Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Daulton Varsho is Closing in on Return, Juan Sanchez's Power Outburst

[Simon Li]

CURRENT W-L Records

-Buffalo Bisons: 37-59
-New Hampshire Fisher Cats: 37-55
-Vancouver Canadians: 50-41
-Dunedin Blue Jays: 42-44
-FCL Blue Jays: 35-23
-DSL Blue Jays Blue: 15-21
-DSL Blue Jays Red: 18-18

Transactions

07/23/25
RHP Austin Marozas assigned to Vancouver Canadians from FCL Blue Jays.
07/23/25
RHP Austin Marozas assigned to Vancouver Canadians from FCL Blue Jays.
07/22/25
Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP Paxton Schultz on a rehab assignment to Buffalo Bisons.
07/22/25
3B Damiano Palmegiani assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from Buffalo Bisons.
07/22/25
3B Damiano Palmegiani assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from Buffalo Bisons.
07/22/25
RHP Colby Holcombe assigned to Vancouver Canadians from Dunedin Blue Jays.
07/22/25
RHP Colby Holcombe assigned to Vancouver Canadians from Dunedin Blue Jays.

Buffalo Bisons

Buffalo (3), Columbus (1) - 7/22

Box Score

On Tuesday, Buffalo kicked off a series against Columbus on the road. Runs were very tough to come by in this game, as it turned into a pitcher's duel. The Buffalo starting pitcher, Anders Tolhurst, went a very strong five innings in this one and only surrendered five hits. He also managed to hold Columbus scoreless, only walked one, and struck out three. Jonatan Clase's home run in the top of the fourth inning finally broke through the barrier that was over the plate holding runs to nothing. The scoring was shut down from there until the ninth when things opened up finally. Buffalo loaded the bases on three straight walks and then after Yohendrick Pinango struck out, Riley Tirotta walked as well to bring in a run. Josh Rivera singled home another run, but Tirotta was thrown out at third to end the inning. Dillon Tate came on to close the game and gave up a walk and two singles before finishing things off for the Buffalo 3-1 victory.

Jonatan Clase- 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR

Anders Tolhurst- 5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Buffalo (4), Columbus (6) - 7/22

Box Score

In the Wednesday contest, Columbus got to the Buffalo starting pitcher first. In the second inning, the first three batters reached on a double, walk, and single. Dom Nuñez walked to bring in a run and then Yordys Valdes hit a sacrifice fly for a second run. The third run of the inning came across the plate when Petey Halpin singled to left field. In the bottom of the fourth, Gabriel Arias launched a home run to give Columbus a four-run lead. Jonatan Clase doubled in the fifth to move a runner to third base, who was then brought home when Michael Stefanic grounded out. In the ninth, Buffalo put things together and scored three runs. Stefanic hit a sacrifice fly, RJ Schreck doubled to right field, scoring Alan Roden, and Buddy Kennedy tied it with a single. Ultimately, the momentum didn't last, as Jhonkensy Noel came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. Ryan Jennings hung a slider over the plate and Noel destroyed the ball for a walk-off two run home run. Buffalo lost a heartbreaker. 

RJ Shreck- 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 2B

Amir Garrett- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

New Hampshire Fisher Cats

New Hampshire (2), Hartford (4) - 7/22

Box Score

New Hampshire started another series on Tuesday evening, this one against the Hartford Yard Goats, a team they have faced relatively recently. Just as in the prior series, the Fisher Cats had a tough task to open things up against the Yard Goats. Hartford sent their ace, Sean Sullivan, to the mound and it went about as you would expect. In the top of the first inning, Hartford jumped out quickly to a big lead by putting a crooked number up on the scoreboard. They scored one from Charlie Condon's groundout, another run on Bryant Betancourt's single, and two on Braylen Wimmer's long ball to right. New Hampshire responded quickly as well, getting a lead-off triple from Jackson Hornung, which was followed up by Victor Arias’ RBI single. From there, Sullivan was nearly unhittable and displayed some nasty strikeout skills. He struck out two in the first, second, and third innings. Then followed that up with a strikeout in the fourth, fifth and seventh, with a bunch of ground balls mixed in to minimize any potential scoring threats. New Hampshire's bullpen was able to match the effort, holding Hartford scoreless the rest of the game. Alex Amalfi, Grayson Thurman, and Justin Kelly combined to pitch six innings, only surrendering one hit, and one walk. The Fisher Cats were in a position for a comeback and finally got something going in the bottom of the ninth inning. Eddinson Paulino launched a solo home run to right field and Gabriel Martinez added a double, putting Hartford on their heels. Unfortunately, Dasan Brown grounded out to end the game, with New Hampshire falling 4-2. 

