Simon Li

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (June 2 - June 3) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Worcester Red Sox (Boston Red Sox): 1-1 Season Record: 28-31 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates): 1-1 Season Record: 27-23 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels): 1-1 Season Record: 23-31 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Daytona Tirtougas (Cincinnati Reds): 1-1 Season Record: 21-32 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 0-1 Season Record: 17-6 DSL Blue Jays Blue Week Record: 1-1 Season Record: 1-2 DSL Blue Jays Red Week Record: 0-1 Season Record: 0-2 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 28-31 Series vs Worcester Red Sox (Boston Red Sox) June 2: Buffalo opened a new series against Worcester on Tuesday, but they seemed to leave their bats in Lehigh Valley. The Bisons only managed to scrape together five hits, but they offset that by tallying six walks. Davis Schneider has settled into the lead-off role the last few games. In this one, he walked three times and scored a run. He would get by a pitch in the sixth, steal second base, and then come around to get the first run of the game on the scoreboard for Buffalo. The run tied the game up at one and was thanks to an RBI double from Josh Kasevich. RJ Schreck was the next batter, and he singled to center field and brought home Kasevich, giving the Bisons the lead. Buffalo held the 2-1 lead as the bottom of the ninth inning began. CJ Van Eyk, who was on his fifth inning of work out of the bullpen, started the inning off poorly by giving up a lead-off double to Anthony Seigler. A batter later, Mikey Romeo got a hold of a pitch for an RBI triple to tie the game. After a groundout. Van Eyk threw a wild pitch, allowing Romero to score from third, as Buffalo lost on the walk-off 3-2. June 3: Wednesday's game against Worcester began much the same way as Tuesday's game did: The bats were missing, and runs were rarer than an extinct dodo bird. Going into the seventh inning, the game was all square at zero, as Josh Fleming had his best start of the season for Buffalo. He would end his day throwing seven innings, walking none, not giving up a run, and striking out five. His strong effort on the mound would be rewarded with a win, with the bats deciding to take over the game in the final three innings. Josh Rivera got the scoring started with a bases-loaded single that scored two runs in the seventh. Carlos Mendoza would double home a run in the frame as well. In the eighth, Buffalo loaded up the bases with two singles and a walk, setting up the stage for a monster six-run inning. They scored two runs on bases-loaded walks, a run off of a sacrifice fly by William Simoneit, as well as three more on RBI singles by Rivera, Mendoza, and Josh Kasevich. In the ninth, Mendoza had the cherry on top of his monster game, a three-run home run to right field. Buffalo pulled away in this game to win 12-0. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 27-23 Series vs Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates) June 2: Gage Stanifer was on the mound for the start of the series between New Hampshire and Altoona. He was fantastic and continued making a push toward Triple A. He went five innings, struck out eight batters, gave up four hits, two earned runs, and allowed two walks. His slider was almost perfection on the night, as it was the best version of the slider he has had in a while. He used it frequently, while mixing in his splitter and fastball. His command was still off at times with the fastball, but better than it has been. A definite step in the right direction. Altoona got a leadoff walk and a double later in the inning to take the early lead in the first inning, but New Hampshire flipped that quickly. Jace Bohrofen hit his 12th home run of the season in the bottom of the inning, and was immediately followed by Sean Keys, crushing his 13th home run of the year. In the third inning, Altoona tied the game after a single that hit Stanifer and a double brought in a run. That would be all they could get off of Stanifer, though, as he finished the third, fourth, and fifth innings, only allowing a walk and a hit-by-pitch. In the seventh, Nick Goodwin drove in Jay Harry, who had hit his fourth triple of the season earlier in the inning. In the ninth, New Hampshire couldn't hold onto the lead, with Altoona scoring six in the inning. The Fisher Cats lost this one 8-3. June 3: In the Wednesday game between New Hampshire and Altoona, the Fisher Cats had their hitting shoes on. They began the game scoring six runs over the first two innings, with the big hits coming on a Jace Bohrofen RBI double and two RBI singles from Victor Arias and Adrian Pinto. Altoona got their two lone runs off of starter Austin Cates in the fifth inning on two RBI groundouts. Things flipped to a complete blowout of a game in the bottom of the eighth, as Sean Keys homered, Arias hit another RBI single, then Cutter Coffey and Patrick Winkel added home runs. New Hampshire scored eight in the inning, as the Fisher Cats won big this time, 14-3. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 23-31 Series vs Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels) June 2: The Canadians once again faced the Tri-City Dust Devils, and this time, Landen Maroudis went head-to-head with 2025 second overall pick Tyler Bremner. Bremner pitched just 1.2 innings before getting taken out in the second inning, and Carter Cunningham gave the Canadians their first two runs with a two-RBI single in the third inning off of Bremner’s replacement. Maroudis started off well with two scoreless innings, before giving up a two-run homer in the third, and another run off an RBI triple before getting taken out of the ball game himself for Gilberto Batista. Batista had a shaky fifth inning, allowing a bunt single to advance to second on a throwing error, then allowing the runner to score, but he was able to keep the game close. J.R. Freethy brought the game within one on a sac fly in the seventh inning, but the wheels fell off for Batista in the seventh inning, as he allowed four runs to score after getting two quick outs, putting the Canadians behind by five runs, which eventually led to a Dust Devils victory. June 3: It was a Daniel Guerra masterclass to get the Canadians back on track. The Canadians took the lead early as Brennan Orf hit a sac fly in the first, before Dub Gleed had homer number six in the third to make it 2-0 for the Canadians. Guerra had his third start of the season with 10 strikeouts or more, and his only blemish was a two-run homer given up in the third inning to even up the game. The high-powered righty was able to blow past hitters with 28 whiffs on the night, and Guerra is tied for fourth in the minor leagues with 70 strikeouts on the season. Gleed was the story on the offensive end, as the infielder had a four-hit night, and he drove in his second run of the game in the fifth inning to give the Canadians the lead, which they wouldn’t relinquish. Orf had his second ribbie of the day on an RBI double in the sixth, and Carter Cunningham drove Orf in with one of his own. Carson Myers also is getting settled in Vancouver, with his first save in the Northwest League with three innings of one-run ball to clinch a solid victory. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 21-32 Series vs Daytona Tirtougas (Cincinnati Reds) June 2: The two teams with the worst records in the Florida State League went head-to-head. Silvano Hechavarria was the starter once again, but still struggled, with his ERA still hovering above 10 after last year’s strong performance. After a scoreless first inning, he gave up a walk and two doubles, which led to two runs scoring. The D-Jays evened it up after Juan Sanchez hit his third homer of the season, and the Jays loaded the bases with two outs and scored a run on a balk. Hechavarria allowed another two runs in the third, with two more doubles and a balk. The Jays got another run in after Blaine Bullard made some good base running and scored on a wild pitch. Josbel Garcia replaced Hechavarria in the fourth inning and gave up a solo homer to Bernard Moon in the fifth inning, which gave the Tortugas a two-run lead. Bradley Wilson then gave up another two runs after replacing Garcia, despite striking out six batters, and he also walked four. Sanchez hit another bomb in the eighth to get two runs back, and Eric Snow had his first pro homer in the ninth inning, but the Jays just fell short. June 3: It was the return of two important players for the Blue Jays, as Alejandro Kirk and Yimi García both were put on rehab assignments on the same night, and both performed. Blaine Bullard started it off with his sixth homer of the season, and he’s shown more power than people thought early on in his professional career, to go with great speed. Kirk followed up with a homer in the third inning, and Adam Hackenberg drove in a run on a single to make it three to nothing for the D-Jays. On the pitching end, it was the best start of Troy Guthrie’s young professional career as the young righty was able to use his fastball and solid command to get 12 whiffs on the night. It was the second quality start of his career, and first of the season, as he went six scoreless with eight strikeouts. García looked solid in his first rehab outing back as the veteran reliever averaged 94 mph on his fastball and touched 96. He struck out one batter in a no-hit seventh inning. It got a little dicey as Ramon Suarez was unable to get out of the eighth inning as he walked the bases loaded, then allowed two sac flies, but Franly Urena held it down and struck out four batters in 1.2 innings to earn the save. Eric Snow added an insurance run in the ninth to make the save a bit easier as well, with his ninth double of the season. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 17-6 June 2: The FCL Blue Jays were on the road on Tuesday against the New York Yankees FCL squad. It was a game dominated by pitching, and no one was better than Carson Messina again. He went four innings, while striking out seven batters, only allowing two hits and a walk. He didn't surrender a run and lowered his ERA on the year down to 1.69. Cade Doughty homered in the first inning to give the Blue Jays team a lead. Andres Arias stole home in the seventh on a double steal to put the Blue Jays up two, but a three-run homer by David McCann in the bottom of the inning gave the Yankees the lead right back. That was where the scoring would end, as the FCL Blue Jays lost this one 4-3. DSL Blue Jays Blue Season Record: 1-2 June 2: Jose Andrades was on the mound for BJB on Tuesday. He was signed back in 2025, during the J15 international signing period. He was dominant for the Blue Jays, throwing five innings in his debut, striking out four; he didn't walk anyone and didn't give up a run. They would win the game on the backs of two gift runs, one scored on a groundball double play and the other on a wild pitch. Catcher Isay Veras was the best hitter on the day, going 2-for-4 with two singles. The two base knocks brought his batting average up to .300 for the season. BJB won their first game of the year 2-1 in seven innings. June 3: The DSL Blue team for the Blue Jays took on the Angels DSL team on Wednesday. BJB scored the first run in the third inning, when Isay Veras grounded out, scoring Daniel Dominguez. In the fourth, an RBI single and a sacrifice fly gave the Angels squad the lead. In the fifth, they would add to that lead with an RBI single from Anderson Rodriguez and another RBI single from Adonanfer Reyes. Juan Caricote drove in the second BJB run in the fifth inning with an RBI single (he also had three HBP on the day). Veras would score on a wild pitch as well. In the seventh, a balk and wild pitch gave the Angels two more runs and a commanding lead. In the bottom of the inning, Michael Mesa hit a line drive double, scoring a run, and Samuel Orellana drove in two with a double. That is where it ended, as BJB lost this one 7-6. DSL Blue Jays Red Season Record: 0-2 June 2: The BJR game on Tuesday was marred by errors. They committed four errors in the game, which led to five unearned runs. On offense, they walked seven times in the game, but only managed three hits and were never able to get a run across home plate. Gabriel Porras was the best hitter for BJB, going 1-for-2 with two walks. They lost their second game in a row to start the season. Transactions 06/03/26 RHP Chad Dallas roster status changed by Buffalo Bisons. 06/03/26 RHP Justin Topa assigned to Buffalo Bisons. 06/03/26 Toronto Blue Jays sent C Alejandro Kirk on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays. 06/03/26 Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP Yimi García on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays. 06/02/26 Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP Lazaro Estrada on a rehab assignment to Buffalo Bisons. 06/02/26 RHP Yancarlos Vasquez assigned to DSL Blue Jays Blue. View full article

