Simon Li

CURRENT W-L Records Buffalo Bisons: 29-40 New Hampshire Fisher Cats: 29-36 Vancouver Canadians: 36-29 Dunedin Blue Jays: 33-31 FCL Blue Jays: 19-14 DSL Blue Jays Blue: 2-8 DSL Blue Jays Red: 4-7 Transactions 06/18/25: Toronto Blue Jays sent RF Nathan Lukes on a rehab assignment to Buffalo Bisons. 06/17/25: Buffalo Bisons activated RHP Jacob Barnes from the 7-day injured list. 06/17/25: Toronto Blue Jays recalled RHP Paxton Schultz from Buffalo Bisons. 06/17/25: Toronto Blue Jays selected the contract of LHP Justin Bruihl from Buffalo Bisons. 06/17/25: Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP Ryan Burr on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays. 06/17/25: Dunedin Blue Jays placed RHP Christian Mracna on the full-season injured list. 06/17/25: FCL Blue Jays placed C Luis Meza on the full-season injured list. Buffalo Bisons Buffalo (4), Worcester (5) - 6/17 Box Score The Buffalo Bisons began a series on Tuesday with the Worcester Red Sox. Lazaro Estrada got the ball as the starting pitcher for the Bisons in this one, and he delivered another quality performance. He baffled the Red Sox hitters for four innings, only surrendering two hits, one earned run, and two walks, while striking out four. The one run came in the third inning in the form of a Nick Sogard home run. In the fifth, after Estrada came out of the game, the Red Sox would pounce for four more runs, taking a 5-0 lead. They scored on a Wilyer Abreu single, a sacrifice fly, a Vaughn Grissom RBI double, and a bases-loaded walk. The Buffalo bats came alive toward the end of the game. In the sixth, they got things started with their first run on a double-play ball. Then in the seventh, two groundouts, one from Will Wagner and one from Michael Stefanic, added two more runs. Yohendrick Pinango doubled in the fourth run for the Bisons in the eighth inning. That would be where the scoring ended though, as Buffalo lost this one 5-4. Yohendrick Pinango: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K Lazaro Estrada: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K Buffalo (14), Worcester (1) - 6/18 Box Score Buffalo jumped out early in this one, when they put up five runs in the top of the second inning. Josh Rivera singled in a run, there were two bases-loaded walks, Nathan Lukes drove in a run, and a third bases-loaded walk of the inning brought in the fifth run. It was all Buffalo from there, as Max Scherzer was on the mound and he looked lights out. He went 4.1 innings and only gave up one hit, two walks, and no runs. He struck out eight and looked like he could be up in Toronto for his next start. Jacob Barnes and Adam Kloffenstein combined to go the rest of the way and only surrendered three hits and one run themselves. The Buffalo offense was cooking though, as they would smash 12 hits, take nine walks, and put 14 runs up on the scoreboard. Lukes and Rainer Nunez added home runs in the fifth and sixth innings to provide the power for the Bisons. Buffalo would win this easily, 14-1. Nathan Lukes: 3-4, 1 R, 5 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, Max Scherzer: 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K New Hampshire Fisher Cats New Hampshire (3), Somerset (5) F/7 - 6/18 - Game 1 Box Score After a rainout Tuesday night, the series opener with Somerset was moved to a doubleheader on Wednesday. In game one, New Hampshire sent Juaron Watts-Brown to the mound to set the tone for the week, and he did that and more. Watts-Brown was locked in from the get-go, sitting down hitters via the strikeout and in waves. He struck out the side in the top of the first inning, got two more swinging in the second, and three in the third. Unfortunately, for New Hampshire, the three in the third were sandwiched in between a couple of walks and a throwing error by Watts-Brown on a pickoff attempt that allowed a run to score. In the fourth, Somerset went quietly, thanks to a caught stealing after a walk. The fifth inning, though, saw Watts-Brown unable to pitch over a Charles McAdoo error, on his way to giving up a two-run home run to Roc Riggio. The home run tied it up at three; New Hampshire had gotten three runs in the bottom of the fourth on two errors from Somerset. New Hampshire was unable to add any more runs, but Somerset put two on the scoreboard, which included one from a Spencer Jones single in the top of the seventh. New Hampshire fell in game one 5-3. Charles McAdoo: 2-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 SB Juaron Watts-Brown: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 8 K New Hampshire (1), Somerset (6) F/7 - 6/19 - Game 2 Box Score In game two of the doubleheader, New Hampshire had prospect stud Trey Yesavage going in a much-anticipated matchup. He got through the first two innings, only giving up one walk and striking out two. The top of the third inning would prove to be one of the worst for Yesavage this season. After striking out the lead-off hitter, he gave up a double to Max Burt, who would score on the next batter's single. After walking George Lombard Jr., he struck out Jones, then gave up a three-run home run to Dylan Jasso. His night was over at that point, giving way to Nate Garkow. New Hampshire got their lone run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning on Peyton Williams’ single that scored McAdoo. In a stunner to fans, New Hampshire got swept on the night, losing game two 6-1. Charles McAdoo: 1-2, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 2B Nate Garkow: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K Vancouver Canadians Vancouver (12), Eugene (8) - 6/17 Box Score Vancouver continued their hot streak with another high-scoring affair, as they looked to win 11 games in a row. Jackson Wentworth was the starter for this game but went only 2.2 innings, allowing three earned runs, walking three, and allowing four hits. He did strike out four batters, but Wentworth has been struggling for more than a month. In his past seven starts, he’s allowed three or more earned runs in six of them. Fortunately, the offense picked up him up, as the Canadians started off with an early lead, with Victor Arias hitting his fourth homer of the season on the first at-bat of the game, then Je’Von Ward scored Aaron Parker on a double, before Arias came back to bat a second time in the second inning to hit an RBI single to make it 3-0 Canadians. The Emeralds then scored three runs in the second and third innings, which knocked Wentworth out of the game. The Canadians answered back with some power though, as Eddie Micheletti Jr. hit his ninth homer of the season to score two more runs, and Sean Keys tacked on two more with a two-run single in the fourth inning. Kai Peterson gave up a three-run homer to make it 7-6 in the bottom of the fifth, but Arjun Nimmala answered back with a two-run homer of his own in the top of the sixth. Keys got RBI number 43 (second-most in the Northwest League) with a double to score Cutter Coffey, before Parker broke it up with another homer for the Canadians to score Keys as well. Yondrei Rojas did give up a two-run homer to Jack Payton, but with the Canadians up by so much, it was too little, too late. Edinson Batista came in and shut down the scoring to end the game, going 2.1 scoreless. Victor Arias: 3-5, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR The 21-year-old outfielder has had a really strong June, with his fourth game of three hits in just this month. He’s up to a 158 wRC+ on the month, hitting .328/.379/.590. Edinson Batista: 2.