Minor League Report: Enmanuel Bonilla had a four-hit performance, Spencer Horwitz hit his second home run of the season, and more!

Rafael Lantigua went deep for Buffalo’s second home run, a 423-foot blast for his first home run of the season, coming in at 105.7 mph off the bat.

Payton Henry followed that up in the top of the sixth, hitting his third home run of the season. It went an incredible 443 feet and had an exit velocity of 104.9 mph.

Steward Berroa hit a home run later that inning, unlike every other home run, the 94.1 mph exit velocity was not considered a hard hit ball. Unfortunately, Stat Cast did not pick up the distance.

Finally, Spencer Horwitz hit his second home run of the season, and his first since his first plate appearance of the season. It had a 105.1 mph exit velocity and had a distance of 411 feet.

All but one player in the Blue Jays lineup had a hit, Leo Jimenez being the only player without one. However, he was the only player to account for two runs, as he reached with a walk and a hit by pitch. Damiano Palmegiani was the only player with a two-hit performance, while Orelvis Martinez reached via a hit by pitch and a single. Cam Eden hit a single as well.

Troy Watson made the start for the Bisons, finishing with a line of 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K. Paxton Schultz picked up the win, finishing with a line of 3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K to bring his season ERA to 2.95. Connor Cooke pitched an inning and a third, striking out a batter and walking one, while Hagen Danner pitched a clean inning.

New Hampshire lost another close game

It was a low scoring affair for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, who fell 2-1 to the Somerset Patriots to bring their record to 11-15, the second worst record in the Eastern League Northeast division.

Zach Britton hit his second home run of the season, while Alex De Jesus picked up the other two hits in this game. Yes, the Fisher Cats had just three hits, along with three walks as Riley Tirotta walked twice, while Gabriel Martinez walked once.

While a loss isn’t great, Trenton Wallace had his best start of the season, finishing with a line of 6 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K to bring his season ERA to 1.59. On top of that, he has a 2.89 FIP in 22.2 innings pitched, along with a 34.1 K% and a 9.9 BB%.

Abdiel Mendoza was tagged with the loss, giving up two earned runs in an inning, while also striking out a batter. Trevor Clifton pitched the eighth inning, striking out two batters and allowing a hit.

Vancouver out slugs Tri-City

In Saturday’s game, the Vancouver Canadians defeated the Tri-City Dust Devils 13-10, bringing their season record to 11-11.

Ryan McCarty hit his third home run of the season in the top of the fifth to make it a 4-3 game. He also reached on a double as well as a fielding error in the top of the fifth. In fact, Vancouver scored all but one of their runs in the top of the fifth.

In terms of other doubles, Jace Bohrofen hit two and Dasan Brown hit the other double. Bohrofen, McCarty, and Jeffrey Wehler all finished with multi-hit games. Jackson Hornung, Dylan Rock, Glenn Santiago, and Jean Arnaez all had singles, with the latter and Hornung walking twice.

Lazaro Estrada made his first ever High-A start, finishing with a line of 3 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. Naswell Paulino picked up the win, but gave up his first two earned runs of the season. Rafael Sánchez had a tough game, giving up seven earned runs and three walks in 2.2 innings pitched, along with six strikeouts.

Conor Larkin still hasn’t given up an earned run this season, as he allowed a hit, three walks and struck out a batter. Josh Mollerus picked up the save, striking out three batters in 1.1 innings of work. 

Dunedin edges out Tampa

Totaling nine hits, the Dunedin Blue Jays were able to defeat the Tampa Tarpons 6-5 with a two-run eighth inning.

Cristian Feliz was the standout player in this game, as he hit two home runs, including the go-ahead blast in the bottom of the eighth. The other player with a home run for the D-Jays was Jean Joseph.

Both Feliz and Joseph had multi-hit, with Tucker Toman hitting a single and a double. Daniel Pérez had his first hit since his first Single-A game, interestingly, both were triples. Manuel Beltre and Edward Duran had the other hits for the D-Jays.

Nolan Perry made his Single-A debut, finishing with a line of 3.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. His fastball averaged 92.3 mph and maxed out at 93.8 mph. The slider generated seven whiffs on 12 total swings, while the fastball had three whiffs on eight total swings.

Keiner Leon appeared out of the bullpen, giving up two earned runs and striking out two in his inning and two thirds of work, while Irv Carter picked up the win, finishing with a line of 3 Ip, 1 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. Yondei Rojas had the save, striking out two in his clean inning of work.

FCL Blue Jays win their season debut

Unlike previous seasons, the Florida Complex League started in early May, rather than early June. The FCL Jays defeated the FCL Phillies 11-3.

Catcher Jonathan Peguero hit the only home run for the team and also had a double for one of numerous multi-hit games. No mutli-hit game was more noticeable than Enmanuel Bonilla’s 4-5 performance with three doubles, though. Luis Meza also had a double and a multi-hit game, as did Adrian Meza. Sam Shaw hit a triple, while Kendry Chirinos, Faruk De La Cruz, and Marcos De La Rosa all had singles.

Christopher Castro started the game for the FCL Jays, finishing with a line of 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. The 21-year-old lefty hadn’t pitched since 2021. Felipe Bello picked up the win, finishing with a line of 3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K with a home run given up, while Lluveres Severino struck out two in two innings pitched. Evan Elliott finished the game with a line of 1 IP, 0 H, 1 ER (2 R), 2 BB, 0 K.

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