Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Pitching Excellence in Vancouver, and the DSL Wraps Up

[Simon Li]

CURRENT W-L Records

• Buffalo Bisons: 48-69
• New Hampshire Fisher Cats: 49-66
• Vancouver Canadians: 63-51
• Dunedin Blue Jays: 56-58
• FCL Blue Jays: Season Complete 
• DSL Blue Jays Blue: 22-33
• DSL Blue Jays Red: 30-26

Transactions

• 08/20/25 Vancouver Canadians placed RHP Bo Bonds on the 7-day injured list retroactive to August 17, 2025.
• 08/19/25 Buffalo Bisons released OF Devonte Brown.
• 08/19/25 RHP Bobby Milacki assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Buffalo Bisons.
• 08/19/25 RHP Bobby Milacki assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Buffalo Bisons.

Buffalo Bisons
Buffalo (), Scranton/Wilkes-Barre () - 8/19
Postponed

Buffalo (4), Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (1) - 8/20
Box Score

Alek Manoah got the start in this game for Buffalo, as he continues rehabbing on his way back to the major leagues. In the first inning, things didn't go as planned, when Stephen Jones launched a 443-foot home run off Manoah. After that though, Manoah was locked in, pitching 4.2 innings, only giving up three hits, two walks, striking out four, and allowing just the one run. He had better command of his pitches, but the velocity on his fastball and sinker has dropped dramatically from when he was at Single A for the beginning of his rehab. He averaged only 91.4 mph on the sinker and 90.8 mph on the four-seam fastball. In the second, RJ Schreck tripled to score Josh Kasevich, and Brandon Valenzuela singled home Schreck for the one-run Buffalo lead. In the bottom of the sixth, it was Schreck again, as he launched his sixth home run of the year at Triple A to give the Bisons a three-run lead. Adam Macko pitched great to close the game for Buffalo, going four innings himself, allowing just one hit, no walks, striking out four, and not allowing a run. Buffalo won this game 4-1. 

RJ Schreck - 2-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 3B, 1 HR

Alek Manoah - 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

New Hampshire Fisher Cats
New Hampshire (5), Akron (1) - 8/19
Box Score

Tuesday was the beginning of a new series for New Hampshire, this one against the Akron RubberDucks. Bobby Milacki was on the mound for the Fisher Cats, and the RubberDucks sent Rodney Boone to counter him. It was all New Hampshire to start the game. In the top of the first inning, Jackson Hornung doubled home Victor Arias, and Charles McAdoo followed that up with a single, bringing Hornung in to score from second. In the top of the second inning, it was again Hornung who provided the big at-bat, this time knocking a ball to right field for a sacrifice fly, scoring Dasan Brown. Akron cut into the New Hampshire lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. It was a solo shot to right field by Wuilfredo Antunez that finally got the RubberDucks on the scoreboard. Ryan McCarty gave New Hampshire some breathing room in the eighth with a groundball to shortstop, which resulted in a throwing error and allowed two more runs to score. Nate Garkow came into the game in the ninth and slammed the door on Akron, striking out two of the three batters he faced and securing the 5-1 win for New Hampshire.

Jackson Hornung: 1-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 2B

Bobby Milacki: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

New Hampshire (6), Akron (2) - 8/20
Box Score

It was another hot start for New Hampshire on Wednesday against the Akron RubberDucks. In the top of the first inning, after Hornung walked, Je'Von Ward doubled him home and gave New Hampshire the early 1-0 lead. McAdoo added to their lead in the third, with his 15th home run of the season, this one a two-run blast to left. Hornung was again in the middle of all of the key at-bats, as he doubled in the fourth with the bases loaded, scoring two more for the Fisher Cats. In the bottom of the fifth, after surrendering two walks and a flyout, Alex Amalfi gave way to Devereaux Harrison. He would promptly throw a wild pitch and cough up a two-RBI single to Jake Fox. That is where the game stood until the ninth inning, when Ward knocked another double to right field, scoring McAdoo and securing the 6-2 win for New Hampshire.