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K Batista has pitched ten innings in his last four appearances, only allowing one run with 11 strikeouts to two walks. It's been nice to see him have a good stretch because he had a hard time at first after getting traded from the Astros organization. Vancouver (1), Eugene (8) - 6/18 Box Score Vancouver had a chance to clinch the first-half title thanks to their scorching hot win streak, but both the offense and the pitching sputtered in game two of this series. Gage Stanifer had been awesome all season long, but for the first time this season, he couldn’t last two innings, going 1.2 IP. He struggled to get batters out with a bit of bad BABIP luck; he gave up five singles on the night to go with four strikeouts and a walk. He had thrown 50 pitches before the second inning ended, so Jose Mayorga took him out for Irv Carter, who went three innings of two-run ball. Aaron Munson came in next and gave up three runs himself, and Julio Ortiz gave up a run as well. All four pitchers were able to strike out two or more batters, but also each gave up at least one run. Vancouver pitchers gave up 16 hits and walked five in this one. The only run of the game for the Canadians came on a Coffey line drive to Jonah Cox that scored Arias after he doubled. Cutter Coffey: 3-4, 1 RBI Coffey had a hot start to the series, going 7-for-10 with three doubles in just two games. Irv Carter: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K Dunedin Blue Jays Dunedin (0), Clearwater (2) - 6/17 Box Score The Dunedin Blue Jays went over to Clearwater again but couldn’t get anything going offensively. The top of the order struggled to get on base, as none of the top four got any hits and combined for just three walks. The bottom of the order had all five of the hits, as Jean Joseph went 2-for-4, and Kendry Chirinos had two doubles on the night. Manuel Beltre added a hit and a walk, but none of them could score as the top of the order let them down. The pitching was solid for the D-Jays as Colby Holcombe went five solid innings, Ryan Burr had another good rehab appearance, and Jay Schueler and Javen Coleman also pitched scoreless innings, but without scoring a run there was nothing else that could be done. Kendry Chirinos: 2-3, 2 2B Colby Holcombe: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K Dunedin (5), Clearwater (6) - 6/18 - (11 innings) Box Score Clearwater and Dunedin had an early noon game, and it went to extra innings, with the teams trading runs back and forth. Bryce Arnold hit a homer on the first at-bat of the game, a 103.5-mph, 379-foot bomb off of Clearwater starter Orlando Gonzalez. Tucker Toman added to that lead, scoring Joseph on a line drive to right to give the Jays an early 2-0 lead. No more runs scored until the sixth inning, with Brady Day breaking the scoreless streak with a single off of Juanmi Vasquez. A passed ball from Jacob Lojewski allowed another run to score for the Threshers, which made it an even 2-2 game. No one else scored for either team, so they went to extra innings, with Toman scoring the ghost runner in the top of the 10th, but the Threshers tied it up with a sac fly from Kodey Shojinaga. Yhoangel Aponte and Lojewski both hit doubles in the top of the 11th to make it 5-3 and give the D-Jays a good chance to win, but Jack Eshleman gave up two singles in the bottom of that inning to allow the Threshers to tie it up. Then Eminen Flores allowed Dante Nori to walk it off with an RBI single, as the D-Jays lost a tight one. Tucker Toman: 2-5, 2 RBI Hayden Juenger: 2 IP, 0 ER, 2 K Juenger looked sharp in his rehab appearance, taking only 17 pitches to get six batters out with two strikeouts. He was sitting 95 mph with his fastball. FCL Blue Jays F-BLU (1), F-TIG (4) - 6/17 Box Score The Tigers’ FCL team got on the scoreboard in this game on an error by the Blue Jays' team. This set the tone for the game, and it wasn't pretty. Drew Jemison homered in the third inning for the Blue Jays to tie things up, but that was pretty much all they could do in the game. In the fifth inning, the Tigers' squad would put up a three-spot, this time on a three-run home run by Cole Turney to center field. The Blue Jays' team would have a single in the sixth from J.R. Freethy, but that was their last hit. They only connected for three hits in the seven-inning game, and they would lose 4-1. Drew Jemison: 1-1, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR Connor Overton: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K DSL Blue Jays Blue D-BJB (6), D-MRL (7) F/7 - 6/17 Box Score BJB took on the Marlins' DSL team (MRL) Tuesday morning down in the Dominican Republic. J.T. Bain tied the game up at one in the top of the second inning, when he tripled home Darwin Nunez. Nunez would then give BJB the lead by two on his two-run single, scoring Yeicer Crespo and Angel Guzman. In the bottom of the third, MRL put up a three-spot to take the lead back. BJB tied it in the fourth on an error by MRL's first baseman. Anthony Abreu gave MRL the lead for good in the fourth with his two-run home run. Crespo cut into the lead in the sixth with his first home run of the season, a deep ball to center. BJB fell to MRL 7-6. Yeicer Crespo: 2-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 HR Juan Ramirez: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K DSL Blue Jays Red D-BJR (0), D-RNR (17) - 6/17 Box Score BJR took a beating on Tuesday when they faced the Texas Rangers Red team (RNR). BJB only managed one hit in the rare nine-inning DSL game. On the flip side, they committed five errors and walked 13 en route to coughing up a whopping 17 runs. Three of the errors came from third baseman Juan Sanchez. Forget it and move on, as they say. Randy Soto: 1-2, 2 BB Wilfredo Cordero: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Players of the Period Pitcher of the Period: RHP Juaron Watts-Brown (New Hampshire): 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 8 K Hitter of the Period: 3B Charles McAdoo (New Hampshire): 3-5, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 SB Prospect Summary (Last 2 Days) Toronto Blue Jays Top 20 Hitters Rank Player Team PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS 1 Arjun Nimmala Vancouver 9 2 2 0 0 1 2 2 2 0 0 4 Orelvis Martinez Buffalo 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 7 Alan Roden Toronto 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 9 Jonatan Clase Toronto 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Josh Kasevich Dunedin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Charles McAdoo New Hampshire 6 2 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 18 Enmanuel Bonilla FCL Jays 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 20 Jace Bohrofen New Hampshire 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 Toronto Blue Jays Top 20 Pitchers Rank Player Team BF G GS IP H HR ER BB K 2 Ricky Tiedemann Buffalo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Trey Yesavage New Hampshire 14 1 1 2.2 3 0 4 3 4 5 Khal Stephen Vancouver 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Jake Bloss Buffalo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Landen Maroudis Dunedin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Kendry Rojas Dunedin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 Johnny King FCL Jays 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 Gage Stanifer Vancouver 11 1 1 1.2 5 0 2 1 4 14 Adam Macko Buffalo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 Fernando Perez Vancouver 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 Brandon Barriera Dunedin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 Juaron Watts-Brown New Hampshire 21 1 1 4.2 3 1 1 4 8 View full article

