Let’s get to it, shall we?

Trey, we hardly knew Yesavage….

It was a bit of a surprise when word came out last night that Trey Yesavage, after all of four High A starts, was promoted to AA New Hampshire. But given that some speculated that’s where the advanced Yesavage would begin the season, maybe it’s not all that surprising.

A Blue Jays source off the record told me, in effect, that the organization wanted to challenge him to be “his big league self,” and apparently that wasn’t going to happen in the Northwest League. The jump between A and AA, which I have written many times, is one of the biggest in all of minor league baseball. Yesavage had to make some adjustments to the fluctuating strike zone of the Northwest League (where the ABS system doesn’t exist yet), and he’ll have to make even more in the Eastern League, where hitters have a plan, much of which doesn’t involve chasing.

Blake Murphy of The FAN Toronto and I were speculating that maybe the Blue Jays want to see what they have in Yesavage for a possible bullpen role in September. While I found that intriguing, I’m not so sure. Flags fly forever and all of that, but with Yesavage already passed the halfway point of his previous career innings high, load management may be an issue. But then again, moving a guy to the bullpen might help with that, and Yesavage would not be the first prospect pitcher they have done that to. Still, he should have at least 10 starts in AA, which would put him over 100 innings.

I’m just sorry the fans in Vancouver didn’t get to see him more than once.

Will Robertson to the Bigs

He may be long in the tooth for a prospect at age 27, but kudos to Will Robertson for finally getting the call to the big leagues. Robertson has mashed for the past six weeks, and has been the International League Player of the Week for the past two.

A 4th round pick in 2019 from Creighton (where one of the players he made a huge impression on was a young redshirt 1st Baseman named Alan Roden), Robertson has been a study in patience. As a rookie with-then Short Season Vancouver after being drafted, Robertson was fed a steady diet of fastballs, many of which he had trouble keeping up with. The following season, he moved off the plate a bit, and the results began to flow.

Robertson showed a power explosion in 2023 when he hit 19 HRs at Buffalo. He really has to hit to stay on a big league roster, so I’m not sure his stay in Toronto this time will be a lengthy one, but who knows?

Bullpen Guys to Know

A guy on the radio today (not you, Blake) was marvelling at how guys like Mason Fluharty and Brendon Little, “who no one knew about a year ago,” prompted this segment. Because if you follow prospects with any regularity, you knew who Fluharty was, at least. And his performance in the bigs is not a huge surprise; the dude knows how to pitch.

A little less than a year ago, relievers Connor Cooke, TJ Brock, and Ryan Jennings were on the cusp of big league jobs themselves. Cooke and Brock have since undergone Tommy John, and Jennings, after a bit of a struggle with his command this season, is now at Buffalo.

Are there any other guys out there to watch? Tommy Nance is not a prospect, but he’s certainly put himself back in the conversation at Buffalo, where he’s put together a fine stretch of work. Nate Garkow is another guy who’s past the prospect threshold at 27, and his fastball tops out at only 87, but the former Indy Ball pitcher has a confounding changeup that I love to watch hitters flail at:

Beyond that, there are no close-to-ready MLB guys right now. Hunter Gregory at AA, and Pat Gallagher, moved into Vancouver’s bullpen this year, have put up solid numbers, but we need to see how they fare farther up the ladder. Likewise, Colby Martin - a converted infielder - has been lights out this season at Dunedin, but is still new to pitching.

Deadline Hitters Coming on Line

Yohendrick Piñango has been hitting all season, but it’s nice to see two of his other fellow 2024 deadline acquisitions start to come around.

RJ Schreck started off slowing at AA, but a .320/.411/.670 slash line in May earned him a trip to join Piñango in Buffalo. Schreck homered in his first game at AAA, and while he’s had his ups and downs since then, he is showing why, at 24, the “late bloomer” tag was applied to him last year.

Another New Hampshire Fisher Cat, SS Eddinson Paulino, had a slow start that lasted until mid May, but he’s taken off in June, posting a .939 OPS.

Toman Comes Alive

Tucker Toman drew mixed reviews from scouts in his last season as a high schooler prior to the 2022 draft, according to Baseball America:

But the Blue Jays were one of the teams that fell into the liked-what-they-saw camp, and drafted him with their second pick in that year’s second round, persuading him to forego a commitment to LSU. With the draft taking in place in June for the last time, there was an opportunity for Toman to get some reps in the Complex League.

While in the FCL, the Blue Jays once again saw enough to have him start 2023 in Single A in Dunedin. The Complex didn’t start that year until June (it was bumped up to early May the following year), and you can’t help but wonder if that influenced the player development staff’s thinking. The obviously felt he wouldn’t be sufficiently challenged by Extended pitching.

Toman struggled all year long in the Florida State League; he showed an advanced approach even then, but he failed to make much loud contact (of contact of any kind), finishing up with a .208/.320/.313 line. Toman repeated Single A in 2024, but his difficulties continued. He spent time on the Development List, where (according to a source) he was an eager student who had made significant progress, but he finished with a lower OPS (.619) than the year before.

Toman once again struggled out of the gate this year, heading back to Single A once again, and one has to wonder how much leash he would have had if he wasn’t a high draft pick. But the Blue Jays’ patience appears to be paying off:

Toman’s 1.206 OPS over the last 15 days is 3rd best in all of Single A ball. The switch-hitter still scuffles mightily against LHP (frankly, I wonder how long this will be allowed to continue), hitting .091 in 22 ABs against southpaws this year. But he has really been getting to his barrel over the past several weeks.

The Walking Wounded

The Blue Jays are very tight-lipped about the progress of all their injured players, and news about pitching prospects coming back from Tommy John appears to be funnelled through Manager John Schneider.

But there is some good news. Kendry Rojas’ first start with Dunedin was limited to 12 pitches before the heavens opened up. The club started him three days later, and he looked sharp, tossing four scoreless innings.

Fellow LHP Landen Maroudis made his return to Single A this past week as well, throwing 4 shutout frames himself.

And another lefty, Brandon Barriera, exited his most recent rehab FCL start after only two-thirds of an inning, likely having reached his inning pitch count limit.

Up and coming….

In the next few editions of this newsletter, I’ll have first half report cards for all 30 (according to MLB Pipeline) Blue Jays prospects. I will also have conversations with a couple of player development staff (just trying to work out the timing). Thanks to all of my regular readers - I know these newsletters have been a bit irregular this year, but life sometimes gets in the way.