Brian Labude

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (May 28-May 29) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies): 1-3 Season Record: 26-29 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees): 2-2 Season Record: 25-21 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants): 2-2 Season Record: 20-29 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies): 1-3 Season Record: 20-29 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 4-3 Season Record: 16-4 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 26-29 Series vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) May 28: Thursday's starter Josh Fleming has had a surprisingly good season thus far while at Triple-A Buffalo. He had only given up more than two runs in just one of his prior eight appearances. Unfortunately for Buffalo, Thursday would not continue that trend. Thanks in part to an error by Riley Tirotta in the second, Lehigh Valley capitalized on the extra out Buffalo provided them and had a monster inning. They would score six unearned runs in the frame, highlighted by Bryan De La Cruz's two-RBI double. After Lehigh Valley added two more runs in the sixth inning from Paul McIntosh's two-run home run, Buffalo sat in an 8-0 hole. Willie MacIver and Je'Von Ward tried to fuel a comeback for the Bisons in the bottom half of the sixth. MacIver tripled in two runs, and then Ward blasted a two-run home run to cut the lead down to four. Ward's blast came on a splitter middle-in and had an exit velocity of 106.1 mph and traveled 422 feet. It would be the closest Buffalo would get to Lehigh Valley, as the IronPigs added a late insurance run and took the game 9-4. May 29: After some excitement that Chad Dallas could be called up to make a start in Baltimore for the big league club, he had to settle for being the bulk pitcher behind Brendon Little at Triple-A for Buffalo. Little threw a perfect inning, and then Willie MacIver gave the Bisons the early lead with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the first. Dallas entered the game at the start of the second inning and did well, until he was tagged with a two-run home run by Felix Reyes in the third inning. Dallas would then make it through the fourth and fifth innings without really any other trouble, before handing the ball off to Richard Gallardo in the sixth. In the bottom of the sixth, MacIver continued his big day with an RBI double that tied the game up at two. Gallardo would give up two runs in the seventh, before a big Riley Tirotta two-run home run to tie the game back up. With the game all square at four, it went into extra innings, where neither team scored in the tenth. Lehigh Valley then got an RBI single to break the tie in the eleventh, while Buffalo went 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning to lose 5-4. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 25-21 Series vs Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees) May 28: In the Thursday game between New Hampshire and Somerset, home runs were wild, and they were hit often for the Fisher Cats. Jay Harry started things in the first inning, this time with a rocket pulled to the right field corner for a solo home run. Later in the inning, a Jace Bohrofen RBI single and a Cutter Coffey two-run double would put New Hampshire up four runs quickly. In the fourth, a home run from Nick Goodwin and another home run from Sean Keys would give the Fisher Cats a commanding seven-run lead. The fifth inning was on repeat for New Hampshire, as Aaron Parker crushed a 115 mph home run that went 467 feet. Later in the inning, Goodwin launched his second home run of the game to put the Fisher Cats up nine. Harry would get in on the double home run feat, with his second in the seventh inning. It would be the last home run for the Fisher Cats, as they went on to win this one easily, 14-2. May 29: Fresh off of their six-home run night the day before, New Hampshire had the bats going from the start once again for the Friday night game. Jay Harry again started things with a home run in the first, but this time he was followed by Jace Bohrofen and Nick Goodwin also hitting home runs in the inning. With a six-run first, New Hampshire couldn't hold on though, as Somerset chipped away at the lead. In the fourth inning, Eddie Micheletti Jr. hit an RBI double to put the Fisher Cats back up three runs. Adrian Pinto would drive him in, putting the lead up to four. In the fifth inning, Goodwin would homer again, his fourth in two games. That put New Hampshire up 10-6, but it wouldn't last long. In the seventh inning, Somerset used two home runs and a couple of bases-loaded walks to take the lead by two. In the ninth, Patrick Winkel brought New Hampshire within one with an RBI single, but it wasn't enough. The Fisher Cats lost this one 12-11. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 20-29 Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants) May 28: Daniel Guerra struggled early on in his start against the Emeralds, giving up a run in the first after giving up three straight singles. In the second inning, he hit the leadoff batter and gave up another hit. He was able to pick off one of the baserunners but then allowed hits to Dakota Jordan and Gavin Kilen, leading to two more runs scored. He locked it in after that though, getting the next 10 batters out in a row in a solid five-inning start. A Manuel Beltre double and a wild pitch that sent him to third base led to a Maddox Latta RBI single to give the Canadians their first run in the bottom of the fifth, but Trace Baker gave that run back after a Beltre throwing error. Baker gave up an earned run in the seventh inning. Hayden Gilliland was able to knock in a run with his second hit of the night to make up for it, but the Canadians couldn’t catch up despite getting the same number of hits as the Emeralds on the night. May 29: The Canadians had some big extra-base hits to score the first runs of the ball game, with Carter Cunningham knocking in Jacob Sharp with his ninth double of the season and Brennan Orf hitting his first homer of the season in the second inning. Danny Thompson Jr. was the starter for the Canadians and had another good start, but gave up a homer in the third inning to lower the lead to one. The Canadians consistently pushed runs across the board though, as Sharp hit an RBI single in the third, and Orf had his second ribbie of the night with a single of his own in the fourth inning. Thompson gave up a two-run shot in the fifth to again make it a one-run game. Manuel Beltre kept up the scoring for Vancouver though, with an RBI single in the fifth inning to push the lead back to two. Reece Wissinger earned his first hold in Vancouver since getting promoted with three scoreless innings. A pair of sac flies from Sharp and Maddox Latta (after Orf had his third hit of the day with a triple) capped off the scoring for the Canadians, and Carson Myers finished the game off with a scoreless inning of his own for a great win to even up the series. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 20-29 Series vs Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies) May 28: It was a high-scoring affair as the Threshers and the Blue Jays kept on trading blows. The Jays were the first to strike as Juan Sanchez got hit by a pitch, then Aldo Gaxiola continued his hot streak with a double to put a runner on second and third. David Beckles hit a chopper to third to score Sanchez and Gaxiola as Nolan Beltran threw the ball away. Dariel Ramon then hit his fourth homer of the season to make it a four-run inning for the D-Jays. Lazaro Estrada made his first rehab start and pitched two scoreless innings, but everything got away from him in the third inning, letting the first four batters on base and getting replaced by Austin Smith, who allowed two more inherited runs to score. Troy Guthrie replaced Smith and gave up a triple and a single immediately to give up the lead. Some errors allowed another run to score, and then, with a runner on third, Guthrie threw a wild pitch to put the Threshers up by two. The game was tied up once again as Eric Snow and Gaxiola both drove in runs. Guthrie also started to settle down, going four more strong innings without allowing another run to score. The game remained tied heading into the seventh, but a JoJo Parker HBP led to a Sanchez double to put runners on second and third with no outs. Gaxiola got his third hit of the night, a big double to put the Jays up two. Lluveres Severino came in the ninth for a save opportunity and generated a double play despite walking his first two batters. The Jays just needed one more out to get the win, but Severino could not hold on, allowing a two-run homer to even up the ball game and send it to extras. The Jays scored three runs in the 10th inning, and it looked like they could win it, but Severino allowed three doubles in a row to lose the game on a walk-off in the 10th. May 29: In a lower-scoring affair, the Jays and Threshers still ended up heading to extra innings. Karson Ligon was the starter for Dunedin and allowed two runs early on in the first inning. Sam Shaw got a run back for the Jays in the second, but Ligon allowed his third run of the game on a homer to Nolan Beltran. Dylan Watts replaced Ligon and used his changeup effectively in 5.1 perfect innings, striking out five batters. Still, the Jays remained behind until the seventh inning, as with the bases loaded, Juan Sanchez drove in two runs on a single to tie it up. The game stayed tied until extras, where the Jays exploded. JoJo Parker knocked in the ghost runner Shaw, then Aldo Gaxiola hit his seventh homer of the season to make it six to three. Jake Cook hit a single for his fifth time getting on base of the game to add another run, before a wild pitch capped off the scoring for a five-run 10th inning. Franly Urena didn’t allow a run in the inning, and the Jays finally won their first game of this series. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 16-4 May 28: It was a wild affair in the Thursday game between the FCL Blue Jays and the FCL Phillies. The Phillies scored three in the second inning on a wild pitch and a two-run triple. They would take a four-run lead in the third on a bases-loaded walk. In the fifth, the Blue Jays put up a five-spot, the big hit being a C.J. Stubbs three-run home run. Stubbs continued his big day by adding a two-run home run in the seventh, and Renyel Campos had an RBI single to put the Blue Jays up one. The score wouldn't hold, as a three-run burst for the Phillies in the eighth inning gave them a 10-8 lead, and that is where it ended, as the Blue Jays squad lost this one. May 29: Yimi García was on the mound for a rehab start in this one for the FCL Blue Jays against the Phillies squad again. Things didn't go well, as he gave up an RBI double, a sacrifice fly, and a home run in the first inning. In the fourth, the Blue Jays squad put up six runs, with the big hit being a two-run homer from Hedbert Perez, who also had a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch later in the inning. Angel Rivero had a great game on the mound for the Blue Jays. He went four innings, gave up four hits, one run, and struck out nine batters. The Blue Jays team would win this one 8-4. View full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (May 21-May 22) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Syracuse Mets (New York Mets): 1-3 Season Record: 24-25 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies): 1-3 Season Record: 23-18 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Spokane (Colorado Rockies): 2-2 Season Record: 18-25 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins): 2-2 Season Record: 17-26 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 1-2 Season Record: 12-3 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 24-25 Series vs Syracuse Mets (New York Mets) May 21: Thursday's games against the Syracuse Mets really came down to whose bullpen flipped the worst. Buffalo was patient at the plate, walking 10 times in the game, and leading the way was Josh Kasevich. He would walk twice, have two singles, and score three times in the