Arjun NimmalaTrey YesavageRicky TiedemannKhal StephenAlan RodenJosh KasevichJuaron Watts-BrownKendry RojasJohnny KingJonatan ClaseLanden MaroudisGage StaniferJake BlossOrelvis MartinezYohendrick PinangoAdam MackoRJ SchreckBrandon BarrieraFernando PerezEdward Duran

Arjun NimmalaTrey YesavageRicky TiedemannKhal StephenAlan RodenJosh KasevichJuaron Watts-BrownKendry RojasJohnny KingJonatan ClaseLanden MaroudisGage StaniferJake BlossOrelvis MartinezYohendrick PinangoAdam MackoRJ SchreckBrandon BarrieraFernando PerezEdward Duran

The Blue Jays do not have a rich history of Cuban players coming over and playing up north, but there have been a few that have had solid success with the Jays, most notably a handful of position players. Shortstop Yunel Escobar, first baseman and designated hitter Kendrys Morales, and most recently Lourdes Gurriel Jr. were all productive bats (at least somewhat) for the Jays. Only recently have the Jays had a pitcher come from Cuba, with Yariel Rodríguez being the first and only Cuban pitcher to play for the Blue Jays' major league team. That could change very soon, as the Jays have developed a little bit of a Cuban pitching pipeline, with five separate Cuban pitchers across four different levels all finding some success within the organization. RHP Yariel Rodríguez - MLB - Toronto Blue Jays Most are already familiar with this hard-throwing righty who came out of Japan. Rodríguez was signed as a starter in the offseason of 2023-24, although he mostly pitched out of relief in NPB for the Chunichi Dragons. He had mixed success as a starter in 2024 for the Blue Jays, and although he accumulated 1.0 fWAR with a 4.47 ERA/4.34 FIP, he was ultimately moved back to the bullpen at the start of 2025. From there, he has been excellent, raising his fastball velocity by over two ticks in shorter stints and pitching to a 2.86 ERA, although his FIP has been more mediocre at a 4.25. He has been more effective as a reliever relative to as a starter, as his strikeout his risen by 2.1%, and his walk rate has decreased by 1.7%. He’s been slightly more homer-prone, but that could just be a bit of variance, as his xFIP and xERA are down compared to last season. The 28-year-old has excelled at limiting hard contact, with a 68th percentile hard-hit rate and a 92nd percentile average exit velocity as well. “La Muneca” should be a staple in the Jays bullpen for the remainder of his contract, as his four-pitch mix to help him deal with righties and lefties plays up in the 'pen. RHP Lazaro Estrada - Triple-A - Buffalo Bisons Although Yariel Rodríguez was the first Cuban pitcher to pitch in the majors for the Jays, Lazaro Estrada has been the longest-standing Cuban pitcher within the organization; he signed out of Cuba in January of 2018 as a 19-year-old. Estrada got off to a good start in Rookie ball, but the COVID year in 2020 and injuries limited his innings, so he was unable to advance past High A until last season. Still, the righty has had solid success as a starter within the organization throughout his minor league career, and the now 26-year-old Estrada has pitched decently as a starter for the Buffalo Bisons. He also uses a four-pitch mix, with the pitch he uses the most being a four-seam fastball that sits 92-94 mph. The pitch has 18.5 inches of ride and 8.7 inches of run, but its mediocre velocity and extension allow opponents to hit the ball really hard when they make contact. However, the pitch also generates chase at an above-average rate, and a whiff rate of 22.2% due to its ride, as well as the flat approach angle at which it comes into the zone, as he has a -4.6 Vertical Approach Angle (VAA). Estrada relies on the pitch heavily because of his ability to zone it, but he does leave it over the heart of the plate a little too often. The more intriguing aspects of his arsenal are his secondary pitches, as he has a very strong feel for spin, which he utilizes with two different breaking balls. His slider is a bit tighter with less spin. It sits in the mid-80s, and he uses it more often against righties. It has a near 40% whiff rate, and hitters chase it at a solid rate as well. The curveball is a big, slow looper that he throws in the mid-70s with over 2700 rpm, and it has -10.6 inches of induced vertical break along with -9.4 inches of glove side movement. The big movement makes it hard for hitters to square up, but he struggles to throw it in the zone, and hitters can spit on it after picking up the spin. Lastly, Estrada throws a splitter mostly against lefties, which is also in the mid-80s. It doesn’t get that much whiff or chase, but hitters struggle to square it up as they only have a .160 batting average against the splitter. He’s currently a depth starter in Buffalo, but his stuff may tick up in a relief setting. He’s a little undersized, but with a starter’s arsenal, it still may be worth using him as one. RHP Rafael Sanchez - Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Rafael Sanchez was the inspiration for this article, as just last week, he pitched a seven-inning no-hitter. Sanchez was signed out of Cuba in 2022 and immediately showed some good results in Rookie ball with a 3.00 ERA across 51 innings pitched. Strong results followed in 2023 in Low A, where he pitched to a 2.27 ERA/2.91 FIP and showed some strong stuff. That earned him a promotion to High A, where he struggled a bit against advanced hitters but still had decent peripherals. In 2024, Sanchez was again solid, splitting time between High A and Double A with a 3.64 ERA/3.27 FIP. He struck out 23.6% of batters to a 7.1% walk rate. As a 25-year-old, he’s now repeating Double A, and although he had that no-hitter last week, his ERA is a little elevated compared to last season. He has a 4.97 ERA, but his FIP is in the mid-3.00s, suggesting that he’s been a little unlucky. The strikeout stuff isn’t there against more advanced hitters in Double A, but he’s done a good job avoiding the long ball. Sanchez throws a four-pitch mix himself, with a slider, a four-seam fastball, a splitter, and a cutter that he mixes in slightly less often. There’s no public pitch data on his pitches since 2023, so I’m not confident in saying how his pitches look, but he’s another depth starter option scouted and developed by the Jays. LHP Kendry Rojas - Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays (On Rehab Assignment) The lefty pitcher was one of many people expected to have a breakout campaign prior to the start of the minor league season, as Rojas had an excellent performance in the "Spring Breakout" game, where he was touching the upper 90s with his fastball in an abbreviated appearance. He continues to improve year-over-year, but unfortunately, he was shelved early in the season due to a midsection injury. After two appearances in the Complex League (5.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 K), Rojas is just returning to pitch on a rehab assignment in Dunedin, and he's pitched four scoreless innings so far. The early velo gains are noticeable, as he is sitting 94-96 mph on his sinker with 18 inches of ride and 11 inches of run. The Dunedin ball is slightly different, so expect those numbers to regress a bit as he heads back up to High A, but he's showing some strong stuff very early in the season. If the velocity holds over longer starts, Rojas will have some serious momentum. For more on Jays Centre's number 10 prospect, please check out our scouting report on him! RHP Silvano Hechavarria - Florida Complex League/Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays The newest pitching addition to the Jays organization is this hard-throwing righty. Hechavarria was signed out of Cuba in 2024 as a 21-year-old for a signing bonus of $215,000. He was hidden away a little bit in Rookie ball his first year with the organization, as they presumably wanted him to get his feet wet against weaker competition, but he has finally made his way stateside in 2025. Hechavarria pitched 17 innings in the Florida Complex League to start the year, and although he didn't strike many batters out, he pitched to a 2.12 ERA/5.15 FIP. After a plethora of players were promoted from Dunedin to Vancouver, Hechavarria was subsequently promoted to Dunedin, where he's made three appearances already and has struck out a quarter of the batters he has faced while walking only 6.3%. The 22-year-old has three pitch mixes with a high-80s cutter that he throws 36.2% of the time as his main offering. It's been highly effective in Low A, with a 45.2% chase rate and a 39.5% whiff rate. His high-powered fastball sits at 94-96 mph, and it has 18 inches of ride and 10 inches of run that comes at a -5.2 VAA. His fastball also has solid chase and whiff rates. In addition, he throws a sinker that's 94 mph, which is more for boring in against righties, with 16 inches of ride and 13.5 inches of run. He does have a changeup that he mixes in 5.6% of the time, but he mainly throws the other three pitches. As a slightly older pitcher, the big righty is definitely more advanced than the competition in Low A, but the raw stuff is decent. The Jays have done an excellent job scouting Cuban players, and although they don't have a dedicated scout for Cuba like they do for other Latin American countries, they have recently found talent in international free agency that they hadn't found previously. Yariel Rodríguez was the first Cuban pitcher for the Jays, but he definitely will not be the last. Stats updated prior to games on June 17. View full article

