Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Home Runs Aplenty Down on the Farm

[Brian Labude]

There was no shortage of offense on display in the Blue Jays' minor league system over the past two days, but unfortunately, victories were still in short supply. 

CURRENT W-L Records

• Buffalo Bisons: 13-20
• New Hampshire Fisher Cats: 12-17
• Vancouver Canadians: 13-16
• Dunedin Blue Jays: 16-13
• FCL Blue Jays: 1-2 

DSL Blue Jays: 0-0 (Season not started) 

TRANSACTIONS

• 05/07/25: Buffalo Bisons placed RHP Hayden Juenger on the 7-day injured list.
• 05/07/25: Buffalo Bisons activated 3B Damiano Palmegiani.
• 05/07/25: Buffalo Bisons activated RHP Dillon Tate.
• 05/07/25: Buffalo Bisons placed RHP Connor Overton on the 7-day injured list.
• 05/07/25: Toronto Blue Jays optioned RHP Dillon Tate to Buffalo Bisons.
• 05/07/25: Toronto Blue Jays optioned LF Alan Roden to Buffalo Bisons.
• 05/07/25: Toronto Blue Jays selected the contract of RHP Braydon Fisher from Buffalo Bisons.
• 05/07/25: Toronto Blue Jays recalled LF Jonatan Clase from Buffalo Bisons.
• 05/07/25: LHP Jimmy Burnette assigned to Buffalo Bisons from New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
• 05/07/25: New Hampshire Fisher Cats activated C Nicolas Deschamps.
• 05/07/25: LHP Jimmy Burnette assigned to Buffalo Bisons from New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
• 05/06/25: Buffalo Bisons placed RHP Jake Bloss on the 7-day injured list.
• 05/06/25: Buffalo Bisons released SS Michael Turconi.
• 05/06/25: Buffalo Bisons sent LHP Adam Macko on a rehab assignment to FCL Blue Jays.
• 05/06/25: OF Andres Arias assigned to FCL Blue Jays from DSL Blue Jays Blue.
• 05/06/25: Dunedin Blue Jays transferred OF Yeuni Munoz from the 7-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.
• 05/06/25: RHP Yondrei Rojas assigned to Vancouver Canadians from Dunedin Blue Jays.
• 05/06/25: OF Devonte Brown assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
• 05/06/25: Buffalo Bisons sent LHP Adam Macko on a rehab assignment to FCL Blue Jays.
• 05/06/25: RHP Ryan Burr assigned to FCL Blue Jays.
• 05/06/25: OF Andres Arias assigned to FCL Blue Jays from DSL Blue Jays Blue.
• 05/06/25: New Hampshire Fisher Cats released RHP Ryan Boyer.
• 05/06/25: OF Devonte Brown assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
• 05/06/25: Vancouver Canadians transferred RHP Irv Carter to the Development List.
• 05/06/25: RHP Yondrei Rojas assigned to Vancouver Canadians from Dunedin Blue Jays.

Buffalo Bisons
Buffalo (2), St. Paul (6) - 5/6
Box Score

The opening game of the series with the St. Paul Saints, like many games for Buffalo, started with the Bisons in a hole. In the bottom of the first inning, former Blue Jays prospect Austin Martin gave the lead to St. Paul by stealing home on a double steal with Carson McCusker. Buffalo would even things up at one run in the sixth inning on a Joey Loperfido RBI single to left field. McCusker would play villain again, hitting a home run in the bottom half of the inning to put Buffalo down two runs. In the eighth inning, St. Paul continued hitting home runs to score three more, putting Buffalo down by five. McCusker hit his second of the ballgame, putting things out of reach for Buffalo. The Bisons got a small threat going in the ninth inning, but a Jonatan Clase groundout would strand the bases loaded to end the game. Buffalo loses this one 6-2. 

Orelvis Martinez: 2-4, 0 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 2B

Easton Lucas: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Buffalo (7), St. Paul (8) - 5/7
Box Score

Buffalo took the lead early in this one with an RBI single to left field from Will Wagner. The starter for Buffalo wasn't able to keep the lead, as St. Paul scored runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Anders Tolhurst would go four innings in the game and give up six hits and three runs, while striking out five batters. The Bisons would tie the score up in their half of the sixth inning on a Loperfido single, which added two runs. St. Paul would take the lead right back, though, with two runs of their own. With Buffalo down 5-4 in the top of the eighth inning, Loperfido would come back up to the plate and hit a clutch rocket home run that scored three, giving Buffalo the lead by two runs. Josh Walker came on to close the game for Buffalo, but Mike Ford stepped up to the plate and sent everyone home on a three-run blast to walk off the game, giving Buffalo the loss. 

