Toronto Blue Jays 2026 Top Prospect Rankings: No. 10 Jake Bloss

[Brian Labude]

You've made it through numbers 20-16 and 15-11, and now we begin our coverage of Jays Centre's top 10 prospects by taking a much deeper look at each of the players that made it into this most coveted top-tier territory. Coming in at number 10, we have Jake Bloss, someone who has traversed the country toward his goal of making it to and sticking at the major league level. 

No. 10: SP Jake Bloss (Buffalo)

IP	G	GS	ERA	FIP	xFIP	K%	BB%
23.2	6	6	6.46	4.76	4.85	20.9%	11.3%

After a four-year college career, where he played three years at Lafayette and one year at Georgetown, Bloss was drafted in the third round of the 2023 MLB draft by the Houston Astros. After some token innings to end the season at Rookie ball and Single-A Fayetteville, he would start the 2024 season at High-A Asheville. In his first full professional season, he would accomplish a feat virtually unheard of in today's baseball world. He would play in games at four different levels, including the major leagues, and for two different teams after being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline. In the minor leagues that season, he pitched in 21 games for a total of 93.1 innings, amassed a 3.18 ERA, and a 3.92 FIP. He had a 23.3% strikeout rate, a 9.5% walk rate, and a 1.07 WHIP. His time in the major leagues for Houston was not nearly as rosy. In three starts (11.2 innings), he had a 6.94 ERA and an insane 7.92 FIP.

In 2025, Bloss was looking to get back on track at Triple-A Buffalo for the Toronto Blue Jays and even make it back to the major leagues. However, fate intervened when he had Tommy John surgery after just six starts. Those six outings were rough to say the least; he had a 6.46 ERA in 23.2 innings, but a more respectable 4.76 FIP. His season would end with him having a 20.9% strikeout rate and a walk rate that ballooned to 11.3%. He had begun to turn a corner before his injury; in two of his last three starts, he went a total of nine innings, didn't give up an earned run, and struck out 12. 

What To Like

Bloss has a very big pitch arsenal for a pitcher in the minor leagues. He used five pitches in 2025, with his four-seam fastball grading out as one of his best pitches. He sat just under 94 mph with the offering and averaged 18.3 inches of induced vertical break (IVB). His above-average extension of 6.9 feet also helps to boost how the fastball plays against hitters. It works to give him the appearance of a slightly faster pitch, and when coupled with his high IVB, makes his fastball a near plus offering.

His other nearly elite pitch was actually his curveball, which he only used 12.4% of the time. What he was doing well with his pitches in 2025 was setting up batters with his fastball high and then getting swings and misses down in the zone from his secondaries. He had 55.6% and 73.3% whiff rates just below the zone on each side of the plate. It can also be seen in his 13.2% swinging strike rate (SwStr%), which was his highest mark since his debut in 2023. 

What To Work On

Bloss has a daunting task ahead of him. Not only does he have to rehab and return healthy from Tommy John surgery, but he also has to get back to what made him so good in 2024.

The first thing he will have to do is focus his control/command, which will help him to miss less often high and to the arm side. The vast majority of his pitches in 2025 were missed there, and it undoubtedly led to his 11.3% walk rate (41st percentile). He also needs to stay away from the middle of the zone with his pitches, where he gave up high slugging rates. He needs to work hitters down in the zone and on the edges, as his pitches give him the best success when located there. One of the easier, but most effective things he can improve on is his first pitch strike rate (F-Strike%). In 2025, his F-Strike% sat at 47%; in 2024, it was 51.2% in the minors and 60% during his three starts in the majors. 

What's Next?

Bloss is still working his way back from Tommy John surgery and, as such, won't likely return to games until late in the season, if at all this year. He is still one of the better starting pitching prospects in the Blue Jays organization and will immediately look to regain the 2024 form that saw him shoot all the way up to the major leagues. If he can do so, he will have an upside of a poor man's SP2 but will most likely land as a back-of-the-rotation starting pitcher. He was on the cusp of being a contributor at the major league level, but he will have to get healthy and find the stuff that made him a prized piece at the 2024 trade deadline. It's an uphill battle for him, but he's got all of the talent to get there and maybe even shine while doing so.

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