Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Everyone Gets To Play Baseball

CURRENT W-L Records
-Buffalo Bisons: 1-5
-New Hampshire Fisher Cats: 1-1
-Vancouver Canadians: 2-1 
-Dunedin Blue Jays: 1-2
-FCL Blue Jays: 0-0 (Season not started)
-DSL Blue Jays: 0-0 (Season not started) 

TRANSACTIONS
LHP Richard Lovelady elected free agency
Vancouver Canadians transferred C Jackson Hornung to the Development List.
Vancouver Canadians transferred C Hayden Gilliland to the Development List.
RHP Edinson Batista assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from Vancouver Canadians.
RHP Eliander Alcalde assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from Vancouver Canadians.
RHP Yondrei Rojas assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from Vancouver Canadians.
RHP Ryan Boyer assigned to Buffalo Bisons from New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

Buffalo Bisons

Buffalo (1), Memphis (4) - April 4th (Game 1)
Box Score

Eric Lauer took the mound and was roughed up a little in the first game of the day for the doubleheader. He went five innings while giving up five hits, four earned runs, zero walks, and four strikeouts. Will Robertson got the Bisons on the board with an RBI single in the 6th inning. Unfortunately, that was all the scoring they could push across the plate. On a few positive notes, Orelvis Martinez got into his second game of the season following a viral infection delaying his debut. He went 1-3, getting his first hit of the season, a single up the middle on a high sinker. Jonatan Clase continued his hot start, leading the Bisons in hits, going 3-4, and stealing his 5th base in the young season. 

Jonatan Clase: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 SB
Clase had a double, infield single, and a line drive single. He has shown a great feel for making contact early this season compared to his previous minor league years. 

Eric Lauer: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Buffalo (1), Memphis (3) - April 4th (Game 2)
Box Score

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Bisons did not fare any better. Trenton Wallace started the game for the Bisons and went three innings and gave up a single run on a ground out. Addison Barger pushed across the Bisons’ only run on a ground ball single to right field. Overall the Bisons were shut down by St. Louis Cardinals’ star pitching prospect Quinn Mathews. He only allowed two hits and one earned run across 3.2 innings pitched. He was wild though, walking six batters. The Bisons just couldn't get any hits to bring in the runners. In the game overall, they only managed three hits in the shortened seven inning game. On the pitching side for the Bisons, Eric Pardinho surrendered the game deciding runs on a double and single in the fourth inning. Jonatan Clase pinch hit late, adding another hit to his already growing total on the minor league season. The Bisons next take on the Durham Bulls on Tuesday night. 

Riley Tirotta: 1-1, 2 BB

Paxton Schultz: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Buffalo, Memphis - April 5th - PPD

Buffalo, Memphis - April 6th - PPD

New Hampshire Fisher Cats

New Hampshire (1), Binghamton (3) - April 4th
Box Score

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats opened up the season with a series against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies on Friday night. CJ Van Eyk looked to get back on track from his poor 2024 season and Charles McAdoo was ready to put his dismal play behind him as well. 

This game turned into a pitchers duel from the get go, with both starting pitchers (Van Eyk and Wenninger for Binghamton), confounding the opposing team until the fourth inning. In the fourth, Binghamton was finally able to get to Van Eyk after he walked two and gave up a double that scored a pair of runs. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Fisher Cats were poised to retake the lead, as they loaded the bases for Charles McAdoo. He hit the ball hard, but right at the third baseman for a sharp line out to end the inning and the threat. The following half inning saw Binghamton add to their lead with a walk and stolen base by Ryan Clifford, leading to a RBI double by Alex Ramirez. New Hampshire would again threaten Binghamton's lead in the bottom of the ninth with a walk by Yohendrick Pinango, followed by a single from Eddinson Paulino. After a throwing error scored Pinango, Jacob Sharp went down swinging to end the game. 

Dasan Brown: 1-3, 1 BB, 0 K
Brown made the opposing pitchers work, as he saw 19 pitches on the night, across his four at-bats. His lone single was the start of the failed rally in the fifth inning. Unfortunately, he was not able to utilize his speed on the basepaths this game, he will have to show off his stolen base prowess in future games. 

CJ Van Eyk: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Van Eyk came into this game with very much a need to shake off last season's disappointing year. It was a hard task to do so against a tough Binghamton lineup that featured notable prospects like Ryan Clifford, Jett Williams, and Alex Ramirez. He was up for the challenge though and held his own for the most part against the Rumble Ponies’ lineup. He was able to garner 10 swing and misses against them, as well as six strikeouts. It was very encouraging for him to get so many ground balls in the game (8), as he was able to avoid the barrel of the Rumble Ponies for much of the night. 

