Blue Jays 2025 Draft Overview: Left-Handed Bats and Youth Rule the Day

The Blue Jays added 19 prospects during this year's MLB draft. The team had to forfeit their second-round pick to the Baltimore Orioles for signing Anthony Santander, who had a qualifying offer prior to free agency. Hopefully, Santander can make adjustments while on the injured list to improve his struggles from the first half of the season; that way, it won't hurt as much to miss out on a top-50 prospect from the class.

Teams and the rest of the draft staff discuss their strategies throughout the year for the upcoming draft. With each pick, certain similarities highlight the prospects and attributes each team wants. General Manager Ross Atkins and the rest of the scouting team did the same by showing a few tendencies that they were focusing on. Let's dive into those tendencies:

Big-bodied, middle of the field players on Day 1

Shortstops and center fielders are highly valuable assets when approaching the draft. These positions are considered the most athletic in the field because they can likely play any position on the team. The Blue Jays drafted both positions with their two Day 1 picks, and the prospects are bulky.  

JoJo Parker, a high school senior, is 6'2" and 200lbs, while Jake Cook, a redshirt junior from Southern Mississippi, is 6'3" and 185 lbs. Both athletes display great vision at the plate and demonstrate a strong ability to get on base. Parker had a batting average of .489 and stole 30 bases this season; Cook hit .350, but although he flashes his speed in center field, he only stole six bases over his 64 career games at Southern Miss. Utilizing his speed on the basepaths should be a major focus in the lower minor-league affiliates.

Drafting younger prospects early

The Blue Jays drafted a high school senior or redshirt junior with their first six picks. Teams like to draft talented high schoolers early, hoping they will bypass college and provide three or four extra years of service to a team. This strategy is risky, though, because the prospect may have their eye on attending college (and are a lot rawer than their collegiate counterparts). The same applies to redshirt juniors, who can receive an extra year of service instead of being drafted as seniors. However, these players are more likely to start their professional careers rather than return for their senior year of college. 

When high schoolers are drafted in the early rounds, there has likely been communication between the team and the player regarding the prospect's readiness to begin their professional career. The Blue Jays clearly believe in their ability to 1) coax younger players out of their committments to college, and 2) develop them to mitigate the risks as they mature and grow into their frames.

No team wants to waste an early pick, although if the Blue Jays were to fail to sign one of their selections, the team would receive a pick one spot lower than where they made the selection in next year's draft. This compensation only applies to the first three rounds, though.

Draft left-handed bats

Of the 11 position players selected by the Blue Jays, nine of them bat left-handed, including a switch-hitter. The Rookie League (two lefties and two switch-hitters) and Low-A Dunedin (one) are lacking left-handed bats, where these draftees will likely begin their professional careers. Given that Nathan Lukes and Addison Barger are the long lefties on the big league team with a wRC+ of 100 or greater (minimum 200 plate appearances), it should be no surprise that Toronto chose to invest heavily in that skillset during this draft.

Check out our 2025 draft tracker, updated with signing bonsues, scouting reports, news, and much more!