Charles McAdoo: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 1 2B

Alex Amalfi: 4.1 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

Vancouver Canadians
Vancouver (5), Tri-City (0) - 8/19
Box Score

Vancouver enjoyed another dominant pitching performance, this time headlined by Gage Stanifer, who struck out eight batters and only allowed one hit and two walks to the Tri-City Dust Devils. The offense also did its job, scoring three runs in the fourth inning with a Carter Cunningham RBI single, who then scored after Alexis Hernandez hit his third double with Vancouver. Tucker Toman continued to produce since getting promoted, adding an RBI single of his own. Toman also got another RBI in the sixth on a sac fly before Edward Duran capped off the scoring with a single to score Hernandez. Even after Stanifer was taken out of the game, the Canadians could not be touched, with Aaron Munson striking out two batters in two innings, and Julio Ortiz pitching a three-strikeout ninth inning to give the Canadians a one-hitter. 

Edward Duran - 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 2B

Gage Stanifer - 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Stanifer’s dominance has been something to watch in the Jays' farm system all year. The righty’s breakout campaign continued, as he lowered his High-A ERA to 3.46 and his FIP to 2.33. He’s striking out over 36% of the batters he faces, and despite a .350 BABIP, he is only allowing opponents to hit .207 against him. 

Vancouver (7), Tri-City (4) - 8/20
Box Score

Vancouver once again had a dominant start from another pitching prospect, with Austin Cates taking the bump and striking out 10 batters with his signature splitter and high-rising fastball. Unfortunately, he could not take the win, as the Canadians could only score one run in the first on a Hernandez single before Cates allowed a sac fly to Adrian Placencia in the fifth inning for his only blemish of the game. Irv Carter came on in relief and struggled, allowing a three-run homer to break the tie. The Canadians did not go without a fight, and after a wild pitch scored Toman, Jay Harry hit an RBI single to bring the lead within one. Toman once again produced for the Canadians, with a single to tie the game, and Hayden Gilliland hit a massive three-run homer to break the tie and win the game for the Canadians. Javen Coleman earned save number three, striking out two batters to end it. 

Alexis Hernandez - 3-4, 2 R, 1 RBI
Although the heroics were from Toman and Gilliland, Hernandez was the one to get on base for them to knock in the crucial runs. The outfielder has been excellent since his promotion to Vancouver, with a .327 batting average and an .883 OPS.

Austin Cates - 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K
Cates continues to be one of the most underrated pitching prospects for the Blue Jays, as he’s been absolutely incredible since May. His season ERA is now 3.63 in 91 ⅔ innings. 

Dunedin Blue Jays 
Dunedin (6), Lakeland (2) - 8/19
Box Score

The D-Jays head over to Lakeland after their last series, and they threatened immediately, with Maddox Latta and Eric Snow singling before Kendry Chirinos was walked, but were unable to score. Mason Olson then immediately gave up a double to Nick Dumesnil, who then scored to give Lakeland the lead. After a scoreless inning by both teams, Jake Casey tied it up with a mammoth blast to center field. Lakeland answered back with a sac fly, but in the fifth inning, after Latta hit a double, Casey hit homer number two to take the lead for good. In the sixth, a Chrinos walk and a Brock Tibbitts double led to a two-RBI double from Yeuni Munoz, and then Latta capped off a three-hit night with an RBI double himself. Eminen Flores got it together in the pen after a rough month, getting his second hold with a scoreless three-inning performance, and then Jay Schueler got the last inning for a nice victory for the D-Jays. 

Jake Casey - 3-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR
The son of former MLB player Sean Casey has been showing out since joining the Jays organization. Casey had his first two professional homers, the first at 109.6 mph and the second going 103.6 mph. His OPS is up to .984 as of this game. 

