Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Dunedin Tops the Standings, Prospects Showing Power

[Simon Li]

CURRENT W-L Records

-Buffalo Bisons: 12-17
-New Hampshire Fisher Cats: 10-14
-Vancouver Canadians: 12-13
-Dunedin Blue Jays: 14-11
-FCL Blue Jays: 0-0 (Season not started)
-DSL Blue Jays: 0-0 (Season not started)

TRANSACTIONS

05/02/25
Buffalo Bisons released C Matt Whatley.
05/02/25
New Hampshire Fisher Cats sent RHP Justin Kelly on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays.
05/01/25
Buffalo Bisons sent C Phil Clarke on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays.
05/01/25
Buffalo Bisons transferred 3B Damiano Palmegiani to the Development List.
05/01/25
LF David Beckles assigned to FCL Blue Jays from DSL Blue Jays Blue.
05/01/25
RHP Pedro Tucent assigned to FCL Blue Jays from DSL Blue Jays Blue.
05/01/25
C Juan Rosas assigned to FCL Blue Jays from DSL Blue Jays Blue.
05/01/25
OF Yorman Licourt assigned to FCL Blue Jays from DSL Blue Jays Blue.
05/01/25
LHP Ramon Suarez assigned to FCL Blue Jays from DSL Blue Jays Blue.
05/01/25
3B Aldo Gaxiola assigned to FCL Blue Jays from DSL Blue Jays Blue.
05/01/25
RHP Diego Dominguez assigned to FCL Blue Jays from DSL Blue Jays Blue.
05/01/25
Buffalo Bisons sent C Phil Clarke on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays.

Buffalo Bisons

Buffalo (8), Iowa (1) - 5/1

Box Score
As the calendar shifts to May, the Buffalo Bisons are seeing their bats awaken. In this game, the ball was flying around the field and over the fence. In the top of the 2nd inning, Orelvis Martinez got things started with a rocket double to right field. After a Rainer Nunez infield single, Ali Sánchez would clear the bases with a 3-run home run to center field. The homer came off the bat at 106 MPH. Michael Stefanic would cap off the inning with an RBI single as well. In the next inning, Buffalo started things right back up again, culminating in a 3-run homer from Christian Bethancourt, this time on a 106.9 MPH line drive to center field. That would be all the runs Buffalo needed on the night, as Easton Lucas cruised through the game, pitching six innings. He was exceptional at limiting hard contact and only gave up two hits to go with zero runs. He walked just one and struck out four on his way to the quality start. The Bisons would tack on a late 8th inning run to win the game 8-1.

Buffalo (2), Iowa (4) - 5/2

Box Score

After a short rain delay, the game Friday night turned into a pitcher's duel. On the mound for the Bisons was Trenton Wallace. He fired off five innings pitched and kept Iowa in check for much of the night. He gave up two runs, only one of which was earned, on a 2-RBI triple in the 5th inning to tie the game. Buffalo had previously taken the lead with a run in both the 4th and 5th innings on an RBI groundout from Will Robertson and an RBI single off the bat of Jonatan Clase. Moisés Ballesteros and Jonathon Long would put Iowa on top for good in the 7th inning. The last chance for Buffalo came after Iowa walked the bases loaded in the 8th inning, but they shut the door by striking out Will Wagner to end the threat.

Orelvis Martinez- 2-3, 0 R, 0 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 2B

Orelvis Martinez is finding his timing and that includes hitting to right field, as he now has three doubles in his last two games. The interesting part is the continued push to hit to the opposite field. The double Thursday night and the second double Friday night were hit to right field. All three were struck well.

Trenton Wallace- 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

New Hampshire Fisher Cats

New Hampshire (3), Portland (5) - 5/1

Box Score

New Hampshire sent Rafael Sanchez to the mound Thursday, in an attempt to keep riding his wave of stellar pitching performances and get another win against the Portland Sea Dogs. Sanchez delivered and then some for the team, going into the sixth inning and allowing only one run. The run came on a second inning single to center field from Karson Simas. In the bottom of the fifth inning, New Hampshire would tie it up on a single to center field as well, this one from Robert Brooks and it scored Alex De Jesus. Simas would lead another volley from Portland, when he scored from first base on a Mikey Romero double. Charles McAdoo made sure New Hampshire would keep on fighting, with a solo shot to left field that tied the game up at two in the bottom of the eighth. The game would head to extra innings and see Portland score three during their at-bat. New Hampshire would cut into the lead, as Jace Bohrofen hit a sacrifice fly to score Yohendrick Pinango. Unfortunately, with the lead down to two runs and a runner on first, McAdoo would end the game by grounding into a double play.

Charles McAdoo: 1-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 HR

McAdoo continues his hot stretch with his first home run of the season. He now has a four game hit streak, with five hits and three extra base hits, in his last four games.