Joey Loperfido: 3-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 1 SB
Loperfido had probably his best two-game stretch at Buffalo this year to start the week. Some more good games like this one and a call back up to Toronto might be possible.

Tommy Nance: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

New Hampshire Fisher Cats
New Hampshire/Hartford - 5/6
PPD

New Hampshire (2), Hartford (1) F/7 - 5/7 Game 1
Box Score

Wednesday was yet another doubleheader for New Hampshire, after the rainout on Tuesday. CJ Van Eyk took the mound for the Fisher Cats and put together arguably his best start of the 2025 season. After giving up a single to open the game to Cole Carrigg, he would strike out the next two batters with a caught stealing sandwiched between them. In the second inning, Hartford would draw a walk, but Van Eyk got a ground ball to end the inning on a double play. The New Hampshire bats got a threat going in the bottom of the third inning after Jay Harry walked and Jacob Sharp was hit by a pitch. RJ Schreck would cash the two runners in on a triple. Van Eyk had a shutdown inning to follow that up by striking out two more in the top of the fourth. The only blemish from Van Eyk came in the top of the seventh inning, when he walked Jose Torres. From there, Torres would advance to third on a wild pitch and score on a groundout by Dyan Jorge. It was a masterful seven-inning, complete game for Van Eyk, with the cherry on top being a win for New Hampshire, 2-1. 

RJ Schreck: 1-2, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 3B
Schreck provided the game-winning hit in game one of the doubleheader. The triple marked his fifth extra-base hit in May and brought his average for the month to over .400. 

CJ Van Eyk: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Van Eyk has had a rough go of it to begin the season, having very inconsistent outings. He racked up nine swings and misses on the day, en route to six strikeouts. This game should propel him into the summer with a high bar to reach and surpass in his upcoming starts.

New Hampshire (2), Hartford (4) F/7 - 5/7 - Game 2
Box Score

Game two of the doubleheader on Wednesday was eerily similar to game one for the offense. The only scoring they could muster over the seven-inning shortened game was a double in the bottom of the third inning by Jace Bohrofen. His double would score Robert Brooks and Schreck and mark the end of any real threat during the game by New Hampshire. On the mound, Rafael Sanchez would get chased from the game after giving up three runs to Hartford in the top of the second inning and amassing 55 pitches. Hartford would add an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning, on a single from Juan Guerrero that scored Cole Carrigg. New Hampshire mounted a rally in the bottom of the seventh, with Alex De Jesus and Yohendrick Pinango getting on base by way of a single and a walk, respectively. Bohrofen tried to play hero, but struck out swinging to end the game, and Hartford won 4-2. 

Jace Bohrofen: 2-3, 2 RBI, 1 3B
Bohrofen has had a slow start to May, hitting .091 for the month coming into Wednesday's doubleheader. With a couple of hits in game two, he might be back on track.

Hunter Gregory: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Gregory continues to be one of the best arms in the New Hampshire bullpen. With another scoreless outing, he brings his ERA down to 0.69 on the season. 

Vancouver Canadians
Vancouver (2), Spokane (9) - 05/06
Box Score

In their second series against Spokane, the Canadians took the first loss, as they couldn’t get anything going, and the pitching wasn’t sharp. Juaron Watts-Brown took his second loss of the season, only going 3.2 IP and giving up five earned runs, although he did strike out seven. Adrian Pinto started off the game with a lead-off homer, but Spokane hit a bunch of extra base hits off of Vancouver’s pitching, with Aidan Longwell hitting a double in the bottom of the first to tie it up. Jackson Hornung hit a triple to score the second and last run for the Canadians in the second, but Longwell struck again with a homer to tie it up. The bottom of the fourth was a disaster for Watts-Brown, as he allowed an RBI groundout to Tevin Tucker, and Caleb Hobson was a menace on the basepaths, stealing second and causing Watts-Brown to throw a wild pitch to allow a runner to score, and then stealing home himself to make it 5-2. Braylen Wimmer hit a two-RBI double against Julio Ortiz in the bottom of the sixth before Longwell made his mark with a third extra base hit, crushing a two-run homer to score Wimmer.

