Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Starting Pitchers of the Month - May 2025

[Simon Li]

The Toronto Blue Jays have struggled to develop starting pitching in the minors, with the entirety of their major league rotation having been signed through free agency or acquired through trades. After a strong performance by starters in the farm system in the month of April, with Trey Yesavage earning the top pitcher crown, the starters in the system continued to show out, bringing hope that the Jays have finally figured out how to develop some starters that could quickly contribute to the major league roster.

With the advent of the Florida Complex League this month, we get to take a look at a few more starters than we were able to last month. 

Honourable Mentions
CJ Van Eyk - Double-A New Hampshire/Triple-A Buffalo - 4 GS, 23 IP, 3.52 ERA, 3.95 FIP, 20.7 K%, 8.7 BB%, 1.04 WHIP
Van Eyk had a strong May, especially in Double-A New Hampshire, earning his way onto the Buffalo Bisons Triple-A roster for the first time in his career. The former top Jays prospect has had his ups and downs, including a rough injury history, but he’s finally slowly moving his way up and could make his way to the majors one day. The starts he made in Buffalo were not nearly as good, but his hot stretch in New Hampshire earned him an honourable mention. 

Fernando Perez - High-A Vancouver - 5 GS, 26 ⅓ IP, 3.76 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 18.7 K%, 2.8 BB%, 1.14 WHIP
The 21-year-old Nicaraguan refused to walk anybody, walking only three batters on the month, although it also came with a below-average strikeout rate. Perez’s raw stuff doesn’t wow everyone, but he relies on great control and mixing up his pitches in order to prevent batters from teeing him up. He did a solid job of preventing that from happening, except for one poor start against the Giants' High-A team, in which he was tagged for three homers and gave up six earned runs. Still, Perez has finally found his footing in High A, and after his first start on May 2, in which he only went four innings, he’s gone five-plus innings in each start since.

Austin Cates - Low-A Dunedin - 5 G, 4 GS, 16 ⅔ IP, 3.78 ERA, 5.49 FIP, 28.6 K%, 14.3 BB%, 1.44 WHIP
Cates struggled to start the season, giving up 15 runs in April while only striking out 15 batters, including a game on April 30 where he gave up three homers. His first start in May didn’t go too well either, as the seventh-rounder from UNLV only struck out a single batter and left the game after giving up three earned runs in only two-thirds of an inning. Cates got a mental reset in the next game he appeared in, as he came out of the 'pen to accommodate Adam Kloffenstein’s rehab assignment. He struck out four batters in three innings of work while only allowing one run. That led to a three-start stretch in which he only let in one run each game. The walks were elevated for Cates during that stretch, as he walked three batters per start, but he limited damage and lowered his season ERA from 7.25 to 5.17. 

Complex Leaguers with Too Small a Sample
Johnny King  - 3 G, 2 GS, 8 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.86 FIP, 38.7 K%, 9.8 K%, 0.75 WHIP
King hasn’t pitched many innings in his pro career, but he’s been off to a roaring start, showing increased velocity and showcasing strong breaking balls that were highly-regarded coming out of high school. He’s earned rave reviews from prospect evaluators, with ESPN's Kiley McDaniel calling him one of the players to click in his midseason prospect ranking update and a definite top-100 prospect in a recent video with Lance Brozdowski.

Samuel Colmenares - 4 GS, 15 IP, 1.80 ERA, 2.38 FIP, 25.4 K%, 3.4 BB%, 1.00 WHIP
Colmenares was signed out of Venezuela in the 2023 international amateur class and had a strong debut in the Dominican Summer League the same year. Then, he struggled last season with a 6.86 ERA across 39 ⅓ innings in the Complex League and Low A as a 19-year-old. The Jays once again started him in the Complex League, and he’s taken to it well, keeping his walks in check and not allowing a single homer yet. 

Silvano Hechavarria - 4 G, 3 GS, 2.12 ERA, 5.22 FIP, 14.7 K%, 5.9 BB%, 1.06 WHIP
Hechavarria was signed out of Cuba as a 21-year-old and dominated the Dominican Summer League as an overage flamethrower against teenagers. The Jays were not aggressive with him and started him off in the Florida Complex League this year, where he struggled to strike out batters despite reportedly sitting 96-97 mph on his fastball. Still, his performance earned him a promotion to Low-A Dunedin as reported by Francys Romero, where he's made one appearance in relief in June. 