Mason Olson - 5 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Dunedin (7), Tampa (5) - 8/20 - F/7
Box Score

Landen Maroudis continued to struggle after coming back from Tommy John, as he could only get one out in the first inning, giving up two hits, two walks, and four earned runs. The poor pitching was contagious, however. Cash Kuiper was able to get out of the first inning unscathed but walked four straight batters in the second inning before being replaced by Ronny Chalas, who promptly walked Will Cresswell to make it 2-4. The inning after, Austin Smith went back-to-back with doubles to bring it within one, and then Chirinos hit a single to tie it up. Jean Joseph also hit a single, and after Yorman Licourt grounded into a force out, Cresswell hit a huge two-run double to take the lead for the D-Jays. The bullpen did a good job after Maroudis was taken out, only allowing one unearned run as Nate LaRue, Gilberto Batista and Danny Thompson Jr. combined for seven strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched. The Jays did also get an unearned run themselves, as Smith scored on a throwing error, and they accomplished a strong comeback win in the first game of the doubleheader. 

Will Cresswell - 1-2, 3 RBI, 1 BB

Gilberto Batista - 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 3 K

Dunedin (7), Tampa (1) - 8/20 - F/7
Box Score

Instead of coming from behind, the D-Jays struck first this time, with a Chirinos double to score Smith for the first run of the game. Dayne Pengelly was excellent to start the game as the opener for Dunedin, striking out five and only allowing one run. He was replaced in the third inning after allowing an RBI double to Samuel Gil, and Carson Myers ended up getting his second win with 1.2 innings of scoreless pitching. Opposing starter Jatnk Diaz walked Chirinos and Joseph, before Munoz came back where he left off before the injury that took him out for half of the season with a 106.1 mph, 387-foot homer to center field to blow the game open. A trio of RBI singles in the sixth inning from Manuel Beltre, David Beckles and Smith gave the D-Jays insurance, and Lluveres Severino got his first save with three innings of shutout baseball. 

Yeuni Munoz - 1-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 HR

Dayne Pengelly - 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

DSL Blue Jays Blue 
D-BJB (3), D-ARB (11) F/7- 8/19
Box Score

In what was the final game of the season for BJB, they put up a dud, to say the least. They opened up the game with a great scoring opportunity in the top of the first inning. Three walks loaded the bases up, then a grounder by Fabian Gonzalez scored the first run of the ball game. Unfortunately, Darwin Núñez grounded out and ended the threat before they could break the game open. In the bottom half of the first, BJB coughed up three runs, and it was only the beginning of their troubles. ARB scored another five runs in the fourth, two runs in the fifth, and one more in the sixth, highlighted by Mayki De La Rosa's two-run home run. BJB got their final run of the year in the top of the seventh, an RBI triple off the bat of Daniel Dominguez. It was a disappointing finish to the season for BJB, as they fell 11-3 and only managed one hit in the game.

Daniel Dominguez: 1-1, 2 RBI, 1 3B

Juan Ramirez: 1 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

DSL Blue Jays Red
D-BJR (6), D-TI1 (0) - F/7 - 8/19
Box Score

The DSL Blue Jays Red team was locked in a pitcher's duel for three innings of the Tuesday game down on the island. In the bottom of the fourth, BJR kicked things up a notch, as Kennew Blanco drove in Pascual Archila with a single and then Luis Felipe drove in Blanco with a single of his own. In the fifth, Juan Sanchez stepped to the plate and crushed his eighth home run of the season over the fence, a two-run blast. Continuing the team's streak of two-run innings, Renyel Campos had an RBI single in the sixth inning, and Sanchez capped off the scoring in the game with an RBI single as well. The DSL Blue Jays Red team won this one easily, 6-0.