CURRENT W-L Records Buffalo Bisons: 27-36 New Hampshire Fisher Cats: 28-31 Vancouver Canadians: 29-28 Dunedin Blue Jays: 29-29 FCL Blue Jays: 17-11 DSL Blue Jays Blue: 2-4 DSL Blue Jays Red: 3-4 Transactions 06/11/25: Buffalo Bisons sent RHP Hayden Juenger on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays. 06/11/25: Buffalo Bisons released LHP Jimmy Burnette. 06/11/25: Toronto Blue Jays selected the contract of LF Will Robertson from Buffalo Bisons. 06/11/25: Vancouver Canadians sent LHP Kendry Rojas on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays. 06/11/25: Buffalo Bisons sent RHP Hayden Juenger on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays. 06/10/25: Buffalo Bisons placed LHP Easton Lucas on the 7-day injured list. 06/10/25: Buffalo Bisons sent 3B Will Wagner on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays. 06/10/25: Buffalo Bisons activated RHP Bobby Milacki. 06/10/25: RHP Hunter Gregory assigned to Buffalo Bisons from New Hampshire Fisher Cats. 06/10/25: RHP Jose Andrades assigned to DSL Blue Jays Blue. 06/10/25: Buffalo Bisons sent 3B Will Wagner on a rehab assignment to Dunedin Blue Jays. 06/10/25: RHP Landen Maroudis assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from FCL Blue Jays. 06/10/25: RHP Landen Maroudis assigned to Dunedin Blue Jays from FCL Blue Jays. 06/10/25: RHP Hunter Gregory assigned to Buffalo Bisons from New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Buffalo Bisons Buffalo (3), Columbus (4) - 6/10 Box Score Buffalo began a series on Tuesday at home against the Columbus Clippers. The Bisons struck first in this one, with an RBI double from Riley Tirotta following two walks by Michael Stefanic and Joey Loperfido. Columbus would answer back quickly with a two-run home run from Will Wilson to left field, scoring C.J. Kayfus. After that, both starting pitchers made easy work of the batters. For the Bisons, CJ Van Eyk went six innings, only giving up three hits and the two earned runs, while walking two, and striking out two. Will Robertson gave Buffalo the lead in the sixth inning on a two-run double. Wilson took over again in the seventh with his second home run of the game, this one going 385 feet to left field and tying the score at three. In the ninth, Columbus would push across a run on an RBI single to take the lead by one. Buffalo would get out quickly in their half of the ninth and lose this game 4-3. Riley Tirotta: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 2B CJ Van Eyk: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K Buffalo (3), Columbus (4) - 6/10 Box Score Lazaro Estrada got the start in this game for Buffalo and almost threw another quality start. He came close to matching Van Eyk's line from the day before, going 5.2 innings, surrendering three hits, two earned runs, one walk, and striking out six. He had the Columbus hitters fooled for much of the game, except for an RBI triple in the fourth by Brayan Rocchio and an RBI single in the sixth. For the Bisons, Yohendrick Pinango tripled in a run himself in the fourth, and Rainer Nunez followed by driving him in with a single. In the seventh, Orelvis Martinez walked with the bases loaded to give Buffalo a one-run lead, and Nunez drove in two more with a single shortly after. With the three-run lead, Tommy Nance came on for the ninth and shut down the Clippers for the Buffalo win. Rainer Nunez: 3-4, 0 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K Lazaro Estrada: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K New Hampshire Fisher Cats New Hampshire (4), Reading (3) F/10 - 6/10 Box Score The New Hampshire Fisher Cats started a new series Tuesday night against the Reading Fightin Phils. New Hampshire had Devereaux Harrison on the mound and a lineup full of bats that had been hot the prior week. In the top of the first inning, the Fisher Cats loaded the bases with only one out, but Ryan McCarty struck out and Cade Doughty lined out to end the scoring threat. Harrison got into a jam in the bottom of the second, when Reading scored two runs from a sacrifice fly and a single, but he got out of it with a pick-off of a runner at first base. In the top of the fifth, New Hampshire finally got on the scoreboard. Charles McAdoo grounded out, scoring a run, and Peyton Williams added two more on his single. The bullpen would falter a little bit in this one, giving up a run to Reading in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly. The game would head into extra innings. Doughty would cash in the ghost runner on a sacrifice fly, and Alex Amalfi would get a 1-2-3 inning, securing the 4-3 win for New Hampshire. Eddinson Paulino: 3-4, 1 R, 1 2B Devereaux Harrison: 5 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K New Hampshire (5), Reading (4) - 6/11 Box Score Wednesday saw Juaron Watts-Brown take the mound to face the bats from Reading. He cruised through the first three innings, not allowing a hit. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Felix Reyes got a hold of a pitch from Watts-Brown and sent it over the fence for a home run. The blast cut their deficit by one. New Hampshire had gotten a solo shot of their own in the top of the third from Paulino and another run from Jace Bohrofen's double. In the top of the fifth inning, Bohrofen doubled again, resulting in a play at the plate, where Jay Harry was thrown out and failed to score. Watts-Brown surrendered two triples to start the bottom of the sixth and got chased from the game with it tied at two. Reading would add one more in the inning, before New Hampshire put up a crooked number in the top of the seventh. Bohrofen doubled in Alex Stone, and Devonte Brown singled in two runs. Reading added a run to their total in the bottom of the eighth, and then Bohrofen started a relay from right field to nail a runner at home, ultimately securing the 5-4 win. Jace Bohrofen: 3-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 3 2B Juaron Watts-Brown: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K Vancouver Canadians Vancouver (5), Spokane (1) - 6/10 Box Score Vancouver started off strong with Khal Stephen taking the bump. Stephen continued to keep hitters off the basepaths, and when they did reach, he struck out batters to strand them. The offense was powered by some extra base hits, as Carter Cunningham gave them a lead in the third inning with a solo shot, and then Sean Keys had a homer of his own to score two runners, this time in the fifth. Victor Arias has raised his OPS to .800, as he hit a two-run triple to give the Canadians a 5-0 lead in the sixth. Spokane only got on the board with Stephen out of the game, as JJ Sanchez gave up a homer to Skyler Messinger in the eighth, but that’s all they could get. Irv Carter came on in the ninth inning, and with his re-worked cutter, struck out two batters to end the game. Sean Keys: 1-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB Keys has struggled offensively recently, but he’s still providing good power, he’s still finding ways to get on base despite hitting below the Mendoza line, and he’s been an RBI machine. He hit his seventh homer of the year. Khal Stephen: 6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K Stephen seemingly is itching to join his draft class mate Trey Yesavage in New Hampshire, with another dominant scoreless outing. Stephen’s command was on point in this one, and he generated 17 swings and misses and racked up the strikeouts. That’s now 20 strikeouts in two starts for Stephen after a one-strikeout start a couple of starts ago. Vancouver (8), Spokane (4) - 6/11 Box Score Vancouver got on the board first with an Arias double, then an Arjun Nimmala fly out put Arias on third, which allowed him to score on a wild pitch. Jackson Wentworth started off the game strongly, striking out four batters in the first two innings. However, in the third, after he walked Caleb Hobson, who subsequently stole second, Wentworth allowed a few base hits from Charlie Condon and Aidan Longwell to give Spokane a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of that same inning, Nick Goodwin walked, then Arias hit his second double, which led to Nimmala hitting a big three-run homer to give the Canadians the lead. Jackson Hornung hit a single, then Cutter Coffey hit a double, and Keys hit a sac fly to pad an extra run onto the lead in the same inning. Wentworth lost his command in the fourth inning, as he walked two batters before Pat Gallagher replaced him. Gallagher let an inherited run score off a Condon single, but then struck out Longwell to end the inning. Arias had his third hit of the game after another Goodwin walk, and with two outs, Cole Messina committed catcher interference, extending the inning and allowing Coffey to knock in a run on an RBI single. The Canadians' bullpen did a great job, with Gallagher striking out five, Yondrei Rojas striking out three, and Bo Bonds striking out two batters, although he gave up a homer to Jared Thomas. Meanwhile, Eddie Micheletti Jr. continued to be an extra-base hit machine, hitting his tenth double of the season to make it eight runs for the Canadians. After being near the bottom of the standings for some time despite an elite run differential, the Canadians are now first in the Northwest League! Arjun Nimmala: 1-5, 1 R, 3 RBI Nimmala had an 18-game on-base streak that was broken the previous game, but came back with a huge three-run homer to give the Canadians the lead. The teenager now has double-digit homers on the season. Pat Gallagher: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K Dunedin Blue Jays Dunedin (4), Fort Myers (5) - 6/10 Box Score Dunedin went down early to the Mighty Mussels, as Daniel Guerra struggled with his command. He gave up a homer in the second inning before some shaky defense, some walks and a hit-by-pitch resulted in three more runs scoring in the third inning. Guerra was replaced in the third, and the D-Jays bullpen didn’t allow an earned run after he was taken out. The Jays' offense began to pick up in the fourth inning, as Edward Duran and Tucker Toman both hit RBI singles to halve the lead, and Manuel Beltre cut it to one with a sac fly in the fifth. In the eighth inning, some shaky command from Javen Coleman and a throwing error from Duran allowed a run to score, and although Lizandro Rodriguez, who pinch hit for the rehabbing Will Wagner, doubled to score Beltre in the eighth, they couldn’t capitalize, and they ended up losing 5-4. Sam Shaw: 1-3, 1 R, 1 2B Eliander Alcalde: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K Alcalde has been great for the D-Jays pitching in relief after he returned from the Complex League. In four appearances with Dunedin, he’s only given up a run in one of them. Dunedin, Fort Myers - 6/11 PPD FCL Blue Jays F-BLU (4), F-TIG (2) - 6/10 Box Score Sann Omosako set the Blue Jays up well in this game. He pitched great for five innings, while only allowing one earned run and striking out three. In the second inning, the Blue Jays' team scored on a sacrifice fly from Dylan Leach. The Tigers' team answered back in their half of the inning, tying the game on a double play ball. In the fifth, the Tigers added a run on a single and an error from Omosako. The Blue Jays' team came alive in the last inning, the seventh. Yorman Licourt hit a two-run triple to left field, and David Beckles drove him in with a sacrifice fly. The Blue Jays' team would win this one 4-2. Yorman Licourt: 1-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 3B Diego Dominguez: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K DSL Blue Jays Blue D-BJB/D-ARB - 6/10 PPD DSL Blue Jays Red D-BJR (5), D-ARR (4) F/8 - 6/10 Box Score It was a battle of Reds in the Dominican on Tuesday, when the Red teams for the Blue Jays and the Diamondbacks faced each other. Both teams scored their first runs in the second inning. In the top half, ARR scored on a couple of singles. In their half of the inning, BJR scored three runs, one from a wild pitch and two on a Wilmer Blanca single. ARR tied it up in the fourth, and the score remained tied after the seventh, sending the game to extra innings. ARR scored their ghost runner on a single but couldn't get any more runs. In the bottom of the eighth, BJR loaded the bases, and then Luis Felipe drew a walk, scoring Nestor Urbina and tying the game. Elaineiker Coronado then grounded out, with the play coming home to get the lead runner. Juan Sanchez would then draw another walk and end the game, with BJR winning 5-4. Diego Arce: 1-1, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 2B Johandi Medina: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Players of the Period Pitcher of the Period: RHP Khal Stephen (Vancouver): 6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K Hitter of the Period: CF Victor Arias (Vancouver): 5-8, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 SB Prospect Summary (Last 2 Days) Toronto Blue Jays Top 20 Hitters Rank Player Team PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS 1 Arjun Nimmala Vancouver 9 1 1 0 0 1 3 0 2 0 0 4 Orelvis Martinez Buffalo 8 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 0 0 7 Alan Roden Toronto 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 9 Jonatan Clase Toronto 8 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 11 Josh Kasevich Dunedin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Charles McAdoo New Hampshire 10 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 3 1 0 18 Enmanuel Bonilla FCL Jays 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 20 Jace Bohrofen New Hampshire 10 1 3 3 0 0 3 2 1 0 0 Toronto Blue Jays Top 20 Pitchers Rank Player Team BF G GS IP H HR ER BB K 2 Ricky Tiedemann Buffalo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Trey Yesavage Vancouver 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Khal Stephen Vancouver 26 1 1 6 6 0 0 2 9 6 Jake Bloss Buffalo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Landen Maroudis FCL Jays 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Kendry Rojas FCL Jays 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 Johnny King FCL Jays 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 Gage Stanifer Vancouver 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 Adam Macko FCL Jays 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 Fernando Perez Vancouver 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 Brandon Barriera Dunedin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 Juaron Watts-Brown New Hampshire 22 1 1 5 6 1 3 2 2 View full article

