Yariel Rodriguez’ stateside debut, and the release of the remaining three full season rosters highlight this edition.

Y-Rod Sizzles in Bisons’ Debut

Yariel Rodriguez, the Cuban signing by way of the NPB this past offseason, made his organizational and North American debut for the Buffalo Bisons this week, and he was spectacular.

Rodriguez generates mid 90s velo from a seemingly effortless delivery. He has a thick trunk and mobile hips which allow for much of that. Rodriguez also throws a four-seamer, which Blue Jays Minor League Pithing Coordinator Cory Popham confirms has natural cutting action (as opposed to being a cutter), an offering that had the Worcester hitters swinging and missing. It’s a definite big league pitch, and a few more outings like this will have Y-Rod in T-dot.

From that same game, Orelvis Martinez made a smart play with the bases loaded and the infield in to cut down a run at the plate:

Orelvis is settling in at 2nd, and while his bat has yet to heat up (lots of meh contact up the middle so far), this is a development that will have the player development staff happy.

The nasty system that has blanketed much of the northeastern part of the continent has forced cancellations of the Bisons games yesterday, today, and possibly tomorrow. The International League schedules end of March/first week of April games, and God laughs.

D-Jays Have Some Names Worth Watching

The Dunedin Blue Jays, Toronto’s Single A affiliate, have five players who will suit up to start the season that will bear watching, and for now probably features the most prospect-laden lineup in the system.

LHP Brandon Barriera (MLB Pipleline’s 4th-ranked Blue Jays prospect), the club’s 1st round pick in 2022, had a disappointing pro debut last year. Reports suggest he did not come into camp in the best of shape (I suspect he had focussed a bit too much on strength, and was on the bulky side). He did look much trimmer in his solid inning of work in the Spring Breakout game, and he’s likely only in Florida until the weather warms up in the northern latitudes, but Barriera does have some missed development time to catch up on.

SS Arjun Nimmala (MLB Pipeline - 3), last year’s 1st round pick, is already drawing raves from scouts and observers in the Sunshine State. He’s still a ways away, but the bat and the glove are worth dreaming on.

3rd round pick RHP Jauron Watts-Brown (Pipeline - 18) will make his pro debut with the D-Jays. This is a high risk/high reward pitching prospect. The Jays will likely try to build up his innings as a starter, but the signs point to a relief role long term.

RHP Francisco Perez (24th) just turned 20, but already has close to mid-90s velocity. If you’re a fantasy player, this is a guy to get in on the ground floor. He gets the nod for Dunedin’s Opening Day game.

RHP Landen Maroudis (12th), a 4th rounder from last year, is something of a sleeper, and has gotten more than his fair share of notice on the backfields this spring. The consensus was that it would be tough to sway him from his NC State commitment last year, and more than a few observers thought the Blue Jays stole one.

INF Tucker Toman, a 2022 2nd round pick who took a step backward in his development last year, returns to try to get his bat back together. SS/2B Manuel Beltre, a highly-ranked 2021 IFA who has struggled at the plate, returns with Toman, as does RHP Irv Carter, a 2021 5th rounder whose development has stalled, is back in Florida as well.

There are three Canadians on the roster: 2023 5th round pick RHP Connor O’Halloran (son of former Jay Greg) from Mississauga, C Nicholas Deschamps of Quebec City, and 2023 free agent INF Bryce Arnold from Hamilton.

Panamanian Jose Mayorga, who managed the Complex Jays the past two seasons, moves up to full season. Former Jays farmhand Nash Knight joins the staff as hitting coach.

The Florida State League used to be a huge void when it comes to streaming games, but not any more.

A Tough Act to Follow in Vancouver

The Canadians won the Northwest League title last year, after having made it to the final the season before.

The core of the championship team has moved on, but 15 players who celebrated the C’s win to close out the season will return to the Pacific Northwest.

Two players to watch are LHP Kendry Rojas (10th) and OF Jace Bohrofen (22nd). RHP Ryan Jennings, who was Vancouver’s best pitcher not named Adam Macko down the stretch and in the playoffs, will get the ball for Vancouver’s opening game at Spokane (which does not stream their home games).

Oakville, ON native Dasan Brown (26th) is back for the third time (Brown finished 2022 in Vancouver, after starting in Dunedin). Brown has all the tools and is one of the fastest players in all of minor league baseball, but he just hasn’t hit or shown an ability to get on base enough to take advantage of that speed.

If you follow me on Twitter, you likely know I’ll be in Vancouver next weekend to file reports. Perhaps this team will be bolstered by some mid-season promotions, but they have a tough task in trying to take the C’s back to the finals for the third straight year.

New Hampshire Playoff Bound?

One would have to think the Fisher Cats, with a group of players who have been to the postseason (Vancouver 2023, Dunedin, 2022) the last two seasons, are a favourite to get there again as they move up to AA.

Headlining the list of top prospects who will take to the field are LHP Adam Macko (9th) and OF Alan Roden (7). Macko’s strong 2023 earned him a spot on the 40-man last fall, while Roden has hit his way into Top 10 prospect country.

RHP CJ Van Eyk (18th) will look to continue from a lengthy Tommy John recovery. 3B/1B Alex DeJesus (22nd) moves up from A+, as does SS Josh Kasevich (11th). RHP TJ Brock (29) returns to anchor the Fisher Cats’ bullpen.

RHP Dahian Santos (21) missed the last half of last year to what was called a forearm strain. I had been told that he was healthy before spring training, but he was placed on Vancouver’s 60-day IL this week, so he won’t be moving up as had been anticipated anytime soon. OF Devonte Brown is not a top prospect because of his age, but he’s as exciting a prospect as there is in the system, and no player gets as much out of their talent as he does.

3B Cade Doughty, a 2022 2nd rounder who was 3rd in HRs in the NWL last year, is not on the roster, but his MiLB.com page says he was assigned to Vancouver this week. What often happens in this case is that the player isn’t quite ready to go due to a nagging injury or some other issue; it’s usually not enough to put him on the IL. Word from a source indicates that Doughty will join New Hampshire before long.

This might not be the best collection of prospects in the system, but it’s probably the most solid lineup from top to bottom of the three listed here today. The pitching staff, in particular, is solid.