The Blue Jays' major league pitching staff has been excellent, but it has also been decimated by injuries. These were the minor league system’s pitching standouts for the month of May. Some of them could eventually come up to Toronto as potential replacements for the Jays, while others are arms that fans can look forward to watching in years to come. Honourable Mention: RHP Jack Nedrow May Stats: 2 GS (4 G), 21 IP, 1.71 IP, 3.81 FIP, 20.0 K%, 7.5 BB% (Dunedin Blue Jays) Signed out of Indy Ball after the Jays' pitching depth was decimated by injuries, Jack Nedrow immediately pitched well for Dunedin, and despite the lack of strikeout stuff, he was able to limit runs. He allowed only four runs in the four appearances he made and averaged over five innings per appearance. The 23-year-old may not reach the major leagues, but he is providing useful innings down on the farm. Honourable Mention: RHP Aaron Munson May Stats: 15.0 IP, 3.94 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 26.3 K%, 7.9 BB% (New Hampshire Fisher Cats) Aaron Munson made six straight scoreless appearances, but a rough few outings to end the month ballooned his ERA. Munson still deserved to be honoured for strong pitching during this stretch, and he’s shown the capability to throw multiple innings while still pitching effectively. He’s been an interesting arm despite being drafted in the 19th round back in 2023. Honourable Mention: RHP Jake Bloss May Stats: 4 GS, 11.2 IP, 3.86 ERA, 4.72 FIP, 32.7 K%, 2 BB% (Florida Complex League, Dunedin Blue Jays) Jake Bloss returned on a rehab assignment after missing nearly the entirety of the 2025 season due to elbow surgery. The righty looked sharp upon returning, sitting in the mid-to-upper 90s with his fastball and striking out over 32 percent of the batters that he faced, only walking one. He had a rough last start on the 30th, as he’s still shaking off some of the rust, but Bloss could provide useful reinforcement to a hurting Jays pitching staff. Honourable Mention: RHP Dylan Watts May Stats: 3 GS, 20 IP, 3.15 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 21 K%, 6,2 BB% (Dunedin Blue Jays) The 2025 seventh-rounder has had himself a mini breakout in his first professional season for the Blue Jays. Dylan Watts didn't generate as many strikeouts as he did in April, but the righty is still sitting 95 mph with his fastball and was effective in each May appearance, capped off by 5.1 no-hit innings that earned him Florida State League Pitcher of the Week honours. No. 5: LHP Josh Fleming May Stats: 4 GS, 23 ⅔ IP, 1.90 ERA, 3.69 FIP, 17.2 K%, 4.0 BB% (Buffalo Bisons) Josh Fleming struggled in his one appearance for the Blue Jays, but after getting outrighted and re-signed to a minor league deal, he’s been stretched out and has pitched well as a starter for the Bisons. His stuff might not be major league quality, but he provides value for the Jays as depth, as well as having the ability to eat innings for a young staff down in Buffalo. No. 4: LHP Johnny King May Stats: 5 GS, 18 ⅓ IP, 3.44 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 29.4 K%, 15.3 BB% (Vancouver Canadians) Johnny King looked like he would be the number one pitcher in the Jays' minor league system for the month of May before a blowup start against Spokane in his penultimate game of the month. The rest of the month was so excellent that he made the list anyway, but King’s command issues have popped up here and there to ruin otherwise excellent pitching. No. 3: RHP Carson Messina May Stats: 3 GS, 12 IP, 2.25 ERA, 3.42 FIP, 28.9 K%, 13.3 BB% (Florida Complex League) Carson Messina, younger brother of Rockies prospect Cole Messina, pitched just two innings in 2025 before getting shut down for the season. The righty already displayed upper echelon velocity and has touched 99 mph multiple times with his fastball so far this season. He’s still on a rehab assignment, but he’ll return to Dunedin soon. No. 2: RHP Gage Stanifer May Stats: 4 GS, 19 ⅔ IP, 1.37 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 23.2 K%, 11.0 BB% (New Hampshire Fisher Cats) Gage Stanifer had a rough start to the season, in large part due to poor command, as he walked over 18% of the batters that he faced. He lowered that to 11% percent in May, and although his strikeout rate also dipped in turn, he was much more effective. If Stanifer can figure out a way to generate strikeouts while keeping the walks down, he’ll be up in the majors sooner than later. No. 1: RHP Nolan Perry May Stats: 5 GS, 25 IP, 1.08 ERA, 2.67 FIP, 41.7 K%, 9.4 BB% (Vancouver Canadians) Nolan Perry’s breakout campaign carried over even after getting promoted to High-A Vancouver. The 2022 12th-rounder didn’t miss a beat, as he continued to strike out over 40% of the batters that he faced while walking less than 10%. He gave up just three earned runs on the month, going five innings or more in four of his five starts. The righty relies heavily on his high-riding fastball that sits in the mid-90s, as well as two distinct breaking balls. He also has developed a solid feel for a newfound splitter that he’s using to great effectiveness against lefty hitters. He’s going to be the Jays’ next big pitching prospect and should be a fixture on top 100 lists. This is his second month straight as Jays Centre's Minor League Pitcher of the Month! View full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (May 26-May 27) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies): 1-1 Season Record: 26-27 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees): 1-1 Season Record: 24-20 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants): 1-1 Season Record: 19-28 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies): 0-2 Season Record: 19-28 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 3-2 Season Record: 14-3 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 26-27 Series vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) May 26: On Tuesday, Buffalo opened a series against Lehigh Valley. It was a bullpen game, but they were more than up to the task. Pat Gallagher got the nod to start, and he kicked things off with three nearly perfect innings. He ended his day after three innings, giving up just one hit, not walking anyone, and striking out three. In the fourth, Devereaux Harrison took over for Gallagher, and Lehigh Valley was able to manufacture a run against him right away. He gave up a walk, a stolen base, a groundout, and then a sacrifice fly. He would settle down from there, pitching well over the next two innings, and wouldn't allow another run. Despite having a bunch of runners on the basepaths all game (10 hits and nine walks), the bats couldn't get a ton of runs to cross home plate. They took the lead back in the sixth, with an RBI triple from Josh Kasevich and an RBI single from Willie MacIver. Kasevich continued his big game, knocking in another run in the bottom of the seventh inning and an RBI single. The back half of the bullpen would falter late, though, surrendering a run each eighth and ninth innings, as Jesse Hahn got the blown save. Hayden Juenger then came into the game to pitch the tenth inning and allowed only the ghost runner to score. In the bottom half of the innings, Josh Rivera came up clutch with a two-run walk-off single. The 5-4 win brought Buffalo's record back to .500. May 27: Wednesday's game would be a special one for Charles McAdoo, as he was informed following the game that his services were no longer needed in Buffalo; the team across the border in Canada is now in need of his bat. McAdoo is now headed to Baltimore, as he will be called up to the big league club before Thursday's game against the Orioles. In his final game with Buffalo, he had a single and a stolen base, his seventh of the season. William Simoneit and Riley Tirotta each had home runs; they came in back-to-back innings, the second and third. Simoneit's blast was a two-run shot and had an exit velocity of 106 mph and went 411 feet. Tirotta's home run was a two-run blast as well and gave Buffalo a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the third inning. CJ Van Eyk had himself a good game on the mound, going six innings and recording a quality start. He allowed three runs and struck out just three. With a 6-4 lead, Buffalo turned to Matt Bowman, who made his first appearance in the Blue Jays organization. It went about as badly as one could imagine. In the inning, he gave up a walk, an RBI double, and a two-run home run to Felix Reyes. After the half inning was over, Buffalo was down 7-6 and wouldn't make a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, as they would lose and fall back to a game under 500. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 24-20 Series vs Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees) May 26: New Hampshire got out in front quickly for the Tuesday game of the series against the Somerset Patriots. A double steal in the second inning resulted in Victor Arias stealing home for a run. Aaron Parker would later score in that inning, when Jorge Burgos launched a two-run home run. In the bottom half of the inning, DJ Gladney crushed a home run for Somerset to bring them within two. Gladney would again homer in the seventh inning, a two-run shot to put Somerset up by one. Arias drove in the tying run in the top of the eighth inning on a ground ball to center field. Jay Harry would clear the bases later in the inning for a two-run double. New Hampshire went to the bottom of the ninth up one run, but couldn't hold on. Coby Morales singled in the tying run, and then Manuel Palencia hit a walk-off single. The Fisher Cats lost a heartbreaker in this one, 8-7. May 27: In the 11:00 AM early game of the week, Gage Stanifer was on the mound against Somerset. Things started a bit on a roller coaster ride, as Stanifer got two quick groundouts to begin the first inning, but then walked three batters in a row. His fastball command was still shaky at times, and he continued working on his split/change-up. He got a third groundout to end the inning, though, avoiding any damage. In the top of the second inning, Cutter Coffey crushed his first Double-A home run, a two-run shot to left field to give New Hampshire the lead. In the bottom of the second inning, Stanifer again was not locked in with his command, giving up a double, a walk, and then a single for a run. He would settle down and get another groundout to end the inning. Jace Bohrofen drove in a run with a single during the third inning, after which Stanifer locked in on the mound. He would only allow a single the rest of the way, as he completed the third, fourth, and fifth innings very easily. His final line was five innings, three hits, one run, four walks, and three strikeouts. He got up to 85 pitches on the day and used his slider and split/change-up well throughout the game. In the fourth inning, Eddie Micheletti Jr. extended the Fisher Cats' lead to five with a home run, and Jackson Hornung would up it to six with a home run as well in the sixth inning. New Hampshire would go on to win this one 7-3. Note: Arjun Nimmala left the game in the fourth inning with a hamstring issue. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 19-28 Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants) May 26: The Canadians once again faced the top team in the Northwest League, the Eugene Emeralds. Breakout pitching prospect Nolan Perry once again dominated, with his now fourth straight start of eight strikeouts or more since getting promoted to High A. The righty went six innings, not allowing a run, with just four hits and one walk. The Canadians’ offense was able to load the bases in the bottom of the third inning, and Jacob Sharp got a run in on a force out. Carter Cunningham walked the next inning, then got to second on a wild pitch before stealing third base. He then scored on another wild pitch to add another run on some good baserunning. Cunningham then hit double digits with his homer count in the bottom of the sixth inning, 100 mph off the bat. Jonathan Todd replaced Perry in the seventh inning and earned a three-inning save for his fourth of the season, with three perfect innings to end the game. May 27: The Canadians tried to keep the momentum going against the Emeralds, and they scored two early runs in the first inning after Maddox Latta hit a double, was moved over to third on a sac bunt, then scored on a wild pitch from Yunior Marte. Tucker Toman then drove in a runner on a single for the second run of the inning. Landen Maroudis was the starter for this game, and he gave a run back in the second inning on a lead-off homer to Zander Darby, but the Canadians continued to hold the lead going into the fourth inning. Maroudis got a lineout and a groundout, despite giving up a single, and looked like he could get out of the fourth unscathed. However, he then gave up a hit to Walker Martin, and then a passed ball from Edward Duran allowed a runner to score. Maroudis then walked a batter and gave up a three-run homer to Jean Carlos Sio before getting out of the inning, and the Emeralds took a 5-2 lead. J.R. Freethy got on with a single, then stole second before getting driven in by Brennan Orf to reduce the lead to two. Maroudis was then replaced by Gilberto Batista, who’s been a dedicated piggyback partner for him. Batista hasn’t pitched well this season, and he immediately gave up a hit and two walks before giving up a grand slam in the first inning he came in. The Canadians tried to claw their way back, as Freethy hit a two run homer in the fifth, and Alexis Hernandez and one of his own in the sixth, but the lead proved to be insurmountable. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 19-28 Series vs Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies) May 26: The Dunedin Blue Jays once again face the Threshers, this time at BayCare Ballpark. Blake Purnell was the starter for the D-Jays, and he gave up a bunch of hits. In the second inning, he gave up four hits, leading to a two-run deficit early on. However, the Jays bounced back with a big inning in the third, starting off with a Yorman Licourt two-run homer to tie it up, then a two-RBI triple from Juan Sanchez, and lastly an Eric Snow RBI single to make it a five-run inning. The Threshers brought it within one as Blake Purnell gave up a two-run shot to Nolan Beltran in the fourth inning, but was able to make it through five innings in line for the win. Luis Victorino came in the sixth inning and gave up two doubles to even up the game, but once again, some good hitting for the Jays returned the lead in their favour, this time with an Aldo Gaxiola three-run homer to make it eight to five. A JoJo Parker error in the seventh inning led to trouble, though, as the Threshers were able to get two runs in to make it a one-run game. Josbel Garcia then blew the save in the eighth inning as the Blue Jays lost a close one. May 27: This game got out of hand in a hurry, as Silvano Hechavarria and Sam Shaw both were on minor league rehab assignments. Hechavarria has really struggled since returning from injury, and this game was no different, as he gave up a run on a dropped third strike in the first inning. The Jays tied it up with an Adam Hackenberg sac fly the inning after, but Hechavarria gave up four runs in the second inning off of a force out with the bases loaded, into a three-run homer. JoJo Parker had his 12th double of the season in the third to score two runs, but Eduar Gonzalez continued the poor pitching for the Jays, as the Threshers scored another run in the bottom of the third. Then, in the fourth inning, the Threshers loaded the bases and cleared them with a double, before they hit another double to make it 10-3. The Threshers just kept piling it on, as after Gonzalez was taken out, they scored six runs on Bradley Wilson for 16 runs on the night. Adam Hackenberg hit his first homer as a Jay in the sixth inning, and the Jays got two more runs in the seventh inning on hits from Aldo Gaxiola and Hackenberg, but with such a gigantic deficit, there really was no coming back in this one. Juan Sanchez had a three-hit night as well. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 15-3 May 26: The top five in the batting order for the FCL Blue Jays again did the heavy lifting on Tuesday against the Yankees' squad. They collected all eight of the Blue Jays' hits, with Franklin Rojas hitting a home run in the first inning, a three-run shot. Then, in the third inning, Brock Tibbitts hit his third home run of the season to give the Blue Jays' team a five-run lead. That would be all the Blue Jays needed, as Carson Messina was on the mound and he pitched well over 3.2 innings. Only giving up two hits and two walks, while striking out three. He didn't give up a run, lowering his ERA to 2.25. The FCL Blue Jays held on and won this one 7-6. Transactions 05/27/26 RHP Matt Bowman assigned to Buffalo Bisons. 05/27/26 Toronto Blue Jays optioned RHP Tanner Andrews to Buffalo Bisons. 05/27/26 Toronto Blue Jays selected the contract of RHP Austin Voth from Buffalo Bisons. 05/27/26 Vancouver Canadians sent OF Sam Shaw on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays. 05/27/26 RHP Jack Eshleman assigned to Vancouver Canadians from Dunedin Blue Jays. 05/27/26 Vancouver Canadians activated C Edward Duran from the 7-day injured list. 05/26/26 Buffalo Bisons sent C C.J. Stubbs on a rehab assignment to FCL Blue Jays. 05/26/26 RHP Richard Gallardo assigned to Buffalo Bisons from New Hampshire Fisher Cats. 05/26/26 RHP Nate Garkow assigned to Buffalo Bisons from New Hampshire Fisher Cats. View full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (May 19-May 20) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Syracuse Mets (New York Mets): 0-2 Season Record: 23-24 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies): 1-1 Season Record: 23-16 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Spokane Indians (Colorado Rockies): 1-1 Season Record: 17-24 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins): 0-1 Season Record: 15-25 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 0-1 Season Record: 11-2 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 23-24 Series vs Syracuse Mets (New York Mets) May 19: On Tuesday, Buffalo opened a new series, this one with the Syracuse Mets. Grant Rogers was on the mound for the Bisons, and he was looking around for the do-over button from the very start. He threw a cutter that hung in the middle of the plate, and Christian Arroyo took him deep for a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the first. Unfortunately, Syracuse was just getting started in the inning. With two outs and down 1-0, Rogers surrendered two singles and then a triple to Ji Hwan Bae, bringing the lead for the Mets to 3-0. Next, Cristian Pache singled home Bae, and Ben Rortvedt smacked the second home run of the inning off of Rogers, a two-run blast. Buffalo was in a big hole early and tried to fight out of it. In the third inning, Je'Von Ward stayed hot at the plate for Buffalo, launching his third home run in his last four games, a two-run shot to right center. Ward kept the comeback going in the fifth inning, hitting a lead-off double and coming around to score on Josh Kasevich's single. The next batter, Charles McAdoo, would bring Buffalo to within one of Syracuse, with his monster two-run home run, 424 feet to center field. The Bisons wouldn't get the chance to tie the game, though. Devereaux Harrison and Michael Plassmeyer combined to give up three runs in the bottom of the seventh, putting the game out of reach. Buffalo fell 9-5 in a game in which they fought hard to come back from a big deficit early on. May 20: Wednesday's day game had the beginnings of a promising bounce-back contest. Buffalo had Chad Dallas on the mound, who has continued to get better as the season has progressed, and some of their bats have been warming up after early struggles. Dallas would not be the savior Buffalo was hoping for, though; he stumbled often in this game. Across three innings, he coughed up eight hits and five runs, only striking out two. The damage from Syracuse started in the bottom of the first inning. After Dallas allowed a single and a walk, Eric Wagaman singled home the first run of the ballgame. William Simoneit quickly tied the game back up in the top of the second, with a 393-foot solo home run. Dallas was in more trouble in the bottom half of the second inning, hitting his second batter of the game, allowing a single, and then Christian Arroyo knocked in both runners with a single of his own. In the bottom of the third, it was an RBI triple and another RBI single from Arroyo that put two more runs on the scoreboard for Syracuse. Carlos Mendoza singled home a run for Buffalo in the next half inning, and Josh Rivera added a run from a sacrifice fly, as Buffalo pulled back to within one run at 5-4. Unfortunately for Buffalo, the bullpen once again imploded, giving up five runs between the fifth and sixth innings. With Buffalo down big again, they only managed to add on an RBI single by Riley Tirotta and lost the game 10-5. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 23-16 Series vs Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies): May 19: Mason Olson got the start on the mound to begin the series between the New Hampshire Fisher Cats and the Hartford Yard Goats. He went five innings, only allowing four hits and one run. Bryant Betancourt drove in the first run of the game in the fourth inning for Hartford. In the sixth, Eddie Micheletti Jr. launched his seventh home run of the season to tie the game up. A throwing error would give Hartford the lead in the seventh inning, and the score would hold until the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, Adrian Pinto added to his good game by tying things up at two with an RBI double. In the bottom of the 10th, a bases-loaded walk from Aaron Parker tied the game at three, before Jay Harry walked the game off with an RBI groundout to win the game for New Hampshire, 4-3. May 20: The Wednesday game between Hartford and New Hampshire was a wild one. Hartford took the big lead early and kept adding to the scoreboard, bringing at least one run across the plate in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings. They scored eight runs and took the commanding lead in the game. Benny Montgomery homered, GJ Hill hit an interesting inside-the-park home run, and Bryant Betancourt homered in that span. In the bottom of the eighth inning, things flipped for New Hampshire. Jay Harry came up to the plate with the bases loaded and crushed a ball over the right field fence for a grand slam. Patrick Winkel added a home run in the inning as well, as the Fisher Cats scored eight in the frame. Quickly though, Hartford put another run on the board, this time with another Montgomery home run. New Hampshire lost this one 10-8. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 17-24 Series vs Spokane Indians (Colorado Rockies) May 19: Spokane ruined another great Johnny King start, who pitched five innings for the second time this season, striking out five batters and only allowing one run. The offense for Vancouver had a solid start as well, with Jacob Sharp hitting his third homer of the season to make it 2-0. Those two runs were the only runs scored for Vancouver, and Holden Wilkerson had his first truly bad appearance, giving up five runs in the seventh inning himself. Carson Pierce also gave up a run that same inning. That led to the loss in the first game of the series against Spokane. May 20: The awesome pitching performances for Vancouver continued with Nolan Perry taking the bump once again. This time, he struck out double-digit batters for the third time this season, and he didn’t allow a run in five innings. Perry has begun to establish himself as the next big Jays pitching prospect. The offense didn’t slack either, as Alexis Hernandez and Dub Gleed carried the way. Hernandez had two homers and three walks, while Gleed had a four-hit night with a double and a homer. The Canadians faced a scare when Carson Myers made his Vancouver debut and struggled, giving up five runs to make it a more competitive game, but Jonathan Todd stopped the bleeding with a save. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 15-25 Series vs Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins) May 19: Postponed May 20: Nathan Lukes finally was able to play on rehab assignment, as the previous game was rained out. Despite finishing with zero at-bats, he was able to walk and hit a sac fly in two plate appearances. Aldo Gaxiola continues to hit, getting the second run of the game with a 100-mph single. This was also the professional debut for Blake Purnell, whom the Jays recently signed out of independent ball. He had a solid start, going five innings and allowing two earned runs while striking out four batters, but unfortunately, he took the loss as a Juan Sanchez error in the fifth led to an unearned run, putting the Jays behind 3-2. The bullpen let the game get out of hand as well, as Jack Eshleman allowed two runs in three innings of work despite striking out six batters, and Lluveres Severino allowed another, making it six runs for the Mighty Mussels. The Jays' offense was able to bring it within two with RBI singles from Raimundo De Los Santos and JoJo Parker, but it was too little too late. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 11-2 May 19: Tuesday was a big day for a few of the key players on the FCL Blue Jays squad. Carson Messina was on the mound and made easy work of the FCL Phillies. He went three innings and didn't allow a hit, only surrendered one walk, and struck out four batters. On the offensive side, Tim Piasentin launched his first professional home run in the sixth inning and added a double later in the game. Also in the sixth inning, Andres Arias crushed his first home run of the season as well, also in the sixth inning. After tying the game in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk from Arias, the Blue Jays squad couldn't hold on, as they lost the game in the 10th inning; the Phillies scored three, and the Jays could only muster an RBI groundout in their half of extras. The FCL Blue Jays lost this one, 8-6. Transactions 05/20/26 SS Nick Goodwin assigned to Buffalo Bisons from New Hampshire Fisher Cats. 05/20/26 RHP Conor Larkin assigned to Buffalo Bisons from New Hampshire Fisher Cats. 05/20/26 Dunedin Blue Jays activated SS Raimundo De Los Santos from the 7-day injured list. 05/20/26 New Hampshire Fisher Cats activated OF Jace Bohrofen from the 7-day injured list. 05/20/26 New Hampshire Fisher Cats placed RHP Irv Carter on the 7-day injured list. 05/20/26 RHP Kelena Sauer assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Vancouver Canadians. 