Official MiLB/Prospects Thread

[Laika]

waves... the waves are here 

[Terminator]

Ross Atkins riding his waves of prospects into a contract extension

[gruber9292]

Khal Stephen had a nice start for Vancouver last night. 

6 IP 6 H 0 ER 2 BB 9 K

81 pitches 59 strikes 

Both him and Yesavage are going to rocket up through the system and may even possibly sniff the majors later this year. 

[John_Havok]

Maroudis going back up to A ball 

[John_Havok]

3 hours ago, gruber9292 said:

Khal Stephen had a nice start for Vancouver last night. 

6 IP 6 H 0 ER 2 BB 9 K

81 pitches 59 strikes 

Both him and Yesavage are going to rocket up through the system and may even possibly sniff the majors later this year. 

Its interesting they havent announced Stephen as going up to AA along with Yesavage given they've both dominated at Vancouver. Yesavage's walk and K rate's took a pretty big jump at A+ though it's a SSS, Stephen's stayed relatively stable compared to his A ball stats. Would seem both deserve to move up and get tested

 

Ditto Stanifer, he's even a year younger than both Yesavage and Stephen and still dominating with results, albeit with a pretty high walk rate. 

[Laika]

May not be room at AA for more than Yesavage right now. They have a decent rotation already with Grant Rogers, JWB, Yesavage, and three sleeper prospects in Watson, Dominguez, and Harrison. 

Stanifer has been piggy-backing as a 4 IP reliever all year so this is his chance to be a normal SP, probably. Start a game for the first time and go 5 IP for the first time.

[Pendleton]

https://www.ottawatitans.com/blue-jays-purchase-contract-of-brett-garcia

 

[mphenhef]

11 hours ago, Pendleton said:

https://www.ottawatitans.com/blue-jays-purchase-contract-of-brett-garcia

 

If that stat line is a blazing start I wonder what words they would use for someone with a good stat line.

[Pendleton]

This is the first that I've come across this "draft and follow" idea, but from what I gather - he was drafted out of HS last year and not signed, but they were still able to retain his rights under this new rule. Now he's signed after his freshman season. 

 

 

[Brownie19]

On 6/12/2025 at 7:32 PM, Pendleton said:

https://www.ottawatitans.com/blue-jays-purchase-contract-of-brett-garcia

This caused me to look into the Frontier league.  It's a bit crazy how much time and how far these adults are willing to travel to continue playing the game they love.  

The IBL in Ontario is already pretty wild (but good baseball).

[Pendleton]

2 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

This caused me to look into the Frontier league.  It's a bit crazy how much time and how far these adults are willing to travel to continue playing the game they love.  

The IBL in Ontario is already pretty wild (but good baseball).

A couple years back, the Titans had a former Yanks prospect who was accused of stealing memorabilia from teammates to sell for profit 

[Brownie19]

1 hour ago, Pendleton said:

A couple years back, the Titans had a former Yanks prospect who was accused of stealing memorabilia from teammates to sell for profit 

Yikes.

Fernando Rodney is pitching in the IBL now - for Hamilton I believe.  48 years old.

[HomeRunHomer]

That's Pinango's 4th homer in 18 games since moving up to AAA.

[John_Havok]

9 hours ago, HomeRunHomer said:

That's Pinango's 4th homer in 18 games since moving up to AAA.

Triple slash of .254/.359/.507, with 13 K, 11 BB in 78 PA. 

Not bad. 

Davidi wrote something for BA a few weeks ago about swing changes he's made, but its behind a pay wall. 

Spanky, you still have a BA sub?

[Spanky__99]

6 hours ago, John_Havok said:

Triple slash of .254/.359/.507, with 13 K, 11 BB in 78 PA. 

Not bad. 

Davidi wrote something for BA a few weeks ago about swing changes he's made, but its behind a pay wall. 

Spanky, you still have a BA sub?

ArticleMinors

Blue Jays’ Yohendrick Pinango Displays Confidence With New Swing

The Blue Jays believed in Yohendrick Pinango’s bat speed and exit velocities when they first acquired him from the Cubs last summer, but they also had some ideas for the outfielder.

His attack angle was pretty steep. So while he was making hard contact, Pinango often drove the ball low in the air or directly into the ground. 

So during the offseason, the Blue Jays introduced him to a series of drills designed to adjust his swing plane. The results have pushed the 23-year-old up to Triple-A Buffalo after two months of mashing at Double-A New Hampshire.

“His first move used to be down to the ball, now it’s just more in line to where he’s still really quick to fire the barrel, but it’s more getting that bat on plane earlier and that’s just giving him a little bit more time to make decisions,” Blue Jays farm director Joe Sclafani said.

“He’s been unbelievable, literally since the spring.”