game. Charles McAdoo was also one of the big bats at the plate, knocking in three runs for the game. In the first inning, he started off his night with an RBI single, scoring RJ Schreck, who reached with a double. McAdoo got the lead back in the third inning, when he doubled home Kasevich and Schreck. Jonatan Clase extended the Buffalo lead to 4-2 in the fifth inning, with a big home run on a middle-middle fastball. With the game tied at four in the sixth inning, Brendon Little replaced CJ Van Eyk, as a runner was on first base. Little walked the first two batters he faced before hitting the third, allowing a run to cross home plate. After a strikeout, Ryan Clifford got a hold of a Little sinker and roped it for a bases-clearing double. Following another walk, Little was yanked with Buffalo in a huge hole. Pat Gallagher was almost as bad as Little, giving up three runs himself, in the bottom of the eighth. The Bisons would mount a little comeback, scoring four between the eighth and ninth innings, but the hole their bullpen dug was far too deep to climb out of, and Buffalo fell 12-8. May 22: Friday night's game was a much better display of pitching for Buffalo. Josh Fleming gave up a lot of hits (seven), but managed to work around them for the most part and make it into the fifth inning before being pulled. He would give up just two runs, both on sacrifice flies in the second and third innings. The runs would tie up the game, as Buffalo scored two in the top of the first, on a two-RBI double from Willie MacIver. The bullpen was magnificent in this one, combining to get 4.2 one-hit innings from Devereaux Harrison, Michael Plassmeyer, and Tanner Andrews. The performance was just enough to allow Buffalo to take the lead late in the game. In the eighth, Charles McAdoo launched his eighth home run of the season, a solo shot to left center. They added another run in the top of the ninth, on an RBI groundout by Josh Kasevich. Buffalo took a close game, 4-2, to begin their season record to 24-25. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 23-18 Series vs Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies) May 21: In the Thursday game between New Hampshire and Hartford, Gage Stanifer took the mound for the Fisher Cats and fired off his fourth start of zero or one earned runs in his last five games. He gave up three runs, though, and New Hampshire was having trouble with the bats. Stanifer went 4.2 innings, gave up three hits, only walked one, and struck out four. The first two runs scored on a home run by Bryant Betancourt, after an Arjun Nimmala errant throw on a routine ground ball extended the inning. It was the only bad pitch from Stanifer on the night. His lone walk should have been a strikeout as well, but a bad ball call ended Stanifer's night, and after he left, the first batter doubled in the run. Overall, Stanifer didn't have his best stuff, but his split/change was a key in this game and has been improving immensely. Offensively for New Hampshire, Jay Harry homered in the second inning, and Jackson Hornung did so in the eighth. Both weren't enough, though, as New Hampshire lost this one 6-2. May 22: Friday night was another rough night for New Hampshire as the bats seemed to have been slowing down recently. A Jorge Burgos home run in the third inning was the whole offense in the game for the Fisher Cats. Sean Keys got on base four times, with two hits and two walks, but the team only managed six hits and the lone run. Roc Riggio had the big hit for Hartford, a home run in the sixth inning. The Yard Goats would get to New Hampshire for eight runs over the third, fifth, and sixth innings. The Fisher Cats lost this one as well, this time 8-1. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 18-25 Series vs Spokane (Colorado Rockies) May 21: Landen Maroudis seems to have been figured out, as although the defense didn’t help him with a few errors, he gave up three homers on the night, with two coming in the third inning before being taken out after taking a comebacker. The Canadians were able to load the bases up the next inning, but all they could come up with was a bases-loaded walk for Brennan Orf. Gilberto Batista was the replacement for Maroudis and was solid, although he gave up another three runs in the fifth inning to make it 9-1 for Spokane. The Canadians showed some signs of life with a three-run homer from Jacob Sharp in the seventh inning, but they couldn’t surmount such a large lead, leading to another loss. May 22: The Canadians’ offense had an explosion, as the team combined for 15 runs on seven hits and 10 walks. Daniel Guerra was also excellent starting for Vancouver, going five shutout innings with six strikeouts. Juanmi Vasquez matched the strikeout total in just three one-hit innings, and then Trace Baker also brought the punchies with three of them himself. On the offensive end, there were huge games from Alexis Hernandez, who hit his sixth homer of the season with a grand slam to break the game open in the fifth inning. Dub Gleed and Maddox Latta both also hit homers on multi-hit nights, each being a three-run shot. The Canadians just ran away with this one thanks to that power surge on the night. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 17-26 Series vs Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins) May 21, Game 1: The Dunedin Blue Jays just couldn’t close this game out. They went down early in the first inning as Silvano Hechavarria gave up a two-run shot in the first inning, adding on to his early-season woes, and then he gave up another two runs in the second inning to put the Jays behind. Blaine Bullard and Nathan Lukes cut the lead to two with two RBI-hits in the second inning, and in the fifth inning, the Jays were able to take the lead with a Lukes homer, a hard RBI single from Juan Sanchez, and then David Beckles had himself a two RBI double to make it six to four for the Jays. Newly signed Bradley Wilson could not hold the lead, however, as he gave up a two-run homer in the seventh inning to force the game to go to extras. Wilson struggled even more in extras, as the Mighty Mussels scored four runs in the eighth. Beckles had another big extra-base hit in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run homer, but the Jays could not score another run in a close loss. May 21, Game 2: It was another nailbiter in the second game of the doubleheader. Troy Guthrie and Matthew Dalquist both went five innings with four strikeouts, but Guthrie gave up two earned runs compared to Dalquist’s single earned run given up. Austin Smith then gave up a homer in the sixth inning, giving the Mighty Mussels a two-run lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. The Jays were able to get within one after a wild pitch scored Jake Cook, but they were still down heading into the final inning of the game. Dariel Ramon hit a single to put the tying run on base, and Raimundo De Los Santos drove him in on an RBI triple to even it up. Cook was on deck and drove in De Los Santos for a walk-off victory in another close one. May 22: Walk-off magic happened again, this time with the other speedy outfielder for the Dunedin Blue Jays. Karson Ligon returned from the 7-day IL, sitting 95 mph and striking out five batters. The Jays scored the first four runs of the game unanswered, and the Mighty Mussels were only able to get on the board in the seventh inning against Dylan Watts, who went four innings with three strikeouts. Josbel Garcia allowed a couple of base runners in the eighth inning after Watts was taken out, and gave up a three-run homer to Luis Fragoza, making it a one-run game. An error led to an unearned run scoring in the bottom of the ninth, and the Jays yet again headed into extra innings. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 12-3 May 21: The FCL Blue Jays had their hitting shoes on for the Thursday game. They would pour in 12 hits, four walks, and 12 runs. They were doing damage with those hits as well, with the team hitting three home runs. Jean Joseph homered in the second, Sam White in the fifth, and Brock Tibbitts in the eighth inning. All of the starters had at least one hit, and Angel Guzman led the way with three of them. The FCL Blue Jays won this one 12-5. May 22: It was the opposite of the Thursday game for the FCL Blue Jays on Friday. They had seven hits, with two each from Angel Guzman, Franklin Rojas, and Andres Arias. Owen Gregg added a single as well, but the six singles and double from Rojas weren't good enough to score a run. The FCL Tigers scored two in the third inning and didn't look back in this one. They would add three more in the sixth inning, as the FCL Blue Jays lost easily, 5-0. View full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (May 14-May 15) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Worcester Red Sox (Boston Red Sox): 3-1: Season Record: 22-21 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Reading Fighting Phils (Philadelphia Phillies): 2-2 Season Record: 21-13 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners): 2-1 Season Record: 15-21 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Tampa Tarpons (New York Yankees): 1-3 Season Record: 14-23 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 2-1 Season Record: 9-1 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 20-21 Series vs Worcester Red Sox May 14: On Thursday, Buffalo sent Chad Dallas to the mound to start the game against the Worcester Red Sox. He has quickly climbed the ladder of the Bisons’ rotation and might in fact be the best starting pitcher they have right now. While he won't go deep into games just yet, he continues to build back up after recovering from Tommy John surgery. In Thursday's game, he started out a little shaky, but then finished his outing strong. In the top of the first inning, he gave up a lead-off home run to Nick Sogard, then a single and a walk. He managed to escape the inning without giving any more runs up, thanks to Nate Eaton getting caught stealing after his single. It would be the second inning that got him going. He struck out two and got a flyout for the easy 1-2-3 inning. Buffalo's bat woke up in the bottom half of the inning, dropping four runs on Worcester starter Jake Bennett. The scoring was highlighted by RBI singles from Josh Rivera and Ryan McCarty, and it was capped off by an RBI double to right field by RJ Schreck. Dallas would strike out two more batters in the third inning, on his way to completing a shutdown inning following the scoring barrage from the offense. He would end his day after the fourth inning, only giving up the one run and striking out five. The bullpen came in for him and kept going strong. Devereaux Harrison, Brendan Cellucci, and Jesse Hahn combined to throw four shutout innings and handed it off to Chase Lee for the ninth. Lee struggled, though, surrendering a single and a two-run home run, before getting the final out and earning the save. Buffalo would take the game 4-3 and get back to the .500 mark. May 15: On Friday night, the Toronto Blue Jays finally got a glimpse of Josh Kasevich and what he was supposed to be. After missing a lot of 2025, he has been getting into a groove at the plate, and it all came together for him to help lead the Bisons to a victory. He would finish the night going 3-for-4 and knocked in three runs on three RBI singles. His first came in the bottom of the first, scoring RJ Schreck. The second would come two innings later and knock in Je'Von Ward. Then the last RBI single came in the bottom of the fifth and plated Ward again. Ward wasn't done helping Buffalo, though; his monster game was capped off in the bottom of the seventh, when he launched his second home run of the season. On the mound, Buffalo got a good start from CJ Van Eyk, as he pitched into the seventh inning and only gave up two runs on the night. Tanner Andrews secured the win with a four-out save, while striking out two. Buffalo finally pulled their head above the .500 mark with a 5-2 win. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 21-13 Series vs Reading Fighting Phils (Philadelphia Phillies) May 14: Postponed May 15, Game 1: In the first game of the Friday doubleheader against the Reading Fightin Phils, Gage Stanifer was the starting pitcher for New Hampshire, and he unlocked the next level of his pitching evolution. He went five innings on 76 pitches, 51 of them for strikes. He gave up four hits, two walks, and two runs (one earned), while striking out nine. The unearned run scored in the first inning when Stanifer made an errant pickoff throw, and the second run in the third on a single. Overall, Stanifer was spectacular, though. He mixed his pitches well and quite frequently used his split, which was the best version he has displayed in the minor leagues. He generated 15 whiffs and looked dominant and in control of his pitches throughout the game. On the offensive side, Victor Arias hit his third home run at Double A, this time in the sixth inning to tie the game. In the top of the seventh, an Austin Murr home run gave Reading a two-run lead. New Hampshire would lose 4-2. May 15, Game 2: The second game of the doubleheader didn't go any better for New Hampshire, despite swapping home/away with Reading. Arjun Nimmala went 2-for-3, Jay Harry homered. And Sean Keys had another double. Cutter Coffey supplied the only other hit, as New Hampshire struggled to score. In the fifth inning, Alex Binelas hit a double to center field that would score two runs. Down two, Victor Arias made it closer by driving in a run on a groundout. That would be as close as it got, though, as the Fisher Cats lost this one 3-2. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 15-21 Series vs Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners) May 14: Nolan Perry continues to show excellence in his breakout season, striking out double-digit batters for the second time already this season in just five scoreless innings. He did allow three walks and three hits, and he loaded the bases in the fifth but managed to get out of it. The offense also did its job, with Maddox Latta knocking in the first run on a sac fly in the bottom of the second, and J.R. Freethy added another run in the fourth inning on an RBI groundout to make it two to nothing. But the game truly broke open in the fifth inning, as after an Alexis Hernandez single, Carter Cunningham smoked his eighth homer of the season to right field to double the lead. Jacob Sharp had his own RBI groundout in the seventh, and Brennan Orf put the game nearly out of reach with a two-RBI single in the eighth. Juanmi Vasquez had his best appearance of the season, going 2.2 innings, allowing only one hit and striking out three. Eminen Flores allowed two runs in the ninth inning, but Jonathan Todd replaced him and earned his second save of the season to get Vancouver a much-needed win. May 15: Postponed Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 14-23 Series vs Tampa Tarpons (New York Yankees) May 14: It was close for the entire game, as Troy Guthrie took the mound for the Jays and the rehabbing Chase Hampton took it for the Tarpons. The Jays were able to get on the board first with Blaine Bullard scoring Owen Gregg on a groundout, and a Hampton wild pitch allowed Dariel Ramon to score that same inning. The Tarpons answered right back as Guthrie gave up an RBI groundout of his own, before giving up a solo shot to Jackson Lovich to even it up. Guthrie allowed another homer in the fourth to give up the lead, but in the top of the sixth inning, the Jays reclaimed the lead after Yorman Licourt hit an RBI double and Aldo Gaxiola scored him right after with a single. Austin Smith blew the save on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth, and with the score tied in the bottom of the eighth inning, the bullpen faltered again, this time with Jack Eshleman taking the L with Lovich hitting his second homer of the day against him, resulting in a close 5-4 loss for the Jays. May 15: The Jays were able to steal a close one today, as Silvano Hechavarria is still showing some rust after coming back from the injured list. He had a clean first inning despite two walks, and the Jays gave him the lead with an Aldo Gaxiola two-run shot and a Jake Cook sac fly to put them up early. Hechavarria couldn’t get out of the second inning, however, as he loaded the bases on a hit by pitch, a single, a balk, and a walk to start the inning. He got a flyout and a strikeout, but walked yet another batter, leading to Carson Myers replacing him. Myers caught the walking bug and walked in another run before giving up a two-run double to Luis Puello to lose the lead for the Jays. The Jays slowly climbed their way back as Gaxiola got his third RBI of the day on a groundout to bring it within one, and in the fourth inning, JoJo Parker tied it up with an RBI single. Myers was able to pitch well heading into the fifth inning, but was replaced mid-inning by Luis Fonseca, who got out of the fifth inning but allowed a three-run homer in the sixth inning to once again put the Jays in a hole. Juan Rosas inched it closer with an RBI single after pinch-hitting for Edward Duran in the eighth, and a Jake Cook RBI groundout led to an Eric Snow single to tie it up and send it to extras. Josbel Garcia pitched 3.1 scoreless innings in his Dunedin debut, and in the top of the 10th, Gaxiola had RBI number four to give the Jays the lead, and Lluveres Severino was able to prevent the ghost runner from scoring in the bottom of that inning, as the Jays just squeaked by the Tarpons. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 9-1 May 14: In the Thursday game between the FCL Blue Jays and the FCL Tigers, the game was a slugfest from the start. Cris Rodriguez homered for the Tigers squad in the second inning to put them up by five early. In the third, the Tigers would add home runs from Ronald Ramirez and Steven Madero. Renyel Campos launched a home run for the Blue Jays team in the bottom half of the inning, which was followed up by an Andres Arias RBI single and a bases-loaded walk. Angel Guzman and Pascual Archila would homer for the Blue Jays as well in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively. It wasn't enough though, as the Blue Jays squad would lose this one 11-8. May 15: The FCL Jays got another win on Friday, and it was in part thanks to a one-man show at the plate. Sam White, who the Toronto Blue Jays signed as an undrafted free agent, was the star of the game. He hit two solo home runs, the first came in the fourth inning. The second solo home run he would launch in the sixth, which would prove to be the game winner. In between those home runs, Angel Guzman added a two-run double in the fifth, scoring Pascual Archilla and Keegan Pieternella. The only other hit they would have in the game was a single by Sam Smith. On the mound, Angel Rivero had a nice start. He pitched 3.2 innings, surrendered five baserunners, two runs (none earned), and struck out four. The FCL Jays won 4-3. View full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (May 7-May 8) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies): 2-2 Season Record: 17-20 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox): 4-0 Season Record: 19-10 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants): 2-1 Season Record: 13-17 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates): 1-3 Season Record: 12-19 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 3-0 Season Record: 5-0 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 17-20 Series Opponent: Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) May 7: RJ Schreck followed up his monster game Wednesday with another big game on Thursday. He led the offensive barrage from the Buffalo bats, as they broke through against Lehigh Valley with 13 runs, eight of them coming in a crazy fifth inning. Schreck started the scoring off in the top of the first inning with a two-run home run to right field, his fourth of the season. The lead was short-lived, with Otto Kemp connecting for a three-run home run off of Grant Rogers in the bottom half of the inning. After adding a couple of runs to take the lead back, Buffalo began the fifth inning with a lead-off walk and a single. Schreck then roped a ball to right center that scored a run. Later in the inning, Rafael Lantigua drew a bases-loaded walk to get another run across home plate, and then Carlos Mendoza was hit by a pitch to get the third run of the inning home. Buffalo wasn't done though. Ryan McCarty, Ismael Munguia, and Charles McAdoo all drew bases-loaded walks as well. Schreck would come back up in the inning and get a two-RBI single to cap off the big, eight-run inning. On the day, Schreck was 3-for-4, with five RBI, and three runs scored. Pat Gallagher was the best pitcher for Buffalo, going 2.2 innings, giving up just one hit, one walk, and striking out four. He brought his ERA down to 1.42 for the season and could be someone the big league club looks to if there comes a need for a relief pitcher over the summer. Buffalo took the game 13-5 and could have potentially started a win streak. May 8: With Chad Dallas on the mound Friday night as the bulk pitcher, Buffalo had a real shot to have a three-game winning streak heading into the final two games of the series this weekend. Dallas proved up to the task, coming in following Hayden Juenger's poor start. He gave up two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Dallas was cooking through four innings, giving up one unearned run. Other than that one blemish, he was great, striking out six and surrendering a measly two hits. He sat around 93 with his fastball and sinker, looking better the further out he gets from his Tommy John surgery. With the pitching keeping the game within reach, it was ultimately the bats that fell woefully short, only managing five hits in the night, only one going for extra bases. Buffalo was shut out on the offensive side of things, taking the loss 4-0 and falling to three games under .500 for the season. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 19-10 Series vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) May 7, Game 1: Gage Stanifer was on the mound for the first game of the doubleheader against the Portland Sea Dogs on Thursday. He started out strong, getting six of the first seven batters out, three via the strikeout. In the third and fourth innings, he gave up four baserunners, but made it through without giving up a run. He got a couple of pop-ups, a couple weak fly outs, and a groundout. Stanifer would work his way around a single in the fifth inning to cap off his best Double-A start: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. He also battled a very small strike zone on the day. On the offensive side of things, Adrian Pinto doubled in two runs in the third inning, and a groundout and error gave New Hampshire two more. They would go on to win game one by a score of 4-2. May 7, Game 2: In the second game of the day, Portland took the quick lead on a home run and an RBI single from Richard Gallardo. Gallardo would power through, though, and make it five innings, striking out eight batters without allowing another run. The New Hampshire offense picked it up, with two RBI groundouts and then an RBI single from Arjun Nimmala to tie the game at three. The game went to extra innings, and in the eighth and ninth frames, both teams traded runs. In the 10th inning, Nick Goodwin put New Hampshire up one with a sacrifice fly, and Eddie Micheletti Jr. laced an RBI single to give the Fisher Cats a two-run lead. It was enough, as Irv Carter held the Sea Dogs to nothing and New Hampshire won 7-5. May 8: In the Friday night game, pitching was truly optional. New Hampshire took a seven-run lead over the first two innings. The big hits were a Jay Harry three-run triple and a Harry RBI double. In the fourth, Jace Bohrofen launched his ninth home run of the season to put New Hampshire up seven runs again. Things went south the next few innings as Portland crushed two home runs. Eddie Micheletti Jr. would put the Fisher Cats up six runs with a three-run blast in the seventh inning. An Arjun Nimmala RBI double gave the Fisher Cats a three-run lead in the ninth, but the pitching again faltered, and Portland tied it up at 13 to go to extra innings. Thankfully, Portland was out of pitchers and brought in a position player to pitch. Sean Keys teed off on a pitch and crushed his 10th home run of the season. New Hampshire would finish off the Sea Dogs and win this wild one, 15-13. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 13-17 Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants) May 7: The dual-headed monster of Johnny King and Holden Wilkerson shut down the Eugene Emeralds. King struggled with his command again, walking four batters, but was still able to keep the runners on base from scoring, allowing only a single run in three innings pitched. Dub Gleed excelled in the lead-off spot, as he got on base four times. He ended up being the first run, as Alexis Hernandez hit a sac fly to score him to put the Canadians up one. Manuel Beltre hit his second homer of the year to add on to the lead. Peyton Williams had his seventh RBI for the Canadians this season with a single in the fourth. Wilkerson once again dominated in relief, pitching five innings of one-hit baseball, striking out five and lowering his season ERA to 1.52. Jonathan Todd gave up a run in the ninth but still got the save as the Canadians got a close win. May 8: The Canadians had another great pitching performance, this time from the recently promoted Nolan Perry, who’s been excellent since returning from injury. Other than a solo homer given up to Lisbel Diaz in the bottom of the third inning, Perry was nearly untouchable. He gave up only three hits and one walk, while striking out eight batters and generating 18 swings and misses. Tucker Toman and Jacob Sharp led the way for the offense, as both hitters had two-RBI nights; they turned a tied game in the top of the eighth into a three-run lead with two clutch singles. Kelena Sauer got his second save of the season, allowing a run but guaranteeing the win with two innings of solid pitching. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 12-19 Series vs Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates) May 7: Brandon Barriera’s velocity was down a bit, sitting only 93 mph, but he relied heavily on his slider to strike out four batters in three innings, allowing one earned run. A big night from Yorman Licourt led the way for Dunedin’s offense, as the slugger hit his fifth homer of the season and drove in five of the Jays’ nine runs. Oakville kid Owen Gregg got his first hit as a Dunedin Blue Jay as well, as the Jays ran away with this one early. Mason Davenport allowed four runs in the seventh inning to make it a bit more interesting, but a Licourt double took the lead back to three, and Lluveres Severino got his first save of the season to get the Jays their first win of the series. May 8: The Jays had to face the talented Seth Hernandez for the second time this season, and the 2025 sixth-overall pick one-upped his last outing against the Jays by striking out nine batters in six innings. Troy Guthrie struggled to put hitters away, allowing nine hits and five runs while only striking out three. Noah Palmese had his longest appearance of the season, going 3.1 innings in relief, allowing a run on a solo homer to the “Password.” The Jays' only runs of the game came in the bottom of the ninth inning, with Juan Sanchez finally showing some of the power that he was known for in the Florida Complex League, hitting his first homer of the season. Yorman Licourt ended up scoring on a balk that same inning, but they couldn’t get any closer than that. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 5-0 May 7: Thursday's game for the Rookie ball Blue Jays featured Sann Omosako pitching in his first game of the season. Yimi García started the game on his rehab assignment and got two outs before allowing two singles. Omosako came in for him and gave up a single himself, which would score a run. After that, he was solid, going 4.1 innings, not allowing another run to score, walking just one, and striking out one. With the game still up for grabs, Renyel Campos knocked in a run in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single, and then Jake Cook did the same in the bottom of the fourth. Cook would give the Jays the win with another RBI single in the sixth, capping off his 2-4 game, with two RBI. The Jays won 3-2, but Tim Piasentin is still searching for a groove, as he went 0-3, with a walk and dropped his batting average down to .071 through the first week of the season. May 8: The FCL Jays started the game against the FCL Yankees hot. Tim Piasentin drew a walk and then scored on Franklin Rojas’ RBI double. Two batters later, Kennew Blanco doubled home Rojas and gave the FCL Jays a quick 2-0 lead. In the next inning, the Jays added two more runs with a double from Angel Guzman that scored Pascual Archila and Rafael Flores, who had reached via walks. The Jays didn't score any more runs the rest of the game, but Piasentin did collect a single on a line drive to right field in the top of the fourth inning. The FCL Jays won 4-3 and stayed perfect on the season with a 5-0 record. View full article

Trey YesavageJoJo ParkerJohnny KingArjun NimmalaGage StaniferRicky TiedemannJuan SanchezYohendrick PinangoCharles McAdooNolan PerryBlaine BullardJosh KasevichTim PiasentinSean KeysLanden MaroudisBrandon BarrieraDaniel GuerraDylan WattsVictor AriasAdrian Pinto

Trey YesavageJoJo ParkerJohnny KingArjun NimmalaGage StaniferRicky TiedemannJuan SanchezYohendrick PinangoCharles McAdooNolan PerryBlaine BullardJosh KasevichTim PiasentinSean KeysLanden MaroudisBrandon BarrieraDaniel GuerraDylan WattsVictor AriasAdrian Pinto

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 30-May 1) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees): 1-3 Season Record: 14-17 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies (New York Mets): 4-1 Season Record: 14-9 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs. Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks): 1-3 Season Record: 10-15 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs. Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami Marlins): 1-3 Season Record: 10-15 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 14-17 Series Opponent: Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees) April 30: Buffalo took on a tough challenge Thursday, having to face one of the New York Yankees’ top pitching prospects, Carlos Lagrange. After falling down a run in the first, the Bisons jumped on Lagrange in the third and fourth innings, with an RBI double from Carlos Mendoza and an RBI single from Josh Rivera. Austin Voth would exit the game in the fourth inning after a suboptimal performance, only pitching 3.2 innings, giving up seven hits, and surrendering two runs. With the bullpen into the game, the Bisons allowed runs to trickle across home plate. Brendon Little gave up one run in the seventh inning from an RBI single. He had one of his worst outings since being demoted from the major league team. He was touched up for a hit and walked two. Tanner Andrews then replaced Little and got tagged for a solo home run to right field. Down two runs and headed into the ninth inning, Buffalo got a rally going. Rivera doubled home Willie MacIver, and then William Simoneit hit a ball to center that was misplayed, allowing Rivera to score. The Bisons almost took the lead on the play as well, but Simoneit was thrown out at home going for the little league home run, after the error on Spencer Jones. In the bottom of the 10th, Chase Lee couldn't keep the game going, as Jonathan Ornelas walked it off and gave the RailRiders a 5-4 win. May 1, Game 1: It was another doubleheader for Buffalo on Friday afternoon. Chad Dallas took the mound for the Bisons and had his longest outing of the season. He pitched 4.2 innings, only giving up five hits and two runs. He didn't walk anyone and struck out two. He used his four-seam fastball and sinker (93-94 mph) a lot more this game than in past starts, giving the appearance that he is getting more comfortable after missing last year recovering from Tommy John surgery. The bats couldn't take advantage of Dallas keeping the Bisons in the game, though. They would only get three baserunners all game and had no chance to take back the lead from the RailRiders, falling 2-0 in the doubleheader-shortened game. May 1, Game 2: In the second game of the doubleheader, Grant Rogers was on the mound for the Bisons and actually outperformed game one starter, Chad Dallas. Rogers gave up a lot of hits (seven) and walked one, but was able to pitch around the traffic. He would only surrender three runs (two earned) over his five innings. Unlike in game one, the bats were dialed in for this game. Ismael Munguia, who was called up to Triple-A Buffalo on Friday, had himself a nice day at the plate, going 2-4 with a run scored. The Bisons broke out on top in the first innings with a massive five runs to open the game, highlighted by Josh Rivera's three-run, bases-clearing triple. William Simoneit added two runs, with his first home run of the season at Triple A. Yariel Rodríguez pitched a flawless seventh, getting a one, two, three inning and earning the save, as Buffalo won 8-3. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 14-9 Series vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies (New York Mets) April 30: In the Thursday game between New Hampshire and Binghamton, Adrian Pinto put the Fisher Cats up one from the start with a leadoff home run. Binghamton tied it back up in the fourth inning off a sacrifice fly against New Hampshire starting pitcher Gage Stanifer. Stanifer did not have his fastball command at all in this one, and things went south in the fifth inning. Stanifer managed to get through four pretty easily despite the fastball, but in the fifth, he walked two and gave up an RBI single before leaving. Two more runs would be charged to Stanifer, and his final line was four innings, four hits, two earned runs, six walks, and six strikeouts – some good mixed in with his bad fastball command on the day. Eddie Micheletti Jr. added an RBI single and Pinto an RBI groundout, but it wasn't enough as New Hampshire lost this one 6-3. May 1: The Friday night game started off with another huge inning from the Fisher Cats. Jace Bohrofen drove in a run with a single, Sean Keys doubled him home, Jay Harry and Nick Goodwin added RBI doubles, and Jorge Burgos finished the run-scoring outburst with an RBI single. Six runs had crossed the plate in the bottom of the first for New Hampshire. In the seventh inning, New Hampshire piled on again, this time with Aaron Parker and Jackson Hornung launching solo home runs. Alex Amalfi got the three-inning save, and New Hampshire won an easy one, this time 11-4. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 10-15 Series vs. Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks) April 30: The sloppy play continues to rear its ugly head for the Canadians, as despite excellent pitching performances from Johnny King and Holden Wilkerson, who both pitched four strong innings, they ended up losing in extra innings once again. With two outs left in the top of the eighth, Wilkerson induced a hard hit grounder to Dub Gleed, who was unable to field it, leading to two runs scoring for the Hops. In the bottom of that inning, Tucker Toman walked, then advanced to third on a passed ball, before Alexis Hernandez walked, leading to runners on the corners with no outs. Toman made the first out at home plate on a J.R. Freethy grounder to the pitcher, but Jacob Sharp got the first run for Vancouver on a sac fly, and Freethy was able to get to third. Matt Scannell walked, and with Manuel Beltre at the dish, Scannell got hung up between the bases, allowing Freethy to score in the distraction. This brought the game to extra innings, and Jonathan Todd was able to get two outs but ended up loading the bases before throwing a wild pitch, allowing two runners to score with another error from Sharp this time. The Canadians couldn’t capitalize on their own ghost runner in the 10th, leading to a 4-2 loss. May 1: The Canadians once again took it to extras. This time, they took an early deficit, as Austin Cates pitched well but allowed two homers, which gave the Hops a three-run lead. The Canadians cut the lead to one as Hayden Gilliland crushed his first homer of the season in the fifth inning to score Beltre and himself. Gilly once again took to the plate in the bottom of the seventh and once again launched a ball over the fence, tying the game up in the seventh. The score remained unchanged once again, with Kelena Sauer and Carson Pierce pitching four and a half shutout frames, leading to Matt Scannell leading it off in the bottom of the 10th inning, where he walked it off with a double in the gap, finally breaking the Canadians’ losing streak. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 10-15 Series vs. Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami Marlins) April 30: Dariel Ramon led the charge offensively for the Blue Jays, as the diminutive hitter hit his third home run of the season already, scoring three runs and putting the Jays up early. Blaine Bullard continued to impress with an RBI single the same inning, giving the Jays a 4-0 lead. Dayne Pengelly didn’t allow a run despite four walks, and Yondrei Rojas looked good in his first rehab appearance. Things fell apart in the eighth inning as the Hammerheads got on the board with a two-run double against Lluveres Severino, and a disastrous ninth inning from 14th rounder Noah Palmese led to five runs scoring for the Hammerheads, losing the lead for good. With the bases loaded in the ninth, the Jays had a chance to come back, but Victor Arias grounded into a fielder’s choice double play, with Cresswell’s aggressive baserunning to home ending the game as he was hung up between third and home. May 1: The Jays got to an early lead after loading the bases in the first, and Aldo Gaxiola knocked in two runs with a single. However, Brandon Barriera did not have it in this game’s start, as he didn’t get out of the second inning, walking three batters, allowing four runs and not striking out anyone. The 'pen didn’t fare much better, as they gave up a total of 10 runs in an absolute rout of the Dunedin Blue Jays. The Jays only struck out four batters on the night, and gave up fourteen runs in total, and although they got a four-run scoring outburst in the bottom of the eighth, they were still down 11-6, before the Hammerheads got a three-run homer in the top of the ninth for extra insurance. View full article

We are finally here. We've unveiled the entire Jays Centre Top 20 Prospects list, and now have reached the number one spot. Trey Yesavage is a man who needs no introduction. He debuted at the end of the 2025 season and proceeded to become a star during the Toronto Blue Jays’ magical run to the World Series. If you can believe it, he is still a prospect, so, on the day of his 2026 debut, let's dive into what makes him deserving of our top spot. If you haven't read our previous articles, you can do so now before continuing: No. 20 to 16 No. 15 to 11 No. 10: Jake Bloss No. 9: Yohendrick Pinango No. 8: Victor Arias No. 7: Juan Sanchez No. 6: Gage Stanifer No. 5: Johnny King No. 4: Arjun Nimmala No. 3: Ricky Tiedemann No. 2: JoJo Parker Yesavage made his way to the Toronto Blue Jays organization in 2024, when they drafted him in the first round (20th overall), out of East Carolina University. The Blue Jays opted to hold him out of games that season and then start him at Single-A Dunedin to begin 2025. He started his magical season with a rough game, one in which he walked six batters and showed terrible control. It didn't take long for him to right the ship, as he had three double-digit strikeout games over his next six starts. The phenomenal aspect of those performances might have actually been his control; he only walked two over 29.2 innings in that span. He was then promoted to High-A Vancouver, where the strikeouts continued to rack up, but the walks did as well. He wasn't long for High-A Vancouver, only pitching in four games there, for a total of 17.1 innings, and allowed just three runs. It was then off to Double-A New Hampshire, where he walked 11 batters in his first five starts. Ultimately, he adjusted and found his control again, walking zero over his last three starts there. Triple-A Buffalo was his next stop and proved to be a real challenge for him, as he walked 11 in six appearances and gave up seven earned runs. The Blue Jays were nonetheless ready to get Yesavage to the major league level, having him debut on September 15. It's what happened next that cemented him as a legend to Blue Jays fans. The team made him a part of the postseason roster, and he didn't disappoint, firing 5.1 no-hit innings against the hated New York Yankees and striking out 11 on his way to one of the best performances of the 2025 playoffs. In fact, only he was really able to outdo himself. It took seven innings of three-hit ball against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series to do it. He would end up striking out 12 batters on that magical night in Los Angeles, and while he couldn't help the Blue Jays to the ultimate win, he earned the kind of legendary status that will last all of time. What To Like When you look at Yesavage, the biggest thing to like about him is his swing-and-miss stuff, and he has a lot of it. In the minor leagues during the 2025 season, he had a strikeout rate of 41.1% (100th percentile). In his three games in the majors before the playoffs started, his strikeout rate was 25.8%, and it rose to 35.6% in the playoffs. What makes him so good is that, to pair with his elite strikeout stuff, he is able to keep hitters from making good contact. He held minor league hitters to just a .156 batting average and major league hitters to a .236 batting average. The uniqueness in Yesavage's delivery and his pitch arsenal really drives the whiffs to crazy levels. He has a pitch release of over seven feet, one of the highest in all of baseball. While his arsenal features some really good pitches, he relied mostly on three: a four-seam fastball, a splitter, and a slider. The four-seam fastball had around 19.5 inches of induced vertical break (iVB). Couple that with his release height and attack angle, and it proved to be an extremely difficult pitch for hitters to square up. His splitter was his next best pitch and dove on hitters. With 31.5 inches of actual vertical drop, it was nearly unhittable. His slider became a huge weapon in the playoffs when he lost the command of his splitter; it had the same effect with a different type of break. What To Work On Yesavage really had only one major thing holding him back at times from becoming a star: his control. He tamed it in the playoffs last year, but in the minor leagues in 2025, he had a walk rate of 10.5% (48th percentile). In the majors, it was 11.3% (10.1% in the playoffs), and this year, it has been 12.5% on his rehab assignment. You can see just from his playoff games how vital curtailing the walks is to him becoming an ace starting pitcher. He walked just one in the 11-strikeout game against the Yankees and zero in his 12-strikeout game against the Dodgers in the World Series. In the three starts he made between those games in the playoffs, he walked nine and only struck out a combined 15 hitters. His strike rate in the minor leagues last year was 64.8% (78th percentile). This shows he might be searching for the strikeouts a little too much and could improve his performances by not nibbling on the edges and instead trusting his stuff in the zone a little more. This should also improve his length in games, as he won't rack up as many pitches with deep counts and strikeouts. What's Next Yesavage is going to make his season debut for the Blue Jays tonight, Tuesday, April 28. He can give them a huge boost, as their starting rotation has been decimated by injuries and bad play so far in 2026. If he can start the season just as hot as he finished 2025, he can almost single-handedly turn the Blue Jays’ season around and give them the boost of energy and excitement that the team very much needs right now. It will be important that he doesn't try to do too much, but if he can keep the walks down, he could quickly become the ace in waiting behind Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease. View full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 23-April 24) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs. Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians): 2-2 Season Record: 12-13 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs. Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies): 2-2 Season Record: 10-7 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs. Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels): 3-1 Season Record: 9-10 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels(Minnesota Twins): 1-3 Season Record: 9-10 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 12-13 Series Opponent: Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians) April 23: Grant Rogers toed the rubber to start the game for Buffalo against Columbus, and he twirled a gem by his standards. He made it through five innings, not allowing a single run, walking one, and striking out three. He put Buffalo in a great position to grab a win and get back to the .500 mark. The Bisons' bats took on the task head-on; they were led by three-hit games from Josh Kasevich and William Simoneit. Kasevich would kick off the scoring in the third inning with an RBI single that scored Simoneit. Josh Rivera added to the lead the next inning, when he unloaded on a middle-up changeup and smoked it 104.4 mph off the bat for a 411-foot solo home run. Yohendrick Pinango didn't want to be left out of the fun, as he shot a ball the opposite way for a two-run double in the seventh. With Buffalo holding a 4-1 lead going into the top of the ninth inning, Hayden Juenger came on to close it out for the Bisons. Unfortunately, he imploded in epic fashion. After getting the lead-off hitter to fly out for the first out of the inning, Juenger let the next three batters reach with a single and two walks. He was replaced by Adam Macko, who didn't fare any better, as he gave up the lead on a three-RBI, bases-clearing triple. In the bottom of the ninth, Charles McAdoo picked up the bullpen, with a sacrifice fly to tie the game and send it to extra innings. In the 10th, Simoneit would again come up clutch for the Bisons, singling to center and bringing home the winning run. The Bisons won 6-5 and reached the .500 mark once again. April 24: In a high-scoring game on Friday night, Chad Dallas finally got roughed up, in what would be his worst outing of the season. After giving up a run in the top of the first inning, Dallas coughed up five more runs in the second inning. The scoring barrage was highlighted by Travis Bazzana's two-RBI double to right field. Despite the terrible start, Dallas was able to end on a high note, striking out the side in the third inning, all swinging. The bullpen didn't do much better, as Tanner Andrews and Jesse Hahn combined to give up six runs. The bats tried to keep pace with Columbus. They tallied 11 hits, and everyone in the lineup recorded at least one. Charles McAdoo hit his fourth home run of the season, a 413-foot blast for a solo shot in the fourth inning. The Bisons could have used some of his juice, as they totaled seven doubles on the night, but could only get six runs across home plate. Buffalo fell 12-6 and yet again couldn't cross the .500 mark, falling to a game below it on the season. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 10-7 Series vs. Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies) April 23: The Thursday night game between New Hampshire and Reading had a back-and-forth feel for much of the night. Gage Stanifer got the start for the Fisher Cats, and his command was very much out of control from the start. He walked three of the first four batters, but really settled in after that. He went four innings, allowing just four hits and one earned run, while walking three and striking out four. Only six of his first 21 pitches went for strikes, but he figured it out, as he finished the rest of his innings with a 74% strike rate. Sean Keys stepped up big for New Hampshire on the day. He opened up the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning. Also, after Ismael Munguia homered to give the Fisher Cats a two-run lead, Keys launched his eighth home run of the year in the fourth. Up four runs, Bryan Rincon cut into the lead with a solo shot off of Stanifer. Aaron Parker added an RBI single, and New Hampshire would hold on to win 6-4. April 24: The Friday night contest was a close game for much of it. Richard Gallardo and Alex Amalfi split the game for New Hampshire, combined for all nine innings, and only gave up six hits, walked just two, and struck out five combined. They held the Fightin Phils to no runs on the night. On offense for the Fisher Cats, Sean Keys once again took center stage. This time launching his ninth home run of the season. A 110.5 mph low line drive missile. In the seventh inning, New Hampshire took charge as Jay Harry drove in a run on an RBI single, Ismael Munguia had a sacrifice fly, and Jace Bohrofen doubled in three runs. Harry would add an RBI triple the next inning, and the Fisher Cats won big, this time 9-0. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 9-10 Series vs. Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels) April 23: Danny Thompson Jr. is making a name for himself, as he’s now pitched 15 innings this season without giving up a single earned run, striking out 42.9% of the batters he’s faced and walking a little under nine percent. Since getting drafted in the eighth round in the 2025 draft for just $5,000, he’s only given up a single earned run. Peyton Olejnik also pitched well, keeping the Canadians scoreless until the fourth inning, where Carter Cunningham hit a triple to lead off the inning. After an Arjun Nimmala walk, Peyton Williams knocked Cunningham in with a single, and Alexis Hernandez got hit by a pitch immediately after to load the bases. A Jacob Sharp sac fly and a Dub Gleed single scored two more runs. The Dust Devils struck back after Thompson came off the mound, as Jonathan Todd gave up a two-run shot to Anthony Scull. Nimmala gave the Canadians an insurance run on a sac fly, which came in clutch as Carson Pierce gave up a run the inning after. Sharp got his second RBI in the eighth to add another run for the Canadians, and Eminen Flores got his second save with two scoreless innings to guarantee the Canadians’ fifth win in a row. April 24: The Canadians and Dust Devils had a pitching duel. Top prospect Johnny King walked the first two batters but was able to lock in after that, striking out four in three no-hit innings. The Canadians' offense couldn’t get it going, despite Arjun Nimmala getting on base a few times, including a double, but he was one of only three Canadians to get a hit. Holden Wilkerson continues to pitch well, piggybacking off of King, with four scoreless innings of his own. Jay Schueler went another two innings without allowing a single hit, with the Canadians carrying a one-hitter into extra innings. Unfortunately, Trace Baker struggled once again, raising his season ERA to 23.14 as he gave up three runs in extras to break the winning streak for Vancouver. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 9-10 Series vs. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins) April 23: In Thursday's afternoon game, the Dunedin Blue Jays got another start from Nolan Perry, who’s been nothing but excellent since returning from Tommy John. His strong stuff showed once again, as he struck out seven of the first nine batters he saw. Enmanuel Bonilla had a strong night, with his second homer of the season and driving in four runs, despite striking out three times. Juan Rosas made his debut for Dunedin, and his first hit for the D-Jays was a three-run homer to give the team a big early lead. Things fell apart after that, as no more Jays crossed the plate after Bonilla drove in two on a single, and the Jays’ bullpen struggled, with Reece Wissinger and Austin Smith giving up two runs each to bring the game to within one, and Noah Palmese blew the save, giving up six runs, including two homers. April 24: The Jays tried to get above .500 after a frustrating loss the day before, and Blaine Bullard tried his best to get them there. The young outfielder went 4-for-5 with a triple and a homer, scoring three of the Jays' four runs, along with two stolen bases. Dayne Pengelly also had a strong start, with just under four innings of scoreless pitching. Luis Victorino's poor outing spoiled the strong performances from those two, as he gave up five runs in relief. Mason Davenport and Jack Eshleman kept the score close, but the Jays offense couldn’t get over the hump, dropping the team under .500. View full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 16-April 17) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals): 2-2 Season Record: 9-10 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs. Chesapeake Baysox (Baltimore Orioles): 4-0 Season Record: 8-4 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs. Spokane (Colorado Rockies): 2-2 Season Record: 4-9 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs. Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies): 2-2 Season Record: 7-6 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 9-10 Series Opponent: Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals) April 16: Postponed April 17, Game 1: On Friday, Charles McAdoo had himself one of the best all-around performances for a Buffalo player in 2026. During game one of the doubleheader with Rochester, he went wild, crushing a three-run home run in the top of the seventh innings to break it open for Buffalo. Before he brought home the win with the big blasts, he had two other hits, singles in the second inning and the sixth inning. He also added a stolen base after his single in the second. Rafael Lantigua gave the Bisons the early lead in the second inning, hitting a three-run home run himself. Out on the mound for Buffalo was one of their steady stars so far this season, Chad Dallas. He went three innings, giving up only one run, on three hits, while striking out six. Yariel Rodriguez came into the game in the seventh and put a stamp on the Buffalo win by striking out two and earning the save. The Bisons won 6-2 and brought their season record back to .500 at 9-9. April 17, Game 2: In game two of the doubleheader, it was yet again Charles McAdoo who was the standout player for Buffalo. In the top of the first inning, McAdoo followed a walk and a single with another big three-run home run. In the bottom half of the inning, Rochester answered with a crooked number of their own. They would score five runs off of Bisons starter Grant Rogers, highlighted by back-to-back home runs from Andrés Chaparro and Yohandy Morales. Unfortunately for Buffalo, their bats disappeared entirely, only getting one more hit in the seven-inning game. Rogers, Brendon Little, and Brendan Cellucci kept Rochester from adding any more runs after the first inning. Without any runs themselves, though, they fell 5-3 and dropped back below .500 to a 9-10 record. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 8-4 Series vs. Chesapeake Baysox (Baltimore Orioles) April 16: Thursday, Gage Stanifer was on the mound for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, and he again pitched much better than his opening game at Double A this year. He went four innings, gave up just one hit, walked 3, struck out six, and was charged with two runs. Both runs scored after he left the game and reached via walks in the fifth inning during a thunderstorm they played through. With the New Hampshire offense, it wasn't much of a problem though. The Fisher Cats put up six runs in the fourth inning and the eighth inning. They had 15 hits (seven extra base hits), and the big one was a Jace Bohrofen home run in the eighth inning. Jackson Hornung, Alex Stone, and Jay Harry all had three hits apiece for New Hampshire, as they won big again, 12-6. April 17: The Friday night game against the Baysox had a similar feel to it as the Thursday one, but this time, things came out a bit differently. Richard Gallardo got the start for New Hampshire, went four innings and only surrendered two hits and two walks, but the Baysox scored five runs in the second inning. Aaron Parker started the scoring in the first inning for New Hampshire with an RBI single. In the bottom of the second down four runs, the Fisher Cats added three to cut the lead to one. Eddie Micheletti Jr. had an RBI single, a run scored on a passed ball, and Parker drove in a run with his second RBI single. Jackson Hornung continued his hot hitting with an RBI single in the sixth, and Aron Estrada gave the lead back to the Baysox in the seventh with an RBI double. In the eighth, a groundout to the pitcher would score the tying run for the Fisher Cats, ultimately sending the game to extra innings. In the bottom of the tenth, an intentional walk of Sean Keys and a bunt single loaded the bases. A wild pitch by Daniel Lloyd let Nick Goodwin scramble home for the winning run and walk-off win for New Hampshire, 7-6. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 4-9 Series vs. Spokane (Colorado Rockies) April 16: On a day with a lot of strong pitching performances in the system, Daniel Guerra stepped up and provided one of his own. The 22-year-old righty struck out 11 hitters in five innings, without giving up a single hit and only walking two. Maddox Latta had his second homer in as many games to give the Canadians the early lead, and a throwing error in the fourth allowed Vancouver to grab two more runs. Trace Baker replaced Guerra in the sixth and struggled, giving up the lead immediately, allowing five runs, with four of them being earned, and was only able to get two outs. Eminen Flores kept it close by keeping it scoreless until the ninth inning, where Carter Cunningham continued to dominate with a clutch two-run homer to send it to extras. In the tenth inning, Tucker Toman was the batter with the sacks packed and hit his first homer of the season for a grand slam. Jonathan Todd gave up a two-run homer in the bottom of the tenth, but Vancouver was able to escape with the win. April 17: The Canadians took it to extra innings again this game, but instead of offensive performances driving the way, the pitching was incredible. Danny Thompson Jr. continues his scoreless campaign to start the season, with four innings of one-hit baseball, striking out eight batters. Aaron Munson has been streaky to start the season, but he was good this outing, striking out six more batters himself across three innings. Kelena Sauer made it the third pitcher in a row to go scoreless to end regulation, and he also struck out three hitters himself. The Canadians' offense sputtered, though, as they only mustered up five hits and three walks, leaving ten men on base. The Canadians couldn’t capitalize on the ghost runner in the top of the tenth, and Juanmi Vasquez gave up a walk-off base hit with two outs to lose the game for the Canadians. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 7-6 Series vs. Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies) April 16: José Berríos finally returned to the mound after getting put on the injured list in spring training due to a fractured elbow. The velo was up to where it was pre-injury, as he was sitting 95 mph on his fastballs. Berrios looked like he was working on stuff on his return, as he gave up five runs. The D-Jays were powered by shortstop Eric Snow, who knocked in the first two runs for Dunedin with a double, and Dariel Ramon scored Snow on an RBI single. The duo did it again in the fourth inning, as Snow’s aggressive baserunning led to a throwing error after he stole third, and Ramon hit his first career homer to take the lead back. Nolan Perry’s return from Tommy John hit its peak, as he struck out 12 batters in just five innings, only allowing a single hit. Unfortunately, Hawkeye was down during his outing, so we missed out on his pitch data, but the big righty was commanding his breaking balls and generated a ton of whiffs. Juan Sanchez made his debut and got his first pro hit. Austin Smith ended up blowing the lead in the ninth, leading to another extra-inning game for the D-Jays, and with the bases loaded, they once again walked it off, this time on a hit-by-pitch. April 17: The game started off horribly, as Karson Ligon was taken out of the game after feeling something on a warm-up pitch. Franly Urena was forced to start and pitched admirably in spite of the circumstances, striking out five batters, but giving up two runs. Peyton Williams had his first homer of the season in the second, and Aldo Gaxiola followed that up with an RBI double, and was then knocked in by Dariel Ramon’s first double of the season. Reece Wissinger pitched three and a third scoreless innings to keep the lead for the Jays, but the Threshers got to Diego Dominguez, and the offense couldn’t fight back, leading to a 5-3 loss. View full article