05/19/26 Toronto Blue Jays recalled RHP Chase Lee from Buffalo Bisons. 05/19/26 Toronto Blue Jays sent RF Nathan Lukes on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays. 05/19/26 RHP Bradley Wilson assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays. 05/19/26 RHP Blake Purnell assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays. 05/19/26 RHP Edgar Gallegos assigned to FCL Blue Jays from Dunedin Blue Jays. 05/19/26 LHP Luis Fonseca assigned to FCL Blue Jays from Dunedin Blue Jays. 05/19/26 New Hampshire Fisher Cats activated RHP Caleb Freeman from the 7-day injured list. 05/19/26 Toronto Blue Jays signed free agent RHP Bradley Wilson to a minor league contract. 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Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (May 12-May 13) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Worcester Red Sox (Boston Red Sox): 1-1: Season Record: 20-21 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Reading Fighting Phils (Philadelphia Phillies): 2-0 Season Record: 21-11 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners): 1-1 Season Record: 14-21 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Tampa Tarpons (New York Yankees): 0-2 Season Record: 13-22 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 1-0 Season Record: 8-0 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 20-21 Series vs Worcester Red Sox May 12: It was the start of a new series for Buffalo on Tuesday, but the hot bats stayed sizzling, as they jumped on the Worcester Red Sox early in the game. Ismael Munguia has been a giant bright spot for the Bisons and he kept it going on Tuesday, leading off with a single and then, a couple of batters later, he came around to score on Josh Kasevich's groundout. In the bottom of the second, two more runs would score after Worcester catcher Jason Delay had a passed ball and a throwing error on the same play. After the Red Sox cut the lead to one, Carlos Mendoza extended the lead by two with a 104.3 mph two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth. Buffalo would get some insurance runs in the seventh and eighth from RBI singles by Kasevich and Rafael Lantigua. The bullpen pitched well after relieving Austin Voth, once he completed five innings, giving up only two runs. Adam Macko had his best game, going 2.1 innings and surrendering just one walk and one hit, no runs. It would be Tanner Andrews for the ninth inning, and he was perfect, having a 1-2-3 inning and lowering his ERA to 1.65. Buffalo rolled in this one to a 7-2 win and finally reached the elusive .500 mark on the season. May 13: Well, it was a short-lived stay at the .500 mark for the Bisons, as the bats went with the weather in Buffalo. Much like the big league club, it was a singles factory on Wednesday, and Buffalo couldn't really get any runs across home plate. In the fifth inning, Jonatan Clase laced a single to right field, which would score the only runs of the game for Buffalo. The pitching wasn't great for Buffalo, but Worcester did a great job of manufacturing runs and scoring opportunities. In the first inning, Grant Rogers surrendered a run on a sacrifice fly, and then two innings later, another run on a single following a stolen base. Later in the inning, a Josh Kasevich error would allow a third run to cross home plate. In the eighth, Hayden Juenger gave up back-to-back singles before Michael Plassmeyer came into the game and hit the first batter to load the bases. From there, a passed ball by catcher Willie MacIver and another sacrifice fly would add two insurance runs for Worcester. Buffalo fell 6-2 in a lackluster game and fell back below the .500 mark. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 19-11 Series vs Reading Fighting Phils (Philadelphia Phillies) May 12: New Hampshire kicked off their week series with Reading on Tuesday. The Fightin Phils struck first with a home run by Bryan Rincon. In the bottom of the first, Jay Harry pinch-hit for Jace Bohrofen and crushed a two-run home run to right field. In the top of the second inning, Raylin Heredia launched a home run of his own for Reading. Patrick Winkel would have the answer for the Fisher Cats, a three-run homer to put them up two in the fourth inning of this back-and-forth contest. Kehden Hettiger homered in the sixth to bring Reading within one, but Adrian Pinto continued being an RBI machine with a bases-clearing double that brought in three runs for New Hampshire. Harry would add another RBI late for the Fisher Cats, who went on to win this one 9-5. May 13, Game 1: In the first game of the doubleheader, Richard Gallardo was on the mound for New Hampshire and continued his hot stretch. This time, he went six innings and only allowed two runs on five hits, while striking out four batters. He gave up two runs in the fourth inning on an RBI double and an RBI single. The Fisher Cats quickly answered, though, when Victor Arias crushed his second home run at Double A this season. In the sixth, Jay Harry tripled in a run, and Jackson Hornung had an RBI single for New Hampshire to take the lead. Yondrei Rojas came on for the seventh and got the last three outs for the save and the Fisher Cats victory, 3-2. Game 2: Postponed High-A Vancouver Season Record: 14-21 Series vs Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners) May 12: Danny Thompson Jr. has started to be figured out by Northwest League hitters, as this was his third start giving up two or more runs, and he lost his control, giving up four walks in 3.1 innings. This gave the AquaSox an early four-run lead as they were able to take advantage of the baserunners with extra-base hits. The Canadians clawed their way back, as Jacob Sharp got them on the board with his second homer of the season, and Kendry Chirinos brought the lead within two on an RBI double that same inning. The score didn’t change until the bottom of the seventh inning, when Dub Gleed and Maddox Latta both got on base, and Peyton Williams drove them both in on a two-RBI double to even it up. A throwing error from Luis Suisbel allowed Williams to score, and Vancouver finally had the lead. The Canadians kept the lead with good innings from Kelena Sauer and Jay Schueler, but in the bottom of the ninth, Schueler allowed a game-tying homer, which sent the game to extras. Trace Baker struck out two batters without allowing a baserunner in the 10th, and Jacob Sharp walked it off with a single for Vancouver. May 13: The second game of the series was a little anticlimactic, as the Canadians could not string together any hits, with only two on the night. It spoiled Johnny King’s best start as a professional, where he went five shutout innings, allowing only one walk and three hits while striking out eight batters, lowering his season ERA to just 0.81. Holden Wilkerson didn’t have his best appearance, going four innings and allowing three runs, but even if he was near perfect, it wouldn’t have mattered as there were only three baserunners all game for the Canadians in a quick 3-0 loss. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 13-22 Series vs Tampa Tarpons (New York Yankees) May 12: The Dunedin Blue Jays fought the Yankees' affiliate for the first time this season, and despite a run scoring in the first inning on a groundout, the score remained close thanks to strong pitching from Brayden Heidel and new signee Jack Nedrow, who pitched four scoreless innings with six Ks in his professional debut. JoJo Parker was also able to even it up in the fourth with an absolutely crushed homer to centerfield at 109 mph that went 406 feet. The game remained tied heading into the ninth inning, but Lluveres Severino faced trouble and loaded the bases with two outs. He gave up a single to Jackson Lovich that Juan Sanchez wasn’t able to get a glove on, leading to a walkoff win for the Tarpons. May 13: Jake Cook was called up from the FCL and led off, playing center field. Brandon Barriera took the mound and was effective, allowing only one unearned run, but he had to be removed due to what looked like an oblique injury in the third inning. Diego Dominguez was sent in to replace him and immediately gave up a homer to put the Jays down two. The Jays had a big fourth inning, as after a Blaine Bullard double and a JoJo Parker walk, Juan Sanchez took the lead with his second homer of the season, an oppo shot 96.6 mph off the bat. Edward Duran started his rehab assignment and hit a single, then David Beckles hit a single, before Cook had his first hit as a D-Jay for a 2-RBI double to make it 5-2. Dominguez allowed another run, so he was replaced by Franly Urena, who didn’t allow a run despite four walks in 1.2 innings. Ramon Suarez blew the save after a fielding error from Sanchez, as Suarez couldn’t recover, giving up two home runs and a triple to put the Jays behind by two. The offense couldn't get a run in even after loading the bases in the seventh inning, leading to the second loss of the series. https://x.com/DunedinBlueJays/status/2054687327176298963?s=20 FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 8-0 May 12: The FCL Blue Jays took on the FCL Phillies on Tuesday, and Jake Bloss was on the mound for a rehab start. Bloss looked pretty good for his first rehab start, going 2.1 innings and striking out four, while giving up two hits and no runs. He mixed his pitches well and had his fastball working north of 95 mph most of the time. Carson Messina came on after him and was looking equally good. He sat mostly 93-95 mph on the fastball but frequently ran it up to 97 and 98 mph. He had a big curveball that was really good, which he dropped in there for two of his three strikeouts. He lost his command in his third inning and left the bases loaded. Those three runs would come in to score after he was pulled. On the offensive side, the FCL Blue Jays were hitting everything or getting on base via walk. They punched 15 hits and took 10 walks on their way to a 12-5 victory. Tim Piasentin had two hits and three walks, while Franklin Rojas went 5-for-6 with five RBIs. Transactions 05/13/26 Vancouver Canadians sent C Edward Duran on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays. 05/13/26 OF Jake Cook assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from FCL Blue Jays. 05/12/26 Buffalo Bisons sent RHP Jake Bloss on a rehab assignment to FCL Blue Jays. 05/12/26 Buffalo Bisons activated RF Je'Von Ward from the Development List. 05/12/26 C Adam Hackenberg assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from Buffalo Bisons. 05/12/26 RHP Josbel Garcia assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from FCL Blue Jays. View full article

Trey YesavageJoJo ParkerArjun NimmalaJohnny KingRicky TiedemannGage StaniferJuan SanchezYohendrick PinangoBlaine BullardSean KeysJosh KasevichJake BlossVictor AriasSilvano HechavarriaRJ SchreckJake CookNolan PerryCharles McAdooTim PiasentinLanden Maroudis

Trey YesavageJoJo ParkerArjun NimmalaJohnny KingRicky TiedemannGage StaniferJuan SanchezYohendrick PinangoBlaine BullardSean KeysJosh KasevichJake BlossVictor AriasSilvano HechavarriaRJ SchreckJake CookNolan PerryCharles McAdooTim PiasentinLanden Maroudis