Juan Sanchez - 2-3, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR

Roberto Castellanos - 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K

Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Players of the Period

• Pitcher of the Period: Gage Stanifer - 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
• Hitter of the Period: Jake Casey - 3-5. 2 R. 3 RBI, 2 HR

Prospect Summary (Last 2 Days)
Will return later this week.

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[John_Havok]

Is it time to talk about Schreck as a possible legit piece? 

Seems like he's very similar to what Roden was doing at AAA, except Schreck has a better HR stroke. 

[Orgfiller]

6 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Is it time to talk about Schreck as a possible legit piece? 

Seems like he's very similar to what Roden was doing at AAA, except Schreck has a better HR stroke. 

Not sure how to view EV90 rankings, but I have a feeling that Schreck's is similar to Roden's. Using just MaxEV, Roden reached 112 and 109.5 in AAA in 24/25, whereas Schreck's max comes in at 108.0. So raw power wise it's the same with potentially the latter being half a grade lower, but as you mentioned he gets to his power more often so his game power might play higher. K/BB they're a wash with RJ being more TTO focused and Roden having more of a contact approach overall.

Roden moved a bit faster up the minors, whereas Schreck is just now showing that success at AAA over a smaller sample. So if Roden ultimately was a back end top 100 50 FV guy, Schreck is likely in that 45-45+ tier of just outside the top 100 guys.

All that to say, he's definitely been a promising success story, looking like at least a decent platoon corner OF with decent defense and the ability to fill in at CF if necessary once every couple of weeks. Hopefully he's able to keep lifting the ball as he continues and ultimately makes the jump to the MLB.

[sliderguy35]

7 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

Not sure how to view EV90 rankings, but I have a feeling that Schreck's is similar to Roden's. Using just MaxEV, Roden reached 112 and 109.5 in AAA in 24/25, whereas Schreck's max comes in at 108.0. So raw power wise it's the same with potentially the latter being half a grade lower, but as you mentioned he gets to his power more often so his game power might play higher. K/BB they're a wash with RJ being more TTO focused and Roden having more of a contact approach overall.

Roden moved a bit faster up the minors, whereas Schreck is just now showing that success at AAA over a smaller sample. So if Roden ultimately was a back end top 100 50 FV guy, Schreck is likely in that 45-45+ tier of just outside the top 100 guys.

All that to say, he's definitely been a promising success story, looking like at least a decent platoon corner OF with decent defense and the ability to fill in at CF if necessary once every couple of weeks. Hopefully he's able to keep lifting the ball as he continues and ultimately makes the jump to the MLB.

roden EV90: 104.6

schreck EV90: 103.7

ML average is just above 105, so they're both below average.

the link to more of the fun stats (EV90 / SEAGER / contact rate stuff) is below, i have it bookmarked

https://therealestmuto.shinyapps.io/Damage/

[Orgfiller]

28 minutes ago, sliderguy35 said:

roden EV90: 104.6

schreck EV90: 103.7

ML average is just above 105, so they're both below average.

the link to more of the fun stats (EV90 / SEAGER / contact rate stuff) is below, i have it bookmarked

https://therealestmuto.shinyapps.io/Damage/

I love your addition to the board.

Pinango at 108.2 EV90 👀 - 98th percentile!

[Simon Li]

4 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

I love your addition to the board.

Pinango at 108.2 EV90 👀 - 98th percentile!

Pinango really is a data darling. His main flaw is that he doesn't lift the ball enough, nor to the pull side, but  man this is a pretty statcast profile. 

[Orgfiller]

19 minutes ago, Simon Li said:

Pinango really is a data darling. His main flaw is that he doesn't lift the ball enough, nor to the pull side, but  man this is a pretty statcast profile. 

Interesting, I looked into it and it's not like he's a worm killer or anything, always hovering around 44% GB rate which is nothing egregious. Does he just hit a bunch of like 5-10 degree line drives all over the field? Certainly doesn't seem like a broken profile or anything of that nature, someone just needs to work with him to up the pull rate and/or FB rate a little bit more. The raw power seems to be there even if he wants to drive balls the opposite way.

