher level.

Lefty Juliandry Higuera pitched at three levels in his Age-21 year in 2016, making four appearances with the Dunedin Blue Jays in April (10 1/3 IP, 8.71 ERA, 1.94 WHIP, 9.4% K rate, 13.2% BB rate) before heading back to extended spring training. Higuera opened the short season with Vancouver, making five starts with somewhat disappointing results, keeping his ERA to 3.92 but his WHIP was 1.84 with 12 walks and 12 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings. Demoted down to Bluefield where he spent 2015, Higuera threw another 39 innings with much better results, posting a 3.23 ERA, a 1.41 WHIP, a 20.2% strikeout rate and a 9.3% walk rate. Most of those number were improvements over his time in Bluefield in 2015 but the walk rate jumped up over two percent. Higuera will likely get another chance (at least) at Vancouver in 2017 but as a soft-tossing lefty, he might be hard pressed to find success at higher levels without cutting down on his walks.

In his Age-19 season, Dominican righty Joel Espinal dominated the Gulf Coast League so much in his first shot there this year that he earned a mid-season promotion to Bluefield. Espinal started the year with a 0.62 ERA and 0.62 WHIP in 29 innings, striking out 30 batters and walking only four in 29 innings (for a stellar 29.1% strikeout rate and 3.9% walk rate). Espinal promptly fell apart after getting promoted to Bluefield, making seven starts and racking up an 8.62 ERA and 1.98 WHIP with an 11.3% strikeout rate and a 12.0% walk rate. Having just turned 20, Espinal can certainly afford to repeat the season in Bluefield, possibly reaching Vancouver some time in 2017.

Hansel Rodriguez, 19 was well on his way to demolishing the Appalachian League before he was traded to the San Diego Padres before the trade deadline. After two years in the GCL, Rodriguez threw 32 1/3 innings for Bluefield with a 3.06 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, striking out 19.3% with an 8.2% walk rate. After the trade, Rodriguez found himself with the Padres’ Northwest League affiliate and struggled there, with a 6.97 ERA and 1.79 WHIP over 20 2/3 innings in six starts, striking out 13 and walking 12.

The Jays drafted 6-foot-4 righty Kyle Weatherly in the eighth round of the 2016 draft and the 21 year old provided some solid innings for the Bluefield Blue Jays with the promise of a potential solid starting pitcher. Weatherly started half of his 10 games and posted a 4.06 ERA and 1.22 WHIP over 37 2/3 innings, striking out 20.9% and walking 5.7%. With a low-to-mid-90s fastball and developing offspeed offerings, Weatherly could very well be a sleeper next year for the Lansing Lugnuts.

The Blue Jays signed 22-year-old lefty Eric Veglahn out of the independent leagues where he threw 53 1/3 innings with a 4.39 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, striking out 32 and walking 18. He was assigned to Bluefield where he made two starts, throwing 11 1/3 innings and posting a 3.97 ERA and 1.41 WHIP, striking out seven and walking four. Look for Veglahn to be in Vancouver next year.

Part: 3
By the time pitchers get to Bluefield, their roles are much more entrenched, meaning that starters will start and relievers will relieve rather than work within a piggyback system designed to limit pitchers’ innings over the course of the season. Players included here are those who came in to relieve in at least half of their appearances and, if they pitched for more than one team, accrued the most innings in Bluefield.

Connor Eller led the Bluefield Blue Jays in appearances (tied) while logging 34 2/3 innings. Eller led the club with seven saves coming out of Ouachita Baptist University and was selected in the 22nd round of the 2016 draft. Eller was outstanding for the Blue Jays with a 2.60 ERA and 0.92 WHIP, striking out 24.6% of batters with a very good 6.7% walk rate. I’d look for Eller in Lansing next year.

Another later draft pick in 2016 by the Blue Jays, 20th-round Angel Alicea used his training from Alabama State University to great effect, earning the Blue Jays from Away Reliever of the Year award. Alicea was used exclusively as a reliever in his draft year (at the age of 21) and had a 2.76 ERA and 1.13 WHIP, striking out a whopping 33.3% of batters and walking 7.4% in 32 2/3 innings. Alicea could move up to Lansing for a challenge but his stuff might be better suited to the Northwest League.

Chris Hall was the third part of the Blue Jays’ terrific trio of relievers, coming into 16 games and throwing 30 innings coming out of Elon University in the 14th round of the 2016 draft. Like Eller and Alicea, Hall had a low ERA (2.40), WHIP (1.00) with great control (6.5% walk rate) but he wasn’t able to strike out as many batters (17.1%) as the other two. Hall, already 22, will probably end up in Vancouver or Lansing to start 2017.