Acquired along with shortstop Josh Rivera for Nate Pearson, Pinango’s progress has suddenly thrust him into a crowded organizational outfield mix featuring several players vying to break through.

Pinango first reached Double-A last season, posting a .720 OPS in 88 games between the Chicago and Toronto systems. But returning to New Hampshire this season, he batted .298/.406/.522 with eight home runs and five stolen bases in 47 games before a June 1 bump.

Sclafani said that between “the way he competes in the box” and how “the approach has continued to get better,” the Blue Jays believe the success can continue up a level.

“You can just see the confidence every time he steps in the box now,” he said. “He’s definitely taking to it pretty well. He’s not chasing just because he’s had a success. He’s not going outside of himself.

“His conviction to his plan and approach has been really impressive.”

[John_Havok]

2 hours ago, Spanky__99 said:

ArticleMinors

Blue Jays’ Yohendrick Pinango Displays Confidence With New Swing

The Blue Jays believed in Yohendrick Pinango’s bat speed and exit velocities when they first acquired him from the Cubs last summer, but they also had some ideas for the outfielder.

His attack angle was pretty steep. So while he was making hard contact, Pinango often drove the ball low in the air or directly into the ground. 

So during the offseason, the Blue Jays introduced him to a series of drills designed to adjust his swing plane. The results have pushed the 23-year-old up to Triple-A Buffalo after two months of mashing at Double-A New Hampshire.

“His first move used to be down to the ball, now it’s just more in line to where he’s still really quick to fire the barrel, but it’s more getting that bat on plane earlier and that’s just giving him a little bit more time to make decisions,” Blue Jays farm director Joe Sclafani said.

“He’s been unbelievable, literally since the spring.”

Acquired along with shortstop Josh Rivera for Nate Pearson, Pinango’s progress has suddenly thrust him into a crowded organizational outfield mix featuring several players vying to break through.

Pinango first reached Double-A last season, posting a .720 OPS in 88 games between the Chicago and Toronto systems. But returning to New Hampshire this season, he batted .298/.406/.522 with eight home runs and five stolen bases in 47 games before a June 1 bump.

Sclafani said that between “the way he competes in the box” and how “the approach has continued to get better,” the Blue Jays believe the success can continue up a level.

“You can just see the confidence every time he steps in the box now,” he said. “He’s definitely taking to it pretty well. He’s not chasing just because he’s had a success. He’s not going outside of himself.

“His conviction to his plan and approach has been really impressive.”

They should introduce Vlad to the reverse series of drills to increase his attack angle. 

[max silver]

20 hours ago, John_Havok said:

They should introduce Vlad to the reverse series of drills to increase his attack angle. 

Yeah I had the same type of thought. It's interesting that a player can have the same types of issues with ground balls and low angle fly balls with attack angles that are too high or too low.

[John_Havok]

Yesavage shoved again ... 5 scoreless IP, 1 walk, 1 hit, 8 Ks. 

14 whiffs on 37 swings

[Ray]

Kendry Rojas absolutely shoved today: 5.0IP/0ER/9K, sitting 95-96mph and flashing a plus slider and changeup. My 2nd favorite arm in the system after Yesavage. 

https://twitter.com/DunedinBlueJays/status/1938718027123421411

 

Edit: Anyone know how to embed tweets

[Spanky__99]

7 hours ago, Ray said:

Kendry Rojas absolutely shoved today: 5.0IP/0ER/9K, sitting 95-96mph and flashing a plus slider and changeup. My 2nd favorite arm in the system after Yesavage. 

https://twitter.com/DunedinBlueJays/status/1938718027123421411

 

Edit: Anyone know how to embed tweets

Just copy paste and let it load before hitting submit.

[max silver]

16 hours ago, Ray said:

Kendry Rojas absolutely shoved today: 5.0IP/0ER/9K, sitting 95-96mph and flashing a plus slider and changeup. My 2nd favorite arm in the system after Yesavage. 

https://twitter.com/DunedinBlueJays/status/1938718027123421411

 

Edit: Anyone know how to embed tweets

It feels like Rojas has gone a little under the radar compared to other arms in the system. Hopefully he can finally find a way to remain healthy as the injuries have sapped so much of his developmental time.

[Orgfiller]

26 minutes ago, max silver said:

It feels like Rojas has gone a little under the radar compared to other arms in the system. Hopefully he can finally find a way to remain healthy as the injuries have sapped so much of his developmental time.

He only came back at the end of May, so really only been pitching for a month this season. If he had been healthy since the start of the season he would be getting talked about plenty. His health track record definitely needs to improve if he's to start getting real hype behind him.