Top Five Minor League Starting Pitchers of May
5. Lazaro Estrada - Triple-A Buffalo - 5 GS, 24 ⅓ IP, 1.85 ERA, 4.90 FIP, 23.4 K%, 7.4 BB%, 0.99 WHIP
Estrada had a strong May after a shaky April, as he led Buffalo in innings pitched and strikeouts and only gave up an opponent’s batting average of .198. His FIP was a little elevated due to being homer-prone, but he was mostly able to limit those homers to solo shots. Estrada’s best pitch during this stretch was his slider, which generated a whiff rate near 40%. His other pitches struggled to get whiffs but limited hard contact, except for his fastball, which sits in the lower 90s. Although it has decent ride, hitters didn’t whiff on it, and when they made contact, it was loud. Estrada can most reliably command his four-seam fastball, which allows him to use the fastball at a 46.1% rate. He may benefit from mixing in more of his other pitches once he can rein in the control. 

4. Juaron Watts-Brown - High-A Vancouver/Double-A New Hampshire - 5 GS, 25 ⅔ IP, 4.21 ERA, 3.18 FIP, 35.8 K%, 7.5 BB%, 0.97 WHIP
Watts-Brown had his strikeout stuff in May, headlined by his strong breaking balls. He went five innings in four out of five starts, and struck out at least five batters in every one of them. Midway through the month, he earned a promotion to Double A after a contingent of starters came up from Dunedin to Vancouver. His first start in New Hampshire wasn’t his best, but he really showed out in his start against Colorado’s Double-A team, where he struck out eight batters in six innings, giving up only one earned run and one walk. If his command is on, he’s one of the most unhittable pitchers in the Jays system, just behind another Jays prospect, and possibly even the minor leagues. 

3. Khal Stephen - 5 GP, 4 GS, 22 ⅔ IP, 2.78 ERA, 2.81 FIP, 26.9 K%, 4.3 BB%, 1.01 WHIP
Second-rounder Khal Stephen dominated Low A alongside his teammates Trey Yesavage and Gage Stanifer and earned a promotion up to Vancouver. He’s continued to hum along in High A, although he’s still adjusting to the lack of ABS and more advanced hitters. Stephen has shown that his high fastball can still be very effective and now needs to learn how to sharpen his pitch sequencing, tunneling, and location in order to better utilize his improved secondary pitches. His control, however, was very good this month, as he walked only four batters and gave up only one home run. He's going to get challenged facing High-A hitters, but he's definitely up for the task.

2. Grant Rogers - High-A Vancouver/Double-A New Hampshire - 5 GS, 26 ⅓ IP, 1.71 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 20.2 K%, 8.8 BB%, 1.14 WHIP
Rogers was the more consistent of the two starters who earned a promotion from Vancouver to New Hampshire, although he barely struck out half as many batters as Watts-Brown. Rogers was better at limiting the damage, as the most earned runs he gave up in any start in May was two, and he was able to keep batters off balance with his funky delivery and his deep pitch mix. He carried his momentum from High A into New Hampshire and had one of his best starts, taking a perfect game into the fifth. 

1. Trey Yesavage - High-A Vancouver/Low-A Dunedin - 6 GS, 28 ⅓ IP, 1.59 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 46.8 K%, 9.2 BB%, 0.81 WHIP
Trey Yesavage is once again your MiLB Starting Pitcher of the Month, and he’s lived up to almost all of the expectations coming off of a first-round selection. The 6-foot-4 righty dominated hitters in May, with a minor league-leading 46 strikeouts on the month, as he split his time between Low and High A. Yesavage’s arsenal is truly unique; he doesn’t have a single pitch that breaks to the glove side, and coming from his more unique over-the-top slot, that gives hitters a weird look that is extremely difficult to face. His fastball has strong velo and a ton of life, his cutter/slider and his splitter generate a ton of whiffs, and he’s nigh impossible to square up even when a batter does make contact. Hitters hit just .133 against him this past month. Even with this dominating performance, there were some blemishes, including ten walks in his past three starts and his inability to break the 4 ⅓-inning mark after getting promoted to Vancouver. Yet, that may just be an adjustment period to the cooler climates, lack of ABS challenge system, and facing more advanced hitters who are less prone to chase. No matter what, you cannot deny the absolute filth Yesavage throws, and he’s done more than enough to earn this top spot as the Jays Centre MiLB Starting Pitcher of the Month. 

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