Blue Jays Minor League Recap: The Upper Minors Struggle, but the Offense Has Come to Life in the Lower Minor Leagues

[Simon Li]

Some struggles have come for the upper minor league teams in the colder weather, but there have still been some exciting moments across the Jays farm system! Take a look at some great performances!

CURRENT W-L Records

-Buffalo Bisons: 4-10
-New Hampshire Fisher Cats: 4-5
-Vancouver Canadians: 7-5
-Dunedin Blue Jays: 5-7
-FCL Blue Jays: 0-0 (Season not started)
-DSL Blue Jays: 0-0 (Season not started)

TRANSACTIONS

04/17/25: Buffalo Bisons activated LF Davis Schneider.
04/17/25: Buffalo Bisons transferred C Matt Whatley to the Development List.
04/17/25: Toronto Blue Jays optioned LF Davis Schneider to Buffalo Bisons.
04/16/25: Vancouver Canadians placed LHP Connor O'Halloran on the 7-day injured list retroactive to April 15, 2025.
04/15/25: Buffalo Bisons activated C Matt Whatley.
04/15/25: Toronto Blue Jays recalled 3B Addison Barger from Buffalo Bisons.
04/15/25: RHP Manuel Suero assigned to DSL Blue Jays 2.
04/15/25: Dunedin Blue Jays placed OF Sam Shaw on the 7-day injured list.
04/15/25: New Hampshire Fisher Cats sent 2B Cade Doughty on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays.

Buffalo Bisons

Buffalo (2), Syracuse (10) - 4/15 - Final/6 Innings

Box Score

The Buffalo Bisons started the series well in this weather-shortened game. They took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Ali Sánchez lined a single into left field, scoring Will Robertson from third base. It was all downhill from there for the Bisons, as Jake Bloss, who started the game on the mound, imploded in the third inning. He had only given up one hit and struck out three batters over the first two innings. However, in the third inning, he started the inning by allowing a single and then back-to-back home runs. The scoring barrage for Syracuse didn't end there, though. Bloss would give up four more runs in the inning, to see the Bisons down 7-1. In the fourth inning, Robertson added a home run to cut the deficit to five runs. Syracuse would add two more runs before the weather ended the game early. Continuing the long run of bad weather the Bisons have run up against to start the minor league season.

Will Robertson: 2-2, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 1 2B

Kevin Gowdy: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Buffalo, Syracuse - 4/16 - PPD

Buffalo (0), Syracuse (2) - 4/17

Box Score

This was another night to forget for the Buffalo Bisons. It might have been the worst game offensively in a long line of cold weather, painful showings to start the season. Syracuse started the bottom of the first inning by scoring two runs on a walk and three hits off of Lazaro Estrada. Estrada would settle down to push across one of his better lines of the early season, 3.2 innings pitched while giving up five hits, two earned runs, one walk, and striking out three batters. The bullpen followed after and didn't surrender an earned run and struck out three more hitters. The problem on the cold night is Buffalo was completely shut down offensively, outside of 29-year-old Michael Stefanic. Stefanic went 3-4 with three singles. The rest of the team went 0-26 with 14 strikeouts. Hopefully, warmer weather will bring the bats around eventually and they can heat up on the scoreboard.

Michael Stefanic: 3-4, 3 1Bs

Tommy Nance: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

New Hampshire Fisher Cats

New Hampshire (3), Harrisburg (5) - 4/15

Box Score

New Hampshire started a new series on Tuesday night against the Harrisburg Senators and they used the fresh start to open up their legs on the basepaths in an attempt to generate more runs. They stole three bases, but none would come around to score. The scoring was started by Jace Bohrofen, when he launched his first home run of the season in the bottom of the second inning. Another run came across in the bottom of the third inning from a sacrifice fly by Peyton Williams, following a couple of hits from RJ Schreck and Yohendrick Pinango. Ryan Watson would hold the Harrisburg bats silent until they got to him in the top of the sixth inning on a Daylen Lile home run. The bullpen could not hold the lead, as they coughed up a big three-run home run in the top of the eighth inning. The Fisher Cats tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth with a walk, but Peyton Williams ended the threat with a double play, followed by a strikeout to end the game from Bohrofen.

Jace Bohrofen: 1-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
Bohrofen hit his first home run of the 2025 season, coming on the heels of 14 home runs last year. He's got enough power to the pullside to unlock a 20 home run season.

