Article: Jays Centre Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month - March/April 2025

[Brian Labude]

We are wrapping up the first month of games in the minor leagues, and it's time to hand out the starting pitcher awards. This includes the top five, as well as some honorable mentions to reveal. It was quite difficult to come to a conclusion as to who would be an honorable mention and who would take the mythical and coveted top spot as the best starting pitcher in the Toronto Blue Jays farm system. (which is a good thing for the Jays and their fans) The pitching across the first month has been spectacular. Eleven pitchers that can be classified as starters have an ERA below 4.00. There are even 10 starting pitchers that have a WHIP below 1.25. It's been a breath of fresh air seeing so many starting pitchers having a great start to the season. Let's get into the honorable mentions before we reveal the top five.

Honorable Mentions
Eric Lauer, Triple-A Buffalo - 24 IP, 24 H, 12 ER, 5.9% BB Rate, 20.6% K Rate
Lauer has been one of the more consistent starting pitchers in Triple-A Buffalo's rotation. He started out a little shaky in his first few starts, but in his last two, he has gotten it going. In those two games, he pitched 10 innings, gave up 10 hits, and struck out 10, while only giving up two runs. On April 30, he earned a promotion to the majors, where he came out of the bullpen and tossed four solid innings, keeping the Blue Jays in the game.

Rafael Sanchez, Double-A New Hampshire - 21 IP, 0.95 WHIP, 1.29 ERA, 8.4% BB Rate, 25.3% K Rate
Sanchez has been an innings-eater for New Hampshire this year. In his four starts, he has gone at least five innings in each, with his last start being his longest outing at six innings. His calling card, so to speak, is keeping runners off base, with a WHIP under 1.00 so far this season. 

Gilberto Batista, Low-A Dunedin - 22 IP, 0.86 WHIP, 2.05 ERA, 3.5% BB Rate, 21.2% K Rate
Batista has been one of the starting pitcher breakouts in the Blue Jays farm system in 2025. About the only thing keeping him from joining the top five is his lower strikeout rate. Being only 20 years old, though, he has plenty of time to improve his strikeout numbers and become more prospect-relevant with each solid game he can put under his belt. 

Top Five Starting Pitchers of the Month
5. Juaron Watts-Brown, High-A Vancouver - 18 IP, 1.34 WHIP, 3.38 ERA, 8.6% BB Rate, 33.3% K Rate
Watts-Brown started the season off hotter than any other pitcher in the organization. He went 4 2/3 strong innings, striking out 10, and not giving up a run. His last two starts haven't been as good, but when considering he was up against lineups that included the likes of James Tibbs III and Lazaro Montes, his performance for the month gave him a slight nod over Batista.

Watts-Brown has been well above average in striking hitters out and in getting swinging strikes (SwStr%). His percentile ranks in those metrics put him in the 86th and 90th percentiles, respectively. His strike-throwing across the first month was only average, which is one thing he will need to focus on in month two. 

 

4. Ryan Watson, Double-A New Hampshire - 22 IP, 0.73 WHIP, 1.64 ERA, 2.5% BB Rate, 22.2% K Rate
Watson has the story for fans to get behind him, but his performance over the first month of the season has to be making the front office raise an eyebrow as well. In three of his four starts, he went six innings, and all of those were quality starts. 

What Watson has done well so far this season is throw strikes and throw a lot of them. He is in the 98th percentile in strike rate and 97th percentile in walk rate. He has also been near elite in BABIP, showing that when he does get hit, it's usually been at a fielder. 

3. Jackson Wentworth, High-A Vancouver - 21.2 IP, 1.29 WHIP, 4.15 ERA, 12.9% BB Rate, 29% K Rate
Wentworth had two really good starts in the middle of the month, where he went 9 1/3 innings, struck out 16 and walked only two batters. It's those two games against the Tibbs and Montes-led teams that give him the edge in the monthly rankings and see him take the number three spot. 

Wentworth has been well above average in striking out hitters and near elite in line drive rate. Another month like the one he just had, and he will be making a push for the top spot on the pitchers of the month. 

2. Khal Stephen, Low-A Dunedin - 24.2 IP, 0.973 WHIP, 2.19 ERA, 6.2% BB Rate, 28.9% K Rate
Stephen's professional career started this month, and it could not have gone any better for him. In his first two starts, he went 11 innings, giving up three hits, only one run, and striking out 15. He had a little hiccup in his last start, giving up four walks, but other than that game, he hasn't surrendered more than one in a contest. 

Stephen has been above average or elite so far in most statistical categories. What has been most impressive is his strike-throwing ability and command of his pitches. For someone out of a Big Ten college, he has been a massive breakout and a win for the front office.

Starting Pitcher of the Month
1. Trey Yesavage, Low-A Dunedin - 17 1/3 IP, 0.98 WHIP, 3.12 ERA, 11.8% BB-Rate, 41.2% K-Rate
The MVP of the starting pitchers down on the Toronto Blue Jays farm system is none other than Trey Yesavage. His first game started out somewhat rough. He went 3 2/3 innings, giving up one hit and two unearned runs. He would strike out four hitters, but struggled mightily with his command and ended up walking six. From there, the Blue Jays first-round pick would get his bearings and be as dominant as a pitcher can be. In his next three starts, he would only walk two batters over 13 2/3 innings, while giving up just six runs. The impressive feat in that span was his ability to strike hitters out, recording 24 strikeouts (including two 10-strikeout games).

 

Looking into Yesavage's percentile ranks, he is in the elite category in strikeout rate, swinging strike rate, and batting average against. Another month like April and he will wind up with a promotion to High-A Vancouver. 

 

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[John_Havok]

Nice!

Couple things....

Your link for Watson goes to the wrong guy though, here's the right link to fix

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=watson002rya

 

Also, Khal Stephen isn't right out of high school, he's 21 and pitched in the NCAA for 3 years prior to being drafted.