Artificial Turf Wars

On this episode of Around The Nest, the Toronto Blue Jays minor league podcast, host Tyler Zickel checks in on double-A New Hampshire and low-A Dunedin coming out of the roster upheavals after the trade deadline and speaks with Altoona Curve broadcaster Jon Mozes about Charles McAdoo, the return for Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

Broadcaster Chris Jared is thankful we are into August because July saw the Fisher Cats record the worst record in team history. Eleven new players had been added to their roster since July 27, including starter Rafael Sánchez, who had a great start in double-A, and Johnathan Lavallee, who was immaculate on August 15.

New draftees, like catcher Aaron Parker (6th round pick), have injected energy into the Dunedin Blue Jays’ roster, according to D-Jays broadcaster Larry Larson. On the mound, Daniel Guerra demonstrated his ability to deal with adversity by retiring 13 of his last 14 batters faced after giving up an early grand slam, while Eliander Alcalde has been a key member of the bullpen. Last year’s first-round pick Arjun Nimmala had spent some time on the development list and down in Rookie league ball this season, but has come back to the Florida State League like a thunderstorm, hitting slugging 10 homers, 11 doubles, and 4 triples over 37 games.

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The second half of the Minor League Baseball season seemed to have just started and teams are getting ready to put their feet up for a breather as they enter All-Star Game weekend. With the trade deadline coming soon after, the Blue Jays' minor league broadcasters are gearing up for various roster machinations that could affect their teams.

The episode starts with the Voice of the Buffalo Bisons Pat Malacaro inviting long-time New Hampshire Fisher Cats broadcaster Bob Lipman to join him to call some triple-A games in Worcester. Then, Pat reports on his team, who have been in a funk. However, things are looking up as Riley Tirotta continues to be consistent at the plate, newcomer Gabriel Cancel has had a white-hot start, and Chad Dallas has returned to good health. Diving into Aaron Sanchez's return, Pat tells us that he is going through the process of learning how to become a new kind of pitcher now that he's not throwing as hard.

From Manchester, Bob is joined by Chris Jared who showed off the Fisher Cats' 2011 Eastern League Trophy replica giveaway (Saturday, July 13). Nominative determinism (and the Cavan Biggio trade) have brought reliever Braydon Fisher to the 2024 Cats team where he has been showing off a curveball that could be better than Adam Macko's. Chris also tells us about Ryan McCarty on and off the field and Deveraux Harrison's success in their rotation, while Bob reassures us that Cade Doughty just needs some more time to settle into double-A life.

With our host Tyler Zickel in Portland, Chris Georges has been handling the mic for the Vancouver Canadians this week. Since the second half, the C's have been red-hot with a 14-4 record to lead the second half standings. Chris and Tyler took this opportunity to heap praise on catchers Jackson Hornung and Robert Brooks. They are also looking at the success Payton Williams and Dasan Brown have been having and are thinking that they may be on their way to New Hampshire sooner rather than later. They also gawked at Grayson Thurman's splitter, which his teammates have rated as 80-grade.

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Around The Nest is the Blue Jays’ minor league podcast where the broadcasters from single-A all the way up to triple-A get together to talk about the performances of Blue Jays minor leaguers in the past two weeks.

Pat Malacaro (AAA Buffalo Bisons) reported on his team’s tough run of injuries, Nathan Lukes is doing everything well, Riley Tirotta’s parents’ special souvenir, and Yariel Rodríguez’s rehab stint so far. Pat also provides an important update on Payton Henry’s recovery: after being struck in the head by a backswing a week ago, he was able to see his teammates in the clubhouse on Thursday.

Chris Jared (AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats) sees a starting rotation that’s coming into its own, with Adam Macko leading with Michael Dominguez and Devereaux Harrison following closely behind. Eric Pardinho, who has had ups-and-downs on prospect status, is certainly on an upswing having not given up an earned run since late April. On the hitting side, Garret Spain has been slugging homers, Devonte Brown has been very even keeled, and Josh Kasevich’s quick adaptability going up to double-A has surprised the Blue Jays organization.

Chris Georges and host Tyler Zickel (high-A Vancouver Canadians) spoke about the C’s impressive starting pitching the last couple of weeks, highlighting Chris McElvain’s solid performance of late. They think Dasan Brown is close to a callup to New Hampshire, having found a grove and starting to take a lot of walks. They also shine a spotlight in leverage relievers Josh Mollerus and Anders Tolhurst.

The Dunedin Blue Jays lead single-A teams with 40 team homers, Larry Larson (low-A Dunedin) tells us, led by Cristian Feliz, a three true outcomes first baseman who also happens to be a very friendly dude. Juaron “Whiffs” Watts-Brown has been very comfortable at this level; he had issues getting deep into games earlier this season due to walks, but has those in control and is now just striking out batters. Manuel Beltre’s bat looks to be turning the corner and JJ Sanchez has been very effective for Dunedin as a hard-throwing lefty closer.

