Blue Jays Prospect Rankings, June 2026 Update: Many New Faces Arrive

Blue Jays Top 20 Prospects, June 2026

1. JoJo Parker SS - Dunedin
2. Johnny King LHP - Vancouver
3. Arjun Nimmala SS - New Hampshire
4. Juan Sanchez 3B/SS - Dunedin (Previously #6)
5. Ricky Tiedemann LHP - Buffalo (on Rehab assignment)
6. Gage Stanifer RHP - New Hampshire (Previously #4)
7. Sean Keys 1B/3B - Buffalo (Previously #9)
8. Nolan Perry RHP - Vancouver (Previously #16)
9. Blaine Bullard OF - Dunedin (Previously #8)
10. Jake Bloss RHP - Buffalo (Previously #12)
11. Victor Arias OF - New Hampshire
12. Daniel Guerra RHP - Vancouver (Previously Unranked)
13. Carson Messina RHP - Dunedin (Previously Unranked)
14. Jake Cook OF - Dunedin (Previously #17)
15. Josh Kasevich SS - Buffalo (Previously #10)
16. Austin Cates RHP - New Hampshire (Previously Unranked)
17. Tim Piasentin 3B - FCL (Previously #14)
18. Charles McAdoo 3B - Buffalo (Previously #13)
19. RJ Schreck OF - Buffalo (Previously #18)
20. Adrian Pinto 2B - New Hampshire (Previously Unranked)

The Jays’ prospect rankings looked quite a bit different after the graduations of both Trey Yesavage and Yohendrick Pinango, giving room for a few new faces. On the other hand, Landen Maroudis, Dylan Watts, and Silvano Hechavarria all fell off the list in place of four new faces. Hechavarria and Maroudis have struggled immensely since the start of the season, both with an ERA over 6 on the season. Watts, on the other hand, earned a promotion to Vancouver, but was lit up in his first start. He mostly fell off due to a number’s game, as his stuff is intriguing enough to warrant top 20 consideration. 

Juan Sanchez and Gage Stanifer swapped places due to Sanchez’s hot June, where he slashed .333/.371/.544 for a 140 wRC+. Sean Keys also took a slight jump after getting promoted to Buffalo and still mashed, with an elite pulled fly ball ability paired with 99th percentile 90th percentile exit velocities. The biggest jump, however, was from Nolan Perry from 16th all the way to 8th. He’s gone from a relatively unknown pitching prospect to a top 100 prospect in baseball, showing extremely strong stuff with a starter’s arsenal with decent command. Perry is now running a 39.2 K% despite a shaky start in his last outing. A pair of Jakes also saw rises, with Bloss showing very strong stuff after returning from injury. Jake Cook rose despite not showing impressive raw stats, but his speed has been impressive, stealing 12 bags in 29 games.

Gage Stanifer has actually looked impressive, but fell more because of Sanchez’s excellence than any of his shortcomings. Tim Piasentin has walked a lot in the complex league, but hasn’t been able to make solid contact when challenged in the zone, causing him to fall three spots. Josh Kasevich, Charles McAdoo, and RJ Schreck have all performed decently but have been jumped over by the new, talented arms that have been added to the list. McAdoo had a short cup of coffee in the major leagues after some injuries to Lenyn Sosa and Addison Barger got hurt, and accumulated -0.2 fWAR, but was able to hit his first major league homer. 

RHP Daniel Guerra - #12 

Daniel Guerra was an international signee out of Venezuela in 2022, and he slowly made his way stateside, making his Low-A debut in Dunedin in 2024. At age 21 he pitched a full season in Low-A Dunedin, and although he struggled a little bit in the first few months of that season, he began to really pick it up at the end of the 2025 season, the stuff jumped as he went later on in the season, where he capped off his season with a six perfect innings against the Mighty Mussels on August 30th, 2025. Guerra was promoted to Vancouver in the 2026 season and immediately made an impact, as heading into early June, Guerra was in the top five in all of the minors in strikeouts. Unfortunately for him, he was taken out early in a game on June 9th and was put on the 7-day IL to put a damper on his breakout season. 

