The 12 Days of Prospects

Zulueta's power stuff and feel for sequencing give him a chance to start. His powerful fastball/slider combination gives him a fallback as a high-leverage reliever.

Baseball America

The Blue Jays quietly acquired $1.5 million in International Free Agent bonus pool money in deals with Oakland and Baltimore weeks ahead of the then-June signing deadline for the 2018-19 class. Some of it was spent of a pair of Dutch pitchers, one of who was Sem Robberse, and the bulk ($1 million) of it went to Cuban Yosver Zulueta. Toronto had been following Zulueta closely since he pitched for the Cuban national team in Quebec City against the Indy league Capitales. The following year, he survived a harrowing ocean trip in a small vessel to defect to Cuba, and pitched in a showcase event in April, 2019.

Toronto was impressed with him, and even though a physical in Toronto after signing revealed Zulueta needed Tommy John surgery, the Blue Jays were convinced he was the real deal. Blue Jays assistant GM and head of international ops Andrew Tinnish told TSN that because of his advanced age in comparison to other IFAs, the club didn’t view Zulueta through that lens:

….anytime you have a 21-year-old pitcher who you think can be a starter who has that type of velocity with some ability to spin the ball, with the body and athleticism, there’s not a lot of those guys on draft boards every year is probably the best way to put it.”

The pandemic laid waste to that plan, and Zulueta’s 2021 campaign lasted all of three pitches before he tore up his knee trying to field a comebacker.

2022 saw a huge reversal for fortune for the flamethrowing righthander, who pitched at four levels and was added to the 40 man roster this fall. Zulueta finds himself very much in competition for a big league job.

The main weapons in Zulueta’s arsenal is a high 90s fastball (touching 100) from an easy delivery, and a plus slider - a pitch that he worked on while sidelined last season to improve its tightness and direction - that he commands better than his fastball at times. His change is a work in progress, as it is for most young pitchers, and his curve shows some promise. Controlling the running game was a bit of an issue for him at AA, but did I mention that slider?

Given that two-pitch combination and some command issues (5.2 BB/9 this year), there was talk of Zulueta landing in the Blue Jays bullpen last August, but a stint on the IL put an end to that. Zulueta did pitch out of the pen when he returned to action, but the Blue Jays claim that was to manage his innings at the end of a long first full pro season. Pitching Development Coordinator Cory Popham said last month that the organization still plans to develop him as a starter, and it’s not inconceivable to think he’s at least got a shot at a fifth starter’s job if he breaks camp with the big club.