Trio of former Lugnuts impress in Spring Training

Best throwing arm for a catcher.

Best spin rate for a curveball.

Highest average fastball velocity.

Three former Lugnuts -- Gabriel Moreno, Joey Murray and Nate Pearson -- are currently leading each and every player in Spring Training in these categories, as spotlighted in an MLB.com article by Sam Dykstra.

Catcher Moreno's throwing arm produced an 81.1 mph fastball to second base on Sunday in an attempt to stop the Tigers' JaCoby Jones from swiping the bag. "That one toss," writes Dykstra, "was equal to the Major League-best average catcher arm strength put up by Brewers backstop Manny Piña last season. Moreno, who is entering only his age-21 season, draws strong reviews for his athleticism that can help with his work behind the plate, and it was on display here." The native Venezuelan excelled in 2019 at the plate with the Lugnuts, batting .280 with 17 doubles, 12 homers, and an .823 OPS. In the field, he nabbed 18 of 54 prospective base stealers while committing only three errors. He enters this season ranked as the Blue Jays' No. 8 prospect by Baseball America and may start as high as Double-A New Hampshire when Opening Day dawns.

Murray, who opened 2019 in the Lugnuts starting rotation and whiffed 40 batters in 30 2/3 innings before a call-up to Dunedin, has raised eyebrows with his remarkable stuff. The average spin rate for a Major League fastball is 2308 rpm; Murray's fastball has averaged 2706 rpm, fourth best among all players this spring, with a remarkable high of 2973 rpm reported on February 28th. That exceptional spin rate causes Murray's fastball to defy gravity longer, leading to it finishing higher than the batter anticipates - an optical illusion that causes swings and misses and has led to his fastball being nicknamed an "invisi-ball." And then there's Murray's curve, which ranks first among all pitchers with a 3105 rpm. As Dykstra writes, "it's not hard to see how Murray fanned 169 in 137 1/3 innings across two Class A levels and Double-A in 2019. The Jays want to keep him as a starter, but these two pitches alone could make him useful out of the Major League bullpen quickly." Murray is Baseball America's No. 26 prospect going into 2021.

Lastly, there's Pearson, who started the 2018 Crosstown Showdown for the Lugnuts against Michigan State, ranks as the No. 1 prospect in the Blue Jays organization, and is leading all pitchers with an average fastball velocity of 98.4 mph. "Unfortunately," writes Dykstra, "it will be a while longer until we see the 6-foot-6 right-hander pumping gas again. He suffered a Grade 1 strain of his right groin in that one Grapefruit League appearance, and the Blue Jays did not have an immediate timetable for the righty's return. He extended his long-toss program to 120 feet this week, so there is optimism on that front. Getting Pearson's 80-grade heater in the rotation would be a big piece of helping Toronto track down New York and Tampa Bay in the AL East."

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