Another selection in the 2016 draft, Andrew Deramo, made his professional debut with the Bluefield Blue Jays. 6-foot-6 Deramo came out of a better-known university (University of Central Florida) but didn’t have the same success. In 23 1/3 innings, Deramo had a 7.71 ERA and 2.14 WHIP, walking 7.0% of batters and striking out 15.8%. Deramo appeared to be fairly easy to hit, allowing batters to hit .404 against him with five home runs. Look for Deramo, 21, in Vancouver next year.

Signed as an undrafted free agent out of the Frontier League last year, Christian Cox spent 2016 mostly back in Bluefield. The 24 year old had a 4.12 ERA and 1.12 WHIP, striking out 17.5% and walking 3.1% in 25 strong innings in the Appalachian League. Cox earned a late-season promotion to Vancouver, throwing one inning and striking out one, walking one and giving up a run on two hits. Cox will likely start 2017 in Vancouver.

Hard-throwing 21-year-old lefty Kelyn Jose continued his climb up through the ranks in 2016, pitching with the Bluefield Blue Jays and throwing 17 2/3 innings. Jose has gone through some mechanical adjustment and control issues, leading to the Jays’ brass likely trying to control his innings. Jose walked 19 batters in those 17 2/3 innings (22.1%) with just 17 strikeouts (19.8%) and had a 4.08 ERA (but a 5.30 FIP) and 1.75 WHIP. Jose will likely be moved along slowly, possibly getting a Vancouver assignment, but the fact that he’ll be in his Age-22 season next year means that he could find himself in Lansing at some point in 2017.

Vancouver native Brayden Bouchey spent most of his season in Bluefield after getting drafted in the 33rd round of the 2016 out of college in the US. Bouchey, who stands 6-foot-6, didn’t have a great start to his pro career, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks in five innings in the Gulf Coast League (striking out six) but was much better after moving up to the Appalachian League. With Bluefield, he threw another 21 innings with a 2.57 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and a 33.3% strikeout rate despite a very high, 15.6% walk rate. Bouchey could very well pitch in his hometown in his Age-21 season in 2017.

Hunter Barnett, the Jays’ 34th-round pick of the 2015 draft, moved up to Bluefield from the GCL in 2016. Barnett missed about a month with an injury from mid-July to mid-August and threw only 8 2/3 innings over eight appearances with limited effectiveness. He allowed seven runs (six earned) over 8 2/3 innings with 10 hits and three walks allowed, striking out only four. Barnett could return to Bluefield in his Age-22 year or move up to Vancouver, particularly if his struggles were due to an injury.

Jose Nova, 21, split his season between Bluefield and the GCL, throwing about two-thirds of his season in the Appalachian League. Starting in Bluefield, Nova struggled with a 5.16 ERA and 1.72 WHIP in 22 2/3 innings, striking out and walking 11.4%. The lefty was demoted to the GCL where he threw 11 2/3 innings with a 4.63 ERA and 1.29 WHIP, striking out 14.0% and walking 10.0%. Nova will need to get a handle on his control and will likely get another chance to pitch in Bluefield in 2017.

The Blue Jays have drafted a few players out of military academies in the past few years and Luke Gillingham was their military player this year. The 37th-round pick from 2016 threw 9 2/3 innings before he left to begin his service, posting a 2.79 ERA and 1.14 WHIP, striking out 11 and walking just three.

Mike Estevez threw one inning in Vancouver before being sent to Bluefield where he threw another 4 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on two hits and two walks with eight strikeouts before succumbing to an injury and missed the rest of the year.

Part 4: Hitters
We finish our look at the 2016 Bluefield Blue Jays by taking a peek at how the hitters did. We’ll start behind the plate and look at players who got the most playing time first, followed by the guys who played less. Remember that if a player played more with another Jays affiliate, he’ll be discussed in that team’s report.

Catchers
Matt Morgan, 20 has now played three seasons of baseball in the Blue Jays’ organization since being selected in the fourth round of the 2014 draft. Morgan has struggled with his bat, particularly in his two years with the Bluefield Blue Jays. Morgan hit .179/.313/.286 in 135 plate appearances. While he did show improvement in his strikeout and walk rates, the positive is that he walked in 15.6% of his plate appearances but the negative is that he struck out in a full third of them (33.3%). Defensively, Morgan improved in 2016, throwing out 28% of runners and allowed 14 passed balls (down from 21 in 2015 in just about the same amount of innings) but his errors were up significantly. Morgan will move up because of his status as a high round pick but he’ll need to start contributing with the bat to keep moving.

