Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2026)

[Orgfiller]

19 hours ago, thatoneguy said:

Okamoto going 420 feet oppo taco on a 96 mph heater with an EV near 110 mph yesterday made me moist.

Followed it up by hitting a moonshot to pretty straight CF on a 99 mph heater.

 

[Brownie19]

Oka crushing 99 MPH is meaningful (IMO).  That's often the knock on the Japanese players - they don't see enough velo for you to really know how they'll translate in the big leagues...

They need to flip flop him and Kirk v. RHP...

[Olerud363.354]

On 3/30/2026 at 11:38 AM, Laika said:

I mean Aaron Judge had a .777 OPS at 23 in his first taste of AA and AAA, with 144 Ks in 124 games. So he decidedly did NOT destroy but that obviously did NOT put a ceiling on him. That's not the low minors but there are similar examples. Bobby Witt had a 83 wRC+ in rookie ball at 19. Ceiling on Witt? 

Right, but when Judge went to Buff-Fudge no where for a few weeks at the beginning of his pro career (Charleston, which at the time wasn't totally butt-fudge no where but full season A) he hit .328 .428 .530. 

Bobby Witt.  Yeah totally.  Did not dominate the short season rookie he was sent to.  That didn't indicate a ceiling.  

Witt is interesting kind of got better year to year.  Not good in rookie went from wRC+ of 95 in the majors to 170 within 3 years.  Bo showed up rookie ball hitting .400, destroyed the low minors.  140 wRC+ in 40 games at 21.  Sort of a steady 125 wRC+ after that.    As for Jo Jo Parker what would be nice is if he hits the ground running, has stupid numbers in low a, and does 2 levels this year, like a lot of the really good prospects do.   

[Orgfiller]

48 minutes ago, Olerud363.354 said:

Right, but when Judge went to Buff-Fudge no where for a few weeks at the beginning of his pro career (Charleston, which at the time wasn't totally butt-fudge no where but full season A) he hit .328 .428 .530. 

Bobby Witt.  Yeah totally.  Did not dominate the short season rookie he was sent to.  That didn't indicate a ceiling.  

Witt is interesting kind of got better year to year.  Not good in rookie went from wRC+ of 95 in the majors to 170 within 3 years.  Bo showed up rookie ball hitting .400, destroyed the low minors.  140 wRC+ in 40 games at 21.  Sort of a steady 125 wRC+ after that.    As for Jo Jo Parker what would be nice is if he hits the ground running, has stupid numbers in low a, and does 2 levels this year, like a lot of the really good prospects do.   

Yeah but he was 22 in A and A+ and a physical specimen, if he didn't do well there then he likely would have been released right there and then. Big difference in a teenager who has room to grow physically vs a 3-year college player that's basically maxed out. The latter pretty much have to perform right away, since the low minors - especially in Judge's day pre minor leagues contraction - was a similar level or sometimes worse than the college one.

[Olerud363.354]

18 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

Yeah but he was 22 in A and A+ and a physical specimen, if he didn't do well there then he likely would have been released right there and then. Big difference in a teenager who has room to grow physically vs a 3-year college player that's basically maxed out. The latter pretty much have to perform right away, since the low minors - especially in Judge's day pre minor leagues contraction - was a similar level or sometimes worse than the college one.

But the league Aaron Judge was sent to was still kind of appropriate.  Before contraction there was like a really pathetic morning league in Dunnedin, and Jays had Pulaski, and they had the old Vancouver (which was short season).  The first 2 were extremely low level, so a good 18 year old high ranked prospect should have destroyed them.

And wait.  Jays still have the pathetic morning league where they play at 10:00 am or something.  It is called Florida Complex League.  An 18 year old high ranked prospect should wreck that.  Or at least hold their own.  Like that Bonilla guy when he showed up and was hitting .180 you kiind of knew....

So now it is Sanchez who is the next hope, along with Parker?  Sanchez did better in the Dominican League than Bonilla, now he and Parker have to destroy that 10:00 league and move up to the other Dunnedin which is still low, but that one you don't expect him to destroy (it would be nice.  They __HAVE__ to destroy the 10:00 league). 

[Olerud363.354]

4 minutes ago, Olerud363.354 said:

(it would be nice.  They __HAVE__ to destroy the 10:00 league). 

I mean nothing is black and white.  It is nice if they destroy the FCL.  If they don't not the end of the world, but if after 100 at bats they are .175 with a 30 to 3 strikeout to walk ratio 2 doubles and a homer....   that is not good, even if only a month of data and they are only 18. 

[Spanky__99]

FWIW... Jojo Parker is apparently tearing the backfields up and has everyone taken notice according to one Keegan Matheson, was also mentioned during a broadcast in late spring.

[Spanky__99]

Skip Schneider's meeting with the media in 15 minutes or so, to address the media.