Ryan Watson: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Watson continues his feel-good story and looks every bit of a true pitching prospect. He induced eight swing and misses on the night, while continuing his great start to the season.

New Hampshire (10), Harrisburg (9) - 4/16

Box Score

The bats came alive for the first time in 2025 for New Hampshire, as this game was pure excitement from start to finish. The Fisher Cats started the game in a hole after an error at first base by Charles McAdoo led to a run in the top of the first inning. However, they took the lead back in the bottom half of the inning by way of three base hits from Jace Bohrofen, Ryan McCarty, and Alex De Jesus. There was another big volley of runs in the fourth inning, as Harrisburg took the lead back by scoring four in the top half of the inning, when New Hampshire couldn't get the last out and they gave up four hits with two outs. In the bottom half, McAdoo cashed in a couple of runners on a single to take the lead back for the Fisher Cats. Bohrofen would add an insurance run in the sixth inning with his second home run in as many nights, to give New Hampshire the lead 9-5. Unfortunately, the bullpen could not hold the lead, as they imploded in the eighth inning when an error by McCarty opened the door for Harrisburg. Then the fan favorite himself, The Iowa Meat Truck (Peyton Williams), came into the game to pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth inning with the game tied up at nine a piece. What follows was just more fun provided by the legend himself.

Jace Bohrofen: 3-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR
For the second night in a row, Bohrofen launches a home run, as he gets dialed in for the long season. More nights like tonight can really boost him within the organizational ranks. The power is shining through, now the speed and the bat need to follow suit.

Anders Tolhurst: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
It wasn't a great night for Tolhurst on the mound, but he did more than enough to get the win for New Hampshire. He only had seven swing and misses and gave up one extra base hit. He mostly was pitching to contact, but doing a decent job at it.

New Hampshire (4), Harrisburg (11) - 4/17

Box Score

New Hampshire really has a giant problem on their hands and it showed once again in Thursday night's game. In the field, they committed three more errors, bringing the series total to seven in just three games so far. The blunders didn't cost them the game this time, only leading to one unearned run, but it will need to be addressed sooner than later. Devereaux Harrison was not nearly as good as his first start of the season, leaving the top of the first inning trailing after giving up a home run to Donta’ Williams. In the second inning he struggled mightily, giving up four hits and three more runs. He had more struggles in the fourth inning again before giving way to Alex Amalfi. In the sixth, Amalfi and Ryan Boyer were pounded for seven runs. On the offensive side of things, the bats were relatively quiet until the bottom of the sixth inning, when a minor rally was capped off by a two run single from Bohrofen. Unfortunately, that was where the scoring in the game ended, as New Hampshire would fall to Harrisburg 11-4.

Peyton Williams: 2-5, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 2B
Williams managed to get two base knocks (including a double) off of Jarlin Susana, one of the best pitching prospects in the minor leagues. The big man has been consistent so far this season, bringing his batting average up to .273 and his OPS up to .839.

Geison Urbaez: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Vancouver Canadians

Vancouver (8), (Eugene) (11) - 4/15

Box Score

Vancouver tacked on 7 runs against Eugene starter Cale Lansville in the first 3 innings, but slowly relinquished the lead as Fernando Perez wasn’t as sharp as he was in his first start, and some poor defense and some poor reliever performances allowed for the Emeralds to catch up and even take the lead and win in the 8th. Arjun Nimmala DH’d again, as he’s been dealing with a shoulder issue, but it hasn’t been affecting his hitting, as he went 2-5 and scored 2 runs this game. The Canadians were unable to hit with RISP despite matching the Emeralds in hit total, only going 2-13 with RISP.

Victor Arias - 3-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Arias had a slowish start to this season, but he’s hit at every level in the minors so far in his young career, and he’s started to pick it up recently. The power hasn’t come yet, but he’s been taking his walks and making solid contact. As a smaller hitter without a premium defensive home, it’s hard for him to get on top prospect lists, but his results have been some of the best in the Jays system since coming out of Venezuela in 2019.

Kai Peterson - 1.1 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 3 K
The lefty reliever with the funky sinker continues to be unhittable, although he’s walked batters at the same clip he’s striking them out, hitters cannot figure him out so far. He was the only Vancouver pitcher to not give up a run.

