Jake Bloss came to us (along with Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner) in a deadline trade for Yusei Kikuchi. Bloss, by himself, would have been a nice pickup for a rental pitcher. Adding the other two made it a terrific trade.
Kikuchi went 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 10 starts down the stretch for the Astros but didn’t appear in their two-game playoff loss to the Tigers. Yusei signed with the Angels this off-season.
We will get to Loperfido and Wagner later. The Astros selected Bloss in the third round of the 2023 draft. Before that, he spent three years at Lafayette, getting a double major in math and economics. He then went to Georgetown to work on his master’s in economics. In 2023, he was the Big East Conference pitcher of the year.
Bloss is 23 (24 in June), a right-handed pitcher, and a big guy at 6’3” and 223 pounds (by Baseball Reference. He throws a mid-90s fastball (peaking at 97), a curve and two slides, one in the high 80s and one in the low 80s, with a bigger break and a changeup.
Last year, he pitched for four different minor league teams, going from high-A to triple-A, with a 3.18 ERA in 21 games. In 93.1 innings, he allowed 64 hits, 8 home runs, 36 walks, and 88 strikeouts.
His team with Buffalo didn’t go as well, with a 6.91 ERA in 8 starts and 27.1 innings. I hoped to see him with the Jays at the end of the season, but his numbers at Buffalo didn’t earn him that.
He also made three starts for the Astros, posting a 6.94 ERA in 11.2 innings with 16 hits, 5 home runs, 3 walks, and 11 strikeouts.
MLB Pipeline has him as our #3 prospect, behind Trey Yesavage and Orelvis Martinez. Surprisingly, they have Arjun Nimmala fifth.
Jake looks to be a future middle-of-the-rotation starter. I’m hopeful he might be a little better than that, but it is still a pretty pickup for a guy who made ten starts for the Astros.
The question is, will we see him in Toronto this year? Steamer thinks we will. They have him pitching in 25 games, 15 starts, 91 innings with a 4.85 ERA, 33 walks, and 73 strikeouts. It’s not a bad rookie season.