Guerra has a prototypical starter's build, standing 6ft 6 inches and weighing 230 pounds. His delivery comes more over the top, leading to funky angles for opposing hitters, and with his increased mid-to-high 90s fastball velocity is very tough for hitters. Given his high slot, Guerra generates elite ride on his fastball, and he was able to get on it as well. His main secondary is a cut-slider that also jumped in velocity this season, into the high 80s, which was a great whiff generator for him. He has a developing third pitch with a changeup as well, but he’s still figuring out the feel for it. With two plus pitches and shaky command, Guerra’s future seems more likely in the back end of a bullpen, but if he can reign in the control and sharpen up the changeup there’s some rotation upside as well. 

RHP Carson Messina - #13

Carson Messina was a highly anticipated high school signing out of Summerville High School and pitched just two innings in 2025 before getting put on the injured list. His return to the mound in 2026 was domination, as he ranked near the top of many pitching leaderboards, before earning a promotion to Dunedin in June. 

He frequently touched the upper 90s in the Florida Complex League, but in his couple of starts in Low-A Dunedin his velocity was only sitting 93-94 mph, but he has shown the capability of reaching back for more topping out at 96 mph. The results haven’t been the prettiest with a 6.35 ERA in a tiny sample, but his stuff looked great despite the diminished velocity. His fastball showed plus ride with a -4.5 vertical approach angle which makes it harder for hitters to square up and he has an 80 mph curveball with a more than 34 inch vertical separation from his fastball that has generated a lot of whiffs. He does have a cut slider as well in the mid 80s. With the positive shape and movement of his pitches, Messina has carried a 32.2% K rate so far this season, but he also has struggled with his command, as more advanced Low-A hitters are less susceptible to swinging at his pitches out of the zone. The 6ft 3 righty has mid-rotation upside if he can continue his velocity uptick and improve his command. 

RHP - Austin Cates #16

Austin Cates was the Jays 7th round pick in 2024 out of UNLV, and had a very successful first professional season, pitching over 100 innings to a 3.12 ERA/3.55 FIP and finished the season stronger than he started after getting promoted to Vancouver. Cates got 24 innings in Vancouver before earning a callup to New Hampshire, where he has a 4.58 ERA/4.14 FIP with a 21.9 K% to a 12.6 BB%. Despite the middling numbers, the offensive environment in the minors has taken a jump so that’s actually a better than average performance in the Eastern League. The standout traits for Cates don’t really exist, as he’s an average sized pitcher with middling stuff, but he has a devastating splitter that he uses quite effectively. The fastball is only in the 91-93 range, but he’s topped out at 95 here and there with decent ride. The slider shape isn’t the greatest and doesn’t generate many whiffs, but is a pitch he can command. He introduced a curveball that he could use as a get me over pitch, but hasn’t shown much else. The main star of the show is the splitter in the mid 80s, and when it’s on can generate a ton of whiffs and chases. Cates’ command is just average, and with his middling fastball velocity, needs more than just one good pitch to be a rotation piece, but can work as a depth starter or multi-inning reliever if he progresses well. A bump in velocity or better breaking balls could put him in back-end rotation talks. 

2B/OF Adrian Pinto - #20

The oft-injured player once again started the season on the injured list, but in his return, he has performed just enough to hop onto the list at the bottom rung. After returning from rehab assignment in Dunedin, Pinto has hit .245/.351/.439 in New Hampshire for a 110 wRC+, while walking just as much as he’s struck out at 13.8%. He wasn’t hitting homers at the rate he did in the small sample he posted in the previous season, but he’s shown some juice with four homers of the season to pair with a solid contact rate of 78.6%.

Pinto’s ability to control his small zone, make hard contact when he makes contact whilst having a solid contact rate makes him an intriguing prospect in the system, and since he’s at least an average second baseman defensively with the capability of playing the outfield with solid speed despite not playing their yet this season, he’s an interesting look for a Jays team that’s lacking up the middle bats that hit righty with upside like this. The profile is unique and despite being traded for four years ago, he’ll turn just 24 this season. He will need to be added to the 40-man roster as he is rule-5 eligible, and the health will need to hold up for Pinto to have a path to the majors. With 147 PAs he’s already played more than he did in any season since 2023, and if he continues to hit like this very well might get added to the 40-man. 

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