New Hampshire, Binghamton - April 5th - PPD

New Hampshire (1), Binghamton (0) - April 6th (Game 1)
Box Score 

This game saw the tables turned and flipped upside down, as New Hampshire finally got into the win column. Rafael Sanchez was the starting pitcher and was near perfection on the mound. He baffled Binghamton hitters all night, throwing five innings and only allowing two singles, and a walk. He would end his outing by finishing the fifth inning with his eighth strikeout of the night, to go along with 12 swing and misses on his pitches. Ryan Watson would piggyback Sanchez in the game and virtually match him in every way. Watson finished the game holding Binghamton to just one hit, over four innings of work, while racking up seven swing and misses himself, and five strikeouts. For New Hampshire, the bats were just as quiet as Binghamton, Nolan McLean was masterful for the Rumble Ponies, striking out eight over four innings and only giving up three hits. It wasn't until the bottom of the sixth inning that the Fisher Cats finally scratched out a run with back to back singles by Jace Bohrofen and Peyton Williams, followed by an error by the right fielder on the Williams knock. That was all of the scoring either team could muster, as the game ended 1-0. 

Peyton Williams: 2-4, 1 2B, 0 BB, 2 K
Williams had the only real damage off of a really good pitching prospect, Nolan McLean, and managed to have the game winning base hit (with the help of a throwing error by the right fielder).

Ryan Watson: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 5 K
Is there any better storyline than Watson going from independent baseball to Double-A and shutting down a good lineup, I don’t think so, he's going to be fun to watch this year. 

New Hampshire, Binghamton- April 6th (Game 2) - PPD

Vancouver Canadians

Vancouver (4), Tri-City (5) - April 4th
Box Score

Vancouver got out to an early lead, with a couple of walks from Nimmala and Coffey before Carter Cunningham drove them both in. The Dust Devils answered with a sac-fly in the bottom of the inning, but Adrian Pinto went deep to make it 3-1. After a double from Eddie Micheletti Jr., and a grounder that moved Micheletti Jr. to 3rd, Adrian Pinto grounded one to 3rd but 3rd baseman Caleb Ketchup airmailed a throw to make it 4-1 Canadians. Rogers was replaced in the 5th by Nate Garkow who had a scoreless inning, but gave up 3 runs in the subsequent inning and then Aaron Munson let in another run because of an error by Sean Keys to give Tri-City the lead in the 7th that they never relinquished. 

Adrian Pinto - 1-4, 1 R, 1 H, 1 RBI, 1 HR, 1 K
The diminutive utility player Adrian Pinto showed that he could generate some power despite his slight size, blasting a homer in the 2nd inning against RHP Austin Gordon. He also used his speed to force an error at 3rd to help another run come in.

Grant Rogers - 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K
RHP Grant Rogers looked sharp today in 4 IP for Vancouver, with the only blemish coming from a throwing error from catcher Aaron Parker. The command was decent and Rogers made use of his full arsenal to prevent hitters from timing him up. 

Vancouver (3), Tri-City (0) - April 5th
Box Score

The strong starting pitching continued for the Canadians with 5th rounder Jackson Wentworth going 5 innings in his first professional start. Victor Arias started off the scoring with a double to score Adrian Pinto, and then in the top of the 6th Cutter Coffey hit his first homer of the season and Jay Harry, who was acquired for Trevor Richards, lined a single to left field to score Je’Von Ward to give the Canadians a 3-0 lead. The bullpen did a solid job to finish off the shutout, with Pat Gallagher getting 3 Ks in 2.0 IP. 

Arjun Nimmala - 3-5
The Jays #1 prospect got his first hit in High-A with a single in the third, and then tacked on 2 more in the 5th and the 7th. Although he made a baserunning mistake getting picked off at 2nd showing his inexperience, he showed a strong defensive performance and even turned 2 double plays. 

Jackson Wentworth - 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K
In Wentworth’s professional debut, he was excellent, going 5 shutout innings and striking out 6 batters while generating 22 whiffs. He did a great job of keeping hitters from getting on base and showed his feel for the zone and his advanced feel for pitching out of college and earned his first W of the season. 

Vancouver (10), Tri-City (2) - April 6th
Box Score

Vancouver won their 2nd game in a row off the back of a strong pitching performance from Juaron Watts-Brown, who carried his strong performance in the playoffs for the Canadians into this game, striking out 10 batters in only 4.2 IP. The offense exploded in the meantime, with the Canadians scoring 10 runs off of 10 hits and 11 walks, and Goodwin, Harry, and Nimmala all homering as well.

Arjun Nimmala - 1-4. 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K
Nimmala came right back where he left off yesterday, smashing this homer into the soccer fields outside of the ballpark for his first one with the Canadians. He also walked a couple of times and scored another run on a DH day to keep him off of his feet. He’s been scorching hot to start the season showing strong plate discipline.

Juaron Watts-Brown - 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K

Dunedin Blue Jays 

Dunedin (4), Clearwater (8) - April 4th
Box Score

What started off as a pitching duel between 2024 Blue Jays 2nd Rounder Khal Stephen and undrafted free agent Sam Highfill turned very quickly. Manuel Beltre drove in the first run in the 4th, and Victoria, BC’s Sam Shaw homered an inning after, giving the Jays an early 2-0 lead. The Thrashers needed to wait until Stephen left the game to score their runs, with reliever Bennett Flynn giving up 5 ERs and lefty Javen Coleman giving up another. The Jays answered back with a 2-RBI single from Sam Shaw after Braden Barry walked and JR Freethy hit a double. The Dunedin Blue Jays could not claw it back though, as Clearwater scored 2 more runs off of the Dunedin pen, spoiling an excellent debut for Khal Stephen. 