Oops I got it wrong 😅, Roden redshirted as a freshman in 2019, so they actually played together in college!

Clarifying point, in the minor leagues haha. But they probably had some sort of connection Creighton-wise. Robertson was drafted in 2019 and Roden joined Creighton in 2020.

Thy actually were teammates at one point.

The 27-year-old Will Robertson has never been on many people's radars despite being selected in the fourth round of the 2019 draft by the Blue Jays out of Creighton (which is also fellow lefty outfielder Alan Roden's alma mater). Robertson was well known for his excellent raw power, with FanGraphs giving him a 60 grade, but he had some offensive limitations with his hit tool that made his power play down. He has always been a decent minor league hitter, typically hitting above or near minor league average throughout his career, but has never stood out compared to his peers due to elevated strikeout rates and mediocre contact rates. Outfielders such as Roden, Davis Schneider, and Jonatan Clase were all ahead of him on the Triple-A depth chart, and Robertson is not (yet) even on the 40-man roster. However, this season, something has changed spectacularly about his production, and his peripherals that has put people on notice and now earned him a spot on the major league roster, with Trevor Hahn reporting that Robertson is set to join the major league team today against the Cardinals. Robertson getting this opportunity may have to do with the fact that he's one of the hottest hitters in baseball at the moment. He just earned Minor League Player of the Week honours in the International League, as he had FIVE homers in the last week, including a three-homer game, as well as two doubles, eight RBIs, and eight runs. The hot stretch is not the only great thing about his performance on the season, though. This has been Robertson's second year at Triple-A Buffalo, and the first year was a mixed bag for him. He was a slightly below-average hitter despite hitting 19 homers, as he struggled to make contact with the ball and whiffed and chased a lot. When he did hit the ball, he could do damage, but pitchers were able to pitch around him, and he would do himself no favors, striking out over 30% of the time because of poor pitch selection. He was in the 97th percentile in hard-hit rate and pulled the ball at a good rate to help make use of his power, but his approach prevented him from getting to it consistently. This season, Robertson has improved immensely, as his K% has dropped seven percentage points from 31.3% to a more reasonable 23.9%. His walk rate has improved as well, going from a 10.8% to an elite 17.0%. The two biggest changes that I've seen are that he's not chasing nearly as much out of the zone, dropping his O-Swing% from 32.5% to 26.7%, and his contact metrics have improved significantly when he does choose to swing. His overall contact rate has jumped up from 67.2% to a respectable 74.1%, and his zone-contact rate has also jumped 5% points from 79.5% to 84.7%. He's forcing pitchers into the zone more, and he's getting much more consistent contact when pitches are thrown in the zone. This allows his elite power numbers to truly shine, as he is above the 90th percentile in Max EV, 90th% EV, Barrel%, Average EV, LA Sweet-Spot%, and even in the 100th percentile in Hard-Hit% (Graphic via @TJStats). Robertson is now slashing .288/.403/.582, which is good for a wRC+ 59% better than the league average: Despite the improved offensive profile, there are still a few limitations to his game that'll put a damper on his potential future production. The Bisons have been extremely protective of him against lefty pitchers, as he's only had 13 plate appearances against lefties on the season, so there is a good chance he'll be relegated to platoon-bat status for the rest of his career. Robertson is also a below-average runner, having stolen more than three bases in a season just once. Defensively, he's also not the best. Although he has a good arm, his range and reads are below average, and although he has played center field a few times throughout his career, he's better suited for the corners. As Will Robertson has been grinding through the minors since 2019, it really is heartwarming that he's finally getting an opportunity to make it to the majors, backed by his strong production. Despite the Blue Jays' splotchy record of player development, one thing they've consistently done well is helping late bloomers become productive major league players, with Schneider, Nathan Lukes, Ernie Clement, and Spencer Horwitz all strong examples from the past couple of years. Hopefully, Robertson will be the next. Stats updated prior to games on June 10. View full article

That's what I was assuming too, his track record and results really are excellent, but he's zigging when everyone else is zagging. There's barely an MLB comp, the closest one is like a more talented Ross Stripling.

That's what happens when you put a high level college talent in Low-A haha

Trey Yesavage has earned a call-up to Double-A New Hampshire, as first reported by Shi Davidi from Sportsnet. Yesavage was just recently promoted from Single-A Dunedin to High-A Vancouver on May 20, which meant that it only took four starts for the Jays to promote him once again. This is for good reason. At the time Yesavage was drafted, many expected him to be a quick mover through the farm system, as an advanced pitching prospect coming out of college. His dominant professional performance so far cannot be denied. Yesavage was already electric in Single A, pitching to a 2.43 ERA while striking out 43.3% of the batters he faced, but he took that to another level in High A, striking out 47.8% of the batters he faced and pitching to a 1.56 ERA. He has been so dominant in the first part of the season that he has the highest strikeout total in the minors, the highest strikeout rate in the minors (excluding the Dominican Summer League, which just started), and the highest K-BB% in the minors. The walks were a little elevated after he moved to Vancouver, but it hardly made a difference in his effectiveness. Hitters could not touch his pitches, and when they did get on, he stranded them. The Jays felt like he had nothing left to prove in A-ball, and his results and utter domination of A-ball hitters lead me to believe that they were right. In fact, his minor league K% is higher than his K% in his final year in college. Yesavage is able to be this effective with a very unique way of pitching. Pitching analyst Lance Brozdowski calls him "far and away one of the weirdest pitchers in the minors," and for a good reason! Yesavage pitches from a unique over-the-top arm angle, which leads to a 7.1-foot release height, which Brozdowski notes would be the highest release height in MLB. Because of the way Yesavage releases the ball, it results in a ton of carry, with him averaging 21 inches of induced vertical break that he locates mostly at the top of the zone. The weirdness of his arsenal does not stop with his release height and arm angle. Yesavage also has a very unique pitch plot (graphic via TJ Stats). His full arsenal all breaks to the arm side. This gives hitters a completely different look than they're used to and explains some of the early dominance in Yesavage's pro career. Yesavage's promotion has implications for more than just himself. The infamous Yesavage-Gage Stanifer piggyback has been terrorizing minor league hitters for 11 starts; after they faced the strikeout king of the minors, they had to face another live arm with a near 40% K rate. It seems like this separation will give minor league hitters relief, but it also allows for Stanifer to potentially start games of his own instead of being used exclusively as a bulk relief arm. Yesavage will also join Juaron Watts-Brown and Grant Rogers, who both earned promotions themselves to New Hampshire from Vancouver, and will headline a three-headed monster of a pitching staff for the Fisher Cats. Ryan Watson, Rafael Sanchez, and Devereaux Harrison round out the starting rotation for the Fisher Cats, and Eastern League hitters will not enjoy facing that staff week after week. Lastly, Yesavage's quick promotion could lead to something even more interesting: a stint in the major leagues as the Blue Jays compete for a playoff spot. The Jays are firmly in the playoff race, and the offense and bullpen have both been excellent for them, helping them hold a Wild Card spot for now. However, the starting pitching performances have not been ideal, as Bowden Francis' struggles have been well documented, and Max Scherzer remains on the IL with an injured thumb. There are some potential replacements with Adam Macko returning to Buffalo, Spencer Turnbull being called up and Adam Kloffenstein also working his way back, but if Yesavage continues to dominate minor league hitters, he may force the Jays' hand. It's not likely, but the chances are better than zero that Jays fans could see this stud pitcher throwing meaningful innings for a contending team in 2025. View full article

