Who has had the best season by far of any of the Philadelphia Phillies prospects acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays in the Roy Halladay trade? Nope it’s not Kyle Drabek or now Houston Astros first baseman Brett Wallace. The best player to come from the deal is Travis D’Arnaud who was recently named the MVP of the Eastern League as a member of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The 22 year old catcher who arguably underachieved in the Phillies organization has a breakout 2011 batting .311 with 33 Doubles, 1 Triple, 21 Home Runs and 78 RBI’s and has put himself in position to challenge for a roster spot in Toronto. Our friend Dave Gershman who is a must follow on twitter @Dave_Gershman, recently caught up with D’Arnaud who talks about his breakout season, learning from former big league catcher Sal Fasano who is now his manager, and being highly respected among the Blue Jays top pitching prospects for the job he does behind the plate. It’s a great read.
Our friend Tug Haines is in the tail end of his year long Minor League Baseball road trip that just topped the 23,000 mile mark. Last Friday he caught a double header between the Harrisburg Senators and New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester and witnessed two rare events. A No Hitter from Shairon Martis in Game 1 and a skunk in the outfield in Game 2. Be sure to give Tug a follow on twitter @TugHaines and check out his awesome blog chronicling his minor league baseball road trip at CasualFan.org it’s awesome.
The Bryce Harper show rolled into Notheast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester New Hampshire this past weekend as the Harrisburg Senators took on the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The visit prompted the usual Bryce Harper was here story in the local newspaper which seems to be status quo on every Harrisburg road trip since the Washington Nationals prospect joined the club. What’s interesting about this one is Blue Jays prospect Anthony Gose chimes in with his thoughts on Harper and how he is viewed by other players in the Eastern League and suggests that many might be jealous of the attention Harper receives. Check out Gose’s quote in the story link below.
The Eastern League had a No Hitter on Friday night as former Washington Nationals pitcher Shairon Martis did not allow a hit and faced the minimum for the Harrisburg Senators in a 3-0 win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in game one of a double header. Martis struck out nine and allowed a 3rd inning walk to Callix Crabbe who was subsequently retired on a double play. He improved to 8-5 with a 2.81ERA in 22 starts at Harrisburg this season. Martis has walked 38 while recording 143 strikeouts and opposing hitters are batting .240 against him. The native of Curacao has a career 6-6 record in the majors with appearances with the Nationals in 2008 and 2009.
The Chicago White Sox have acquired Toronto Blue Jays prospect Zach Stewart as part of a trade sending Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen to Toronto for Stewart and Jason Frasor. The 24 year old Stewart has long been a prospect in Blue Jays organization and made his major league debut in 2011 going 0-1 with a 4.86ERA for Toronto in 16.2 innings of work. At Double-A New Hampshire, Stewart has posted a 5-5 record with a 4.26ERA. He has 74 strikeouts in 94.1 innings and Eastern League batters were hitting a pretty hefty .286 against him. Stewart was originally a third round pick of the Cincinnati Reds back in 2008. He came to Toronto in the deal that sent Scott Rolen to the Reds back in 2009.