Ridge Smith was one of the two other catchers on the Bluefield Blue Jays, both of whom made their pro debuts this season. Smith was the Jays’ 12th-round draft pick this season and had a solid year in his first as a pro. He hit .228/.317/.457 with a significant amount of power, hitting five doubles, three triples and four home runs. Smith walked in 7.5% of his 106 plate appearances but struck out in a concerning 26.4%. Smith caught in 29 games, starting 25 of them and threw out a full third of runners trying to steal but made seven errors and committed four passed balls. Smith will likely be in Vancouver next year in his Age-22 season.

Cam O’Brien played the least behind the plate but he hit so well that the Blue Jays found a spot for him in the lineup in 33 games, mostly as a DH. O’Brien hit .264/.414/.516, showing a ton of power and patience in his 116 plate appearances. O’Brien hit six doubles, a triple and five home runs in just 116 plate appearances while walking in 17.2% of them and striking out in 23.3%. Defensively, O’Brien caught in only 10 games but threw out 42% of the 12 runners who tried to steal. He didn’t allow a passed ball and didn’t make an error. O’Brien could jump up to Lansing as a backup catcher and play himself into an everyday role (much like Connor Panas did this year).

Infielders
In the 18th round of the 2016 draft, the Blue Jays selected first/third baseman Bradley Jones. The 6-foot-1 product of the College of Charleston immediately took to professional baseball, hitting .291/.336/.578 with 18 doubles, a triple and a league-leading 16 home runs in 256 plate appearances. Jones is a hard swinger, striking out in 27.7% of his plate appearances and will need to be much more selective at the plate after a 6.6% walk rate in his first season. Jones has surprising speed for someone with so much pop, stealing 16 bases while getting caught just four times. Look for Jones to jump to Vancouver or Lansing in his Age-22 season in 2017. Where he ends up likely depends on what he shows the Jays’ staff in the Fall Instructional League and spring training.

First-baseman/DH Levi Scott earned our Most Improved Player award after having a powerful season in Bluefield. After struggling with professional pitching in his first year in the pros in 2015, Scott turned things around, despite a drop in his walk rate and a climb in his strikeout rate. Scott ended up hitting .253/.312/.412 with 12 doubles and five home runs in 170 plate appearances. The 6-foot-5 slugger is now 24 and will need to be tested at higher levels soon. I can see a Vancouver assignment in 2017 but a Lansing spot isn’t out of the question if he performs well in the spring.

Juandy Mendoza, a Colombian-born infielder who was drafted out of Otero Junior College by the Blue Jays in 2015, played the most at second base. I find it a little difficult putting the hard-nosed player with some pop that I saw play this summer with the numbers that he finished with. Mendoza hit just .194/.270/.343 this season with Bluefield, finishing under the, ahem, Mendoza Line for the second straight year after hitting .193 with the GCL Blue Jays last year. The 21 year old did hit 11 doubles and three home runs in 153 plate appearances, showing some power and increasing his OPS almost 30 points while his ISO almost doubled from year to year. Mendoza also improved his strikeout rate, dropping it by over three points to a still-high 25.7% but his walk rate fell almost in half to 5.9%. Still, Mendoza accomplished what he did with a very-low .250 BABIP and he had a very good August, hitting .262/.318/.475 over 17 games. I can see Mendoza playing one more year of short-season baseball in Vancouver in 2017.

Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. was the Bluefield Blue Jays’ third baseman, doing everything you want from one of the club’s key players, playing in 62 games and coming to the plate 276 times. He hit a very solid .271/.359/.449, walking in 12.0% of his plate appearances while striking out in only 12.7%. Additionally, Guerrero showed surprising speed (15 stolen bases in 20 attempts) while playing some solid defense, making only nine errors in 50 games. Oh, did we mention that Guerrero is still just 17 years old? It will be interesting to see what the Blue Jays do with Guerrero in 2017. One camp is convinced that he’ll skip Vancouver and go right to Lansing where, while he might struggle at the beginning of the year, these observers believe he’ll figure things out within a month or two. The other camp thinks that his Montreal birth makes him a prime candidate to play for the Vancouver Canadians. While Shapiro and Atkins have been more conservative in their prospect development, I lean towards seeing Vladdy in Lansing in 2017.

