Article: Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Starting Pitchers of the Month - June 2025

[Jesse Burrill]

For what feels like the first time in a long time, the Blue Jays seem to have some really exciting starting pitching prospects coming up through the system. Of the Blue Jays' top 30 prospects (per MLB Pipeline), 15 are pitchers, and several of them saw their stock rise in June. Here are the Blue Jays Minor League Starting Pitchers of the Month for June:

Honorable Mentions
Brandon Barriera, LHP (FCL)
This one isn't about the results on the field; the nod here is simply for Barriera is taking the mound again. Barriera underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after only getting four outs in his only appearance in the system in 2024. He is now 21 years old, and the stats haven’t been there (22.09 ERA through four complex league starts). We can call it a win that the young lefty is back on the mound, and once he gets comfortable, the Blue Jays will hope to see more of the talent that made him a first-round pick in the 2022 draft.

Landen Maroudis, RHP (Single-A Dunedin)
Maroudis's June started late, as an injury had him on the IL in the early part of the month. But eventually, he returned from a rehab assignment, made his debut for the Dunedin Blue Jays, and looked good. He made two starts and did not allow a run, giving up just one hit over eight innings. That will always play, even though it came with the caveat of four walks (and a hit by pitch) and just six strikeouts. There is no question, though, that Maroudis has some really good stuff and is still just twenty years old. If he can harness that stuff, it's a safe bet that he will be higher on this list at the end of July.

Juaron Watts-Brown, RHP (Double-A New Hampshire)
I'm not going to lie, Juaron Watts-Brown might be a personal favourite of mine in the minor leagues right now. He's just 23 years old, and FanGraphs gives him a 60-grade slider, one of the best sliders in the Blue Jays system. Since his promotion to Double-A New Hampshire, he’s held his own, pitching to a 3.06 ERA over 35.1 IP. He was especially good in June, putting up a 2.08 ERA during in the month. He’s been logging a ton of innings so far (72.2 IP on the year) as the Blue Jays are gearing him up to be a starter long term. As long as he keeps producing, Watts-Brown will be major league-ready sooner rather than later.

5) Kendry Rojas, LHP (Single-A Dunedin)
Rojas's month of June has got to be encouraging: He appeared in five games (four starts) and was impressive the whole way through. In total, he threw 16 innings, allowing just eight hits and only one earned run. It was even more impressive that he got better as the month went on. His most recent appearance was a 5.0 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, and 9 K performance. He’s ranked as Jays Center's #8 prospect, and he certainly did nothing in June to move him lower on the list. 

4) Khal Stephen, RHP (High-A Vancouver)
If you were impressed by Rojas’s June, then Khal Stephen's numbers should leave you with a similar feeling. In the month, he threw 28.1 innings with a 0.95 ERA and 33 strikeouts to just six walks. He lowered his season ERA from 3.21 to 1.73 during that time, throwing at least five innings in every start and posting strikeout totals of eight, nine, and eleven in his most dominant outings of the month. He’s only made seven starts for the Canadians, but if he keeps up the string of excellent starts, he could be in New Hampshire before long.


via Sportsnet TV broadcast

3) Gage Stanifer, RHP (High-A Vancouver)
There might not be a more “fun” pitching prospect in the Blue Jays system right now than Stanifer. He began by piggybacking Trey Yesavage in all of his starts, but now Stanifer has his own spotlight – and for good reason. After pitching 26 innings with a 0.69 ERA in Dunedin, he got the call to Vancouver and has continued to excel. His most notable skill has been his ability to rack up strikeouts. Since his call-up, he’s only had one appearance in which he struck out fewer than six batters. The walks may always be a bit of an issue, but when you have the ability to strike out as many as Stanifer can, it has to be noticed. Did we mention he has yet to allow a home run this season, either?

2) Johnny King, LHP (Single-A Dunedin)
Speaking of Blue Jays who are striking out everyone, Johnny King says hello. The Jays' third-round pick in 2024 started out in the Florida Complex League, and he proved he was just too good for that level. A 1.13 ERA and a 41.8% K-rate are absurd for anyone, much less an 18-year-old in his first season in professional baseball. The Blue Jays thought the same thing and, earlier this month, gave him a promotion to Dunedin. In his first start at Single A, he faced 13 batters, struck out six of them, walked four and allowed just one hit. King is going to get a long run in Dunedin, but if he keeps up this level of dominance, who knows how high his ceiling could be?

1) Trey Yesavage, RHP (Double-A New Hampshire)
Who else was it going to be? Yesavage was our number one last month and has done nothing to fall from the top spot. Since he got the call-up to New Hampshire this month, he’s thrown to a 3.86 ERA, but his FIP of 2.63 is still excellent, and so are the strikeout numbers: 16 over 11.2 IP to be exact. Although walks have been an issue (three in his first start, four in his second), he seemed to have figured it out in his most recent outing, tossing five innings, with just one walk and one hit while striking out eight. He’ll also be the Blue Jays representative in the Futures Game this year, and it's well deserved.


Image via New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Instagram

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