2025 Toronto Blue Jays Top Prospects Ranking

Yesavage was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2024 as a 1st round pick, 20th overall. He signed for roughly the pick's slot value, just over $4 million. He spent his college career at East Carolina University (ECU), alternating between being a relief pitcher and starting pitcher. Ultimately, he settled into a starting pitching role his sophomore year and continued with it the rest of the way at ECU. As a freshman, he displayed a knack for striking out batters, with a strikeout rate of 37.5%. In his sophomore season, he continued the strikeout barrage as a starting pitcher with a 33.9% strikeout rate. This also came with a very good 7.4% walk rate as he started commanding the strike zone, posting a sparkling 2.84 ERA in 76 innings pitched. Yesavage would take things up a notch as a junior, finishing with a 2.03 ERA in 93.1 innings pitched. The strikeouts jumped to a mind-boggling 40.4% rate, as he became one of the best strikeout pitchers in college baseball. A collapsed lung slowed him down at the end of his junior year, but not before capping off his college career by throwing one game following the injury, where he pitched 7.1 innings and struck out six batters on his way to beating future number two overall pick Chase Burns. Given the collapsed lung, the Blue Jays took it easy after drafting Yesavage and did not have him appear in any official games.  What to Like Yesavage, a big-bodied pitcher at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, has the whole toolbox to work with in terms of pitch mix. That is his biggest takeaway: he can beat hitters with many pitches, speeds, and locations. He pitches from a very over-the-top arm slot, which helps his mid-90s fastball play well up in the zone. He pairs that with a sharp breaking splitter and a good moving slider. These three pitches all grade out as plus already, and he has a developing curveball he can also mix in. He can already command his pitches and control the strike zone very well, so there shouldn't be an issue with walks compared to some newly drafted pitchers. The second thing to like about Yesavage's pitch mix is he can miss bats at the top of the zone with his fastball, bottom of the zone with the splitter, and both sides of the plate with the splitter and slider. This will help him as he progresses through the minor leagues, especially versus left-handed hitters, who can be a challenge to some right-handed pitchers. What Needs Work Yesavage will need to work on continuing to develop a fourth pitch. Having three plus pitches is enough to become a capable MLB starter, but to jump up another level he could use a fourth pitch to keep hitters even more off balance. If he can develop the curveball enough to use for a first pitch strike every now and then, he could progress quickly through the minors.  As a new Toronto Blue Jays pitching prospect, Yesavage should also work on staying healthy. It has been a plague over the last few years with Blue Jays pitching prospects ending up injured and missing significant time. If he can stay healthy, he will be a quick riser heading towards Toronto. This potential to move through the farm system quickly has much needed extra value for him and could help the Blue Jays tremendously, adding a depth starting pitcher that can help out in case of injury.  What is Next Yesavage is set to make his debut on March 15th in the Spring Breakout game for the Toronto Blue Jays. Following that, he should move quickly up minor league levels and be pushed aggressively in his assignment. He could start at High-A Vancouver or possibly Double-A New Hampshire. If all goes well for him, he could see the major leagues at the end of the 2025 season or sometime in 2026. He is definitely looking like the next big thing for Blue Jays pitching prospects. 

Joseph 'JoJo' Parker is a left-handed hitting prep infielder out of Mississippi who lit up the summer showcase circuit and has steadily moved up boards this spring. It's a big league type frame at 6'2, 200 pounds. Parker starts with a narrow base and has a smooth quiet load as he strides into his swing. It's a good looking operation from the left side of the plate and Parker has shown a refined hit tool to go with some emerging power.

While his other tools are mostly average. He'll have a chance to stick at shortstop in the short to medium term, but might end up moving to another position on the dirt. Even if he moves off shortstop, this is a profile that has rocketed up draft boards due to the level of confidence and polish present in his hit tool. There aren't many strong hit/power prep profiles in this class, at least not with the level of certainty most evaluators seem to assign to Parker. His name has been mentioned as high as the top five as of this report. Joseph's twin brother Jacob will also likely be a top 100 profile in this class.

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. 

Out of Strawberry Crest High School in Dover, Florida, Nimmala was selected 20th overall in the first round of the 2023 MLB draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He signed for just $3 million, which was slightly under slot value, but it was more than enough for him to jump into professional baseball and forego playing in college. He managed to get into a few Rookie ball games that same year, collecting five hits across nine games, including a double, triple, and a stolen base. What was extremely impressive during the small sample was his 14 walks, good enough for a walk rate of 35%. It was a sign of his potential talent and gave Blue Jays fans plenty of optimism heading into his first full season the following year. 

In 2024, the Blue Jays sent Nimmala straight to Single-A Dunedin, where he promptly looked like a stud. In his first three games, he hit a home run, knocked in three, and racked up four hits. For the season, he played in 83 games at the level, slashed .232/.313/.476, and hit 16 home runs. His power was on full display, as he added 17 doubles and six triples to his home run total. In all, he had 39 extra-base hits on the year and was starting to get a ton of national attention in the prospect world. He did, however, show some worrying signs through all of the good; he had a strikeout rate of 31.3% and walked at only an 8.3% clip. His contact rate was also a little low at 69.9%. Then came his 2025 season. 

Last year was one in which Nimmala saw improvements in some aspects of his game, but regression in others. He played the entire year at High-A Vancouver, where he had 543 plate appearances across 120 games. Health was a bright spot for him, and so was his strikeout rate, which dropped from 31.3% the prior season to 21.4%. Despite the big change in his swing and miss profile, his slash line dipped to .224/.313/.381, and he only had 13 home runs on the season. Nimmala did make up for some of the lack of power with 29 doubles and three triples, but they just don't affect the game as much as the flashy home runs do. He did pick up his impact on the basepaths last year, swiping 17 bags in 20 attempts. His newfound speed adds an extra layer to the multitude of ways he can help his team win games. 