Jesus Severino, 19, one of the Jays’ bigger international free agent signings of 2013, made it to Bluefield in 2016 and didn’t do all that well with the bat despite a strong season in the field. Severino hit .213/.320/.278 with six doubles, a triple and a home run in 200 plate appearances, walking in 11.5% of them and striking out in 25.0%. Severino is probably going to move up a level to Vancouver next year as the chain of international free agent shortstops continues it upward progression.

I started calling Nash Knight “Mash” Knight after he started leading the Appalachian league in batting average. Knight hit .402/.473/.588 in 25 games, belting seven doubles, a triple and three home runs in 110 plate appearances. Knight walked in 10.9% of plate appearances and struck out in 14.5%. He was then promoted to Vancouver where he played 24 games and got 103 plate appearances, hitting a respectable .261/.340/.272 but only had one extra-base hit, a double. Still, his rate stats didn’t suffer much, walking in 10.7% of plate appearances and striking out in 16.5%, proving that he didn’t find the higher level to be too much more difficult. Knight, who was an undrafted free agent last year, will likely play in Vancouver in 2017 as a 24 year old unless there’s a spot for him in Lansing.

Andrew Florides, 21, has been in the Jays’ system for four seasons now since getting drafted in the 27th round of the 2013 draft. Florides showed some improvement over his previous forays with the bat but it still wasn’t an encouraging season. After two years of hitting under .100, he managed to stick the landing this year, hitting .100/.135/.120, hitting his first professional extra-base hit, a double. In his first year outside of the GCL, Florides struck out in 41.5% of his 53 plate appearances and walked in 3.8%. Clearly Florides hasn’t developed as anyone has hoped and he could be coming to a crossroads in his career soon.

Outfielders
Kalik May led the club in games in left field, getting a promotion to Bluefield after hitting .333 with a double and two triples in his first three games in the GCL this season. In Bluefield, however, May hit only .218 with a .311 OBP and .346 slugging percentage. May hit eight doubles, three triples and two home runs in 180 plate appearances, stealing seven bases in 11 attempts. May strikes out far too much (33.9%) but had a very healthy walk rate of 9.4% with Bluefield. He’ll likely be in Bluefield or Vancouver next year as a 24 year old.

High school draftee Reggie Pruitt made some strides as a 19 year old with the Bluefield Blue Jays but still has a long way to go before he’s ready for prime time. Pruitt has explosive speed, stealing 16 bases and getting caught just twice this year but he only hit .237/.316/.266 with three doubles and a triple in 197 plate appearances. On the plus side, Pruitt’s strikeout rate dropped this year at a higher level than last year, down to 21.8% while his walk rate dropped to 6.6%. Pruitt will likely move up to Vancouver next year but he could repeat Bluefield without any real setbacks to his development.

Getting the most time in left field was SUNY Buffalo product Nick Sinay whom the Jays selected in the 22nd round of the 2015 draft. Sinay was an offensive catalyst at the top of the order, hitting .246/.435/.304 with four doubles, two triples and a home run in 265 plate appearances. His .435 OPB was built on 40 walks (15.1% walk rate) to go along with getting hit by pitches 24 times. Sinay used that opportunity to steal 34 bases in 39 attempts and scoring 52 runs for the club. He was rewarded with a promotion to Vancouver at the end of the season and he went 1/5 in one game, getting plunked once and striking out twice. Look for Sinay, 22, to play in Vancouver next year unless the Lugnuts need some help.

Earl Burl III got into 37 games with Bluefield this year after 50 with Vancouver last year. He hit .211/.311/.254 in 134 plate appearances, playing mostly center and left field and Burl had just two doubles and a home run with six stolen bases in 10 attempts. Burl struck out in 26.1% of plate appearances but walked in 12.7%. Look for Burl to be back in Vancouver in 2017.

After a rough start in Vancouver, Lance Jones, 23, was sent back to Bluefield, hitting .247/.356/.329 with the Canadians in 102 plate appearances. In 28 games with Bluefield, he put up a much better showing, hitting .325/.486/.429 with 12 stolen bases, three doubles, a triple and a home run. Jones’s incredible 21.5% walk rate for Bluefield was almost double his already high rate of 11.8% in Vancouver while his strikeout rate of 19.6% was only 1% higher than that in Vancouver. The biggest difference to Jones’s results was his BABIP which was over 100 points higher in Blufield than Vancouver. His results will likely regress back to what he did in Vancouver when he returns there in 2017.

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Minor leaguesJay BlueSeptember 26, 2016