Jays Centre is counting down the top 20 prospects in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Check out prior entries in the series here: No. 20 to 16 No. 15 to 11 No. 10 No. 9 No. 8 No. 7 No. 6 No. 5 We are entering the home stretch of our countdown of Jays Centre's top 20 prospects. We have already breezed through numbers 20-16, 15-11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, and now we have reached inside the top five to No. 4. Starting off this coveted tier of prospects is someone who sat at the top in prior iterations of this list, but now has fallen just a little: Arjun Nimmala, a prospect who oozes talent and is ready to climb back up to the top of this list with a hot start to 2026. Let's take a look at what he has done, what he does well, where he needs to improve, and what lies next for this budding star. No. 4: SS Arjun Nimmala (High-A Vancouver) PA H 2B 3B HR OPS wRC+ K% BB% 543 106 29 3 13 .694 92 21.4% 10.1% Out of Strawberry Crest High School in Dover, Florida, Nimmala was selected 20th overall in the first round of the 2023 MLB draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He signed for just $3 million, which was slightly under slot value, but it was more than enough for him to jump into professional baseball and forego playing in college. He managed to get into a few Rookie ball games that same year, collecting five hits across nine games, including a double, triple, and a stolen base. What was extremely impressive during the small sample was his 14 walks, good enough for a walk rate of 35%. It was a sign of his potential talent and gave Blue Jays fans plenty of optimism heading into his first full season the following year. In 2024, the Blue Jays sent Nimmala straight to Single-A Dunedin, where he promptly looked like a stud. In his first three games, he hit a home run, knocked in three, and racked up four hits. For the season, he played in 83 games at the level, slashed .232/.313/.476, and hit 16 home runs. His power was on full display, as he added 17 doubles and six triples to his home run total. In all, he had 39 extra-base hits on the year and was starting to get a ton of national attention in the prospect world. He did, however, show some worrying signs through all of the good; he had a strikeout rate of 31.3% and walked at only an 8.3% clip. His contact rate was also a little low at 69.9%. Then came his 2025 season. Last year was one in which Nimmala saw improvements in some aspects of his game, but regression in others. He played the entire year at High-A Vancouver, where he had 543 plate appearances across 120 games. Health was a bright spot for him, and so was his strikeout rate, which dropped from 31.3% the prior season to 21.4%. Despite the big change in his swing and miss profile, his slash line dipped to .224/.313/.381, and he only had 13 home runs on the season. Nimmala did make up for some of the lack of power with 29 doubles and three triples, but they just don't affect the game as much as the flashy home runs do. He did pick up his impact on the basepaths last year, swiping 17 bags in 20 attempts. His newfound speed adds an extra layer to the multitude of ways he can help his team win games. What To Like Nimmala has loads of power in his bat, and he's shown a tremendous ability to get to it, whether it is in the form of home runs, doubles, or triples. He impacts the game and can do it at an elite level. Last season, his home run total took a step back while at High-A Vancouver, but the 13 home runs he did have were good enough for the 87th percentile in all of the minor leagues. He made up for the drop in home runs by hitting a crazy amount of doubles, 29 (97th percentile). With Vancouver's ballpark being a notoriously pitcher-friendly environment, expect to see some of his home run power return when he moves up a level. However, his home ballpark may not be able to account for all of his dramatic drop in home runs per flyball last year. It could be just a matter of adjusting his swing path to tap back into the juice in his bat, but it is something worth monitoring as he moves through the minor leagues. What To Improve On Despite his budding power, Nimmala has had some issues with his bat-to-ball skills. His contact rate at Single-A Dunedin was 69.9%, and at High-A Vancouver it was 73.6%. He has made some improvements over the years in that arena, but his batting averages are really subpar at best. He's never hit over .232 in a minor league season and needs to make large strides towards improvement in that area in 2026. If he can become a much better contact hitter, his ceiling will drastically jump up into stardom status. Unfortunately, through two seasons so far, he has not shown any signs of becoming better at making more contact, let alone more quality contact. His next stage in development will really hinge on whether or not he can make the improvements needed to become a .250 or .275 hitter, or if his destiny is a profile similar to Lenyn Sosa. What's Next Nimmala is not quite ready for the Double-A level and is back at High-A Vancouver to start the 2026 season. He knows the areas he needs to improve in and what he needs to continue to do well. If he can become a better contact hitter and keep his power going, he has an elite ceiling he can reach. If not, he will be looking more like a platoon bat with power than a star. This season is extremely important to his outlook as a prospect and should give the Blue Jays organization and fans more insight as to what his future trajectory will be. View full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 9-April 10) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Syracuse Mets (New York Mets): 3-1 Season Record: 6-7 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox): 2-2 Season Record: 3-3 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs. Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants): 1-3 Season Record: 1-6 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs. St. Lucie Mets (New York Mets): 2-1 Season Record: 3-3 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 6-7 Series Opponent: Syracuse Mets (New York Mets) April 9: Thursday's Buffalo Bisons game was one that is the definition of embarrassing. Five errors by Buffalo led to three unearned runs and ultimately a loss that should have been a win. Three batters after an RBI double by Ryan Clifford in the fourth inning, a throwing error by Josh Kasevich allowed the third run of the game to score. The very next batter, Hayden Senger, hit a ball to Ryan McCarty at second base, who misplayed it, leading to another run crossing the plate. The errors weren't just one-sided, as Syracuse helped Buffalo mount a comeback in the sixth. Down 4-0, RJ Schreck started the rally with an RBI single, scoring Yohendrick Pinango. Then a single to right field by McCarty scored Eloy Jiménez, and Cristian Pache threw the ball away, allowing Schreck to score on the play as well. The very next batter, Josh Rivera, hit a ball to the Mets’ shortstop Jackson Cluff, who also had trouble with the throw, committing yet another error that let McCarty score to tie the game up at four. In the seventh, Buffalo was back to playing like the Bad News Bears, as Hayden Juenger threw the ball away on a pick off attempt, moving Pace from second to third. He would then score when Cluff hit a sacrifice fly that would have ended the inning. The run was ultimately the game winner, with the Bisons falling 5-4. Jiménez remains one of the more consistent players for Buffalo. With a walk in the game, he has now been on base in seven of the nine games he has played in. On the mound, the only real standout performance was by Devereaux Harrison. He went two innings in what amounted to a bullpen game, didn't allow a hit or walk, and struck out two. April 10: Buffalo rode a power surge from the bottom of the batting order to their sixth win of the season. Riley Tirotta got a hold of an 84 mph cutter down in the zone and launched his first home run of the season. The big play of the game came off the bat of Josh Rivera in the bottom of the third inning. Following a single from RJ Schreck and walks by Josh Kasevich and Triotta, Rivera unloaded on a 79 mph hanging slider down the middle, sending it over the centerfield fence for a grand slam. For Rivera, the home run came just six days after his first of the season. Unfortunately for the Bisons, he had gone 0-9 in the games in between his home runs. The seven-run lead Buffalo had at the end of the third inning was more than enough for the team, as Chad Dallas was again masterful on the mound. He pitched four innings, giving up two hits and two walks, but no runs at all. He would strike out two, while again limiting hard contact by focusing on more of his offspeed pitches. Brendon Little pitched in relief of Dallas, and he walked a batter before getting a strikeout and then inducing a groundball for a double play. The game went into over a 30-minute rain delay before it was called, and the Bisons won 7-1, as it was an official game at that point. Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Season Record: 3-3 Series vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) April 9: New Hampshire was up against a tough challenge in a big lefty from the Boston Red Sox organization, Eduardo Rivera. Rivera went four innings pitched and only surrendered three hits and one run, as he struck out seven batters. New Hampshire surrendered runs in the first on an RBI single and a home run in the fourth inning by the Sea Dogs’ Drew Ehrhard. In the sixth inning, Cutter Coffey put the Fisher Cats within one run with an RBI triple after Nick Goodwin drove in a run in the fifth. New Hampshire tied it with a Jackson Hornung RBI single to center field, but the pitching couldn't silence the Sea Dogs. Ahbram Liendo smacked a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth as New Hampshire lost this one 4-3. Pitching note: Javen Coleman pitched two clean innings and struck out five batters for New Hampshire. He could be on the fast track to the Blue Jays bullpen if he keeps putting up zeros. April 10: New Hampshire jumped out to an early lead in this one, with two runs in the top of the first inning. Sean Keys smacked an RBI double and then would score later in the inning on a sacrifice fly from Geovanny Planchart. Gage Stanifer was on the mound for the Fisher Cats and was looking exceptional for two innings. He struck out 3 batters and got 6 outs pretty cleanly. In the third inning, things got bumpy. Nate Baez hit a three-run homer to left field, and in the fourth, another run scored on a double, single, and double. Once Stanifer was pulled, another run came in. His final line was 3.2 innings pitched, nine hits, five earned runs, zero walks, and six strikeouts. That said, he really pitched much better than his line showed. He collected 19 whiffs on just 66 pitches. He had 47 strikes to 19 balls. He was really focused on peppering the strike zone tonight, and the pitches were looking very good. For results, though, he may have been in the zone too much. After the fourth inning, hits were hard to come by for both teams, as New Hampshire lost this one, 5-2. High-A Vancouver Canadians Season Record: 1-6 Series vs. Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants) April 9: After a five-game losing streak to start the season, Vancouver really needed a win to stop the skid. Landen Maroudis took the mound again and, despite not looking as sharp as he did in his first start, was able to pitch around two walks and four hits by striking out three batters and only allowing a single run. Gilberto Batista also looked much better in relief, with four strikeouts on the night, and pitching nearly four innings. Carson Pierce earned the save in relief, and although he was wild also struck out three batters. The pitching was not the big story, however, as Vancouver’s offense exploded, with outfielder Carter Cunningham and infielder Dub Gleed leading the way with four RBIs apiece. The Emeralds had struggles keeping the ball in the zone, leading to a ton of baserunners for the Canadians, as they walked 12 times, leading to 14 runs scored and, finally, a well-needed win. April 10: The Canadians tried to carry the momentum of their last win over to this game, as Daniel Guerra took the mound. Guerra struck out six batters, but shaky command resulted in four walks, five hits, and four runs given up. Danny Thompson Jr. came in relief and shoved. He too struck out six batters, with the one run he gave up being on an error on a pickoff attempt. The Canadians clawed their way back from the early deficit, as Carter Cunningham continued to produce, with a homer to cut the lead to two in the bottom of the fifth, and in the bottom of the ninth tied the game to send it to extras with an RBI single. The Canadians lost their second game in extras, though, as Kelena Sauer gave up a hit to allow the ghost runner to score, and they couldn’t score their own ghost runner. Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Season Record: 3-3 Series vs. St. Lucie Mets (New York Mets) April 9, Game 1: Game 1 was a continuation from the suspended game on April 7, and Trey Yesavage had his second outing. Bad luck with batted balls spoiled his first inning, as he allowed four singles and a walk in his first inning, which resulted in four earned runs. His pitches did look sharp despite that, and he struck out six batters in only two and two-thirds innings. Two 2025 draftees also showed some pop as Blaine Bullard hit his first professional homer, and JoJo Parker had his first double and RBI in the same inning. 24-year old Brayden Heidel, signed out of indie ball, had his first affiliated outing and struck out four batters without allowing a run in three innings, touching 99 mph with his fastball to keep the Mets from adding to the lead, but the Jays couldn’t get any more runs. April 9, Game 2: In the second game of the day, the Jays came out blazing, with Yorman Licourt scoring on a pickoff attempt, and JoJo Parker with his second RBI double to give them an early 3-0 lead. Troy Guthrie continued to pitch well, going four innings, allowing only a single earned run and striking out four. Austin Smith made his pitching debut as a two-way player but struggled with his command, allowing two walks. Peyton Williams had himself a day, going 3-for-4, including an RBI triple to centerfield as his third one. The Mets rallied back against Diego Dominguez, who gave up three hits and two earned runs, but Jack Eshelman shut the door, striking out the side and earning his first save. April 10: The Jays had their highest scoring game of the season, in an effort to get back to .500. Nolan Perry’s return to the mound after UCL surgery has been fruitful, and despite slightly less sharp fastballs, he utilized his breaking balls extremely effectively, getting nine of his 11 whiffs of the night. The Dunedin offense was really effective against starter Frank Camarillo as they didn’t strike out a single time against him and tallied up seven hits. After Camarillo was taken out, the Jays switched their approach and walked eight times, and scored six more runs as a result. Eric Snow had himself a day, with two hits, two RBIs, and two walks, leading the offensive production for the game. View full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (March 27-April 1) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (New York Yankees): 1-2 Series vs. Omaha Storm Chasers (Kansas City Royals): 1-1 Season Record: 2-3 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Season begins Friday, April 3 High-A Vancouver Canadians Season begins Friday, April 3 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Season begins Thursday, April 2 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 2-3 Series Opponents: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (New York Yankees) and Omaha Storm Chasers (Kansas City Royals) Series Standing: 1-2 vs. SWB, 1-1 vs. Omaha March 27: The Buffalo Bisons opened the 2026 season in abysmal fashion, taking a thumping from the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Grant Rogers started the game for the Bisons and made it through the first inning with ease before surrendering six runs over the next two innings. The highlight of the scoring barrage came off the bat of New York Yankees star prospect Spencer Jones, a two-run double to left field. Lazaro Estrada (recently promoted to the Blue Jays) and Adam Macko came on in relief and held the RailRiders in check over the next 4.2 innings, only allowing one hit. The Bisons’ bats were non-existent, though, striking out 12 times and looking completely overmatched against Brendan Beck, who tallied nine of those punch-outs himself. The Bisons nearly got on the board in the seventh when they loaded the bases with two singles and a walk, but Josh Rivera grounded into a double play, ending the scoring threat. An Opening Day loss was all but fitting for the Bisons after their terrible year in 2025. March 28: Postponed March 29 Game 1: Chad Dallas returned to the mound after completing his rehab from Tommy John surgery and was magnificent in his three innings. He struck out five, giving up only three hits, zero walks, and one run. Jonatan Clase got the Bisons on the scoreboard for the first time in 2026 with a sacrifice fly in the third. Eloy Jiménez extended his hit streak to two games with his second single of the year. Josh Kasevich also had himself a nice game, scoring two runs after getting on via a single and a walk. Unfortunately, the back end of the Bisons’ bullpen faltered in extra innings, with Chase Lee and Jorge Alcala surrendering runs in the ninth and 10th innings, leading to Buffalo falling to 0-2 to start the season. March 29 Game 2: Jonatan Clase and his running shoes helped to lead the Bisons to their first win of the year in Game 2 of the doubleheader on Sunday. He had two singles and a walk, while also stealing two bases and scoring two runs. RJ Schreck and Riley Tirotta got in on the fun as well, swiping a bag each themselves on their way to also scoring runs. The Bisons’ big inning came in the fourth, where they scored six runs, which was highlighted by Tirotta's two-RBI single. On the mound, Austin Voth got the start and had some struggles, coughing up solo home runs to Spencer Jones and Yanquiel Fernandez. Devereaux Harrison and Michael Plassmeyer wrapped up the game in relief, finishing the final four innings and only allowing one run. The Bisons finally got in the win column with a 7-3 victory over the RailRiders. March 31: Buffalo kicked off their series with the Omaha Storm Chasers in winning fashion. CJ Van Eyk got the start for Buffalo and put together a strong four innings, only surrendering six hits, one run, one walk, and striking out five batters. Adam Macko tossed 1.1 innings after Van Eyk; he didn't allow a run and struck out two. The batters got things going in the second inning, when Brandon Valenzuela hit a 112 mph RBI single, scoring two runs. Jonatan Clase added a home run the next inning, and Charles McAdoo continued his hot start with an RBI triple. Yohendrick Pinango smacked a 115.4 mph RBI double to cap off the scoring for the Bisons, while Chase Lee finished the game with a two-inning save. April 1: The Bisons were on the losing end of this one, as the bats were silent the entire game. Buffalo only managed three hits, with Charles McAdoo accounting for two of them. Josh Fleming took the loss, as he gave up one run over 3.2 innings. Michael Massey of the Storm Chasers had the big hit of the day, hitting a home run off of Buffalo's Devereaux Harrison. View full article

Jays Centre is counting down the top 20 prospects in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Check out prior entries in the series here: No. 20 to 16 No. 15 to 11 No. 10 No. 9 No. 8 We are well into our coverage of Jays Centre’s top 20 prospects now. We have gone through #20-16, #15-11, #10, #9, #8 and now we reach #7 on our list, Juan Sanchez. He is a prospect that has gained an insane amount of attention, notoriety, and a boost in national rankings this past offseason. Let's get to know him a little more and see what he does well, what he needs to work on, and what the future may hold for this up-and-coming phenom. No. 7: SS/3B Juan Sanchez (DSL Blue Jays Red) PA H 2B 3B HR OPS wRC+ K% BB% 253 73 16 4 8 1.004 156 17.4% 10.3% In January of 2025, Sanchez signed with the Toronto Blue Jays for $1,000,000 as a shortstop out of Cotui, Dominican Republic. He began his professional career that same year, playing in the Dominican Summer League (DSL) on the Blue Jays Red squad. He played in 56 games and quickly separated himself as one of the best players on the field down on the island. For the season, he slashed .341/.439/.564, hit eight home runs, 16 doubles, and four triples, and swiped four bags. His plate discipline was about average for the league, as he had a strikeout rate of 17.4% and a walk rate of 10.3%. Yet, his wRC+ of 156 showed his overall production at the plate was anything but average. His final month was truly remarkable, as he slashed .423/.483/.712 across 14 games. After such a dominant performance in 2025, Sanchez was ready to come stateside and become a household name for Toronto Blue Jays fans. He did just that during the Spring Breakout game against the Philadelphia Phillies’ prospects, in which he laced a bases-clearing double into the left-center field gap. It came off the bat with an exit velocity of 105.6 mph, a sign of things to come for this budding star prospect. What To Like Sanchez has a lot going for him, but one of his biggest tools is his power. He stands 6-foot-3 and is listed at 180 pounds. This gives ample projection for his future power output, and when coupled with his current numbers, you get a prospect with the potential to hit 30-40 home runs. He hit eight home runs in 2025 in the DSL, while adding 16 doubles and even four triples. He looks to have good pull-side power already, with a 44.8% fly ball rate and a 55.8% pull rate. What has driven his prospect status through the roof has been his hit tool. He hit .341 as a 17-year-old in the DSL, and on the backfields during spring training, he continued to have success with the bat. His power and hit tool will drive his value through the roof and provide him a very solid floor in his attempt to reach his astronomical ceiling. What To Work On Being very young still, just 18-years-old, Sanchez has a lot to work on. One of the biggest aspects of his game that could use improvement is his potential swing-and-miss concerns. Despite an absurd .341 batting average in 2025, he was just around league average with his strikeout rate of 17.4%. Coming stateside in 2026, he could see this number creep up, which will ultimately lead to his hit tool dropping down some in response to more whiffs. Being less reliant on a pull-side profile could help to ensure he doesn't have any regression or a step backward with regard to his hit tool. In 2025, he hit 44.2% of his balls in play to center and right field. If he can boost that number up to around 50% while maintaining his power, he could soar onto top 50 prospect lists and even into the top three of our Jays Centre prospect rankings. What's Next Sanchez has made the move stateside from the Dominican Republic and is on the verge of his debut at either Rookie ball in the Florida Complex League or at Single-A Dunedin. It is more likely that he will debut in Rookie ball, but with a hot start, he could be promoted to Single-A Dunedin rather quickly. Don't be shocked to see him end the year on nationally renowned top 50 prospect lists, if he can maintain similar production to his 2025 numbers from the DSL. View full article