And of course, there might not even be anything to "fix" so to speak, the xwOBA indicates he's probably just getting unlucky and is doing everything right. Keep doing you Piña!

[John_Havok]

7 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

Interesting, I looked into it and it's not like he's a worm killer or anything, always hovering around 44% GB rate which is nothing egregious. Does he just hit a bunch of like 5-10 degree line drives all over the field? Certainly doesn't seem like a broken profile or anything of that nature, someone just needs to work with him to up the pull rate and/or FB rate a little bit more. The raw power seems to be there even if he wants to drive balls the opposite way.

Yeah it is interesting, its like he doesn'y hit an abnormally low # of fly balls, just that most of them go centre or oppo rather than pull, which isn't a great recipe for those fly balls to turn into HRs. 

Having not seen his swing it's hard to say if it's an approach thing, or maybe a timing thing...

Where's Cito Gaston when you need him to teach a kid to get that foot down early! PULL DAT BALL 

[Laika]

29 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

I love your addition to the board.

Pinango at 108.2 EV90 👀 - 98th percentile!

Toronto really had/has some very interesting bats in AAA. 

Will Robertson had elite EV90 numbers, Roman Anthony level.
Pinango very good.
Rainer Nunez is #1 in MaxEV in AAA and has the same EV90 is Pinango 

[John_Havok]

Rainer Nunez max EV 119.6 - yes please, can I have another. 

Launch angle.... 2.6. 

I'm not a pro hitting coach but I think that may be the problem. Countdown until Nunez kills a pitcher with a line drive. 

[Laika]

9 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Rainer Nunez max EV 119.6 - yes please, can I have another. 

Launch angle.... 2.6. 

I'm not a pro hitting coach but I think that may be the problem. Countdown until Nunez kills a pitcher with a line drive. 

It's a nightmare batted ball profile for his power lol 

[Orgfiller]

11 minutes ago, Laika said:

Toronto really had/has some very interesting bats in AAA. 

Will Robertson had elite EV90 numbers, Roman Anthony level.
Pinango very good.
Rainer Nunez is #1 in MaxEV in AAA and has the same EV90 is Pinango 

 

9 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Rainer Nunez max EV 119.6 - yes please, can I have another. 

Launch angle.... 2.6. 

I'm not a pro hitting coach but I think that may be the problem. Countdown until Nunez kills a pitcher with a line drive. 

Rainer Nunez...now there's a worm killer! 58% GB rate lol, gross. If he could get his FB% rate from 20 to 40% he'd probably be a very legit prospect. Alas, I don't think he has the hit tool to make that sort of adjustment.

[John_Havok]

Just now, Orgfiller said:

 

Rainer Nunez...now there's a worm killer! 58% GB rate lol, gross. If he could get his FB% rate from 20 to 40% he'd probably be a very legit prospect. Alas, I don't think he has the hit tool to make that sort of adjustment.

Clearly there's a swing path issue at play here, 60% GB rate is just vomit inducing. 

[Orgfiller]

17 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Clearly there's a swing path issue at play here, 60% GB rate is just vomit inducing. 

For sure, but I just don't know if he's talented enough to really fix this? He's always had pedestrian to poor K/BB rates, and the GB/FB rates have been continually getting worse as he's moved up through the minors. He's not even a talked about as a lower tier prospect even though he has 70-80 grade raw power.

Of course, I could eat my words if we let go of him and some other org unlocks that power consistently, it's just hard to envision.

[John_Havok]

Just now, Orgfiller said:

For sure, but I just don't know if he's talented enough to really fix this? He's always had pedestrian to poor K/BB rates, and the GB/FB rates have been continually getting worse as he's moved up through the minors. He's not even a talked about as a lower tier prospect even though he has 70-80 grade raw power.