CURRENT W-L Records Buffalo Bisons: 23-34 New Hampshire Fisher Cats: 23-30 Vancouver Canadians: 25-28 Dunedin Blue Jays: 26-26 FCL Blue Jays: 15-8 DSL Blue Jays Blue: 1-1 DSL Blue Jays Red: 0-2 Transactions 06/04/25 - Buffalo Bisons activated LHP Trenton Wallace. 06/04/25 - LF RJ Schreck assigned to Buffalo Bisons from New Hampshire Fisher Cats. 06/04/25 - Toronto Blue Jays sent C Ali Sánchez outright to Buffalo Bisons. 06/04/25 - CF Gabriel Martinez assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Vancouver Canadians. 06/03/25 - Buffalo Bisons activated C Christian Bethancourt from the 7-day injured list. 06/03/25 - LHP Trenton Wallace roster status changed by Buffalo Bisons. 06/03/25 - Buffalo Bisons placed SS Leo Jiménez on the 7-day injured list. 06/03/25 - Buffalo Bisons sent 3B Will Wagner on a rehab assignment to FCL Blue Jays. 06/03/25 - Buffalo Bisons placed RHP Kevin Gowdy on the temporarily inactive list. 06/03/25 - Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP Nick Sandlin on a rehab assignment to FCL Blue Jays. 06/03/25 - FCL Blue Jays placed SS Gavin Smith on the full-season injured list. 06/03/25 - New Hampshire Fisher Cats placed RHP Dahian Santos on the full-season injured list. 06/03/25 - C Hayden Gilliland assigned to Vancouver Canadians from New Hampshire Fisher Cats. 06/03/25 - Vancouver Canadians placed OF Brennan Orf on the full-season injured list. Buffalo Bisons Buffalo (8), Syracuse (5) - 6/3 Box Score The Buffalo Bisons kicked off their week-long series with the Syracuse Mets on Tuesday, and it sure was an exciting one. The Mets started with rehabbing major leaguer Frankie Montas on the mound, and Buffalo struck quickly in the first inning. Will Robertson pulled a cutter over the plate for a 405-foot home run to right field. The lead didn't last long for Buffalo, as the Mets got to the Bisons' starter for four runs in the first inning: one run on an RBI single, and three runs on a Donovan Walton home run. All of the runs were unearned, though, because Buffalo committed three errors in the inning, one by CJ Van Eyk and two by Damiano Palmegiani. In the third inning, Buffalo began clawing back, with Will Robertson hitting his second home run off of Montas and Orelvis Martinez launching a 408-foot home run right after to go back-to-back. In the fifth inning, the same combination went wild again, with Robertson hitting his third home run of the game, once again off of Montas. Martinez would get to face Colin Poche instead of Montas, but the result was the same. He hit a 112-mph, 428-foot blast to left field for his second home run of the game, giving Buffalo a two-run lead. In the ninth inning, Buffalo added two more runs, with Robertson just missing his fourth home run of the game. This time, he settled for an RBI double. Martinez added a rocket single, and Rainer Nunez drove in the second run. Buffalo would finish this game off and win 8-5. Will Roberton: 4-5, 4 R, 5 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K, 3 HR, 1 2B CJ Van Eyk: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K Buffalo (6), Syracuse (7) - 6/4 Box Score In the Wednesday game of the series, Buffalo again got on the scoreboard first. This time it was via a home run from RJ Schreck, who is continuing his home run swing, which began in May. He now has 10 home runs since May 2. In the bottom of the third, the Mets would even up the score on an RBI triple and an RBI single. In the top of the sixth, Martinez hit a towering home run to left field, his eighth home run of the season. In the Mets' half of the sixth, though, they would put up a four-spot again, with three hits and an error. In the top of the ninth inning, down four, Buffalo put together a string of hits. Nunez singled, Josh Rivera walked, and then Yohendrick Pinango hit a three-run home run, his first at Triple A. Robertson singled, and then Martinez came up to bat. He got a slider in the zone from Dedniel Núñez and hit a missile to shortstop at 102.1 mph. Unfortunately, it was a groundball and resulted in the game-ending double play. Buffalo lost this one 7-6. Orelvis Martinez: 2-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 HR Martinez is looking very confident at the plate so far in June. He is hitting the ball very hard and often, while limiting the strikeouts and even taking a competitive walk when needed. He still swings a lot, and often at breaking balls off the plate, but he is finding a groove and now has hit three home runs in his last two games. A big June could see him get another chance in the major leagues sooner than his season numbers would suggest. He is turning a very slow April start around in a big way right now. Lazaro Estrada: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K New Hampshire Fisher Cats New Hampshire (4), Altoona (0) - 6/3 Box Score New Hampshire opened a new series on Tuesday against the Altoona Curve. They sent Ryan Watson to the mound, and it may have been the best performance of his career. He went deep into the game, 6.2 innings, and only gave up two hits. His pièce de résistance was the nine strikeouts he racked up on his way to keeping Altoona off the scoreboard entirely. As for the offense, Jace Bohrofen launched his eighth home run of the season to center field in the bottom of the second inning. In the fifth, a sacrifice bunt by Jacob Sharp scored Dasan Brown. Who says small ball is dead? The bunt was followed up by an RBI single from Schreck. The final run in the game for New Hampshire came in the eighth inning on a Cade Doughty single. The Fisher Cats shut out the Curve 4-0. Jace Bohrofen: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 1 SB Ryan Watson: 6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K New Hampshire (3), Altoona (0) - 6/4 Box Score Wednesday's game would ultimately extend the New Hampshire win streak to three, as they dominated for the second straight game. Devereaux Harrison took the mound for his first start in June and was looking to find more consistency in his results. He certainly could not have asked for a better game against the Curve. He went six innings in this one, matching much of what Watson did the night before. He only allowed two hits, walked three, and struck out five en route to blanking Altoona on the scoreboard. Geison Urbaez and Conor Larkin would come out of the bullpen to pitch the final three innings and complete the shutout of the Curve. Bohrofen provided all of the offense the Fisher Cats would need, with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. Just for good measure, Doughty singled home Bohrofen in the third. New Hampshire now has two straight shutouts of Altoona, as they win 3-0. Jace Bohrofen: 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB. 1 K, 1 HR It was Bohrofen's second home run in as many days and his ninth of the season. After a rough May, he has started June on fire. Devereaux Harrison: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K Vancouver Canadians Vancouver (4), Tri-City (2) - 6/3 Box Score This was an epic pitching duel, as Khal Stephen and Austin Gordon both went six innings or more, with Stephen allowing one earned run, and an extra unearned run, while Gordon gave up just a solo shot to red-hot Nick Goodwin in the top of the fifth. The bullpen also came through for the Canadians, as Yondrei Rojas, Julio Ortiz and Aaron Munson didn’t allow a run in three innings. A Devils error in the ninth proved to be extremely costly, as Goodwin came on in the top of the ninth with a runner on first and third with two outs, and hit a three-run homer to give the Canadians a win. Nick Goodwin: 3-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR Goodwin lived up to his last name, as he led the Canadians to a good win, with a two-homer night, knocking in all four of their runs in a tight game against Tri-City. Goodwin has joined a plethora of other Jays prospects swinging a hot bat in recent weeks. Khal Stephen: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K Stephen, after being just okay in his few Vancouver starts, had his best start of his short pro career, striking out a career-high 11 batters, getting 17 swings and misses, and not allowing a walk. The second-rounder has been showing top-100 stuff, and his command of his secondaries has been exceptional early on in his career. Vancouver (5), Tri-City (7) - 6/4 Box Score The balls were flying in this one, as the two teams combined for nine extra base hits, including two homers apiece, with Victor Arias and Je'Von Ward both getting their second homers of the season. Jackson Wentworth struggled once again, this time allowing seven runs in four innings of work. Tri-City starter Keythel Key wasn’t much better, as he allowed five runs in five innings. However, after the starters came out for both teams, the bullpens for both teams were stellar, as they both allowed zero runs. The Canadians pen struck out seven batters in five innings, while the Devils bullpen mustered five in four innings. Victor Arias: 3-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR, 2 K Arias has made loud contact all season long, but because of sub-optimal launch angles, he hasn’t been able to tap into much of his power yet. However, he did hit a low liner to the opposite field for a bomb on the second pitch of the game. He added another two hits on the night, and he’s been one of many bright spots in the Canadians offense. Jonathan Todd: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 4 K Dunedin Blue Jays Dunedin (3), St. Lucie (2) - 6/3 Box Score Colby Holcombe’s blonde locks took the mound, but he struggled early with command, giving up four walks and getting taken out of the game early with just 2 ⅔ innings under his belt. The bullpen locked it down once Holcombe left, combining for eight strikeouts without giving up a run. The game remained close going into the eighth inning, but Tucker Toman hit an RBI single in the eighth that made it even, and although Edward Duran had his hit streak broken, he was the winning run with Kendry Chirinos driving him in. Tucker Toman: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI Toman was the second Jays farm system hitter to give the team a chance to win it in the top of the ninth with two outs. Eminen Flores: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K Dunedin, St. Lucie - 6/4 PPD FCL Blue Jays F-BLU (0), F-YAN (5) - 6/3 Box Score Nick Sandlin, who is rehabbing in the Complex League for the Blue Jays, got the start in this one and pitched a relatively clean first inning. He only walked one batter and didn't give up a hit or run. In the top of the third inning, the Yankees' squad got three runs off of Sann Omosoko on six hits. The Yankees would add one more in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead. The Blue Jays' hitters only managed four singles in the game and didn't really threaten to score after the first inning, when David Beckles was thrown out at home following an error. The Blue Jays' squad would lose 5-0. Maykel Minosa: 1-2, 0 R, 0 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K Raimundo De Los Santos: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K DSL Blue Jays Blue D-BJB (6), D-PIG (1) F/7 - 6/3 Box Score BJB got into the win column for the first time in the 2025 season on Tuesday. Going up against the Gold team from the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, the BJB's bats were quiet until the top of the third inning. J.T. Bain singled in Darwin Núñez, Cristopher Polanco doubled home Bain, and Polanco would score on Rafael Flores’ single. After giving up their lone run of the game in the fourth, BJB added two more runs in the fifth inning. Polanco scored on Juarlin Soto's groundout, who then came around to score on a single from Carlos Garcia. In the top of the sixth, Núñez had an RBI single scoring Daniel Dominguez. BJB coasted to a 6-1 victory in this one. Cristopher Polanco: 2-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 2B Michael De La Cruz: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB. 5 K DSL Blue Jays Red D-BJR (8), D-NAT (12) - 6/3 Box Score Tuesday's game between BJR and the Washington Nationals DSL team went in a typical fashion. The Nationals scored nine runs by the end of the top of the fourth inning, and BJR was sitting with a goose egg. In the bottom half of the fourth inning, BJR got onto the scoreboard with a Nestor Urbina double, scoring Diego Arce. In the bottom of the fifth, Pascual Archila's two-RBI double brought BJR to within six runs. The Nationals team added three more runs before Arce scored on a groundout in the bottom of the eighth, and Luis Felipe scored on a wild pitch. BJR would add three more runs on a single, an error, and a groundout. The lead for the Nationals team was too large for BJR to come back from, and they lost 12-8. Luis Felipe: 3-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 2B Luis Victorino: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Players of the Period Pitcher of the Period: RHP Khal Stephen (Vancouver) - 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K Hitter of the Period: OF Will Robertson (Buffalo) - 5-9, 4 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 3 HR, 1 2B Prospect Summary (Last 2 Days) View full article

