RHP Deck McGuire Video Footage

Righty pitching prospect Deck McGuire picked up his second win of the season for Double-A New Hampshire on Thursday night against the Trenton Thunder (Yankees affiliate).  The Blue Jays' 1st round draft choice from 2010 allowed two earned runs while striking out two and walking three batters in five innings.

The victory took McGuire's record to 2-3 on the year.  He also sports a 5.11 ERA and a .246 batting average against.

Check out the media player below to see footage of the 23-year-old McGuire warming up in the bullpen, striking out Trenton's J.R. Murphy looking and getting Ali Castillo to ground into a fielders choice.

Deck McGuire Talks About Rough Season Debut

5 innings, 11 hits allowed, 8 earned runs, 2 walks, 6 strike outs, 5 HR....that's the line for Blue Jays' 2010 1st round draft pick Deck McGuire for the defending Eastern League champions, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in Saturday's contest. The righty hurler struggling mightily in his 2012 regular season debut against division rival Trenton (NYY affiliate). In the first four innings, lead-off batters were 4-for-4 against McGuire with 4 runs scored. Most alarming of all the difficulties throughout the afternoon affair was the 3rd inning, when Zoilo Almonte, Rob Lyerly and Melky Mesa each went deep for a trio of convincing homeruns to start the frame.

Overall, McGuire, who posted a 2-1 record with a 4.35 ERA in four Double-A outings and a 7-4 record with a 2.75 ERA in 19 games for Class A Advanced Dunedin last season, seemed in good spirits and was fully ready for his next turn on the hill, following the loss.

To hear Deck's exclusive post-game comments about his poor outing click here or check out the media player below.


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1BJW Interview: Deck McGuire

Last year's Blue Jays top draft pick (11th overall) Deck McGuire has progressed well in his debut season in professional baseball. The 22-year-old righty hurler began his 2011 campaign with the Class A Advanced Dunedin Blue Jays and has since earned a promotion to the Double A New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

In 19 games with Dunedin, McGuire, who stands 6-feet-6-inches tall and appears to weigh more than his listed 220 pounds, posted a 7-4 record with a 2.75 ERA. Since joining New Hampshire earlier this month, McGuire has gone 2-1 with a 4.82 ERA in 3 starts. Overall this season, McGuire has held opponents to a .233 batting average while striking out 121 batters in 123 1/3 innings.

This week 1BJW's Jay Floyd caught up with the Georgia Tech product to speak about his adjustment to pro ball, his baseball idols as a child, his pitch repertoire and plenty more. Check out the media player below to hear the full interview.

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Weekly Round Up: Aug. 16 - 22

Consider this your required reading for the week.  You Don't Know Dick does a nice season recap.

Courtesy of Forbes:

Adam Lind, OF, Toronto Blue Jays
Swanay: Many were predicting superstardom for Lind after his breakout 2009 season in which he hit .305 with 35 homers and 114 RBI. Instead, his 2010 OBP (.297) is less than his 2009 AVG, and he’s hitting just .230 with 17 homers and 54 RBI. His .280 BABIP is only partly to blame. Lind’s K% has increased from 18.7% to 25.7%, while his HR/FB ratio has dropped from 19.8% to 13.3%. He’s swinging at a higher percentage of pitches outside the strike zone (34.6% vs 24.7%) and making contact less frequently (66.2% vs 70.5%). Expect a .250 AVG with 6 homers and 22 RBI the rest of the season, which makes his value equivalent to those of J.D. Drew, Rick Ankiel, and Alex Gordon.

Forbes doesn't fuck around.

Courtesy of Baseball America:

Bill (Galloway, New Jersey): Of the top 50 picks in the 2010 draft class that signed contracts, who do you feel has the potential to be the biggest sleeper and go far beyond expectations?

Jim Callis: Based on lack of hype and not draft position (because guys slid for financial reasons), I'll say Jays righthander Asher Wojciechowski. Plus fastball and slider, should move quickly. 

Great news and a great job by Jim Callis covering the draft this and every year. 