[Spanky__99]

Oof... no bueno!
 

 

[bluejaysinternNo5]

Toronto has not had good luck with their large pitchers.

[bronson44]

ffs

[mphenhef]

Damnit, that’s not the news I was hoping for.

[mphenhef]

Holding onto hope he can pitch this year is Jays talk for see him next year.

[Terminator]

Just now, mphenhef said:

Holding onto hope he can pitch this year is Jays talk for see him next year.

Yeah I mean it could be a grade 1 sprain but the overall message is so negative that you can't help but think that it'll be a full tear

[HomeRunHomer]

Not good news.  We signed all the starting pitchers but they are all hurt 😂

[Olerud363.354]

Stroman tore his March 10th and was back in 6 months.  Probably an outlier and unlikely Ponce can do the same.  Sucks. 

[Spanky__99]

 

[Terminator]

Quote

Lazaro Estrada and Adam Macko are options. John Schneider also mentioned CJ Van Eyk and Chad Dallas.

[Slade]

Pretty sure an ACL sprain is still a minor tear in the ACL. That's usually a 3-4 week recovery. 

They say they're still evaluating right now, I think that's probably good news cause I thought for sure done for the year. 

[Spanky__99]

6 minutes ago, Terminator said:

2.1 innings out of Ponce, is this Bill Caudill again? Seriously though these guys should be ready shortly...
 

 

[Terminator]

2 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

2.1 innings out of Ponce, is this Bill Caudill again? Seriously though these guys should be ready shortly...
 

 

Yeah true. Maybe Trey will be ready in a couple of weeks.

[Spanky__99]

5 minutes ago, Slade said:

Pretty sure an ACL sprain is still a minor tear in the ACL. That's usually a 3-4 week recovery. 

They say they're still evaluating right now, I think that's probably good news cause I thought for sure done for the year. 

A sprain is a tear it just depends on what grade, sounds to me like they think it's a full ACL tear man, did you only read the first sentence of the tweet?

More doctors are reviewing the MRI now to see if there’s a full tear for the final diagnosis. Schneider says the #BlueJays are “holding onto” hope he can pitch again this year, but will miss significant time regardless.

[Slade]

4 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

A sprain is a tear it just depends on what grade, sounds to me like they think it's a full ACL tear man, did you only read the first sentence of the tweet?

More doctors are reviewing the MRI now to see if there’s a full tear for the final diagnosis. Schneider says the #BlueJays are “holding onto” hope he can pitch again this year, but will miss significant time regardless.

A month is still significant time. I would think a full tear would be an easy diagnosis? Trying to stay positive I suppose. 

[Stangstag]

50 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

Oof... no bueno!
 

 

Yeah this is what i figured initially.

I don’t think we see him again this year. Really unfortunate, but hopefully he can be a contributor next season. Still got him for 2 more years.

[Stangstag]

2 minutes ago, Slade said:

A month is still significant time. I would think a full tear would be an easy diagnosis? Trying to stay positive I suppose. 

Normally if a full tear isn’t immediately ruled out, that means they are trying very hard to find any shred of hope to claim it isn’t a tear. Doesn’t look good 

[John_Havok]

2 hours ago, Olerud363.354 said:

But the league Aaron Judge was sent to was still kind of appropriate.  Before contraction there was like a really pathetic morning league in Dunnedin, and Jays had Pulaski, and they had the old Vancouver (which was short season).  The first 2 were extremely low level, so a good 18 year old high ranked prospect should have destroyed them.

And wait.  Jays still have the pathetic morning league where they play at 10:00 am or something.  It is called Florida Complex League.  An 18 year old high ranked prospect should wreck that.  Or at least hold their own.  Like that Bonilla guy when he showed up and was hitting .180 you kiind of knew....

So now it is Sanchez who is the next hope, along with Parker?  Sanchez did better in the Dominican League than Bonilla, now he and Parker have to destroy that 10:00 league and move up to the other Dunnedin which is still low, but that one you don't expect him to destroy (it would be nice.  They __HAVE__ to destroy the 10:00 league). 

Your memory is a bit off... Jays havent had Pulasi since the early 2000s.   

GCL Jays was Rookie, Bluefield was advanced Rookie, Lansing was A, Dunedin was Advanced A, Vancouver was short season A. 

[Brownie19]

Brutal news on Ponce. Feel awful for him.  We can't afford much more bad news...

Why can't we have nice things?

[BTS]

I can't believe Little is still on the 26-man. Thought for sure he'd be optioned for Macko 

[Eat My Shatkins]

Little has an option, you have to think he's real close to being sent to AAA to work out his issues. Hopefully he figures it out, he has the stuff to be an elite reliever.

[G-Snarls]

Blair and Barker pushing to keep Little around and try to work it out