The Jays' 2023 draft class included a pair of high schoolers they selected with two of their first three picks who generated a lot of buzz: current number one prospect Arjun Nimmala and fourth-round pick Landen Maroudis, who was highlighted by many as a breakout candidate the season prior before unfortunately losing the year to Tommy John surgery. Yet, there's a third high school selection from that draft who seems to have fallen under the radar, and it’s a 5-foot-10 second baseman hailing from Victoria, BC. He’s third amongst all qualified hitters in wRC+ in the Florida State League at only 20 years old, which is over a full year younger than league average. As relayed by Dunedin broadcaster Eli Fishman on the Around the Nest podcast, Sam Shaw grew up a diehard Blue Jays fan. He would go to Vancouver Canadians games regularly and often spent his summers down in Dunedin watching the Jays at their spring training complex. At one point in time, he ended up getting thrown a ball from former Jays outfielder Jonathan Davis, who’s now one of his coaches. Ahead of the draft, Shaw had committed to Xavier University, but the Jays convinced their ninth-round selection to sign with an overslot $282,500 signing bonus. He was one of two Canadians drafted by the Jays that year, with Mississauga's Connor O’Halloran being taken in the fifth round. Shaw started off his career in the Florida Complex League in 2023 and '24, where he showcased strong plate discipline, walking 18.1% of the time and striking out just 10.9% of the time. Scouts liked his strong feel for contact and feel for the barrel. He ran an 87.9% contact rate last season in the FCL and ran very low swinging strike rates despite only hitting .218, mostly due to a lack of power that led to weaker fly balls when he did make contact. Shaw’s bat was notable enough to get him ranked as the 29th-best Jays prospect by Baseball America and the 40th by FanGraphs. One thing that limited his ceiling in their eyes was his lack of power, with FanGraphs giving him a 20/30 game power and a 30/35 raw power grade, and Baseball America saying this: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== This season, things have changed for Shaw. He spent the offseason putting on weight, and it has resulted in a very different offensive profile. After previously only hitting two homers in his pro career, he’s now more than tripled his homer total, with five on the season, in addition to five doubles and a triple. His ISO is nearly .100 points higher than it was in the FCL last season, against more advanced pitching. Shaw’s swing has always been tailor-made for line drives, but he’s been hitting them at an absurd rate, with a 29.3% line drive rate, which is the seventh highest in the Florida State League. The more interesting wrinkle to his current approach is his pull rate, as he’s hitting balls to the pull side about half of the time, and 23.4% of his tracked batted balls have been pulled in the air (per Statcast). This helps explain some of the power increase, as his max EV of 106.8 MPH is only average, and his 90th percentile EV of 101.2 mph is only slightly above average. What stands out about Shaw’s profile, though, despite strong but not spectacular power metrics, is a knack for getting barrels, as he’s running one of the highest barrel rates in the league (11.7%). The combination of decent exit velocities, an elite pull rate, and an elite barrel rate has made the smaller second baseman/left fielder into a bigger power threat than one would expect. https://x.com/DunedinBlueJays/status/1923166119411474475https://x.com/DunedinBlueJays/status/1923166119411474475 The ability to barrel the ball is not the only outlier about his game, as he also has strong plate discipline, with an absurd 17.8% walk rate, which is the fourth highest in the FSL. This may come from some passivity in his approach, as he only has a swing rate of 36.5%. As his competition becomes more advanced, Shaw may need to make adjustments to his approach, as more advanced pitchers could take advantage of his passivity as he moves up. His excellent knowledge of the strike zone results in very little chase, and he also has one of the lowest swinging strike rates in the Florida State League at only 6.7%. Shaw’s newfound power stroke may have coincided with a slightly elevated K%, as he is striking out a little more than the average Low-A hitter, and his zone-contact rate is also similarly below average. Still, considering his overall offensive production, it’s a trade-off that seems to be working out for him. (Graphic via @TJStats, Stats as of 5/31) Shaw’s overall defensive value is limited, as he’s only an average fielder at second base, and while he does have experience playing the outfield, most of that time has been spent in left. His speed is considered average to below average, so the main carrying tool will be his bat as he advances through the minors. Shaw’s optimization of launch angles and his ability to pull the ball have transformed him from being a strong contact hitter into a legitimate power threat and, if he continues to progress, will see him launch up prospect rankings. Stats updated prior to games on Wednesday, June 4. View full article

The Toronto Blue Jays have struggled to develop starting pitching in the minors, with the entirety of their major league rotation having been signed through free agency or acquired through trades. After a strong performance by starters in the farm system in the month of April, with Trey Yesavage earning the top pitcher crown, the starters in the system continued to show out, bringing hope that the Jays have finally figured out how to develop some starters that could quickly contribute to the major league roster. With the advent of the Florida Complex League this month, we get to take a look at a few more starters than we were able to last month. Honourable Mentions CJ Van Eyk - Double-A New Hampshire/Triple-A Buffalo - 4 GS, 23 IP, 3.52 ERA, 3.95 FIP, 20.7 K%, 8.7 BB%, 1.04 WHIP Van Eyk had a strong May, especially in Double-A New Hampshire, earning his way onto the Buffalo Bisons Triple-A roster for the first time in his career. The former top Jays prospect has had his ups and downs, including a rough injury history, but he’s finally slowly moving his way up and could make his way to the majors one day. The starts he made in Buffalo were not nearly as good, but his hot stretch in New Hampshire earned him an honourable mention. Fernando Perez - High-A Vancouver - 5 GS, 26 ⅓ IP, 3.76 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 18.7 K%, 2.8 BB%, 1.14 WHIP The 21-year-old Nicaraguan refused to walk anybody, walking only three batters on the month, although it also came with a below-average strikeout rate. Perez’s raw stuff doesn’t wow everyone, but he relies on great control and mixing up his pitches in order to prevent batters from teeing him up. He did a solid job of preventing that from happening, except for one poor start against the Giants' High-A team, in which he was tagged for three homers and gave up six earned runs. Still, Perez has finally found his footing in High A, and after his first start on May 2, in which he only went four innings, he’s gone five-plus innings in each start since. Austin Cates - Low-A Dunedin - 5 G, 4 GS, 16 ⅔ IP, 3.78 ERA, 5.49 FIP, 28.6 K%, 14.3 BB%, 1.44 WHIP Cates struggled to start the season, giving up 15 runs in April while only striking out 15 batters, including a game on April 30 where he gave up three homers. His first start in May didn’t go too well either, as the seventh-rounder from UNLV only struck out a single batter and left the game after giving up three earned runs in only two-thirds of an inning. Cates got a mental reset in the next game he appeared in, as he came out of the 'pen to accommodate Adam Kloffenstein’s rehab assignment. He struck out four batters in three innings of work while only allowing one run. That led to a three-start stretch in which he only let in one run each game. The walks were elevated for Cates during that stretch, as he walked three batters per start, but he limited damage and lowered his season ERA from 7.25 to 5.17. Complex Leaguers with Too Small a Sample Johnny King - 3 G, 2 GS, 8 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.86 FIP, 38.7 K%, 9.8 K%, 0.75 WHIP King hasn’t pitched many innings in his pro career, but he’s been off to a roaring start, showing increased velocity and showcasing strong breaking balls that were highly-regarded coming out of high school. He’s earned rave reviews from prospect evaluators, with ESPN's Kiley McDaniel calling him one of the players to click in his midseason prospect ranking update and a definite top-100 prospect in a recent video with Lance Brozdowski. Samuel Colmenares - 4 GS, 15 IP, 1.80 ERA, 2.38 FIP, 25.4 K%, 3.4 BB%, 1.00 WHIP Colmenares was signed out of Venezuela in the 2023 international amateur class and had a strong debut in the Dominican Summer League the same year. Then, he struggled last season with a 6.86 ERA across 39 ⅓ innings in the Complex League and Low A as a 19-year-old. The Jays once again started him in the Complex League, and he’s taken to it well, keeping his walks in check and not allowing a single homer yet. Silvano Hechavarria - 4 G, 3 GS, 2.12 ERA, 5.22 FIP, 14.7 K%, 5.9 BB%, 1.06 WHIP Hechavarria was signed out of Cuba as a 21-year-old and dominated the Dominican Summer League as an overage flamethrower against teenagers. The Jays were not aggressive with him and started him off in the Florida Complex League this year, where he struggled to strike out batters despite reportedly sitting 96-97 mph on his fastball. Still, his performance earned him a promotion to Low-A Dunedin as reported by Francys Romero, where he's made one appearance in relief in June. Top Five Minor League Starting Pitchers of May 5. Lazaro Estrada - Triple-A Buffalo - 5 GS, 24 ⅓ IP, 1.85 ERA, 4.90 FIP, 23.4 K%, 7.4 BB%, 0.99 WHIP Estrada had a strong May after a shaky April, as he led Buffalo in innings pitched and strikeouts and only gave up an opponent’s batting average of .198. His FIP was a little elevated due to being homer-prone, but he was mostly able to limit those homers to solo shots. Estrada’s best pitch during this stretch was his slider, which generated a whiff rate near 40%. His other pitches struggled to get whiffs but limited hard contact, except for his fastball, which sits in the lower 90s. Although it has decent ride, hitters didn’t whiff on it, and when they made contact, it was loud. Estrada can most reliably command his four-seam fastball, which allows him to use the fastball at a 46.1% rate. He may benefit from mixing in more of his other pitches once he can rein in the control. 4. Juaron Watts-Brown - High-A Vancouver/Double-A New Hampshire - 5 GS, 25 ⅔ IP, 4.21 ERA, 3.18 FIP, 35.8 K%, 7.5 BB%, 0.97 WHIP Watts-Brown had his strikeout stuff in May, headlined by his strong breaking balls. He went five innings in four out of five starts, and struck out at least five batters in every one of them. Midway through the month, he earned a promotion to Double A after a contingent of starters came up from Dunedin to Vancouver. His first start in New Hampshire wasn’t his best, but he really showed out in his start against Colorado’s Double-A team, where he struck out eight batters in six innings, giving up only one earned run and one walk. If his command is on, he’s one of the most unhittable pitchers in the Jays system, just behind another Jays prospect, and possibly even the minor leagues. 3. Khal Stephen - 5 GP, 4 GS, 22 ⅔ IP, 2.78 ERA, 2.81 FIP, 26.9 K%, 4.3 BB%, 1.01 WHIP Second-rounder Khal Stephen dominated Low A alongside his teammates Trey Yesavage and Gage Stanifer and earned a promotion up to Vancouver. He’s continued to hum along in High A, although he’s still adjusting to the lack of ABS and more advanced hitters. Stephen has shown that his high fastball can still be very effective and now needs to learn how to sharpen his pitch sequencing, tunneling, and location in order to better utilize his improved secondary pitches. His control, however, was very good this month, as he walked only four batters and gave up only one home run. He's going to get challenged facing High-A hitters, but he's definitely up for the task. 2. Grant Rogers - High-A Vancouver/Double-A New Hampshire - 5 GS, 26 ⅓ IP, 1.71 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 20.2 K%, 8.8 BB%, 1.14 WHIP Rogers was the more consistent of the two starters who earned a promotion from Vancouver to New Hampshire, although he barely struck out half as many batters as Watts-Brown. Rogers was better at limiting the damage, as the most earned runs he gave up in any start in May was two, and he was able to keep batters off balance with his funky delivery and his deep pitch mix. He carried his momentum from High A into New Hampshire and had one of his best starts, taking a perfect game into the fifth. 1. Trey Yesavage - High-A Vancouver/Low-A Dunedin - 6 GS, 28 ⅓ IP, 1.59 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 46.8 K%, 9.2 BB%, 0.81 WHIP Trey Yesavage is once again your MiLB Starting Pitcher of the Month, and he’s lived up to almost all of the expectations coming off of a first-round selection. The 6-foot-4 righty dominated hitters in May, with a minor league-leading 46 strikeouts on the month, as he split his time between Low and High A. Yesavage’s arsenal is truly unique; he doesn’t have a single pitch that breaks to the glove side, and coming from his more unique over-the-top slot, that gives hitters a weird look that is extremely difficult to face. His fastball has strong velo and a ton of life, his cutter/slider and his splitter generate a ton of whiffs, and he’s nigh impossible to square up even when a batter does make contact. Hitters hit just .133 against him this past month. Even with this dominating performance, there were some blemishes, including ten walks in his past three starts and his inability to break the 4 ⅓-inning mark after getting promoted to Vancouver. Yet, that may just be an adjustment period to the cooler climates, lack of ABS challenge system, and facing more advanced hitters who are less prone to chase. No matter what, you cannot deny the absolute filth Yesavage throws, and he’s done more than enough to earn this top spot as the Jays Centre MiLB Starting Pitcher of the Month. View full article

He might just be finding his splitter again, the splitter stuff+ in his last four starts is 106, compared to 97 for all the starts prior.

That is me!

The month of May has been a great one for the Jays, if we can get Gimenez and Santander's bats going that would be even better.