Sam Shaw - 2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K
Shaw is known for his strong hit tool, but he showed a little bit of pop, pulling a sinker 105.6mph and 367 ft into right field for a solo homer, and then tacking on 2 more RBIs with a 101.2 mph line drive single in the bottom of the 7th. 

Khal Stephen - 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Khal Stephen opened up his official minor league baseball debut by striking out the side, and then continued to keep hitters off balance with his deep pitch mix. His fastball sat around 94 mph and had elite ride, he also displayed a deep pitch mix, throwing a curveball, changeup, sinker, and cutter, leading to 14 whiffs on the night.

Dunedin (4), Clearwater (1)- April 5th
Box Score

Dunedin’s pitching held Clearwater to only 1 run, which was only given up after an error from starter Daniel Guerra. Guerra pitched 4 solid innings with 4 strikeouts, and then Gilberto Batista, who was acquired for Danny Jansen, pitched another 4 solid innings in relief and was even more dominant, striking out 6 and not allowing a run. The bottom of the order produced for the Dunedin Blue Jays with shortstop Manuel Beltre and third baseman Tucker Toman setting the table for the 9th hitter and outfielder Jaden Rudd to drive them in. 

Jaden Rudd - 2-4, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K
Rudd knocked in all 4 of the runs for the Dunedin Jays, with the one giving them the lead with an exit velocity of 101.1 mph off the bat for a double. Rudd was the 7th round pick for the Jays in the 2021 draft and he’s struggled so far offensively so getting a couple of extra base hits will hopefully give him so momentum to succeed in Low-A after repeating the level for the 3rd time. 

Gilberto Batista - 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 6 K
Batista was acquired from the Red Sox in exchange for Danny Jansen, and the young pitcher has been awesome since joining the Jays. Batista made heavy use of his slider, throwing strikes and generating 10 whiffs on the day. It was a little bit interesting seeing him pitch out of relief, but with the Jays being cautious about the young arms in the system after being decimated by injury, Batista piggybacking off of other starters will seem to be how they’ll use him. 

Dunedin (2), Clearwater (4) - April 6th
Box Score

Another strong professional debut from one of the Jays prospects, as 2024 7th rounder Austin Cates went 5 strong scoreless innings only allowing 5 hits and notching 2 Ks. The offense however, failed to support Cates’ start, only scoring 2 runs despite walking a total of 12 times. 

Brock Tibbits - 2-4, 1 BB, 1, RBI
The big bodied catcher from Naperville, IL did his job in the cleanup spot this game, getting on base 3 times and driving in one of the two runs that Dunedin scored this game. Tibbits was the 13th round pick for the Jays in 2024 and is hoping to continue his solid play from Low-A in 2024 where he had a .746 OPS. 

Austin Cates - 5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 KCates sat around 91 mph with his fastball, but had a good ride on it and he filled the strike zone with his fastball, allowing his changeup and slider to play off of it and generate weak contact. Cates was the 7th round pick for the Jays and showed off his solid changeup plus command in his first professional start. 

FCL Blue Jays

No games

DSL Blue Jays

No games

Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Players of the Period

Pitcher of the Period: RHP Juaron Watts-Brown (Vancouver): 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K

Hitter of the Period: SS Arjun Nimmala (Vancouver): 4-12, 3 R, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HR

Prospect Summary (Last 3 Days)

1. Arjun Nimmala (Vancouver) - 4-12, 3 R, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
2. Trey Yesavage (Dunedin) - DNP
3. Ricky Tiedemann (Buffalo) - DNP
4. Orelvis Martinez (Buffalo) - 1-6, 1 BB, 4 K
5. Jake Bloss (Buffalo) - DNP
6. Alan Roden (Toronto) - 2-6, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K
7. Josh Kasevich (Buffalo) - DNP
8. Kendry Rojas (Vancouver) - DNP
9. Khal Stephen (Dunedin) - 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
10. Charles McAdoo (New Hampshire) - 0-8, 0 BB, 3 K
11. Adam Macko (Buffalo) - DNP
12. Landen Maroudis (Dunedin) - DNP
13. Fernando Perez (Vancouver) - DNP
14. Will Wagner (Toronto) - 0-6, 2 BB, 3 K
15. Johnny King (FCL Blue Jays) - DNP
16. Brandon Barriera (Dunedin) - DNP
17. Emmanuel Bonilla (FCL Blue Jays) - DNP
18. Juaron Watts-Brown (Vancouver) - 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K
19. Eddinson Paulino (New Hampshire) - 1-4 1 K
20. Dahian Santos (New Hampshire) - DNP

Interested in learning more about the Toronto Blue Jays' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!