[Spanky__99]

42 minutes ago, max silver said:

It feels like Rojas has gone a little under the radar compared to other arms in the system. Hopefully he can finally find a way to remain healthy as the injuries have sapped so much of his developmental time.

 

15 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

He only came back at the end of May, so really only been pitching for a month this season. If he had been healthy since the start of the season he would be getting talked about plenty. His health track record definitely needs to improve if he's to start getting real hype behind him.

One of my faves. He's #8 in the system by BA by the way on their June update.

 

[HomeRunHomer]

Nimmala is super cold right now on a 0 for 25 stretch. ☹️

[max silver]

23 hours ago, Orgfiller said:

He only came back at the end of May, so really only been pitching for a month this season. If he had been healthy since the start of the season he would be getting talked about plenty. His health track record definitely needs to improve if he's to start getting real hype behind him.

I'm not referring to this season only. I think Rojas has always been a bit unheralded compared to other arms in the system throughout his entire time in the organization.

[John_Havok]

9 hours ago, max silver said:

I'm not referring to this season only. I think Rojas has always been a bit unheralded compared to other arms in the system throughout his entire time in the organization.

Its to be expected though i think in his case. 5th year in the system, development slowed to a crawl by injuries and hasn't progressed past A ball. 

He's still young enough at 22 that it could turn positive for sure, even if its as a reliever. 

 

[Spanky__99]

June 6th update on Rojas, sounds like a mid-rotation SP tp me...

 

Quote

8. Kendry Rojas

LHP

Ht: 6'2" | Wt: 190 | B-T: L-L

Age: 22

BA Grade/Risk: 50/High

Track Record: Rojas signed for $215,000 out of Cuba in October 2020. He pitched just 64 innings in his first two pro seasons, missing time with a lat injury in 2021. Rojas remained at Low-A Dunedin in 2023, where he had his first extended run of success. He moved to High-A Vancouver in 2024, but a left shoulder injury in April forced him to the injured list for two months. Over his final nine starts, Rojas posted a 2.16 ERA in 50 innings and struck out nearly 28% of batters while walking just 5.5%. He participated in the Arizona Fall League following the season.

Scouting Report: Rojas is a projectable lefthander with a prototype build. Now, the project has started to materialize over the last year. Rojas gained more than 1 mph in fastball and slider velocity in 2024 and produced his best season. He has loose, low-effort mechanics and does a good job repeating his operation. His three-pitch mix is led by a four-seam fastball that sits 92-94 with above-average ride and, at times, cut. His fastball accounts for around 60% of his usage. Despite the high usage rate, it was an effective swing-and-miss pitch for Rojas against High-A batters. His slider is his primary secondary weapon and sits 83-85 with cut. He will likely continue to add power to the pitch as he gets more physical. Rojas’ changeup is third in usage but is an above-average pitch that boasts the highest swinging-strike rate, chase rate and swing rate in his arsenal. Rojas has shown the ability to work deeper into games and throw strikes. Over his final eight starts of 2024, he went six or more innings seven times.

The Future: Rojas is still a year away from his MLB debut, but he shows starter traits with a deep arsenal of average-or-better pitches and command.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50.

 

[Spanky__99]

Just listened to the Biggest Risers and Fallers of team farm systems... Jays get big praise baby, first team they spoke about. They said they aren't a top 5 obviously, but with the pick upcoming they think we can have up to 5 top 100 in the system, Stephen is borderline 100 atm... Pitching getting the most love, Yesavage/Stephen/King/Watts-Brown/Tiedemann coming back and the reports are the best they ever have been on Barriera, some good stuff in here.

Underlying skill still there for Roden, Nimmala, Pinango, Schreck making huge strides, etc...

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlb-farm-systems-that-are-rising-falling-so-far-in-2025-prospect-podcast/

[Orgfiller]

48 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

June 6th update on Rojas, sounds like a mid-rotation SP tp me...

 

 

Quote

Rojas has shown the ability to work deeper into games and throw strikes. Over his final eight starts of 2024, he went six or more innings seven times.

For an injury prone young SP, this is actually a pretty surprising and encouraging fact. For comparison's sake, Ricky Tiedemann has never pitched more than 5 IP in his entire pro career. Already this season, Rojas just went 5 IP his last start. So at least he's not being fully babied, or they don't believe he needs to be.

[Spanky__99]

4 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

For an injury prone young SP, this is actually a pretty surprising and encouraging fact. For comparison's sake, Ricky Tiedemann has never pitched more than 5 IP in his entire pro career. Already this season, Rojas just went 5 IP his last start. So at least he's not being fully babied, or they don't believe he needs to be.

I'm a believer in this kid, our pitching is dynamite, Geoff Pontes called it too, which was mentioned by JJ Cooper at the beginning of the segment in the Org risers discussion. Attaboy Geoff... 😜