'Tis the season for prospect rankings, and the most recent rankings to release were Keith Law's Top 20 Toronto prospects for The Athletic. Note: The Athletic requires a paid subscription to access its articles.(If you wondered why prospect rankings were always rounded to the nearest ten -- e.g., MLB Pipeline's
'Tis the season for prospect rankings, and the most recent rankings to release were Keith Law's Top 20 Toronto prospects for The Athletic. Note: The Athletic requires a paid subscription to access its articles.
(If you wondered why prospect rankings were always rounded to the nearest ten -- e.g., MLB Pipeline's Top 30, Baseball America's Top 30 -- you'll enjoy Fangraphs' prospect lists, which go only as far as it needs to. Namely, last year's Top 34 Blue Jays Prospects!)
No. 1 is right-hander Nate Pearson , who's ticketed for Triple-A Buffalo to start the year, followed by a Major League promotion as soon as the Blue Jays deem him ready. (May? June?)
No. 2 is shortstop Jordan Groshans , who, Law notes, "got off to a terrific start in 2019 in the full-season Midwest League, hitting .337/.427/.482 in 23 games for Lansing before a left foot injury ended his year." We're hopeful that Jordan returns to the Lugnuts ithis season, but it's understandable if the Blue Jays advance him a level to A-Adv. Dunedin.
No. 3 is right-hander Alek Manoah , whom Law declares "The top college pitcher... in the 2019 draft." He was with Vancouver last year, a rung below the Lugnuts, and will start this season either in Lansing or Dunedin.
No. 4 is 18-year-old shortstop (or maybe third baseman) Orelvis Martinez , who played in the rookie level Gulf Coast League last year and is getting rave reviews. "He's still so young that you want to temper your enthusiasm, but he could be the Jays' best prospect in a year." If the Blue Jays are feeling ambitious, we'll learn about the Jays' Next Big Thing in Lansing before most anyone else.
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Let's skip ahead:
No. 10 is infielder Miguel Hiraldo , who seems a good bet to be a 2020 Lugnut. "He gets overshadowed in this system by Orelvis," writes Law.
No. 12 is the King, right-hander Adam Kloffenstein , who should be a member of the Lugnuts' starting rotation.
No. 13 is another potential 2020 infielder, Leonardo Jimenez , "an elite defender at short with a good swing and promising exit velocities...."
No. 17 is outfielder Will Robertson , who "has good power the other way, enough to profile as a regular in right field...."A little ways off, perhaps in 2021, are Law's No. 11 (outfielder Dasan Brown , "one of the fastest runners in the draft... and could end up a Gold Glove-type defender"), No. 15 (right-hander Kendall Williams , "6-foot-6 and can show both velocity and spin on breaking stuff"), and No. 18 (right-hander Sem Robberse , "has one of the best deliveries in the Jays' system and didn't walk any of the 41 batters he faced in his pro debut").
Prospects aren't everything, not by a long shot, but it's worth noting when highly regarded talent lands in Lansing. We saw it several years ago with Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. We saw it last year with Groshans, Alejandro Kirk, and Gabriel Moreno. And it's very likely that we're going to see more high quality baseball and future impact Major Leaguers in 2020 at Cooley Law School Stadium.
Learn the names, get your tickets, and get set for the 25th season of Lugnuts baseball.
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