Eddinson Paulino: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 HR

Alex Amalfi: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

New Hampshire (10), Hartford (2) 7/23

Box Score

With as much as Tuesday's game was dominated by pitching, Wednesday's game was controlled by New Hampshire's bats. In the top of the first inning, Harford again jumped out to a quick lead, this time on Juan Guerrero's RBI single off of Grant Rogers. In the bottom half of the first, New Hampshire got on a roll. They scored four runs on three consecutive singles by Je'Von Ward, Cade Doughty, and Devonte Brown. Hartford cut into the lead by one, with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth. In the bottom half of the inning, New Hampshire broke the game wide open. They scored a run on an error, then Doughty and Brown singled home runs, followed by Alex De Jesus drawing a bases-loaded walk. In the sixth, New Hampshire added two more via Je'Von Ward's first home run of the season with the Fisher Cats and an Alex Stone's RBI single. It was more than enough to win the game, as Rogers just keeps coasting along and putting up quality start, after quality start. He went six strong innings and only gave up one earned run, it was his seventh quality start since May 27th. New Hampshire won in a blow out, 10-2, and heads into Thursday's matchup with aspirations of an extended winning streak. 

Je'Von Ward: 2-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 K, 1 HR

Grant Rogers: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB 2 K

Vancouver Canadians

Vancouver (3), Eugene (12) - 7/22

Box Score

The Canadians took a thrashing as Gage Stanifer struggled for the second start in a row. He gave up five runs in two and a thirds innings of work, only striking out three batters while walking two and giving up six hits. He got a bit unlucky with BABIP, as he only gave up two extra base hits, but wasn’t as effective as he normally was. The Canadians also struggled to get it going offensively, as they got their first run in the the third on a RBI groundout by Eddie Micheletti Jr. after being down five runs already, and then they could only muster two more runs with Carter Cunningham having the only RBI knock for the Canadians with a double to score Sam Shaw, and Cutter Coffey got an RBI on a groundout himself. The bullpen and poor defense resulted in six more runs, as two errors and seven hits given up doubled the score for the Emeralds.

Edward Duran - 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B

Johan Simon - 3.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Vancouver (1), Eugene (4) - 7/23

Box Score

Fernando Perez took the bump and did his job, only allowing a single run in four innings of work, which led to Colby Holcombe making his High-A debut. Unlike former Mississippi State alumni and teammate Khal Stephen, Holcombe struggled in his Vancouver debut, continuing some struggles in his last few starts in Dunedin, giving up three runs in only one and a thirds innings of work. His command was shaky, as he gave up four hits and four walks. The Canadians offense didn’t do him any favours either, as they didn’t score a single run until the eighth inning, on a Cutter Coffey single to score recently promoted Peyton Powell, which was the only run of the game for the Canadians. 

Cutter Coffey - 3-4, 1 RBI

Fernando Perez - 4 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Perez was taken out after 70 pitches, but pitched an effective four innings only allowing a single run to score. He lowered his season ERA to 3.66.

Dunedin Blue Jays 

Dunedin (6), Tampa (3) - 7/22

Box Score

The D-Jays try to continue their winning streak, as they’ve received a few contributions from some hitters on rehab assignments, as Damiano Palmegiani had his first plate appearance with two runners on and hit a sac fly against Andrew Landry to give the Jays the lead. Daulton Varsho hit a solo shot to make it two to nothing in the third inning. In the fifth inning, J.R. Freethy and Varsho got on before Tucker Toman continued to hit for more power with his 13th double of the season to score them both. Yhoangel Aponte also doubled, scoring Toman and Damiano Palmegiani, despite Manuel Beltre getting thrown out at home. Silvano Hechavarria pitched six strong innings, but was taken out despite a low pitch count, and the bullpen gave up a few runs, with Eric Pardinho also being on rehab assignment, giving up three hits, two walks and two earned runs. Bennett Flynn also gave up a run, but Eliander Alcalde got the save with one and a third innings of scoreless baseball with two strikeouts. 

Daulton Varsho - 2-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR

Varsho hit his second homer in two games of his rehab assignment, as he’s slowly working his way back to the major league club. He’ll play at least three games in Buffalo before rejoining the major league roster. 

Silvano Hechavarria - 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

It took the 22-year-old Cuban just 54 pitches to go six strong innings, giving up only two hits and striking out five in a masterful performance against the Tampa Tarpons. He now has a 3.33 ERA since being promoted to Low-A ball and has struck out batters at a 27.8% rate to a 6.2% walk rate

Dunedin (), Tampa () - 7/23

Postponed

FCL Blue Jays

F-BLU (), F-TIG () - 7/22

Postponed

F-BLU (7), F-TIG (6) - 7/23

Box Score

The Blue Jays squad broke the game wide open in this one with a big time inning in the third. Raimundo De Los Santos kicked things off with an RBI single, bringing in Edrick Felix. David Beckles then hammered his eighth home run of the season, Yorman Licourt walked, and Aldo Gaxiola smacked a ball over the fence as well. In all, six runs would cross the plate for the Blue Jays team in the inning. In the fourth, a wild pitch scored a run for the Tigers team and Enmanuel Bonilla homered to bring the lead back to six in the bottom half of the inning. The Tigers team added three runs over the next two innings from a double, a single, and a sacrifice fly. It was quiet until the ninth, when Brett Callahan singled home a run and Jude Warwick did the same. Diego Dominguez would get the next two hitters to end the game and give the Blue Jays team the win, 7-6.

