This is a weekly(ish) column I’ve done for the past couple of years, highlighting players who are having interesting seasons down on the Blue Jays farm. I typically profile one or two players per week, but because the minor league season has just kicked off, I wanted to just briefly note a few players off to interesting starts who might merit a longer feature in the near future.
A Dunedin:
- Sam Shaw: The 2023 9th round pick struggled to produce any impact at the complex last year. In 2025, he’s already hit a home run and 4 of his 8 balls in play have been 92mph or harder, with a peak of 105.6mph. He’ll never be a slugger, but he has a very good approach and makes lots of contact, so if he can get to even 40 game power (8-12 home runs in a season), there’s a chance he can carve out a role.
- Khal Stephen: a player with SEC experience should be ahead of A ball hitters, but striking out 15 of 37 batters while allowing just three hits and two walks over 11.1 innings is still impressive. He’s sitting 93, with extension that makes it look harder, and locating all of his deep arsenal of pitches so far.
A+ Vancouver:
- Arjun Nimmala: Just seven strike outs in his first 33 PA is a good sign. His raw contact rate is still below 70%, which is concerning, but as long as his approach stays good and he keeps getting to his power (two home runs and two doubles so far), he can make a bottom tier contact rate work.
- Juaron Watts-Brown: struggled with walks last year, but he’s getting ahead of hitters at a much higher rate in the early going and landing more in the zone. A+ hitters can’t handle his stuff, which has lead to 16 K’s against only 2 walks among the first 39 batters he’s faced.
AA New Hamphsire
- Yohendrick Pinango: Acquired in the Nate Pearson trade, Pinango has hit his way up to AA in spite of concerns about his swing. He’s looking more patient in the early going and has raised his launch angle (in a miniscule sample), which might help him get to his above average raw power in a way he struggled to do last year in his first shot at AA.
- Anders Tolhurst: His season debut was also the longest outing of his career, facing 19 batters and going 5.0 innings. He looked good, regularly hitting 94 on the gun and striking out 7 against 2 hits and 2 walks. It’s unusual to see a pitcher transition to the rotation in his fourth pro season after working almost exclusively in relief. The first look went great, so it’ll be interesting to see whether the experiment continues.
AAA Buffalo
- Jonatan Clase: Repeating AAA (after having made his MLB debut) but still age appropriate for the level at 23, Clase had taking some interesting steps forward early this season. He’s cut way down on his chase rate while raising his already solid contact rate inside the zone, resulting in a 7.6% swinging strike rate that’s a third below his mark last season. The power hasn’t shown up yet, but he’s having good at bats, has walked more than he’s struck out, and is already 6-0 in stolen bases.
As we get a little deeper into the season, I’ll start to pick players out for deeper looks. It’s been an uneven start to the year on the minor league side (Buffalo’s pitching has been dreadful, and a few notable prospects are off to rough starts), but there are always interesting things to find if you pay attention.