Rafael Sanchez: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Sanchez continues to throw to more contact, as he has been having a little bit of issue getting swing and misses on two-strike counts. He did manage to find a way to rack up nine swing and misses, but needs to get more to finish at-bats when he can.

New Hampshire (8), Portland (2) - 5/2

Box Score

RJ Schreck got the scoring started for New Hampshire on Friday night, with a home run to right field, his first of the season. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Fisher Cats would open things up with five runs, on the backs of RBI singles from Peyton Williams, Cade Doughty, and Dasan Brown. A Williams sacrifice fly and a wild pitch would tack on a couple of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Ryan Boyer would come into the game in the top of the ninth inning and give up a two-run homer to Blaze Jordan, before closing the game out and securing the win for New Hampshire.

RJ Schreck: 3-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 1 HR

Schreck had his first multi-hit game of the season and he did so with a big home run and double.

Ryan Watson: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Watson used his fastball and slider mostly this game. He didn't miss bats much, but was able to keep Portland from squaring anything up on the night.

Vancouver Canadians

Vancouver (2), Hillsboro (12) - 05/01

Box Score

After the Canadians won 2 games in a row against the Hops, game 3 went the opposite direction for them. Kevin Miranda took the bump for the 3rd time this season and he struggled, allowing 4 runs in 3.1 innings of work while only striking out 1 batter. He’s been moved to the rotation after Connor O’Halloran hit the injured list, and has been much less effective as a starter compared to when he pitched in relief. Nate Garkow and Jonathan Todd did not perform much better, as they gave up 3 runs and 4 runs respectively. Garkow did strike out 4 batters, but he also walked 4 and gave up 2 hits. Other than an Arjun Nimmala homer and a run scoring on a double play, the Canadians failed to score, and it resulted with a 12-2 loss where Catcher Hayden Gilliland pitched in the 9th to save the bullpen some bullets as a position player pitching.

Arjun Nimmala - 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR

Arjun Nimmala raised his OPS to .940 on the season, while taking the Northwest League lead in homers. Nimmala is up to 6th in OPS in the Northwest league as the youngest hitter in the league. He’s going to move up a ton of prospect lists when mid-season updates are out because he’s shown that he belongs in the upper echelons of prospects with his 2025 performance.

Kai Peterson - 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 K

Peterson has some of the nastiest stuff in the system, and showcased that by striking out 4 batters in 2 1/3 innings.

Vancouver (4), Hillsboro (7) - 05/02

Box Score

Fernando Perez had a decent start again, going 4 innings for the second start in a row. He did struggle with runners on base, giving up 8 hits, and the Hops got out to a 3 run lead in the 4th inning. However, Cutter Coffey hit a liner to left field to score Aaron Parker in the bottom of the 4th to get the Canadians on the board. JJ Sanchez came in to relieve Perez in the 5th, loading the bases and giving up a bases loaded walk to make it 4-1 for the Hops. The Canadians quickly answered back though, bringing the lead to within 1 as catcher Alex Stone hit a 2-RBI double. Things quickly fell apart when former 5th rounder Irv Carter continued to struggle on the season. He gave up 6 hits, 1 walk, and allowed 3 runs to give the Hops a 7-3 lead which the Canadians could not come back from. Carter now has an ERA over 10 on the season, and has unfortunately been one of the bigger disappointments in 2025 after having a bounce back 2024. Nick Goodwin hit a double in the 8th to make it 7-4 but that was just too little too late.

Aaron Parker - 1-2, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 2B

Parker has been very disciplined for the Canadians, raising his OBP to .364 on the season and his walk rate to 12.1%. He also hit his 7th extra base hit of the season, again showing his power potential and bat speed despite only standing at 5ft 9inches. He’s an exciting bat to watch and maybe be the start of some interesting catching depth in the lower minors for the Jays.

Fernando Perez - 4.0 IP, 8 H, ER 2, 0 BB, 2 K

Perez went 4 innings again for the 3rd time this season, and lowered his season ERA to 6.00. He hasn’t been as sharp as he’s been previously in the minors, and not being able to make it to 5 innings of work is a little bit concerning for the 21 year old starter, but he’s still been able to get outs without walking many batters. The hope is that his stuff starts ticking up a bit as in 15 innings of work he’s only struck out 10 batters, but he at least limited the walks today.

