Despite lackluster start, 51s’ prospects promising

Two players already have been promoted from the 51s to the Blue Jays this season, and Toronto's director of player development Dick Scott expects many more to make the jump to the majors this year.

"There are plenty of guys who are going to get up there during the course of the year," said Scott, who was in Las Vegas over the weekend to watch the 51s play, as well as his son Ryan, a catcher for the College of Southern Nevada. "I just hope they don't get up there because of injury ... . Hopefully guys get there because of their performance."

The first two players to leave Las Vegas for Toronto were called up because of injuries.

51s pitcher Bill Murphy was promoted April 14 to replace Brian Tallet in the bullpen. Tallet was put in Toronto's starting rotation after Jesse Litsch was placed on the disabled list with a strained right forearm.

Likewise, Las Vegas catcher Raul Chavez, who hit .348 in spring training, was called up to replace Blue Jays catcher Michael Barrett, who was placed on the 15-day DL Saturday after suffering a muscle tear in his right shoulder in Toronto's 8-5 loss to Oakland.

Scott said several 51s players were on the cusp of making the Blue Jays out of spring training, including pitchers Brad Mills, Davis Romero, Jeremy Accardo and Brian Wolfe, outfielder Jason Lane and second baseman Joe Inglett.

Lane hit .358 with five homers and 12 RBIs in 20 spring games and made a game-saving catch for Las Vegas in Friday's 3-2 win over Colorado Springs.

Inglett batted .297 for the Blue Jays in 109 games last season and was hitting .333 (8-for-24) this year in six games for the 51s before injuring his hamstring.

"He's got a good chance to get back up there," Scott said. "He probably came the closest to making the big league team ... but we ran out of spots.

"It was unfortunate because he did have such a good year, but (Toronto second baseman) Aaron Hill came back, and he's gotten off to a good start. You couldn't ask a guy to do any more than (Inglett) did last year. He had a great season and got some big hits for us. He'll be back up there."

Inglett, a former UNR star, wasn't happy to be back in Triple-A, which Scott said "can be a real difficult level" for some players.

"Just because you get guys coming from everywhere and guys want to be big leaguers," he said. "There are frequent changes at this level, and sometimes it can upset the boat. But we tried to head that off at the pass by having a couple quick meetings with the guys.

"We told them 'try to make the best of it, and we'll do what we can to get you guys back to the big leagues. But focus on the task at hand.' "

So far, the 51s have failed to take care of the task at hand, sliding to 2-8 after Sunday's 3-1 loss to Colorado Springs at Cashman Field.

Despite fielding 11 players who saw action in the majors last season, Las Vegas started Sunday with a 6.34 team ERA -- second worst in the 16-team Pacific Coast League -- and has made 16 errors, including at least one in all 10 games.

"A couple of our teams are starting off a little slow, but it will be all right," Scott said. "We'll have a good team here."

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.