Vancouver (5), (Eugene) (2) - 4/16

Box Score

Vancouver’s pitching was much better this game, headed by Grant Rogers who hasn’t allowed an earned run yet, and another solid relief outing by Irv Carter, and righty Bo Bonds came in and got the save. The Canadians pitching only let 4 runners on base all game, which was much better than the 11 run game they gave up the previous night. The Canadians ran hard on the Emeralds pitching stealing 5 bases on them, including a double steal attempt in the bottom of the 7th that resulted in Je’Von Ward taking 2nd base and Aaron Parker stealing home. Sean Keys has displayed his keen eye for getting on base with 4 walks, and Je’Von Ward also was walked 3 times as well. Nimmala finally came back to the field and looked solid out there, hopefully showing that the shoulder problem was a minor issue.

Aaron Parker - 1-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB
Aaron Parker was touted for some premium bat speed in college despite being an undersized catcher, as he’s great at rotating for some big damage and he notched his first bomb of the season. He’s been excellent offensively since getting drafted in the 6th round from the Jays and he could be some rare power from the catcher position as he advances through the minors.

Grant Rogers - 5.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K
Grant Rogers has continued to blank pitchers, with his 3rd start in a row allowing no earned runs, with the only run scoring against him coming from an error committed by first baseman Brennan Orf, which earned him his first win of the season. Rogers is a big guy, standing at 6’7”, but he throws from a lower slot and creates a weird look for opposing hitters and has kept them confused so far this season.

Vancouver (13), (Eugene) (5) - 4/17

Box Score

The offense exploded for the Canadians, as they scored 13 runs this night with 7 coming in the 5th inning alone. The Canadians combined for 10 hits and 11 walks with every Canadian scoring at least once while Nimmala and Pinto both had a rest day. Jay Harry and Victor Arias both had 2 hits and a walk, and again the Canadians ran hard with 3 stolen bases on the day from Arias, Orf, and Coffey. The pitching was again solid, despite Julio Ortiz giving up 3 runs in the 6th, the rest of the pen kept them scoreless, and Wentworth had a solid bounce back start with 4.1 IP and 8 Ks. The Canadians also scored four in the 7th, stopping any and all momentum to allow them to cruise to a victory.

Cutter Coffey - 2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR
The power hitting infielder had his second homer of the season off of starter Josh Bostick, and he got on base another 2 times without striking out. Coffey has struggled with contact and strikeouts early on in the season, with an over 30% K rate. His contact skills are clearly below average, but if he can tap into his power and take some walks he could still be a productive infielder in the majors.

https://x.com/vancanadians/status/1913071876836147643

Nate Garkow - 2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 K, W

Garkow earned a win in relief, striking out 6 in only 2.2 innings pitched and stopping the Giants High-A affiliate from getting any momentum after they scored 3 the inning prior to him getting in the game.

Dunedin Blue Jays

Dunedin (2), (Lakeland) (4) - 4/15

Box Score

The Dunedin Blue Jays offense struggled to get going, even with 2022 2nd Rounder Cade Doughty on rehab assignment slotted directly at 2nd base. Brock Tibbits hit a homer to give the Dunedin Jays a 1-0 lead, and that was the 6th game where they scored the first run of the game. Colby Holcombe pitched 5 strong innings, but let in a couple of runs due to some extra base hits given up as well as some shaky defense behind him. The offense couldn’t recover from the early deficit, and although the bullpen only let in one more run, the Dunedin offense only managed to get one more as well with Tibbitts scoring again on a sac fly from Tucker Toman.

(Highlight a hitter with what they did and anything you want to add, including X links)

Colby Holcombe - 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K

Colby Holcombe was the 9th round pick for the Jays, and although he’s struggled with traffic on the basepaths, he’s shown a solid arsenal and effective stuff. His fastball has been excellent, sitting around 94 mph with 20 inches of ride and got whiffs at a 41.1% rate. His main secondary is a 86-87 mph cut-slider that also had a strong whiff rate, but he struggled to find the zone with it and it got hit hard today. Still this is the second strong start for Holcombe and his golden locks. He still hasn’t shown a pitch that could be used effectively against lefties but his 2 main pitches have looked very good.

Brock Tibbitts - 1-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Tibbitts has been a steady presence in the Dunedin Lineup, hitting his first homer of the season and getting on base. His contact skills haven’t been the greatest but he’s been consistent at driving runners in.

