Blue Jays MiLB Notebook

Hey, all. It’s been a while.

Hopefully, things will start to pick up from a minor league perspective. MiLB camps have been open for about a week. Your faithful correspondent has trips lined up to Vancouver and Buffalo this season, as well as some interviews with front office/farm department types as spring training winds down.

Tiedemann and Shoulder Soreness

Word from Dunedin is that top prospect Ricky Tiedemann, who has been throwing only from flat ground this week after experiencing some shoulder soreness, had a side session Saturday , and will be re-evaluated today.

Perhaps it’s just a semi-normal dead arm period that many pitchers go through early in the season, but the Blue Jays are understandably taking things very cautiously with their prized prospect. Tiedemann is not the only Top 100 guy to have some arm issues this spring:

All clubs have to balance bringing their top young pitching prospects to spring training with the potential for injury. The youngsters are exposed to the best coaching in the organization, how the top players in the system prepare themselves every day, and they get a chance to play against elite competition. And it’s in the last category that perhaps some risk lies. There’s no doubt Tiedemann was pumped in his first spring outing, where he lit the radar gun up like a Christmas tree. But there’s also a risk, especially so early in the season, of pushing things to the edge of their physical limits.

Shoulders, of course, are one thing, and often times they heal quickly and thoroughly, depending on the initial damage. The problem occurs when pitchers are rushed back before the shoulder is completely ready. In many cases, poor mechanics as a result of the shoulder problem can lead to damages further down the arm, with the elbow usually the next stop.

There probably isn’t considerable reason for worry here, but it’s much better to exercise more than an abundance of caution when we’re talking about a 20 year old hurler with 78 innings of pro experience.

The WBC

Like many Canadian fans, I suspect, my interest in the current classic has waned since the red and white didn’t make the playoff round, and while I enjoy seeing the passion players and fans from different countries have for the WBC, I have to admit that the novelty now has somewhat worn off.

Perhaps it doesn’t help that the deck seems incredibly stacked against Canada. While there were some impressive performances (hello, Edouard Julien; well done, Otto Lopez), it always seems like the Maples have something of a patchwork lineup. We have 19 year old A-ball pitchers going against Team USA, some guys on the mound who came out of retirement, and a few not-ready-for-primetime prospects. Canada just doesn’t have the depth to compete with the top countries.

And then there’s the injury factor. Yes, injuries occur during regular spring training, but would Edwin Diaz be out for the season after a Mets’ post spring training win celebration? How would Blue Jays fans feel if Italy had a miracle win, and Jordan Romano blew out his knee in the post game histrionics? Yes, this tournament is important to the fans, and is even more so to players from countries like the Dominican, who didn’t necessarily get to play on elite travel, college, or national teams with the best of their fellow countrymen while they were growing up.

Sclafani Speaks

Buffalo play-by-play guy Pat Malacaro spoke with Farm Director Joe Sclafani, one of my favourite people in the organization to speak to, about the upcoming season:

Vancouver Puts the “C’s” in “Classic”

Canadians broadcaster Tyler Zickel took a look at participants in this year’s WBC who have worn C’s colours.

First Round of Sent-Downs.

With MiLB camps open, the Blue Jays made the following moves (thanks to my good internet friend Stoeten for his one):

Beltre Recognized

There is no more of a genuine diamond rat in the organization than Manuel Beltre. His progress through the system has been somewhat pedestrian, but there is not mistaking his work ethic. He’s taught himself English, and how to be media savvy with inquiring bloggers. Here’s hoping that hard work begins to pay off this year: