Blue Jays prospect Bo Bichette broke his hand and is scheduled to see a specialist. It looked/sounded painful and my guess is it’ll be at least a month before he’s playing again. Bichette was a candidate for a 2019 call at some point, so obviously this sets things back quite a bit. Marcus Stroman tweeted “big prayers for my bro” to which Bichette replied “preciate it bro”. Bo and Stro are bros bro. There is so much bromance happening in that Twitter exchange I might vomit. Nope, yup. I’m definitely vomiting. We’re going to need a new keyboard. Here’s what else is happening in the minor leagues…
Casey Mize, DET – Threw an eight-inning one-hitter. The first overall pick in last year’s draft has been stellar so far. He’s now thrown 26 innings, allowed only one earned run, and struck out 25. Will we see him this year? Possibly, but I wouldn’t be willing to bet much on it. Matt Manning also pitched well again for Erie, striking out nine and walking none in six innings yesterday. In his case, I do think there will be a promotion to Detroit this summer.
Jarred Kelenic, SEA – Riding a ten-game hit streak. Six of those have been multi-hit efforts and he’s now hitting .328 on the year. I don’t think he’s long for the Sally, and we’ll see him promoted to High-A at some point.
Lewis Thorpe, MIN – Struck out twelve for the second straight outing. He still has an ugly 7-plus ERA, but 33 punch outs in 22 innings is impressive. Here’s what I said about Thorpe in the offseason: “I’m sure a lot of lists will put [Stephen] Gonsalves in front of Thorpe. But for fantasy purposes, I like Thorpe’s strikeout upside more. Both should see some innings in Minnesota this year, so both should be on the radar in redrafts. Between Double-A and Triple-A, Thorpe struck out about eleven per nine while only walking two per nine. He does it with a plus heater and curve and I think the upside could be a No.2/3 starter in the bigs. Grey’s mustache isn’t real.” Weird, I don’t remember writing that last part.
Dermis Garcia, NYY – Currently on a seven-game hit streak with five homers in that span. The .324 average is inflated by a .415 BABIP, but the power is legit. At the rate the Yankees players are dropping, Garcia will be starting for them next week. I hear he belts a solid God Bless America too.
Justus Sheffield, SEA – Should be up Friday to work long relief. Yusei Kikuchi is like your mom’s fancy decorative guest towel. Just for looking…not for using! Sheffield probably won’t stick, but this is a good sign that he’s next in line if something opens up in that rotation.
Touki Toussaint, ATL – Optioned to Triple-A after a brutal appearance in Cleveland. The real tragedy is that the Braves will have to cancel their Touki Torch giveaway at the ballpark. I think we’ll see Toussaint back up, but it could be a situation where his role is in flux and he bounces around. Carlos Martinez 2.0?
