Jays Prospects Head to the Arizona Fall League

InsideTheDome has learned the six players that will represent the Toronto Blue Jays in the Arizona Fall League, which will begin on October 4. The Jays will send two catchers, one infielder, one outfielder and two pitchers. The list includes one player from Triple-A, four from Double-A, and one from Single-A.

RHP Steve Andrade, RHP Edward “Bubbie” Buzachero, OF Adam Lind, C Erik Kratz, C Guillermo Quiroz, and 2B Ryan Roberts will be the contingent that will represent the Blue Jays this fall.

Andrade will be the oldest member of the Blue Jays to attend the Arizona Fall League. The 27-year-old is 3-2 with 3 saves and a 2.27 ERA for New Hampshire this season. The right-hander has allowed just 21 hits in 43.2 innings this season, while holding opponents to a .140 batting average against mark.

The 24-year-old Buzachero is 4-3 with a 3.98 ERA in 41 games with New Hampshire this season. Opponents are hitting .264 off him, and the right-hander has recorded 72 strikeouts in 72.1 innings of work. Buzachero began the season allowing just two runs in his first month of work (five appearances) but struggled in eight appearances in May (6.00 ERA), before rebounding in June (2.89 ERA in 18.2 innings and July (2.08 ERA in 17.1 innings.) In 15.2 innings during August, he has a 0-1 record with a 6.89 ERA.

Lind will perhaps be the most intriguing player in Arizona for the Jays this fall. The 22-year-old is regarded by many scouts to be a pure hitter in the future and is proving the scouts true with his 2005 season. In 117 games with Dunedin, the outfielder is hitting .315 with 12 home runs and 79 RBI. Lind had just two home runs through the first three months of the season, but exploded in July and August to hit ten home runs and drive in thirty seven runs. During the month of July, Lind hit .358 with six home runs and twenty-runs batted in. In twenty-one games during August, Lind is hitting .338 with four home runs and seventeen RBI.

Kratz has spent the entire season with New Hampshire and is hitting .205 with 10 home runs and 33 RBI in 85 games with the Fisher Cats. Over his last ten games he is hitting .250 (8-32) with a home run and five runs scored.

Quiroz has played in just 24 games with the SkyChiefs this season after missing the first half of the season with an extended stint on the disabled list. The 23-year-old catcher is hitting .215 with 6 home runs and 18 runs batted in with Syracuse.

Roberts has been one of the breakthrough players in the Blue Jays system so far this season. The 24-year-old second baseman began the season with the Dunedin Blue Jays and hit .287 in 42 games, while belting 9 home runs and 35 runs batted in. On May 23 he received a promoted to Double-A New Hampshire and through 86 games he is hitting .262 with 15 home runs and 63 RBI.