Last week, neglected farm systems were the focus of my minor league notes column. One franchise which ironically was left out of that post was the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays have had a lot of movement in their farm system since the beginning of last season because so many prospects either graduated to the majors or were traded away. But two prospects the Blue Jays kept are doing well in the Midwest League.
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One is catcher Max Pentecost. Pentecost missed all of 2015 while recovering from shoulder surgery. The 2014 No. 11 overall pick is hitting .281/.351/.328 this season for the Lansing Lugnuts, and even though he’s only appeared in 18 games entering Wednesday, it’s a promising start considering he missed so much time. He’s also showing impressive strike zone awareness, whiffing only 11 times while drawing seven walks.
The other Blue Jays prospect making waves is pitcher Angel Perdomo. Perdomo is second in the league with a 11.22 K/9 and is seventh in the league in ERA (1.45). In his most recent start Sunday, he went seven innings and allowed no runs on one hit. Interestingly, he only had three strikeouts.
Chicago Cubs right field prospect Eloy Jimenez saw his 17-game hitting streak end Tuesday with a 0-for-4 performance in a 5-1 loss to the Fort Wayne TinCaps. During that streak, he had 29 hits, including seven home runs, and slashed .420/.481/.783. Entering Wednesday he was second in the Midwest League with eight home runs and led the league in slugging (.539), OPS (.911) and weighted runs created plus (168).
Peter Lambert, a second round draft choice of the Rockies last season, made his 10th start of 2016 Tuesday. He went 4 1/3 innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits. Lambert is having a great first full professional season with a 2.54 ERA and 6.00 K/BB, fifth in the South Atlantic League. He’s walked just seven batters in 46 innings this season.