Dunedin Blue Jays

Dunedin (10), Clearwater (1) - 05/01

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Box Score

The last game of the series against Clearwater, and Dunedin was hoping to not be swept, and they pulled it off with a dominant performance from Yesavage, while the offense supported him with 10 runs. It was quiet for both teams for the first 3 innings, but 2 former top Jays prospects both got their first homers on the season, with a solo shot from Beltre, and a 2-run homer from Toman to start off the scoring. In the 6th the Jays tacked on 3 more runs with Yhoangel Aponte and Bryce Arnold both hitting an RBI-double each, and then Kendrys Chriinos knocked in Arnold with a single after. Clearwater got on the board after Yesavage was taken out, with Beltre committing a throwing error to allow Joel Dragoo to score. Stanifer only managed 2 innings of work this time, but still struck out 3 batters, and Javen Coleman had his 5th scoreless outing out of 7 on the season.

Manuel Beltre - 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 HR

Manuel Beltre finally hit his first homer of the season, but the young infielder has actually been quite excellent despite the lack of power he’s shown. He’s up to a 146 wRC+ on the season, which is good for 11th in the Florida State League, behind fellow Jays Yeuni Munoz and Bryce Arnold, but he’s also one of 5 hitters 21 years old or younger in the top 11. Beltre has been very adept at getting on base as he’s walked more than he struck out and if he can figure out a power stroke he might gain some momentum as a prospect and finally move up to High-A as this is his 4th year playing in Dunedin (his first being 5 games as an 18 year old in 2022).

Trey Yesavage - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

The first round pick again dominated Low-A hitters, which was arguably his best start of the season, going 6 innings for the first time and having his 3rd 8+ strikeout game in a row. He’ll need to be challenged by tougher hitters sooner than later, and with Landen Maroudis and Brandon Barriera coming back from injury sooner than later, there should be some movement within the system that’ll allow Yesavage and probably Stephen to move up.

Dunedin (8), Daytona (2) - 05/02

Box Score

After a short 3-game series with Clearwater, the Jays moved on to face the Daytona Tortugas. Colby Holcombe started for the Jays, and only allowed a single run from a sac fly from Carter Graham in the 1st. The Dunedin Blue Jays continued to run hot offensively, answering back with a couple of runs with Edward Duran and Kendrys Chirinos knocking in 1 a piece. Bryce Arnold made it a 3-1 game after grounding out in the bottom of the 2nd. Once Holcombe was taken out, Trey Faltline scored an RBI single off of Justin Kelly, who was on rehab assignment, but they did not score after that. Aponte broke the game open with a 3-run shot off of Edgar Colon, and he knocked in another run the inning after. Peyton Powell, who walked 5 times this game, got an RBI walk to finish off the scoring, and Daniel Guerra and Colby Martin were excellent in relief, striking out 8 batters in only 3 innings of work. Dunedin took the lead in the FSL after this win, now with a +53 run differential on the season.

Yhoangel Aponte - 3-5, 3 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 K

Yhoangel Aponte had himself a hell of a night getting on base 4 times with 2 extra base hits, including a 107.2 mph, 3 RBI homer in the 6th. He raised his OPS from .636 to .730 in just one game.

Colby Holcombe - 5.0 IP - 4 H. 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

Much has been said about Trey Yesavage and Khal Stephen from last year’s draft class, but Colby Holcombe has been quietly one of the best pitchers from the Jays 2024 draft picks. Holcombe generated 20 whiffs on the night which resulted in 6 strikeouts, and his mid 90s fastball and high 80s cut-slider were nigh-unhittable. Holcombe does need to work on a 3rd pitch, as an advanced college pitcher he’s been able to dominate with his two best pitches but he’s only thrown 15 pitches on the season that were not his cut-slider and his 4-seam fastball. He'll be seen more as a future reliever unless he manages to find that effective 3rd pitch.

FCL Blue Jays

No games

DSL Blue Jays

No games

Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Players of the Day

Pitcher of the Period: RHP Trey Yesavage (Dunedin) - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

Hitter of the Period: 2B Manuel Beltre (Dunedin) - 5-8, 4 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 HR

Prospect Summary (Last 2 Days)

1. Arjun Nimmala (Vancouver) - 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR
2. Trey Yesavage (Dunedin) - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
3. Ricky Tiedemann (Buffalo) - DNP
4. Orelvis Martinez (Buffalo) - 3-8, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 3 2B
5. Jake Bloss (Buffalo) - DNP
6. Alan Roden (Toronto) - 0-3, 1 K
7. Josh Kasevich (Buffalo) - DNP
8. Kendry Rojas (Vancouver) - DNP
9. Khal Stephen (Dunedin) - DNP
10. Charles McAdoo (New Hampshire) - 1-8, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
11. Adam Macko (Buffalo) - DNP
12. Landen Maroudis (Dunedin) - DNP
13. Fernando Perez (Vancouver) - 4.0 IP, 8 H, ER 2, 0 BB, 2 K
14. Will Wagner (Toronto) - Graduated
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) - DNP
20. Dahian Santos (New Hampshire) - DNP

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[John_Havok]

Love the recaps!

 

Still linking to the wrong Ryan Watson though... :)