Courtesy of Shi Davidi

McGuire, meanwhile, is a physically imposing power arm with the type of frame the Blue Jays targeted in the draft. The 21-year-old features a fastball in the 90-94 m.p.h. range with a good slider, plus a change and a curve.
Some have compared him to John Lackey.
"I'm a four-pitch guy," said McGuire. "I do my best to run and sink (the fastball), sometimes it co-operates, sometimes it doesn't.
"I really try and locate, that's kind of my thing, I'm not going to overpower anybody but I'm going to locate as good as anybody. I mix in a curveball and a change-up that are more get-ahead pitches. I'll use them for strikeouts occasionally, but I'd say my strikeout pitch is my fastball or my slider."

Some details on Deck's repertoire.  Look for him to start his pro career in Lansing next year.
 

Courtesy of Baseball America:

Dickie Thon isn't a flashy defender, but makes all the routine plays. He has good feet, soft hands and an above-average arm. His bat is a little inconsistent right now, but he profiles as a good top-of-the-order hitter. He has gap power and could grow into some home run power as he continues to fill out and drives more balls. Thon is an average runner out of the box, but is above-average under way. He has good baseball instincts and projects to steal 20-30 bases a year.

A decent scouting report on Dickie.  The question I got is: How long before he gets moved to 2nd base? 

Courtesy of Buck Martinez: 

BRIAN ROSE ASKS: Hi Buck, in a Red Sox-Jays game last week, I saw a Boston pitcher lick his fingers while on the mound and in possession of the ball. Has the rule been changed to allow this?

BUCK: Brian, the rule has changed a bit regarding a pitcher going to his mouth on the dirt part of the mound. In years past a pitcher had to step off the dirt before going to his mouth; now he can go to his mouth while on the dirt but not on the pitching rubber. The penalty comes if he doesn't wipe his hand on his uniform before touching the ball. Not wiping off his hand after going to his mouth will force the umpire to call a "ball" and the at-bat will continue.

Buck takes some questions and this one caught my eye.

Courtesy of Our Boy Jesse:

C A.J. Jimenez is done for the year due to a tear in his elbow.  He's back in Florida right now.  Surgery is required.  Cross your fingers.

A.J. has had a cannon of an arm behind the dish.  Hope he is able to get healthy quickly. 

Courtesy of MLBTR:

Jose Molina

Toronto

None

54.545

Don't look now but Jose Molina is creeping toward Type B free agent status.  May explain why cult hero J.P. Arencibia didn't play as much as expected while here was up in the big leagues. 

Courtesy of Scott Carlson:

Now those of you who have followed the Blue Jays closely, based upon TV ratings, not attendance figures, and the dozens of you who I've met while on the road, so I know there are a bunch of you, know that the Blue Jays starters have been knocking on the no-hitter door several times this season. For the casual fan, here's a list:

Pitcher	Inning	Date	Opponent	Broken Up By
Brandon Morrow	8.2	08/08	Rays	Evan Longoria
Ricky Romero	7.0	04/13	White Sox	Alex Rios
Brett Cecil	6.2	05/03	Indians	Jhonny Peralta
Shaun Marcum	6.1	04/05	Rangers	Vladimir Guerrero
Shaun Marcum	6.0	08/16	Athletics	Conor Jackson
Jesse Litsch	5.2	07/11	Red Sox	Marco Scutaro
Brandon Morrow	5.2	05/31	Rays	Sean Rodriguez
Brandon Morrow	5.1	04/19	Royals	Yuniesky Betancourt

It's been quite a year on the mound but still no one has been able to nail down a glorious no hitter.

Courtesy of 500 Level Fan:

The bottom line is that it was yet another complete game one-hitter by a Blue Jay.  Maybe because so many Blue Jays are taking no-hitters deep into games this year, or maybe because Morrow’s game is so fresh in my mind, it seems like these one-hitters happen quite often in Toronto’s history.
With a little help (well, a lot of help actually) from retrosheet.org and baseball-reference.com I was able to put together a list of everytime a Jays pitcher has thrown a complete game one-hitter.  The feat has happened on 16 occassions:



2 of the 16 one hitters thrown by Blue Jay pitchers happened this year.

Weekly Round Up: June 7 - 13

This week's Round Up will be draft heavy and a day early.  Here is what I can find on our picks so far.  Enjoy!