Of course, I could eat my words if we let go of him and some other org unlocks that power consistently, it's just hard to envision.

Get the foot down early. Chop that wood. PULL DAT BALL. 

Done. 

[sliderguy35]

7 hours ago, Orgfiller said:

I love your addition to the board.

Pinango at 108.2 EV90 👀 - 98th percentile!

pinango's definitely My Guy in the org, you just don't see many guys that make that much contact & post EV90 numbers that high.

a lot of the high EV90 guys are like will robertson where part of that is b/c he whiffs so much that the sample size of batted balls is smaller. making a lot of contact naturally raises the denominator of that calculation so being able to still maintain elite contact quality metrics with a lot of batted balls is a great sign.

I was super high on barger coming into this season b/c he displayed basically the same qualities in triple A in 2024: elite exit velos w/ an above average contact profile (about a 50th percentile pulled flyball rate, doesn't really beat the ball into the ground too often). although barger made better swing decisions so he was getting to his power more often.

pinango is also still 2(!) years younger than barger was last year and made drastic changes to his approach this year (his swing rate is down 5% from last year). there's still room for development here but i wouldn't be shocked at all if he's the next guy that everyone is salivating over in spring camp next year.

[Eat My Shatkins]

8 minutes ago, sliderguy35 said:

pinango's definitely My Guy in the org, you just don't see many guys that make that much contact & post EV90 numbers that high.

a lot of the high EV90 guys are like will robertson where part of that is b/c he whiffs so much that the sample size of batted balls is smaller. making a lot of contact naturally raises the denominator of that calculation so being able to still maintain elite contact quality metrics with a lot of batted balls is a great sign.

I was super high on barger coming into this season b/c he displayed basically the same qualities in triple A in 2024: elite exit velos w/ an above average contact profile (about a 50th percentile pulled flyball rate, doesn't really beat the ball into the ground too often). although barger made better swing decisions so he was getting to his power more often.

pinango is also still 2(!) years younger than barger was last year and made drastic changes to his approach this year (his swing rate is down 5% from last year). there's still room for development here but i wouldn't be shocked at all if he's the next guy that everyone is salivating over in spring camp next year.

You really seem to know your stuff. What are your thoughts on Kasevich? Sucks that he missed most of the season, I was really hoping he'd be a factor for the Jays next season especially with SS potentially open. 

[sliderguy35]

8 hours ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

You really seem to know your stuff. What are your thoughts on Kasevich? Sucks that he missed most of the season, I was really hoping he'd be a factor for the Jays next season especially with SS potentially open. 

generally i'm more bearish on pure hit tool guys without power like kasevich, especially if they don't have some other carrying tool like elite speed or defense.

you need to be a real outlier to hit the 90th percentile outcome of being a real ML contributor like a jacob wilson or brendan donovan. otherwise these kinds of guys almost always just end up as part time contributors who might have a nice babip-luck fueled season during their career like a tyler freeman or alex verdugo.

not to say that it can't happen for him, outliers do exist in the game. i'd just rather bet on the stuff we know plays, rather than hoping someone can break the mold

[Simon Li]

1 hour ago, sliderguy35 said:

generally i'm more bearish on pure hit tool guys without power like kasevich, especially if they don't have some other carrying tool like elite speed or defense.

you need to be a real outlier to hit the 90th percentile outcome of being a real ML contributor like a jacob wilson or brendan donovan. otherwise these kinds of guys almost always just end up as part time contributors who might have a nice babip-luck fueled season during their career like a tyler freeman or alex verdugo.

not to say that it can't happen for him, outliers do exist in the game. i'd just rather bet on the stuff we know plays, rather than hoping someone can break the mold

I will say Kasevich has better EV numbers than people will expect, but his best role is probably a utility man given his just average defense at shortstop. I think I'm higher on him than most because his floor is higher than a lot of prospects, but he's probably not a starter unless he learns how to take advantage of his hard hit balls.