What To Like
Nimmala has loads of power in his bat, and he's shown a tremendous ability to get to it, whether it is in the form of home runs, doubles, or triples. He impacts the game and can do it at an elite level. Last season, his home run total took a step back while at High-A Vancouver, but the 13 home runs he did have were good enough for the 87th percentile in all of the minor leagues. He made up for the drop in home runs by hitting a crazy amount of doubles, 29 (97th percentile). With Vancouver's ballpark being a notoriously pitcher-friendly environment, expect to see some of his home run power return when he moves up a level. However, his home ballpark may not be able to account for all of his dramatic drop in home runs per flyball last year. It could be just a matter of adjusting his swing path to tap back into the juice in his bat, but it is something worth monitoring as he moves through the minor leagues. 

What To Improve On
Despite his budding power, Nimmala has had some issues with his bat-to-ball skills. His contact rate at Single-A Dunedin was 69.9%, and at High-A Vancouver it was 73.6%. He has made some improvements over the years in that arena, but his batting averages are really subpar at best. He's never hit over .232 in a minor league season and needs to make large strides towards improvement in that area in 2026. If he can become a much better contact hitter, his ceiling will drastically jump up into stardom status. Unfortunately, through two seasons so far, he has not shown any signs of becoming better at making more contact, let alone more quality contact. His next stage in development will really hinge on whether or not he can make the improvements needed to become a .250 or .275 hitter, or if his destiny is a profile similar to Lenyn Sosa. 

What's Next
Nimmala is not quite ready for the Double-A level and is back at High-A Vancouver to start the 2026 season. He knows the areas he needs to improve in and what he needs to continue to do well. If he can become a better contact hitter and keep his power going, he has an elite ceiling he can reach. If not, he will be looking more like a platoon bat with power than a star. This season is extremely important to his outlook as a prospect and should give the Blue Jays organization and fans more insight as to what his future trajectory will be. 

At just 19 years old, Johnny King is the epitome of a starting pitcher in stature, standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 210 pounds. He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays during the 2024 MLB draft in the third round, 95th overall. He kicked off his minor league career with a stellar performance in the Florida Complex League last season. He completely dominated hitters across seven games and 24 innings. His ERA was 1.13, with his FIP and xFIP equally standing out at 1.53 and 1.83, respectively. What should be highlighted above all was his propensity to strike batters out. He was one of the best strikeout pitchers in Rookie ball, ending his time there with a 41.8% strikeout rate. He was able to pair that with solid command as well, only walking 7.1% of the batters he faced.

King was quickly promoted to Single-A Dunedin and continued to show a top-notch ability to generate whiffs. Over 11 games and 37.2 innings to finish the season, he struck out 38.1% of hitters as an 18-year-old facing mostly more advanced batters. He didn't give up many hits either, only seeing his batting average against rise from .195 at Rookie ball up to .201 at Single A. His ERA and FIP took a jump up, to 3.35 and 4.24, respectively. The main issue with the promotion was that his command routinely slipped at Single A. He had a somewhat concerning 17.1% walk rate, though he was able to finish the season strong, with a 4.2-inning performance, giving up just one hit and zero earned runs, while striking out seven and walking three. 

What To Like
As an 18-year-old last season, King showed a rare ability to have exceptional stuff at such a young age and to be able to command it enough to strike out hitters at Single A. He has a great frame and still projects to get stronger and add velocity on his fastball. He already possesses two plus pitches in his four-seam fastball and curveball. Both were virtually unhittable in 2025, with the fastball having a batting average against of .213 and a whiff rate of 36.3%. The pitch has very good ride up in the zone, and he generates close to 18 inches of induced vertical break on it.

The curveball had one of the best whiff rates in the minor leagues at 49.4%, and hitters could only hit .193 off of the pitch. King also gets above-average extension on the pitches, in the range of 6.5 feet. That will give him an exceptional base to pitch from to continue improving his repertoire as he gets older. His third pitch was his changeup, and while decent, it needs some work. It was a good pitch, which he used to limit the success of batters, but he didn't get as many swings and misses on it, with only a 22.2% whiff rate at Single A. It is a great pitching foundation to have two plus pitches to go with a third serviceable one, something not often seen from an 18-year-old. 

What To Work On
As the season wore on, King's command took a hit, and his walk rate was simply worrisome at times. Jumping from 7.1% at Rookie ball up to 17.1% at Single A shows he needs to work on getting batters out in the zone to go with his elite ability to generate swings and misses. His 60% strike rate at Single A was in the 39th percentile in the minor leagues and will need to take a step up if he is to continue to get older hitters out while moving up levels.

Another area King will need to focus on in 2026 will be getting hitters back on the ground. When he jumped from Rookie ball to Single A, his groundball rate dropped from 59.1% to 33.8%. He will want to get batters to hit the ball on the ground more like he did at the start of his 2025 season, to help limit damage overall. 

What Is Next
King will begin the 2026 season at High-A Vancouver. It could be a rocky/challenging start given the wild Northwest weather this time of year, but he has the potential to vault up prospect rankings due to his young age and plus stuff on the mound. If everything goes right for him, expect him to spend a couple of months at High A before getting a late-season crack at Double-A New Hampshire. Everything is pointing towards a huge season for him, and he could be the next great pitching prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.