Adrian Pinto: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR
Pinto hit his fifth homer of the year and showed that heart matters more than height. 

Jonathan Todd: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Vancouver (7), Spokane (9) - 05/07
Box Score

The game started off remarkably similarly to the previous one, as Pinto led off the game with another homer. Also similarly, Longwell continued to terrorize Vancouver pitching, with another extra-base hit in the series, this time an RBI double to tie the game up in the bottom of the same inning. Vancouver starter Kevin Miranda allowed two more runs to score in the bottom of the second before Sean Keys answered back in the third with an RBI single to make it 2-3. Miranda allowed another hard hit ball with Skyler Messinger hitting a homer in the bottom of the fourth to extend the lead for Spokane. In the fifth, Keys came back, this time with a two-RBI double to tie it up, and Cutter Coffey had a double of his own to score Keys. Miranda let up another homer, this time allowing two runs to score in the fifth. Pinto hit his second homer of the night to answer back, scoring Je’Von Ward to give the Canadians the lead back before Aaron Munson and Chay Yeager lost the game with some walks and balks. 

Adrian Pinto: 3-4, 3 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K, 2 HR, 1 2B
Pinto continued his power surge with three extra-base hits on the night, taking the Canadians' homer lead and raising his OPS to .996. He’s been great as the leadoff hitter for the Canadians, and if his health holds, he could easily earn a promotion to New Hampshire sooner rather than later.

Yondrei Rojas: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Rojas made his season debut and struck out two batters in an inning of work for the Canadians. 

Dunedin Blue Jays 
Dunedin (12), Fort Myers (13) - 05/06
Box Score

This game was the definition of a slobberknocker, as Dunedin and Fort Myers traded runs. Fort Myers got out of the gate running, with starter Austin Cates not being able to get out of the first inning and allowing three runs. Juanmi Vazquez allowed three runs himself the next inning, putting the D-Jays down 6-0 early on. However, the Jays chipped away slowly at that lead, with Chirinos scoring on a wild pitch in the third, and Toman driving in Shaw in the fourth. In the fifth inning, Manuel Beltre and Sam Shaw went back-to-back to put the Jays within one.

The two teams continued to trade runs as the Mighty Mussels scored again in the bottom of the fifth to add to their lead. Chirinos hit a homer to bring it back within one, before the Mighty Mussels answered back again with a double from Poncho Ruiz to score two. In the seventh, the Jays tied it with Edward Duran knocking in Shaw, and Tucker Toman knocking in two runners himself with a double. The runs dripped up for a bit, and then it went to extras, where Devonte Brown scored the ghost runner with an RBI double in the 10th, but Yohander Martinez scored for the Mighty Mussels in the bottom of that frame to send it to inning 11. Bryce Arnold hit his fifth homer on the year to put the Jays up 12-10, but the Mussels stole it in the bottom of the inning thanks to an error from Kendry Chirinos and a passed ball from Peyton Powell, as well as some poor command from Christian Mracna, which allowed three runs to score. 

Sam Shaw: 1-2, 4 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 HR, 2 K
Shaw has been showing some power this season, after only hitting two homers in his career prior to this season, he’s now surpassed that total with three on the season. He hasn’t had the same contact rates as he did last season in Rookie Ball, but if he’s trading contact for power and still getting on base at a good clip, it might not be necessary. 

Javen Coleman: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Coleman continues his early-season excellence, this time with an immaculate inning sprinkled in, as he struck out six batters in two innings of work, only allowing the ghost runner to score once. 

Dunedin (7), Fort Myers (3) - 05/07
Box Score

The Dunedin Blue Jays took revenge with some extremely strong pitching after losing a heartbreaker in extras the night before. Trey Yesavage took the bump again and looked strong, but gave up a double in the first to allow the first run of the game. In the top of the third, Jean Joseph and Shaw both homered, giving the Dunedin Blue Jays a 3-1 lead, but after a throwing error from Beltre, Yasser Mercedes answered with a bomb of his own, tying the game at three apiece. Joseph continued a strong game, driving in another run in the top of the fourth, giving the Jays a lead they never looked back from. Yesavage came out after five strong innings, and Gage Stanifer was arguably even more dominant, striking out seven batters himself in four no-hit innings and earning the save. The Jays tacked on three insurance runs in the eighth from a bunch of RBI knocks from Duran, Arnold and Yhoangel Aponte, to end the game off 7-3. 