Dunedin (18), (Lakeland) (2) - 4/17

Box Score

Although Dunedin still is below .500, they tend to explode for double digit runs, including this 18-2 thrashing of the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Every hitter has gotten on base, and the Dunedin Jays went for 7 extra base hits, showcasing some power in addition to a balanced lineup. Bryce Arnold and Duran both hit their 2nd homer of the season, and Alexis Hernandez and Manual Beltre both had 2 hits and 3 RBIs. The pitching was also solid, only giving up 2 runs from Edinson Batista, who’s still adjusting to a new organization, and this was easily the best game of the season for the Jays.

Khal Stephen - 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K
Stephen showed again that he’s too advanced for Low-A, as a SEC college pitcher he’s shown pretty much everything he’s needed to and with a 0.56 ERA/2.67 FIP and a 35.7% K rate to a tiny 3.6% walk rate his results have also shown excellence. With Connor O’Halloran hitting the injured list, it may be reasonable to see him or Yesavage move up to replace him.

Yeuni Munoz - 3-5, 3 R, 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 K
Yeuni Munoz has been electric for the Dunedin Blue Jays, smashing his 2nd homer of the season at 105.7 mph and 398 feet, as well as hitting a 105 mph double. He’s been near the top in average exit velocity and hard hit rate in the Florida State League, and has been finally showing some game power to match some of his raw power.

Dunedin (4), (Lakeland) (6) - 04/17

Box Score

Daniel Guerra took the bump again, and although he started off the first 2 innings without giving up a run, he allowed 3 runs to score in the 3rd and 4th. The Jays scored 2 in the 4th from an Alexis Hernandez double, but Javen Coleman gave up 3 runs himself and made it difficult for the Jays to come back even with Gilberto Batista having 4 scoreless innings to keep them close. Cade Doughty still hasn’t recorded a hit on his rehab assignment but walked 3 times and scored a run. Bryce Arnold also continued to hit the ball hard on contact with another extra base hit in the 9th, but was not able to score as the rest of the lineup hit into outs.

Yeuni Munoz - 2-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Munoz’s power surge continued, as he hit a homer of the 2nd day in a row, this time 104.7 mph. It’s exciting to see if this can continue for him, as his underlying metrics are showing that his power has finally started to click. Munoz also had an outfield assist to save a run at home, flashing the leather as well.

Gilberto Batista - 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Gilberto Batista piggy backed off of Daniel Guerra again, which seems like the Dunedin Blue Jays are planning to do with them all season, and he pitched his 3rd scoreless outing. The stuff isn’t eye popping off the page, but his velocity was up slightly from 91 mph in his last outing to around 93-94 mph in this one. He does throw a variety of pitches, but there isn’t much movement variability and it can tend to bleed into each other. However, Batista has been excellent since joining the Blue Jays organization only giving up 5 ER, in 27.2 innings of work as a Jays prospect.

FCL Blue Jays

No games

DSL Blue Jays

No games

Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Players of the Period

Pitcher of the Period: RHP, Khal Stephen, Dunedin Blue Jays: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

Hitter of the Day: OF, Jace Bohrofen, New Hampshire: 5-14, 4 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HR

Prospect Summary (Last 3 Days)

1. Arjun Nimmala (Vancouver) - 3-9, 2 R, 3 K, 1 2B
2. Trey Yesavage (Dunedin) - DNP
3. Ricky Tiedemann (Buffalo) - DNP
4. Orelvis Martinez (Buffalo) - 0-7, 3K
5. Jake Bloss (Buffalo) - 2.2 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
6. Alan Roden (Toronto) - 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 1 2B
7. Josh Kasevich (Buffalo) - DNP
8. Kendry Rojas (Vancouver) - DNP
9. Khal Stephen (Dunedin) - 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
10. Charles McAdoo (New Hampshire) - 2-7, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K
11. Adam Macko (Buffalo) - DNP
12. Landen Maroudis (Dunedin) - DNP
13. Fernando Perez (Vancouver) - 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
14. Will Wagner (Toronto) - 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K
15. Johnny King (FCL Blue Jays) - DNP
16. Brandon Barriera (Dunedin) - DNP
17. Emmanuel Bonilla (FCL Blue Jays) - DNP
18. Juaron Watts-Brown (Vancouver) - DNP
19. Eddinson Paulino (New Hampshire) - 3-7, 1 RBI, 0 BB. 3 K, 1 2B
20. Dahian Santos (New Hampshire) - DNP

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