April 10th Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Nick Fraze shines

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The system went 1 and 3

Buffalo- The Herd was held to 3 runs on 11 hits which included a double and a home run. Mallex Smith, Cullen Large, and Logan Warmoth each had multi-hit games while Smith swiped two bases. Joe Biagini took the loss, allowing two runs in the top of the 9th after Warmoth tied the game in the bottom of the 8th inning with a single to RF.

New Hampshire- In a weather-shortened game, The Fisher Cats held the Sea Dogs off the board over 5 innings. New Hampshire scored 3 runs in the top of the 1st, enough for the win.

Vancouver- The C’s allowed 4 runs in the 2nd and 5 runs in the 6th as Spokane ran away with this one. Vancouver played a sloppy game, committing 7 errors. Catcher Andres Sosa had a game to forget, a character-building game, committing 3 errors and a passed ball. Spokane was also a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts off Sosa.

Dunedin- The Marauders scored in each of the first four innings, scoring 9 runs. The D-Jays were held to 4 runs on 3 hits. Kendry Rojas failed to get out of the 1st, allowing 4 runs.

Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons (3-2)

Loss 4 to 3

HR- Nick Podkul

Starter- Bowden Francis 4.2IP, 3H, 2R, 0B, 5k, and 2HRA on 84 pitches

L- Joe Biagini (0-1, 18.00ERA)

Double-A

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (1-1)

Won 3 to 0

HR- none

Starter- Nick Fraze 4.1IP, 3H, 0R, 1BB, 4K on 68 pitches

W- Adrian Hernandez (1-0, 0.00ERA)

Advanced-A

Vancouver Canadians (1-1)

Loss 10 to 2

HR- none

Starter- Trent Palmer 3.0IP, 4H, 4R, 3BB, 5K on 67 pitches

L- Palmer (0-1, 0.00ERA)

A-Ball

Dunedin Blue Jays (1-1)

Loss 12 to 4

HR- none

Starter- Kendry Rojas 0.1IP, 2H, 4R, 2BB, 1K, and 1HRA on 30 pitches

L- Rojas (0-1, 108.00 ERA)

Top Performers

• Buffalo- Andrew Bash (3.0IP, 2H, BB, K), Warmoth (2-for-4, 2RBI, K), Mallex Smith (2-for-5, 2K, 2SB), Cullen Large (3-for-4, 2R, K, 2B), Podkul (1-for-3, R, RBI, HR, 2K)
• New Hampshire- Tanner Morris (0-for-1, 2BB), Sebastian Espino (1-for-2, R, RBI, BB), Spencer Horwitz (2-for-3, R), Fraze (see above), Hernandez (1IP, 2BB, 2K)
• C’s- Abdiel Mendoza (2.0IP, H, BB, 2K) and Addison Barger (2-for-4, RBI, 2K,
• Dunedin- Soenni Martinez (1.2IP, 1BB, 3K) and Dasan Brown (2-for-5, 2R, 3K, 2B)

Player Spotlight

Today we turn our attention to Nick Fraze.

The 24-yr-old righty out of Dallas, TX., is a 2019 22nd round selection of the Blue Jays. In 2021 Fraze pitched for Vancouver and New Hampshire, finishing with a record of 4-3 and 2.92ERA across 12 starts and 4 relief appearances. He struck out 60 batters in 61.2IP while walking just 16.

In his first start, Fraze walked the first batter he faced but struck out the next two before inducing an inning-ending groundball. He allowed a 2-out double in the 2nd but got the 3rd out via a popup. Nick retired the side in order in the 3rd. The Sea Dogs got managed to get a single in the 4th but not much else. Fraze allowed a leadoff single in the 5th but got Nick Sogard to fly out before being lifted in favor of Adrain Hernandez.

Nick Fraze threw 45 of his 68 pitches for strikes, inducing 4 ground ball outs and 3 flyball outs. He also threw one wild pitch.

PS. I will be away next week on a well-deserved vacation, so no recaps.