Important notes:

• Toronto took 30 pitchers among its 56 picks (including compensation picks) in the 50 rounds.

• A while back, I made note of a potential issue with a few of our compensation picks.  Check it:
  

Courtesy of Fan Graphs:

The club also has its back up against the wall with a couple of the picks (those received for failing to sign ‘09 draft picks James Paxton, Jake Eliopoulos, and Jake Barrett). The representatives for the players chosen in those slots will know that the club has to sign the picks this season or they will lose those compensation picks for 2011.

FYI: that will be picks 38, 69 and 113.  Look for us to take sign-able guys in these slots.  Maybe some fourth year college players?  

For the record, we selected:

Noah Syndergaard with the 38th pick.  He signed on Wednesday night.
Kellen Sweeney with the 69th pick.  He may or may not sign.
Marcus Knecht with the 113th pick.  According to Bob, he signed.

Courtesy of MLB.com:

A list of every pick your Toronto Blue Jays made.
Day 2 picks, rounds 2 - 30
Day 3 picks, rounds 31 - 50.
A report on the change in draft philosophy.
Write up on Deck McGuire
Write up on Asher Wojciechowski.
Write up on Toronto native Marcus Knecht.
Gabriel Romero, brother of Ricky, gets the courtesy pick in round 47.

Courtesy of Baseball Beginnings:

Deck McGuire
Aaron Sanchez
Griffin Murphy
Kellen Sweeney
Kris Bryant

Courtesy of You Don't Know Dick @ The Star:

Dick provides a report card on Day 1. 

Courtesy of Bob Elliott @ The Sun

Write up on North York native Marcus Knecht. 

Courtesy of Jeremy Sandler @ National Post

Another write up on Marcus Knecht.

Courtesy of Scott Carlson @ Sportsnet

News and notes from the draft.

Courtesy of HS Game Time:

Tyler Shreve attacks his coach over playing time. 

Courtesy of My Fox: 

The Dickie Thon Jr. Affair begins.

Courtesy of Georgia Tech:

Deck McGuire bio.

If you didn't see our post on the number 11 pick in the draft, click here for some analysis and videos.

Nuts about the Draft

I write this from Peoria, where everyone is apparently pretty excited about a visit from the Chicago Cubs Special Advisor to the General Manager. Greg something or other. Apparently he used to pitch or something.

Right.

Mr. Maddux is currently showing everyone in the home dugout what grip he used for his circle change.

Speaking of change... yes, the Lugnuts players here followed the draft very closely.

Part of it is that they know quite a few of the guys who were drafted. LSU products Ryan Schimpf and Sean Ochinko, for instance, were curious where former teammate Anthony Ranaudo would go. Ryan Goins had a vested interest in Noah Sindergaard, a Dallas Baptist University recruit.

And, yes, everyone was curious in learning more about Deck McGuire.

Then there's the very real and distinct possibility that these new draftees, once signed, are going to be their competition on their way up the ladder.

That really is the next key for Toronto. The draft is over. Now sign these guys and let's see what they can do.

Sal Fasano word of wisdom about the draft (paraphrased): You don't need everyone to blossom. Simply produce one quality Major Leaguer each year and you'll be just fine.

And The Toronto Blue Jays Pick...Deck McGuire...

So The Jays have used there number 11 pick to get Deck McGuire, just like his report on MLB.com, it seems like a very safe pick.

Deck, a great baseball name by the way, is a big boy at 6'6 and 220 and is the ace of the Georgia Tech rotation. He's described as a workhorse and currently has 3 above average pitches. His fastball has touched 94-95 and also throws a curveball, changeup and a slider. It's projected that he'll move through the minors very quickly, one source even predicts he'll see some major league action in the 2011 season. The scouting reports are mixed on where he projects to be in the rotation, most sites I've seen say he'll be a mid rotation guy and one even predicts he'll be a front of the rotation guy.

In 2008 he was 8-1 with a 3.46 era, 70 K's in 78 innings pitched.
In 2009 he was 11-2 with a 3.50 era, 118 K's in 100.1 innings pitched.

Didn't see this pick coming, heard rumors during the day of Deshields Jr. and Cox.

I've included a couple of video's for your viewing...