23-year old righty starting pitcher Kyle Drabek pitched in 14 games (all starts) earlier this year for the Blue Jays and he was 4-5 with a 5.70 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP. He walked 52 batters in 72 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays and that secured his demotion to AAA. The Blue Jays would have likely brought up Drabek soon if he pitched well in AAA, but that just didn’t happen. Drabek has pitched in 12 games (all starts) in AAA-ball since his demotion and he is 3-3 with a 7.10 ERA and a 2.07 WHIP. He has given up 87 hits and he has walked 34 batters in his first 58 1/3 innings in AAA-ball and that is downright pathetic. Drabek is going to have to get his act back together in the minors before he gets another shot at the show.

22-year old righty Nestor Molina has been converted to a full-time starter this year after spending most of his first four years in the bullpen, and he is responding well. Molina has pitched in 21 games (18 starts) in A-ball so far this year and he is 10-3 with a 2.58 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He has given up 102 hits in his first 108 1/3 innings so far this year while whiffing 115 batters and only walking a stunning 14 of them. Molina has now pitched in 98 games (22 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 25-7 with 9 saves, a 2.36 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He was not considered one of the Blue Jays’ top 30 prospects coming into this year according to Baseball America but that’s likely to change in 2012 with the way he is pitching right now.

Injuries have derailed 29-year old righty starting pitcher Dustin McGowan’s promising career. He has not pitched in the majors since 2008 with the Blue Jays. McGowan has pitched in 75 games (56 starts) in his first four years with the Blue Jays and he is 20-22 with a 4.71 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. He has pitched in 7 games (all starts) on his rehab assignment so far and he is 0-2 with a 2.87 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. If McGowan keeps pitching well the Blue Jays might bring him up for a cup of coffee in September.

The Blue Jays are calling up 21-year old righty starting pitcher Henderson Alvarez to replace Carlos Villanueva in the starting rotation. Alvarez came into this season as the Blue Jays’ #17 prospect according to Baseball America. Alvarez has pitched in 17 games (16 starts) in A+AA-ball so far this year and he is 8-5 with a 3.18 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He has now pitched in 83 games (78 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 27-24 with a 4.02 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. He has given up 449 hits in his first 405 innings in the minors but he has limited the damage due to his control as he has only walked 78 batters in his minor league career.

The Blue Jays have released 34-year old lefty swinging infielder Ramon Vazquez. Vazquez played in 20 games in AAA-ball for the Blue Jays this year and he was 23 for 80 (.288 avg, .729 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer, 14 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has played in 60 games overall this year in AAA-ball and he is 59 for 211 (.280 avg, .701 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 1 homer, 31 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Blue Jays won’t miss Vazquez, but he could hook on with another team to finish out the 2011 season.