What a week that was in the Blue Jays farm system…

Tuesday

With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, the Jays entered the market as buyers after last season’s sell off.

RHP Juaron Watts-Brown was dealt to the Orioles in exchange for reliever Seranthony Dominguez, a unique deal whereby both players just needed to switch dugouts in order to join their new teams. While the Blue Jays were in Baltimore, Watts-Brown’s AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats were in nearby Chesapeake to take on the O’s Eastern League affiliate.

Watts-Brown made tremendous progress with his strike-throwing this year, attacking the strike zone and adding a kick change, a new variation on a traditional off speed pitch. His slider was probably the best in the system outside of Ricky Tiedemann’s, and he had worked hard in the weight room to help overcome some of the concerns scouts had expressed about his frame.

JWB becomes Baltimore’s 8th-ranked prospect. While he’s likely to continue in a starting role, a move to the bullpen seems highly likely.

Dunedin RHP Silvano Hechavarria is a pitcher to keep an eye on. Signed shortly after defecting from Cuba just over a year ago, he’s risen rapidly through the system. After pitching in the DSL last summer, he was (at 22) a man among boys in the Complex League, and hasn’t missed a beat since his promotion to the D-Jays. Hechavarria throws primarily a three pitch mix, featuring a cutter, four-seamer (which touches 95), and a changeup that he shows promising feel for, all from an easy, clean delivery from his 6’4”/200 frame. Hechavarria has had two straight scoreless outings, allowing just 5 hits over 11.1 innings.

Buffalo pulled off the rare 5-4-3-2 triple play.

Wednesday

LHP Kendry Rojas had a bit of a rude welcome to AAA from the Mets’ Syracuse affiliate, a lineup that features a number of players with big league experience. Hitters that don’t chase, a slider that he had trouble commanding (this was Rojas’ first start using the MLB ball that AAA uses), and several pitches left up in the zone led to a tough line ( 5 IP, 10 H, 6 R/ER). Bisons Manager Casey Candaele left Rojas in to get him to his pitch count, and Rojas rewarded that faith with two scoreless innings to finish his outing.

Alexis Hernandez, recently promoted to Vancouver, had a sizzling Northwest League debut, smacking a pair of round trippers in the C’s 10-5 win over Tri-City. Hernandez was originally signed as an IFA by the Red Sox, and was selected by Toronto in the minor league phase of the 2023 Rule 5 draft.

Not to be outdone, Hernandez’ teammate, Arjun Nimmala, went 2-4 with his first longball since June 17th. It was hopefully a sign of things to come for the Blue Jays top-ranked prospect, who has struggled mightily the past two months. The night before, he looked very uncomfortable at the plate, and while he was making contact, it was of the soft variety - his exit velos were quite down, according to a source.

Thursday

The early morning news on trade deadline day:

Stephen was part of the new mass of mid-tier prospects the organization has quickly built. He went on the IL with a shoulder impingement after he was roughed up in his AA debut, but obviously both sides have done their homework with the medicals and felt safe with the risks involved. The deal underscores the overhaul the system underwent.

But the dealing didn’t stop there. After several hours of scrolling and refreshing, came word of another deal:

Personally, I hated to see Roden go, although I fully expected it. He had two shots at cracking the roster in Toronto this season, and wasn’t able to do so. No, he can’t really play all 3 OF positions, and no, he doesn’t have the power for a corner spot, but the dude can hit. Roden was one of my favourite interviews, a player who faithfully and thoughtfully answered all of my questions. He’ll get to play closer to his Wisconsin home, as the Twins AAA affiliate is in St Paul.

The say the best ability is availability, and on that count, Rojas has had his struggles. He’s missed significant time - including being out for the first half of this season with an abdominal strain - in three of the last four seasons. There is no doubt about Rojas’ arm, even though he, like Stephen, took his lumps at his first start at a new level. But durability is what kept him as a mid-tier prospect, and like Roden, I fully expected he’d be dealt.

As far as games go……RHP Landen Maroudis continues his return from UCL brace surgery over a year ago.

Maroudis drew raves for his backfield work in the spring of 2024, but he was all of 10 pro innings into his career before blowing out his elbow. He’s the first of the large group of rehabbers to get back into action, and it would appear that he’s bought into the new focus on strike throwing, giving up a tick of velocity to hone in more on command.

A local boy, Maroudis’ family is in attendance every time he pitches - Dad tends to wander the ballpark, as nervous Dads often do. No doubt the Maroudis’ are looking to use their passports very soon and head to the Pacific Northwest.

Friday

The Trey Yesavage show continued in Maryland, as the prized righthander took on the Orioles’ Chesapeake affiliate, and their 27th ranked (by Pipeline) prospect Trey Gibson.

Yesavage continued his brilliant season, fanning 9 in 4 innings. He gave up 4 hits, but nothing of the truly barreled up variety.

While his innings have been carefully monitored, Yesavage maybe has a bit more left in the tank, as Blue Jays manager John Schneider mentioned his name and that of Adam Macko (seemingly next man up if the team needs a starter) as potential depth options down the stretch.

Saturday

Happy Johnny King day, everyone.

Arjun Nimmala has had his struggles at the plate over the past two months. His OPS for June and July was a meagre .537, and he went over a month without hitting a HR. He’s looked uncomfortable at the plate, and has had trouble getting his front foot down in light of the steady diet of offspeed pitches he’s seen.

But Nimmala has slowly started to turn things around this week in Tri-City, connecting for his first longball since June 17, and going 3-4 with a pair of ringing doubles on Saturday night to lead Vancouver to victory.

While it’s tempting to downgrade Nimmala’s long term prospects with his second prolonged dry spell in as many years, if he had gone the college route, he’d just be entering his draft year. Time is still very much on his side, and the Blue Jays have shown they’re willing to let him take his lumps.

Sunday

Vancouver RHP Fernando Perez has quietly put together a string of strong second half starts, his start at Tri-City being the latest:

Perez is not a Top 10 guy just yet because he doesn’t throw hard, but no one in the system pounds the strike zone quite like the young Nicaraguan does. There is still some room and time for him to add velo, but the true test will come when he faces AA hitters.

Silvano Hechevarria threw yet another gem (which somehow did not land him on Baseball America’s Hot Sheet) against Fort Myers. What was impressive was not only was he starting on four days’ rest instead of five, and facing a lineup for the second time in a week, but he also battled on a day when he didn’t appear to have his best stuff.