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (May 4-May 6) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies): 1-1 Season Record: 16-19 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox): 1-0 Season Record: 16-10 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants): 0-1 Season Record: 11-17 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates): 0-2 Season Record: 11-18 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 3-0 Season Record: 3-0 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 16-19 Series Opponent: Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) May 5: The Buffalo Bisons opened a new series on Tuesday, this one against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The game was placed into the relievers' hands from the start, as it was a bullpen game for Buffalo. Hayden Juenger and Devereaux Harrison pitched well, combining for four innings and allowing zero runs to cross home plate. Brendan Cellucci and Brendon Little were next up out of the pen, and they imploded in an epic way. Cellucci surrendered a three-run home run in his inning of work. Little then was bit by an error. After getting a double play ball, Little walked two, with a runner reaching on Riley Tirotta's error in between. Otto Kemp then blasted a grand slam off of Little; it went 104 mph off the bat and traveled 423 feet. While the pitching and fielding put Buffalo in a bind in the middle innings, the bats were nonexistent until the end of the game. There were a couple of standouts at the plate, though. Charles McAdoo and Ismael Munguia were almost perfect on the day. McAdoo collected five hits, while Munguia added three. Having only scored one run up until the top of the ninth, Buffalo tried to pull off a comeback down 7-1. Josh Kasevich knocked in a run on a single, and then McAdoo notched his fifth and final hit of the game, a big three-run home run to left field. The comeback was nearing completion, but Josh Rivera struck out to end the game, with Buffalo falling 7-5. May 6: Wednesday's game against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs was by far the best and most complete game Buffalo has played on the season. The bats came alive early and never stopped. The Bisons recorded 15 hits on the day, including five doubles. With two more base knocks, Ismael Munguia continued his torrid start to his time at Triple-A. He ended the game with his batting average at .375. Jonatan Clase opened up the scoring by knocking in Munguia following his double to lead off the game. RJ Schreck began his big game with an RBI single to score Clase. In the second inning, Charles McAdoo doubled home a run, and then Schreck doubled in two more. Schreck was 3-for-5 for the game, with two doubles, five RBI, and two runs scored. On the pitching side, Austin Voth pitched four strong innings, not allowing a run to score and only giving up three hits. Yariel Rodríguez and Jesse Hahn wrapped up the final 3.1 innings and didn't allow a run either. Buffalo took this game with ease in a full team effort, 11-1. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 16-10 Series vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) May 5: New Hampshire kicked off their series with the Portland Sea Dogs in a fast manner. In the top of the first, Jace Bohrofen lifted a ball over the right field fence for his eighth home run of the season to give the Fisher Cats a one-run lead. In the fourth, New Hampshire would strike again. This time, a Cutter Coffey double scored a run. Nate Baez and Johanfran Garcia launched home runs in the fourth and seventh innings, respectively, for Portland to tie the game. In the top of the ninth, Aaron Parker took his turn at crushing a solo home run, as the Fisher Cats took a one-run lead. Conor Larkin came in and closed the game for his fourth save and a 3-2 New Hampshire win. May 6: Postponed High-A Vancouver Season Record: 11-17 Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants) May 4: The Canadians had to face the red-hot Emeralds, who have won every single series they have played this season. Danny Thompson Jr. bounced back from his previous start, although he got tagged for a two-run double in the first inning. He still struck out six batters in four innings of work and didn’t allow a run after that. The Canadians threatened in the second inning, loading the bases with one out, but J.R. Freethy grounded into a double play. That was the only time the Canadians threatened the Emeralds’ starter Charlie McDaniel, who went a little over four innings of scoreless pitching. Reece Wissinger has struggled since getting promoted to Vancouver, and he gave up two more runs to make it a 4-0 ball game. Kelena Sauer, on the other hand, continued to pitch well, with three strikeouts in a perfect inning. The Canadians answered back in the seventh inning, with Peyton Williams continuing his hot start, driving in two with a double, and the Canadians had runners on second and third with one out in the eighth inning, but all they could muster was a sac fly from Tucker Toman, leading to a close 3-4 loss. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 11-18 Series vs Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates) May 5: After losing the first three-game series against Bradenton, the D-Jays hoped to turn it around this series. Dylan Watts was once again solid in his second pro start, showing good velocity and allowing only two runs in 4.2 innings, including one homer to the “Password” Jhostynxon Garcia, who was on a rehab assignment for the Pirates. Utilityman Dariel Ramon, who’s played six different positions already early on in this season, hit a double to score Blaine Bullard to get Dunedin on the board in the fifth, and Yorman Licourt hit a solo shot to tie it up in the sixth inning. Diego Dominguez struck out five people in over three innings of work in relief, keeping it a tie for the Jays, but in the top of the ninth, Jack Eshleman gave up a solo homer, which ended up losing the game for the Jays, who couldn’t get Will Cresswell in after he hit a double with two outs. May 6: The Jays were undone once again by their own poor defense. Brayden Heidel started this game, and despite three walks, he was able to prevent any damage, going nearly four innings of scoreless baseball. Luis Victorino replaced Heidel and pitched well into the sixth inning, but a throwing error broke the game open for the Marauders, and after Victorino hit a batter with a pitch, he was replaced for Carson Myers. Unfortunately for Myers, a catcher’s interference loaded the bases, and he gave up a grand slam to make it a five-run inning for Bradenton. Eduar Gonzalez was the new pitcher after Myers was taken out, and after allowing a run to score on an RBI single, Juan Rosas made another mistake defensively with a passed ball, leading to another unearned run to score, making five of the seven for Bradenton off of Dunedin miscues. Addison Barger prevented the shutout with a towering homer to right field, but that was it for the Jays. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 3-0 May 5: The FCL Blue Jays faced off against the FCL Tigers in a game dominated by pitching on Tuesday. Carson Messina was back on the mound for the Blue Jays squad after only pitching two innings last season before getting hurt. He was fantastic, going three perfect innings, not allowing a hit, walk, or run, and striking out three. Edgar Gallegos went two innings without giving up a run, and Josbel Garcia closed the game with two perfect innings and one strikeout for the save. The FCL Blue Jays won 2-0. Transactions 05/06/26 New Hampshire Fisher Cats activated RHP Yondrei Rojas from the 7-day injured list. 05/06/26 New Hampshire Fisher Cats activated CF Victor Arias from the 7-day injured list. 05/05/26 Buffalo Bisons activated LF Jonatan Clase from the 7-day injured list. 05/05/26 Buffalo Bisons transferred RF Je'Von Ward to the Development List. 05/05/26 Dunedin Blue Jays placed RHP Dayne Pengelly on the 7-day injured list. 05/05/26 SS Owen Gregg assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from FCL Blue Jays. 05/05/26 SS Eric Snow assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from New Hampshire Fisher Cats. 05/05/26 OF David Guzman assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from FCL Blue Jays. 05/04/26 RHP Michael De La Cruz assigned to FCL Blue Jays from DSL Blue Jays Blue. 05/04/26 Dunedin Blue Jays placed SS Raimundo De Los Santos on the 7-day injured list. 05/04/26 Dunedin Blue Jays placed OF Enmanuel Bonilla on the 7-day injured list. 05/04/26 New Hampshire Fisher Cats transferred RHP Fernando Perez to the Development List. 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The first month of the season for minor league baseball has concluded, and these were the Blue Jays' best minor league relievers to start off the year. The Jays have established a strong bullpen core in the major leagues and have done a better job of talent identification and pitcher development over the past few years. Relievers are highly volatile pitchers, and one or two bad outings could make an otherwise good month a horrific one. The performances of relievers, let alone minor league ones, can be highly skewed by variance. Instead of just focusing on results like ERA, evaluating the ways that pitchers get hitters out and their ability to keep runners from getting on base is more important. Honourable Mentions LHP Brendon Little - Buffalo Bisons - 9 IP, 1.00 ERA, 2.53 FIP, 44.4 K%, 22.2 BB%, 1.44 WHIP The enigmatic Brendon Little was demoted down to Buffalo after a disappointing start in the majors, but the lefty made good use of the reset, not allowing a single run until the last day of the month. The walks continue to be an issue; walking over 22 percent of the batters he’s faced is not ideal. Yet, the tantalizing whiffs and strikeout potential are ever-present, as he’s struck out double that. For now, Joe Mantiply and Mason Fluharty have been solid in the majors, but Little might be the first one up if anything happens to them. RHP Aaron Munson - Vancouver Canadians, New Hampshire Fisher Cats - 11 ⅓ IP, 3.97 ERA, 2.90 FIP, 33.3 K%, 13.7 BB%, 1.50 WHIP Aaron Munson pitched well enough to get the call to Double A, and despite a few games where he lost the zone and gave up multiple earned runs, he also had games where he pitched three shutout innings in relief with five strikeouts or more twice. The 2023 19th-rounder was a fixture in the Canadians ‘pen in 2025, and now will try to replicate that success in Double A. Top 5 #5 - RHP Kelena Sauer - Vancouver Canadians - 9 ⅓ IP, 1.93 ERA, 2.62 FIP, 30.2 K%, 11.6 BB%, 1.71 WHIP Kelena Sauer returned from a lost year after undergoing elbow surgery and rehabbing for all of 2025. The 2023 15th-rounder showed interesting stuff in 2024 before the injury, and has looked sharp, pitching to a 1.93 ERA despite bad BABIP luck. Five of his six appearances were scoreless appearances, and despite the rust, he has really impressed. #4 - LHP Carson Myers - Dunedin Blue Jays - 12 ⅓ IP, 4.38 ERA, 1.83 FIP, 38.2 K%, 9.1 BB%, 1.30 WHIP Carson Myers was an undrafted free agent that the Jays signed after the 2025 draft, who pitched to a 3.18 ERA in 10 appearances in 2025 for his pro debut. His walks were a big problem though, as he walked 16.7% of the batters he faced. He’s improved his command immensely, and despite a worse ERA, the process has been significantly better for Myers. He halved his walk rate and has struck out over 38 percent of the batters he’s faced. His low velocity limits his upside, but his lower three-quarters slot is a weird look for hitters. #3 - RHP Holden Wilkerson - Vancouver Canadians - 18.2 IP, 1.93 ERA, 3.31 ERA, 29.1 K%, 8.9 BB%, 1.13 WHIP An 18th-rounder last season out of Virginia Military Institute, Holden Wilkerson showed some flashes of potential in Dunedin, despite some poor results. He has piggybacked off of Johnny King in each of his outings, and they have been one of the hardest duos to face in the minor leagues, similar to Trey Yesavage and Gage Stanifer in 2025. Wilkerson struggled last season, leaking the ball over the plate too often and getting hit hard, but he’s done a good job of striking out hitters and inducing groundballs when he does get hit, while still walking less than 9% of the batters he’s faced. #2 - RHP Conor Larkin - New Hampshire Fisher Cats - 10 ⅓ IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.45 FIP, 30.6 K%, 8.3 BB%, 0.58 WHIP Conor Larkin was the Jays’ ninth-rounder in the 2021 draft and signed for just $77,500 out of Penn State. The now 27-year-old hasn’t made it above Double A yet, but has been a solid reliever in the minors over the past four years. He’s yet to allow a run early on in this minor league season and should get a chance at Triple A sooner than later. He’s struck out over 30 percent of the batters he’s faced, walked just over eight percent, and has had a solid groundball rate of 45.5%. He won’t get on any prospect lists for the Jays, but could pitch some lower-leverage major league innings with his solid velocity, sidearm delivery and high-spin offerings. #1 - LHP - Brendan Cellucci - New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Buffalo Bisons - 10 ⅓ IP, 0.87 ERA, 2.69 FIP, 46.2 K%, 12.8 BB%, 1.16 WHIP Brendan Cellucci was playing in Indy Ball last year and was exceptional, pitching to a 1.96 ERA and striking out 32 batters in 18 innings of work. The Jays took a chance on him, as they’ve spent a lot of time and effort finding Indy Ball darlings. Cellucci rewarded them with a really strong start to the season, striking out over 46% of the batters he faced with a below-average but not bad walk rate. The lefty has done a great job using his sinker-slider combo to keep hitters off balance, and when not striking out hitters, he also has a groundball rate of 62.5% when he does get hit. Although he has below-average velocity, he has solid extension to make up for it. He may be blocked by a litany of lefty reliever options on the 40-man roster, but he’s been an interesting find for the Blue Jays. View full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 28-April 29) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees): 0-1 Season Record: 13-15 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies (New York Mets): 3-0 Season Record: 13-8 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs. Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks): 0-2 Season Record: 9-14 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs. Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami Marlins): 1-1 Season Record: 10-13 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 13-14 Series Opponent: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees) April 28: Buffalo opened a new series on Tuesday, this one against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and they couldn’t have started the game any better. The Bisons jumped all over the RailRiders in the opening frame, scoring five runs before the fans were even sitting down for lunch. Riley Tirotta opened up the scoring with an RBI single to third base, plating Carlos Mendoza. Willie MacIver followed it up with a two-run single in his second game with the Blue Jays organization, following a trade from the Texas Rangers. Two more runs would score on the next play, thanks to a throwing error on the RailRiders’ third baseman Duncan Pastore. With a five run lead already in hand, Buffalo sent a rehabbing Jose Berrios to the mound and things unraveled quite fast. He coughed up a lead-off home run to Spencer Jones, then Jones got him again in the second inning with a two-run single. In the third, Berrios got tagged again, this time by a Seth Brown two-run home run. Adam Macko came into the game for Berrios in the fifth and didn't fare any better, giving up a three-run home run himself. Jones capped off a monster game for the RailRiders, with another home run in the bottom of the eighth and putting the lead out of reach for the Bisons. Buffalo fell 9-6 to the RailRiders in this one. April 29: Postponed Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 13-8 Series vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies (New York Mets) April 28: Tuesday Night was the beginning of a series with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies and it was a game for the history books. Jace Bohrofen broke open a scoreless game in the fourth inning with an RBI single. Then, Eddie Micheletti Jr. added an RBI single and Cutter Coffey roped a two-run double. Bohrofen would launch his seventh homer of the season to put New Hampshire up five and add a run on a ball in play error in the seventh. Bohrofen went 3-4 with the two RBIs, including the home run, but that wasn't the story of the night. The pitching was equal parts historic and historic. Jackson Wentworth started on the mound for New Hampshire and went 4.2 innings, didn't allow a hit, or an earned run. Wentworth did allow four free passes though. Next came Nate Garkow, who pitched 1.1 innings and didn't give up a hit or run, but also surrendered a walk. Irv Carter then entered the game and went two hitless innings, didn't surrender a run, but walked four as well. He did add four strikeouts. Then came Kai Peterson for the ninth. After a leadoff walk, he got two flyouts that set up a matchup between him and Eli Serrano III. For history. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Serrano hit a ball to Micheletti, who caught the fly ball for the no-hitter! It came with 10 walks on the night, but who is counting, because history is history. April 29, Game 1: In the first game of the double header, the bats came alive for the Fisher Cats, who were set up nicely with a good six innings from starting pitcher Chris McElvain. He gave up just two runs in the first inning and then finished six innings with no more runs allowed. New Hampshire got on the board in the second, when Jay Harry hit a two-run double and Ismael Munguia drove in a run on a groundout. With the one-run lead, the Fisher Cats would pile on four more the next inning. Cutter Coffey cleared the bases with a three-run double and Harry brought him home on an error by the Rumble Ponies. New Hampshire would go on and win this one 8-2. April 29, Game 2: Game two on the night was another comeback affair for the Fisher Cats. They began the game down three runs when Binghamton took a two-run lead in the first and added a third run in the fourth inning. Patrick Winkel drove in two runs with a double for New Hampshire in their half of the fourth inning. In the fifth. Eddie Micheletti Jr. brought home a run and then Jay Harry knocked in two more runs to give New Hampshire the lead. In the shortened game that didn't have many hits, that is where the scoring ended, as New Hampshire won again, this time 5-3. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 9-14 Series vs. Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks) April 28: Daniel Guerra starts have become must see watches, as the big righty had his fourth start with six strikeouts or more, with the only run he gave up being a solo shot in the second inning. Arjun Nimmala then hit a mammoth homer the inning after to give the Canadians the lead, the furthest in Nat Bailey since 2022. Peyton Williams helped expand the lead with a double then scored on two straight balks from Junior Sanchez. The Canadians were unable to do anything else going against Sanchez, as he struck out ten Vancouver hitters. Jay Schueler, who’s been lights out in relief so far, gave up his first homer of the season after walking a batter to give up the lead. Schueler was replaced in the eighth by Eminen Flores, who too was great in relief prior to this game, but also gave up two runs, as he lost his command. The Canadians couldn’t get anything else going, so they lost after a good start to the game. April 29: After not allowing a single run prior to this game, Danny Thompson Jr. proved to be mortal, giving up four runs in three and a thirds innings in an uncharacteristic start. He was hurt by some bad BABIP luck, as he gave up seven hits, as he still struck out five batters. The offense once again sputtered, only getting five hits and three walks, as the team went 0-7 with RISP and left 6 runners on base. Juanmi Vasquez allowed another run and Reese Wissinger’s Vancouver debut allowed two more runs, leading to a 7-0 loss for Vancouver. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 10-13 Series vs Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami Marlins) April 28: It was a tough day defensively for both teams, as the Hammerheads and the D-Jays faced off for the first time this season. Both starters pitched three or more scoreless innings, with Dylan Watts striking out a career high seven batters while also generating 17 whiffs in his first professional start. Luis Victorino came after him, and after getting a lineout, two runners got on base with a single and a walk. The Jays could have gotten out of the inning, but an unfortunate fielding error from Juan Sanchez led to an RBI single and then a grand slam, putting the Jays in a large hole. The Jays then allowed another run on a throwing error from Will Cresswell in the fifth inning, giving Victorino six unearned runs on the night. The Jays were able to answer back as this time the Hammerheads took their turn with an error, as third baseman Emilio Barreras had one of his three errors of the game, resulting in three unearned runs. Another Barreras error gave the Jays another run in the eighth, but Mason Davenport gave up a homer in the ninth to set the lead back to three. Eric Snow brought it a run closer after Sanchez took a walk, but they couldn’t come back from the mistakes made in the fourth. April 29: Nolan Perry’s domination continues, as although the 22 year old didn’t have the strong stuff that he did in previous starts, went four innings and a third only allowing a single run. On the season he’s at a 1.71 ERA in four games pitched. Juan Rosas drove in the first run of the game, and then the Jays took advantage of some poor defense with the bases loaded after, as starter Dameivi Tineo threw the ball away allowing all three baserunners to score. Blaine Bullard then added another run for a five run inning with an RBI single. A strong relief outing from Carson Myers maintained the Jays’ lead, and although the Hammerheads got a bit closer with two runs in the eighth and ninth, the Jays were able to take the win to even the series. Transactions 04/29/26 RHP Tomoya Kinjo assigned to DSL Blue Jays Blue. 04/28/26 Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP José Berríos on a rehab assignment to Buffalo Bisons. 04/28/26 Toronto Blue Jays optioned RHP Chase Lee to Buffalo Bisons. 04/28/26 LHP Ramon Suarez assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from FCL Blue Jays. 04/28/26 RHP Reece Wissinger assigned to Vancouver Canadians from Dunedin Blue Jays. 04/28/26 New Hampshire Fisher Cats placed LHP Javen Coleman on the 7-day injured list. 04/28/26 2B Adrian Pinto assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Vancouver Canadians. 04/28/26 RHP Aaron Munson assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Vancouver Canadians. View full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 21 – April 22) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs. Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians): 1-1 Season Record: 11-12 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs. Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies): 0-2 Season Record: 8-7 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs. Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels): 2-0 Season Record: 8-9 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins): 1-1 Season Record: 9-8 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 11-12 Series Opponent: Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals) April 21: Tuesday was hopefully the last Trey Yesavage day in the minor leagues. With him on the mound for Buffalo, there was building hope and anticipation that the team could get back to .500 and then finally break through that barrier. It wasn't meant to be, as Yesavage struggled with his control in the game and made some costly errors as well. In the top of the first inning, Yesavage made a fielding error and a throwing error on a ball hit to him after a walk to Travis Bazzana, which allowed Bazzana to score. The next batter singled, driving in another run and putting Buffalo in a 2-0 hole. In the top of the third, Yesavage gave up a lead-off double, walked the bases loaded, then walked in a run, before being pulled from the game. His replacement, Brendan Cellucci, couldn't stop the bleeding, as he gave up a sacrifice fly to the first batter he faced. Yesavage's final line was 2.1 innings pitched, two hits, four runs (two earned), four walks, and only two strikeouts. Hopefully, he did enough to make his next start for the big league club, because the results weren't there at all. At the plate, you could say the hitters followed Yesavage's lead and didn't put up much of a fight. They got an RBI double from Josh Kasevich and an RBI single from William Simoneit. Simoneit ended up raising his average for the season up to .318. The rest of the team struggled, as they only totaled four hits for the game and fell to Columbus 5-2, dropping to two games below the .500 mark. April 22: In the second game of the series against the Columbus Clippers, Buffalo got some lights-out performances from the bullpen to slam the door and take the win. Austin Voth started the game and had some trouble in the first two innings. He ended up surrendering three runs (two unearned), thanks to an error by second baseman Carlos Mendoza. Voth wouldn't make it out of the third inning, and once the bullpen came into the game, Buffalo pitchers cranked up the swing-and-miss stuff. Jorge Alcala, Chase Lee, Michael Plassmeyer, Brendon Little, and Jesse Hahn would combine to throw 6.1 innings, not allow a run, strike out 12, and give up just one hit. Little pitched in his seventh game since being demoted from the big league club, and his ERA still stands at zero. It might not be too much longer before he gets called back up to the Toronto bullpen. Mendoza made up for his first-inning error by helping to tie the game up at three in the fifth inning. He had an RBI single, and Yohendrick Pinango added another run on a sacrifice fly. Buffalo continued to fight, especially when Columbus relief pitcher Daniel Espino came into the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Pinango led the inning off with a single, Charles McAdoo was hit by a pitch, then RJ Schreck singled to load up the bases. Riley Tirotta came up to the plate and worked a bases-loaded walk, scoring Pinango to take the lead. The walk was Tirotta's third of the game, to go along with a single. After Espino was replaced on the mound by Jake Miller, Rafael Lantigua added to the Buffalo lead with an RBI single. The Bisons would turn to Hahn in the ninth, and he came through, striking out two and securing the win for Buffalo, 5-3. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 8-7 Series vs. Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies) April 21: The series kickoff against the Reading Fightin Phils on Tuesday was one to forget for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The Fisher Cats struck first in the fourth inning, when Jace Bohrofen launched his sixth home run of the year. New Hampshire starting pitcher Jackson Wentworth made it through 3.2 innings clean, but then the rails came off, and he came crashing down. With two outs in the fourth, the Fightin Phills scored nine runs. Bryan Rincon homered, Austin Murray homered, and Alex Binelas hit a grand slam. In the eighth inning, down seven, Sean Keys continued his torrid hot start to the season, this time with a home run on a line drive to left field. New Hampshire would lose this one 9-3. April 22: The Fisher Cats struggled against the Fightin Phils for a second consecutive day in this one. They only managed six hits and two runs, with Alex Stone driving in a run on an RBI single in the seventh inning and Jorge Burgos scoring on an error as well. Alex Binelas kicked off the scoring in the fourth with a two-run home run against New Hampshire starting pitcher Chris McElvain. McElvain went a solid six innings and just surrendered the two runs, but Reading took the lead in the eighth on an RBI triple and a sacrifice fly. New Hampshire couldn't get the offense going again, as they fell 4-2. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 8-9 Series vs. Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels) April 21: The Blue Jays and the Canadians both played series with the Angels and their High-A affiliate, respectively. The Canadians started off the season slowly, just like their major league club, and both hoped to turn it around. Vancouver came out guns blazing, as the recently promoted Peyton Williams got the game going in the first with a sac fly, before Jacob Sharp knocked in two more runs on a single to put the Canadians up 3-0 without looking back. Landen Maroudis seems to have put his rough 2025 behind him, as he once again had a strong start, going the longest he’s gone all season and striking out four again. His returned velocity has also come with improved command, as he didn’t walk a single batter. The offense continued to tack on runs, as Matt Scannell took the lead to five in the third on a two-RBI single, and in the fourth inning, they exploded for seven runs, as they batted around the Dust Devils. Gilberto Batista got the win, but struggled a bit with his command, walking three batters and only striking out one. He would have gone unscathed if not for a Williams throwing error, but instead gave up three unearned runs. The Canadians tacked on another four runs, and Juanmi Vasquez had his first scoreless appearance of the season to end it off. Seven of the Canadians hitters had two hits or more, and Arjun Nimmala led the way with three hits, two doubles, and a walk. April 22: Game two of the series had a completely different flow than the first one, as the pitching was on display this time. Daniel Guerra continued to impress after being named the Northwest League Pitcher of the Week in the previous week, going five two-hit innings, striking out three, but also walking three. He faced some trouble in the fourth inning, as he walked the bases loaded, but was able to come out of it unscathed. The offense was harder to come by this game, but Arjun Nimmala scored J.R. Freethy on an RBI double to break the tie in the fourth, and Tucker Toman got his 13th RBI of the season on a sac fly in the sixth. Aaron Munson got his first hold of the season, with two scoreless innings, and Kelena Sauer’s return to pitching after missing 2025 has been great. He recorded his first save of the season, striking out four batters over two no-hit innings. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 9-8 Series vs. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins) April 21: The D-Jays took advantage of some poor defense from the Mighty Mussels, with the Jays stealing four bases and creating havoc on the basepaths, which resulted in rushed plays and four errors from the Mussels. Dariel Ramon got to third after stealing a base and moving up on a throwing error, and after Blaine Bullard walked and stole second, that put Juan Sanchez up at the dish. A fielding error allowed Sanchez to take first while Ramon and Bullard both scored. Troy Guthrie relied on his newfound slider to generate a lot of chases and showed off his advanced command again. He struck out four in four innings and only allowed one run in the bottom of the fourth. Dylan Watts continued the strong pitching for Dunedin, as the high-powered reliever sat 96 mph with his four-seam fastball and struck out four batters in three innings, but allowed a run to tie the game in the sixth. David Beckles came up clutch for the Jays, as after Adrian Pinto doubled, Beckles drove him in for the winning run. Jack Eshleman shut the door in the eighth and ninth for his third save of the year, highlighted by a clutch pickoff to end the game. April 22: José Berríos made his second rehab start and dominated Single-A hitters, to the tune of four scoreless innings, with five Ks, only allowing three hits. The veteran righty went up to 55 pitches, and hopefully should soon provide reinforcement to the major league club, which has been struck mightily by the injury bug. The Jays offense couldn’t support Berríos’ start, however, as they struck out thirteen times and struggled to get on base, with only four hits and three walks on the night. Juan Sanchez had his first extra-base hit of the season with a 104.5 mph scorcher to center field, but the Jays could not capitalize. Franly Urena threw two scoreless innings after Berríos was taken out, but Lluveres Severino struggled after walking a batter, committing a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, then walking another batter before hitting a batter to load the bases. Diego Dominguez replaced him and struck out a batter, but allowed two inherited runs to score on a single for the only runs of the ballgame. Transactions 04/21/26 C Patrick Winkel assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats. 04/21/26 Toronto Blue Jays signed free agent C Patrick Winkel to a minor league contract. 04/20/26 Dunedin Blue Jays placed C Jaxson West on the 7-day injured list. 04/20/26 RHP Aiden Taggart assigned to FCL Blue Jays from Dunedin Blue Jays. View full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 14-April 15) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs. Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals): 1-1 Season Record: 8-9 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs. Chesapeake Baysox (Baltimore Orioles): 2-0 Season Record: 6-4 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs. Spokane Indians (Colorado Rockies): 1-1 Season Record: 3-8 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs. Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies): 1-1 Season Record: 6-5 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 8-9 Series Opponent: Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals) April 14: The Buffalo Bisons finally got to play a game in warmer weather on Tuesday, and it showed on the field. Yohendrick Pinango, Riley Tirotta, and RJ Schreck each connected for home runs. Tirotta's was the loudest and farthest of the three, coming off the bat with an exit velocity of 108.7 mph and going 413 feet over the center field wall for a solo home run. Pinango's home run extended his hit streak to six games and gave him hits in 11 of his last 12 games. He has been locked in to start the season and could be pushing for a call-up midseason if the need arises for the big league team. All of Buffalo's runs in the game came on those three blasts, which was good because as a team, they struck out 14 times. Rafael Lantigua had three of the strikeouts himself, on his way to a 1-for-5 game, which raised his batting average to .143 for the year. On the mound for the Bisons was Austin Voth, who set the tone early, going four solid innings, giving up only one run, walking zero, and striking out three. Jorge Alcala replaced Devereaux Harrison in the top of the sixth with a runner on first base. He ran into trouble and ultimately gave up a two-run double to Trey Lipscomb. Hayden Juenger came into the game in the eighth and did enough to get the two-inning save. The Bisons' 5-3 win brought their record back to .500, where they have hovered for most of the season. April 15: Wednesday was a big day for Bisons fans, as it was a Trey Yesavage day. He was on the mound for Buffalo, making his first rehab start, working his way back to the major league team. It was a rough start for him, to say the least. In the first two innings, he gave up a combined three runs: two on home runs from Dylan Crews and Andres Chaparro and the third scoring on a double play ball. He worked the third and fourth innings relatively clean, only giving up a walk and a single. His day wrapped up after getting a groundout and giving up a single in the fifth inning. For the game, he pitched 4.1 innings, surrendering seven hits and allowing three runs to score, but he did strike out five. At the plate, RJ Schreck hit his second home run in as many games, this one with an exit velocity of 97.9 mph, going 380 feet to right center. The big shot came in the top of the third inning and scored Yohendrick Pinango, tying the game up at three. Unfortunately for the Bisons, Jesse Hahn coughed up three runs in the sixth inning, and the bats couldn't answer. Buffalo fell 6-3 and yet again couldn't crack the .500 mark, as they fell a game below it with an 8-9 record for the year. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 6-4 Series vs. Chesapeake Baysox (Baltimore Orioles) April 14: Postponed April 15, Game 1: New Hampshire had their bats going in the first game of the doubleheader on Wednesday. Jorge Burgos got things going in the second inning with an RBI single to right field and then again in the bottom of the third inning with a bases-loaded walk. Nick Goodwin and Aaron Parker would add RBI singles to put New Hampshire up comfortably by six runs. In the fourth, Jace Bohrofen crushed a two-run home run to right field, his first of the game. Up 8-1, the Fisher Cats put together another massive inning on the season in the bottom of the sixth. Twelve runs would score, with the two big hits being a second Bohrofen homer and Sean Keys capping off the scoring barrage with a three-run blast. Seven New Hampshire hitters had multi-hit games, and Keys led the way with two doubles and the home run. Bohrofen had the two homers, and Eddie Micheletti Jr. pushed across three hits as well. The Fisher Cats won an easy one, 20-1. Game 2: The second game of the doubleheader started out much more slowly than the first one, but ended with a bang on offense as well for the Fisher Cats. New Hampshire took the lead in the first inning on a Sean Keys RBI single, bringing home Eddie Micheletti Jr. An RBI fielder's choice would put them up by two runs in the second inning, before Aron Estrada tied the game with an RBI groundout in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fifth. An RBI groundout, a bases-loaded walk, and a bases-loaded HBP put the Baysox up by three runs. In the bottom of the fifth, Keys would change that, as his big day and season continued, this time with another three-run home run to right field to tie the game. In the sixth, New Hampshire put together another big inning on offense, with a run on an error, an RBI single, and 2 RBI doubles to put them back up five runs. The Fisher Cats would hold on after a late comeback in the seventh by the Baysox, and win 10-8. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 3-8 Series vs. Spokane Indians (Colorado Rockies) April 14: There was pitching dominance from starters, with Austin Cates and Brody Brecht going head-to-head. Cates gave up an early solo homer to Kelvin Hidalgo in the bottom of the second. After that, Cates was almost unstoppable, striking out seven straight batters before he allowed a runner to score on a wild pitch, ending his day there but still tying his career high of 10 strikeouts. Brecht also looked good for Spokane, and other than a Carter Cunningham run-scoring triple, didn’t allow a run to score in three innings, while he struck out six. After Cates was taken out, Juanmi Vasquez gave up a three-run homer to Alan Espinal, to put the Canadians down four, and despite a homer from Kendry Chirinos and an RBI single from Tucker Toman, they couldn’t come back from that deficit. April 15: The Canadians' offense woke up, as they tagged five runs on Spokane’s starter Yujanyer Herrera. Carter Cunningham hit a double and was moved to third, and then scored on a pickoff play at first. Then, in the third inning with the bases loaded, Kendry Chirinos had his second homer in as many days with a grand slam to break the game open. Landen Maroudis pitched well heading into the fourth inning, but was taken out after a single and a walk for Gilberto Batista, who then allowed both inherited runners to score. Batista struggled the inning after as well, allowing four earned runs to give up the lead. The Canadians' offense could not be denied, as Alexis Hernandez took the lead right back with a two-RBI triple before scoring himself on a wild pitch. Carson Pierce stopped the bleeding for the Canadians with two more scoreless innings after replacing Batista, and the Canadians broke double digits as the Northwest League Player of the Week, Carter Cunningham, went deep for the fourth time this season for the second grand slam of the day. Maddox Latta hit a homer to cap off a 14-point explosion for the Canadians, who are hopefully turning it around. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 6-5 Series vs. Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies): 1-1 April 14: In the first game of the series against Clearwater, the Jays trotted out Brayden Heidel, who struggled, giving up three runs while walking two batters and giving up two hits. The relief corps also did poorly after replacing him, with Reece Wissinger allowing two more runs after. Aldo Gaxiola got a run back with his second homer of the year, but the Jays continued to give up runs as Carson Myers let in another two runs. Blaine Bullard’s power has been better than advertised, as he hit his third homer of the year 104.9 mph and 423 feet, but once again the Jays kept on letting up runs as Franly Urena gave up two homers. The Jays' offense could not stop homering, as this time their No. 2 prospect JoJo Parker got his first homer of the season, and the rehabbing Adrian Pinto hit the Jays’ fourth homer of the day to bring it within two in the bottom of the night, but they could not pull out the win. April 15: The Jays pulled out a gutsy win in extras, as Troy Guthrie had his first shaky start. The Jays went down three runs by the third inning, and the Threshers' pitching held the Jays scoreless until the bottom of the sixth, with the red-hot Jaxson West knocking in the first run for the Jays on an RBI single. The Threshers immediately got that run back in the seventh on a double against Dylan Watts, as the Jays still were down three runs heading into the bottom of the eighth. After a Peyton Williams walk and a Yorman Licourt single, Eric Snow had a clutch double with one out to cut the lead to one. Mason Davenport allowed three runners in a shaky inning but ended up striking the side in the top of the ninth, allowing the Jays to tie it up on a sac fly after they loaded the bases for Williams. No other runs would score, so they would go to extras, and after a scoreless inning from Diego Dominguez, the bases were juiced for JoJo with two outs. He went up to the plate and had a nine-pitch at-bat in which he fouled off three pitches with two strikes before walking it off on an RBI walk to win the game and even up the series. Transactions 04/15/26 Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP Trey Yesavage on a rehab assignment to Buffalo Bisons. 04/15/26 C Charlie Saum assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Dunedin Blue Jays. 04/15/26 New Hampshire Fisher Cats placed C Geovanny Planchart on the 7-day injured list retroactive to April 14, 2026. 04/14/26 Buffalo Bisons transferred RHP Pat Gallagher to the Development List. 04/14/26 Toronto Blue Jays optioned 2B Tyler Fitzgerald to Buffalo Bisons. 04/14/26 C Giaconino Lasaracina assigned to DSL Blue Jays Red. 04/14/26 Vancouver Canadians sent 2B Adrian Pinto on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays. 04/14/26 RHP Trace Baker assigned to Vancouver Canadians from Dunedin Blue Jays. 04/14/26 Vancouver Canadians activated RHP Trace Baker. 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 No. 4 No. 3: LHP Ricky Tiedemann It has been a long time since we have seen Ricky Tiedemann pitch in a game. The once top prospect for the Toronto Blue Jays has had setback after setback with an arm injury, as he last pitched on June 10, 2024. Although the talent is undeniable, the question regarding his health remains ever the issue. Tiedemann was added to the 40-man roster prior to the Rule 5 draft in order to protect him from getting selected by other teams, but that has now started the clock for him, and the Jays need to see real production out of him before he runs out of option years, The easiest way for Tiedemann to do that is to show that he’s healthy and that his stuff remains as nasty as it was pre-elbow surgery. Unfortunately for Tiedemann, every time that it has felt like he would have a chance to show his skills, he has instead faced a setback. He was unable to pitch in the Arizona Fall League, and despite a full offseason of rest, he had another setback before spring training, forcing him to miss that as well. Before the injury, Tiedemann showed two plus pitches. His fastball sat in the mid-90s and touched 98 mph, with solid ride and a lot of run. He also threw a sweeper with nasty break as his main secondary pitch, but recent reports say that he’s now throwing a different type of slider that will have more velo and have less break in order to reduce injury risk. His changeup was his best pitch out of JuCo, but it took a step back compared to his other pitches as he progressed. Tiedemann is still a physical specimen, standing 6-foot-4 and weighing over 250 lbs, and his whippy arm action creates a ton of deception out of his lower slot. He showed decent command in 2022 and 2023, but as injury concerns popped up, so did walk issues. A lack of reps will most likely cause him to struggle even more with command when he comes back, as he’ll need to regain a feel for his delivery. Tiedemann started the 2026 season on the 7-day injured list, and given his injury history, the Jays are rightfully starting him slowly. He’ll be used mostly in a bulk relief role; his potential as a strong mid-rotation pitcher is tantalizing, but the lack of a clean bill of health and all the time he's missed mean his injury risk is high. If the Jays want to prioritize winning now, they might use him as a reliever in the final stretch instead of focusing primarily on his development. If Tiedemann can stay healthy, however, he may finally showcase the potential that he flashed when he last pitched nearly two years ago. View full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 7-April 8) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs. Syracuse Mets (New York Mets): 2-0 Season Record: 5-6 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox): 2-0 Season Record: 3-1 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs. Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants): 0-2 Season Record: 0-5 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs. St. Lucie Mets (New York Mets): 0-0 Season Record: 1-2 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 5-6 Series Opponent: Syracuse Mets (New York Mets) April 7: Postponed April 8, Game 1: In game one of the doubleheader, pitching reigned supreme, as temperatures remained frigid and not hitter-friendly. The Buffalo Bisons had Grant Rogers on the bump to start, and he worked around a few walks and a few singles to blank the Mets for four innings. In the first, he induced a groundball for a double play and then worked the edges of the zone to get Vidal Brujan to strikeout looking with two men on. In the second, he again managed to get a double play ball after allowing a walk; this time, it was on a slider down and out of the zone. He ended the third inning by striking out Ryan Clifford on a face-high fastball (89.6 mph). Despite his shorter outing, he worked on the edges of the strike zone to most of the batters and allowed the cold temperatures to aid him with weak contact. The Bisons did little with their bats as well, only collecting three hits in the game and scoring two runs. The first came on an RBI groundout from Riley Tirotta in the second, and the other scored in the third when Carlos Mendoza scored on a fielding error by the Mets’ third baseman. Buffalo was shut down for the final four innings, only getting one baserunner on a walk. After a recent demotion from the major league team, Brendon Little came into the game in relief of Rogers and had a relatively clean inning. Jackson Cluff popped up, Little walked CJ Stubbs, and then got Yonny Hernández to roll over on a sinker down and out of the zone for a double play. Chase Lee came in for Little and worked the final two innings with relative ease, only allowing two hits and striking out two. The Bisons took game one of the doubleheader 2-0. April 8, Game 2: Game two of the doubleheader was an all-around excellent game for the Bisons. They didn't get many hits, only two, but they were timely and all of the damage needed for the pitching staff to secure the win for Buffalo. Rafael Lantigua and Yohendrick Pinango both hit two-run home runs, their second of the season, to power the offense. Lantigua's home run came in the first on a changeup right down the middle. Pinango took a sweeper inside over the fence for his home run; the ball came off the bat at 97.3 mph, had a launch angle of 24 degrees, and only went 349 feet. The four runs were just enough, as the Buffalo pitchers got 15 of the 21 outs in the game via strikeouts. Yariel Rodríguez racked up six of those strikeouts, while Brendan Cellucci had five. Celluci has been really good in his two appearances this season, having pitched 3.2 innings and getting nine of those 11 outs from strikeouts. He might be someone who could come up and help the big league club if he continues to dominate like this. Buffalo grabbed the sweep of the doubleheader with a 4-3 win in game two. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 3-1 Series vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) April 7: The New Hampshire Fisher Cats kicked off their series against the Portland Sea Dogs in a winning fashion, but it wasn't a pretty sight for the batters getting hits. New Hampshire and Portland combined for 12 runs on just a single hit by the end of the top of the second inning. Two hit-by-pitches, a couple of walks, and a sacrifice fly put Portland up by two in the first inning. In the top of the second, the Fisher Cats got eight walks, two hit-by-pitches, a sacrifice fly, and a single. That put 10 runs on the board in the half inning, with just one hit. In the bottom of the second inning, Portland walked three more times, followed by another sacrifice fly and an RBI double. Portland would tack on three more runs, but New Hampshire pulled this one out despite the lack of hits, winning 12-7. Sean Keys continued his hot start at Double-A, going 1-for-2, with two walks, a HBP, two RBI, and two runs scored. April 8: In the Wednesday game of the series, New Hampshire smashed their way to a big win again. This time, they actually used a multitude of hits on their way to 11 runs. Geovanny Planchart drove in two runs in the second inning with an RBI single. Eddie Micheletti Jr. and Jorge Burgos followed with RBI singles as well to make it 5-0. In the third, Je'Von Ward and Planchart added RBI singles to put the Fisher Cats up seven. Jace Bohrofen had the big hit of the game, launching a home run to right field in the fifth inning, giving New Hampshire a seven-run lead again. The Fisher Cats put up three more runs later in the game and ran away with this one, 11-3. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 0-5 Series vs. Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants) April 7: Johnny King made his debut for the Canadians, but it was a mixed bag. There were definitely some first-start jitters for the young pitcher, as although he struck out three batters in just an inning, he was wild, giving up two walks and a hit, which led to him throwing 32 pitches in just the first inning. Because of the elevated pitch count, Holden Wilkerson relieved King in the second inning. Wilkerson pitched well, with seven strikeouts in 3.1 innings, but gave up a homer in the fifth to put the Canadians down 3-0. The Canadians brought it within one after a clutch hit from Carter Cunningham, but Eminen Flores gave up a run off a sac fly. Cunningham brought it within one again with his first homer of the season, but the Canadians couldn’t score anything else. Dub Gleed also made his debut after coming from the Marlins org and had himself two hits and a walk. April 8: Austin Cates had an uncharacteristic start for Vancouver, as he went four innings but walked four batters and allowed six hits, which resulted in three earned runs, including a solo homer to former Dodgers top prospect Diego Cartaya. Aaron Munson came on in relief and gave up only one hit and a walk in three innings of work, while striking out five batters, to keep the score close. The Canadians' offense struggled to get going, however, as they weren’t able to get a run until the bottom of the eighth inning, when a throwing error put runners on the corners and let Alexis Hernandez drive in their first run of the game to bring it within two runs. Juanmi Vasquez was able to erase a runner on a fielder’s choice into a pickoff at first, but he was unable to get out of the inning unscathed, as he struggled with his command and allowed three hits in a row to let the Emeralds score another two runs. In the ninth inning, the Canadians showed some patience, with Maddox Latta walking then advancing on a balk, before Manuel Beltre drove him in with a single. However, they could not capitalize, as after Brennan Orf walked, Kendry Chirinos, Matt Scannell, and Hernandez all struck out as the potential tying runs at the plate. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 1-2 Series vs. St. Lucie Mets (New York Mets) April 7 - Suspended Game Jays Centre’s 18th-ranked prospect Brandon Barriera had his first start since going down with an elbow injury last season. Despite glowing reviews in the back fields, the poor conditions were hard on Barriera, as he only sat in the low 90s instead of the mid-90s as reported. His command also lagged, which happens with a lack of reps. He also didn’t generate any whiffs, but it was still nice to see him back in action after barely pitching since getting drafted. Dunedin got on the board first with Enmanuel Bonilla’s first hit in A-ball, but after Barriera gave up two runs in the bottom of the second, the game was suspended. It's set to finish on April 9. April 8 - Postponed Transactions 04/07/26 OF Matt Scannell assigned to Vancouver Canadians from Dunedin Blue Jays. 04/07/26 RHP Austin Marozas assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Vancouver Canadians. 04/07/26 SS Dub Gleed assigned to Vancouver Canadians. View full article