Sam Shaw: 2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Shaw went deep for the second game in a row, doubling his previous career high. The Victoria, BC native now has a .946 OPS on the season. 

Trey Yesavage: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Yesavage continues his early-season dominance in Low-A, with another strong start to earn the win for the D-Jays. His stuff did start to falter a bit as the game went on, but he’s been as good as advertised. 

FCL Blue Jays
F-Blu (1), F-Det (2) - 5/6
Box Score

In the third game of the year for the Blue Jays' rookie ball team, offense continued to be a struggle following a great first inning of the season. The Blue Jays' team managed just one hit in the seven-inning game. The one hit was a single by Dariel Ramon. On the pitching side, two rehabbing pitchers, Ryan Burr and Adam Macko were on the mound. Macko went 3.1 innings, giving up three hits and two earned runs. He walked two batters and struck out six. 

Dariel Ramon: 1-2, 0 BB, 0 K

Adam Macko: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

DSL Blue Jays
No games

Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Players of the Period

• Pitcher of the Period: RHP Gage Stanifer (Dunedin) - 4 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
• Hitter of the Period: 2B Adrian Pinto (Vancouver) - 4-7, 4 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K, 3 HR

Prospect Summary (Last 2 Days)

1. Arjun Nimmala (Vancouver) - 1-8, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 2B
2. Ricky Tiedemann (Buffalo) - DNP
3. Trey Yesavage (Dunedin) - 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 7 K 
4. Orelvis Martinez (Buffalo) - 2-9, 2 K, 1 2B
5. Khal Stephen (Dunedin) - DNP
6. Jake Bloss (Buffalo) - DNP
7. Alan Roden (Buffalo) - DNP
8. Landen Maroudis (FCL Jays) - DNP
9. Jonatan Clase (Toronto) - 2-9, 2 K
10. Kendry Rojas (Vancouver) - DNP
11. Josh Kasevich (Buffalo) - DNP
12. Johnny King (FCL Blue Jays) - DNP
13. Gage Stanifer (Dunedin) - 4 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
14. Adam Macko (FCL Jays) - 3.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
15. Charles McAdoo (New Hampshire) - 1-5, 1 BB, 3 K
16. Fernando Perez (Vancouver) - 
17. Brandon Barriera (Dunedin) - DNP
18. Emmanuel Bonilla (FCL Blue Jays) - 0-3, 1 K
19. Juaron Watts-Brown (Vancouver) - 3.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
20. Jace Bohrofen - 2-6, 2 RBI, 2 K

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[Orgfiller]

Nice to see Pinto having a good start to the season. If he ends the year at AA and at least treads water there he surely enters our top 20. Despite the small frame, 7 HR in 75 PAs with a .364 ISO is no joke. Only 22.

[Brownie19]

3 hours ago, Orgfiller said:

Nice to see Pinto having a good start to the season. If he ends the year at AA and at least treads water there he surely enters our top 20. Despite the small frame, 7 HR in 75 PAs with a .364 ISO is no joke. Only 22.

Something certainly changed in 2024...

2023 ISO - 0.043

2024 ISO - 0.243

2025 ISO - 0.364

The samples sizes aren't large, but that's a massive change. 

He mustn't have gotten the memo from Donnie Baseball yet.  Looks like Loperfido did with his little slap base hit to the other field.

[John_Havok]

4 hours ago, Orgfiller said:

Nice to see Pinto having a good start to the season. If he ends the year at AA and at least treads water there he surely enters our top 20. Despite the small frame, 7 HR in 75 PAs with a .364 ISO is no joke. Only 22.

9 HRs total in his first 4 seasons in the minors....but already has 7 this season alone. Not a bad way to get noticed

[Simon Li]

2 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Something certainly changed in 2024...

2023 ISO - 0.043

2024 ISO - 0.243

2025 ISO - 0.364

The samples sizes aren't large, but that's a massive change. 

He mustn't have gotten the memo from Donnie Baseball yet.  Looks like Loperfido did with his little slap base hit to the other field.

He's a type of guy to swing out of his shoes, but it's worked for him so far! I wonder if that's contributing to his injury proneness, as those big aggressive movements can be a bit much, especially for a guy his size. I really hope he can figure out how to reign it in enough to stay healthy, but also continue to hit for power.