David Beckles- 1-3, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR

Sann Omosako- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

DSL Blue Jays Blue 

D-BJB (3), D-GIB (7) - 7/22

Box Score

BJB racked up the hits on Tuesday in their game against GIB, 14 in total. Four players had multiple hits, it just wasn't enough, as they never managed many timely big hits. Down 3-0 in the bottom of the second, BJB finally got on the scoreboard with a Daniel Dominguez triple, followed by a J.T. Bain sacrifice fly. In the fifth, BJB cut the lead by one on back-to-back doubles by Rafael Flores and Franklin Rojas. Cristopher Polanco again cut the lead by one in the sixth with his RBI single, scoring Elian Reyes. That was all they would get up on the scoreboard, but Freigher Barco coughed up four runs between the seventh and ninth inning, as BJB lost 7-3. 

Carlos Garcia: 4-5, 1 2B

Jose Andrades: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

DSL Blue Jays Red

D-BJR (17), D-ARB (4) - 7/22

Box Score

After having one of the best seasons of any player in the DSL in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, Juan Sanchez had a big breakout game on Tuesday. Sanchez led-off the game with a triple and then scored on Elaineiker Coronado's single. Later in the first, Pascual Archila singled home Coronado, giving BJB the early 2-0 lead. In the top of the second, Sanchez took a pitch deep for his sixth home run of the season, this one a two-run blast. In the fourth, Keegan Pieternella smacked a ground-rule double that scored Nicolas Vergara and Sanchez added a sacrifice fly. BJR added five runs in the seventh with only one hit. One run scored on Randy Soto's single, three runs scored on wild pitches, and the fifth scored on a bases-loaded walk. Sanchez would cap off his massive game by adding a two-RBI ground-rule double in the ninth. BJR would score three more runs in the inning and moon walk to the easy 17-4 win. 

Juan Sanchez: 3-5, 3 R, 5 RBI, 2 K, 1 HR, 1 3B, 1 2B

Sanchez had the game of his life on Tuesday, falling just a single short of the cycle. He's going to be getting a lot more attention in the coming months, especially if he can keep up his stellar play. Now for what you've all been clamoring for, video of this potential stud prospect.

Roberto Castellanos: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Players of the Day

Pitcher of the Period: RHP Silvano Hechavarria (Dunedin)- 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Hitter of the Period: SS Juan Sanchez (DSL Blue Jays Red)- 3-5, 3 R, 5 RBI, 2 K, 1 HR, 1 3B, 1 2B

Prospect Summary (Last 2 Days)

Toronto Blue Jays Top 20 Hitters
Rank	Player	Team	PA	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS
1	Arjun Nimmala	Vancouver	9	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	3	0	0
5	Alan Roden	Buffalo	5	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
6	Orelvis Martinez	Buffalo	5	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Yohendrick Pinango	Buffalo	9	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	3	0	0
13	Josh Kasevich	FCL Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	Jonatan Clase	Buffalo	9	1	3	2	0	1	1	2	2	0	0
17	RJ Schreck	Buffalo	9	2	2	2	0	0	1	2	3	0	0
19	Sam Shaw	Vancouver	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
20	Victor Arias	New Hampshire	9	2	2	0	0	0	1	3	1	1	0

 

Toronto Blue Jays Top 20 Pitchers
Rank	Player	Team	BF	G	GS	IP	H	HR	ER	BB	K
2	Trey Yesavage	New Hampshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Ricky Tiedemann	Buffalo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Khal Stephen	New Hampshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Johnny King	Dunedin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Kendry Rojas	New Hampshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Landen Maroudis	Dunedin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	Gage Stanifer	Vancouver	15	1	1	2.1	6	0	5	2	3
12	Jake Bloss	Buffalo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	Juaron Watts-Brown	New Hampshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	Adam Macko	Buffalo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	Brandon Barriera	FCL Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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[John_Havok]

I don't know a ton about swing mechanics and feet movement but is it normal for the back foot to lift off the ground completely during a swing?

[Spanky__99]

2 hours ago, John_Havok said:

I don't know a ton about swing mechanics and feet movement but is it normal for the back foot to lift off the ground completely during a swing?

lol...no. Good catch, that was weird, but shows his strength.