Blue Jays Minor League Baseball Blog

John Sickels put out his list of the Blue Jays top 20 prospects and unfortunately there’s no A players.  Topping the list is Travis D-Arnaud with a B+ rating.  This could be the Jays catcher of the future Sickels even said he could have been an A.

Number two is Nestor Molina.  You’d think he’d be a catcher but he’s the top pitching prospect in the system.  Sickels talks about how he’s underrated in the system.  Jake Marisnick (OF), Noah Syndergaard (RHP) and Justin Nicolino (LHP) round out the top five.

The Las Vegas 51s had their share of hitting stars in 2011.  Here are the best of the best.

Brett Lawrie – Despite playing just 69, Lawrie led the team in home runs with 18.  Throw in six triples and 24 doubles and it all adds up to a 1.076 OPS.  Of course Lawrie got it done for the Jays too and this guy is going to be a stud for years and he and Bautista are going to scare AL East pitchers while they’re on the field for the Jays.

David Cooper – Cooper led the team with 96 RBIs and he hit .364 in 120 games for the 51s.  He also had 51 doubles and nine home runs in a really good season.  That all adds up to a .974 OPS.  This is the PCL so numbers are inflated but those are some really nice numbers.

Adam Loewen – Loewen led the team with 83 runs and he was right behind Cooper with 46 doubles.  He was also second on the team with 85 RBIs.  He hit .306 and his finishing OPS ended up being .884.

The PCL isn’t kind of pitchers but the guys in the Jay’s farm system had a pretty good year considering the circumstances.  Here were the best of the pitching staff in 2011.

Brad Mills – Mills led the team with 157 1/3 innings and he had 11 wins, 136 strikeouts, and he was tied for the team lead with 24 starts.  Mills did give up 20 home runs and his fly ball rate isn’t great and this may have been why he struggled with the Jays in limited time.  He also gave up a lot of hits considering his strikeout rate.

Sean Henn – One of the better relievers on the team, Henn struck out 61 in 61 1/3 innings.  Henn is 30 so he’s well past having a prospect label but he finished with a 2.79 ERA and pretty good ground ball rate.  He didn’t see the big leagues but this is the guy you like having down in the minors because he makes for a solid reliever in the event of an injury.

Danny Farquhar – The 51s closer, Farquhar led the team with 15 saves.  Farquhar had an odd season.  He had a batting average against of .300 but he didn’t give up many home runs and he kept the ball down so the damage was limited.  His 4.70 ERA was also high.  He didn’t get into many big league games, but he struggled when he did.