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Around The Nest is the Blue Jays’ minor league podcast where the broadcasters from up and down the farm system get together to talk about the performances of Blue Jays prospects in the past two weeks.

This week, we welcome Chris Georges, the Vancouver Canadians’ broadcast assistant, to the Nest. Chris G. is joined by Chris Jared of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Larry Larson of the Dunedin Blue Jays, and of course podcast host and the Voice of the Canadians, Tyler Zickel.

The Fisher Cats have had solid pitching performances—like Adam Macko striking out nine Yard Goats—but have had weak run support (sound familiar). Overall, the team is still loose, believing that they are better than their 15-21 win-loss record. Before a rough start Friday evening, Trenton Wallace had been solid for New Hampshire, sporting a funky delivery. Alan Roden has struggled at the plate but has been working hard, one-on-one with manager Cesar Martin.

The D-Jays batters had been taking a lot of walks earlier in the season, but had seemed to be little overeager lately. On the positive side, Christian Feliz and Yhoangel Aponte have been taking patient, encouraging at bats and lately, Manuel Beltre seems to have turned a corner, taking better at bats and getting a walkoff hit. On the negative side, Arjun Nimmala had been placed on the development list strikeouts have been piling up now that he’s seeing more breaking balls. On the mound side, Juaron Watts-Brown has been displaying a nasty slider and an underrated change-up and Connor O’Halloran has demonstrated that he can grind through games in which he just didn’t have his best stuff.

Vancouver’s Jace Bohrofen had been getting walks and making good contact but had not displayed home run power until this week when he hit two. Ryan McCarty has been delivering clutch hits for the Canadians and is seen as a guy with a big heart who is easy to root for. Japanese-Brazilian Raphael Ohashi has almost been perfect out of the bullpen, starting the season with 15 consecutive scoreless innings against five different Northwest League teams. Ohashi will be given a start in game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader.

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One month into the 2024 minor league season we get our first reports on the performance of Blue Jays prospects from low-A to triple-A from the Around The Nest crew. Host Tyler Zickel, the Voice of the Vancouver Canadians, is joined by long-time Nester Pat Malacaro (Buffalo Bisons) and newcomers Chris Jared (New Hampshire Fisher Cats) and Larry Larson (Dunedin Blue Jays).

Leading off, Pat talks about the hot-hitting Bisons like Spencer "More Hits" Horwitz and Orelvis Martinez. The 2024 Bisons are arguably the most prospect-laden team since the Blue Jays affiliation. Chris actually makes his return from the podcast after his first debut in April 2017 talking about Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in Lansing. This time, he's talking about Josh Kasevich who has been making good contact, Alan Roden who has been getting on base, and Miguel Hiraldo's bad luck at the plate. The true newcomer Larry Larson checks in from Florida to talk about how the D-Jays' manager Jose Mayorga keeps it loose through a six-game winning streak in early April and their nine-game losing streak in late April and how things are going despite injuries to Brandon Barriera, Landen Maroudis, and Tucker Toman. Tyler wraps up the show with a report on the C's starters Ryan Jennings and Chris McElvain, rel;ievers Rafael Ohashi and Naswell Paulino, and hitters Ryan McCarty, Jace Bohrofen, Nick Goodwin, and Dasan Brown.

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Josh and Nick discuss the first three weeks of the Jays season with looks at the struggling, but puzzling offence that is seeing signs of life from Daulton Varsho but not Kevin Kiermaier, the starting staff that has seen steps forward from José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi with an intriguing debut from Yariel Rodriguez, how Alek Manoah could fit into this group, if at all, and a look at the up and down bullpen that has seen some reinforcements of late.

They also give out a Cliché of the Week and talk about pitcher injuries and Nate Pearson.

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Instead of the traditional 26 in 52, Nick and Josh break down the various sections of the roster and the strengths and weaknesses of each. They also answer listener questions and give their predictions for the 2024 season.

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On this special edition of Around The Nest—the Toronto Blue Jays minor league podcast—host Tyler Zickel of the Vancouver Canadians is joined by the Voice of the Buffalo Bisons Pat Malacaro to introduce Jays fans to these non-roster players:

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Josh and Nick discuss the Jays offseason so far including the odd slow pace to the whole league, the somewhat confusing additions of Kevin Kiermaier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa and what they bring to the table, the depth signing of Yariel Rodriguez and his value to the club, Ross Atkins fanning the flames of the fanbase and finally, what comes next.

They also answer listener questions.

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Josh is joined by former player agent Joshua Kusnick (11:05) to discuss the winter meetings and the bizarre Ohtani situation the led to him joining the Dodgers, including how JP Hoornstra's article was instrumental in sealing the deal for Los Angeles.

Josh also discusses the frenzy that led up to the signing and the emotional impact it has on the fanbase, as well as the very real holes it leaves on the roster as they attempt to compete in 2024.

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