Toronto Blue Jays 2021 Midseason Top 50 Prospects

Blue Jays Top 50 design by @designsbypack on Twitter

This season has seen one significant graduation in RHP Alek Manoah (#6) who after 3 dominating starts at AAA Buffalo seamlessly made a move into the Toronto rotation and has not looked out of place there all season. They decided to spend some of their prospect capital at the deadline to bolster the starting rotation for a push to the playoffs and made the tough decision to deal Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson who were ranked #1 and #4 on my January Top 50 list. Along the way we have seen others from that January list get traded away including T.J. Zeuch (#21), Josh Winckowski (#23), Riley Adams (#24), Yennsy Diaz (@28), Hector Perez (#29) and Ryan Noda (#32) while Patrick Murphy (#20) was recently lost on waivers to the Nats. The end result is a number of new names making a debut on the updated list.

Prospects1500 Tiers:
Tier 1: Players with high expectations of both making the majors and playing at an All-Star level for a number of years
Tier 2: Players with an above-average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor
Tier 3: Players with an average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor
Tier 4: Players who have the potential of making the majors, or have high likelihood of making the majors but providing minimal impact (e.g. middle reliever, low-ceiling UT guys)
Tier 5: Players of interest, worth keeping an eye on, who have an outside chance of making their team’s 40 man roster

Tier 1

1. Nate Pearson, RHP (January rank, #2)
Age: 24
Current Level: AAA
Another injury-filled season but now on a rehab assignment at AAA he is expected to finish the year working as a high-leverage reliever out of the Blue Jays bullpen but the long-range future is still as a top-end starter.

Tier 2

2. Orelvis Martinez, SS (January rank, #5)
Age: 19
Current Level: High-A
Martinez was recently promoted to High-A Vancouver and continued his outstanding season with  3 HR in his first few games coming just after winning Player of the Month honors for July in the Low-A Southeast League.

3. Jordan Groshans, SS (January rank, #3)
Age: 21
Current Level: AA
Groshans is batting well at .290 but the power does not seem to be there with only 5 HR on the season and none since late in June.

4. Gabriel Moreno, C (January rank, #10)
Age: 21
Current Level: AA
He has huge upside and was having a breakout season tearing up the Northeast AA League with a league-leading 1.092 OPS at the end of June when he went on the injured list with a thumb fracture.

Tier 3

5. Gunnar Hoglund, RHP (January rank, N/A)
Age: 21
Current Level: Not assigned
Hoglund who was selected in the first round of the recent MLB Draft had TJS in May so we likely won’t see much from him until late 2022 but he has high upside starter potential.

6. Alejandro Kirk, C (January rank, #7)
Age: 22
Current Level: MLB
Soon to graduate from this Kirk made the major league roster coming out of spring training and is now back sharing the catching duties with Reese McGuire after missing almost 3 months with a hip flexor strain.

7. Miguel Hiraldo, 3B (January rank, #8)
Age: 20
Current Level: Low-A
The expected breakout season hasn’t really happened but still having a decent year playing both 2B and 3B for Low-A Dunedin.

8. Adam Kloffenstein, RHP (January rank, #9)
Age: 20
Current Level: High-A
The guy they call King is a promising starter who has had mixed results with a high walk rate in his first full season with High-A Vancouver.

9. CJ Van Eyk, RHP (January rank, #11)
Age: 22
Current Level: High-A
The 2nd round pick from the 2020 draft debuted at High-A Vancouver and has had a decent year with a  couple of rough outings along the way but the strikeout rate is good at 11.1 K/9.

10. Otto Lopez, 2B (January rank, #13)
Age: 22
Current Level: AAA
He has now taken his hot bat on to AAA Buffalo after a strong season at AA New Hampshire where he was among the league leaders with a slashline of .330/.397/.457.

11. Kevin Smith, SS (January rank, #16)
Age: 25
Current Level: AAA
It looked like he may have topped out at AA after a down 2019 season but he has rebounded with a strong AAA season cutting down on the strikeouts, leading the team with 19 HR, and is starting to force the issue for a callup to the majors.

Tier 4

12. Manuel Beltre, SS (January rank, #18)
Age: 17
Current Level: Rookie (DSL)
The top signing from the January 15 IFA period got off to a slow start in the DSL but is now heating up lately hitting .400 in August.

13. Eric Pardinho, RHP (January rank, #12)
Age: 20
Current Level: Rookie (FCL)
Coming back from Tommy John surgery he had 4 K in just 3 innings in the FCL before they shut him down again with elbow soreness.

14. Estiven Machado, 2B (January rank, #15)
Age:18
Current Level: Rookie (FCL)
The promising switch-hitting infielder signed in the 2019 IFA period singled in his only at bat so far in the FCL.

15. Samad Taylor, 2B (January rank, #40)
Age: 23
Current Level: AA
Taylor is having a monster breakout season leading the AA New Hampshire in home runs and total bases.

16. Leo Jimenez, SS (January rank, #17)
Age: 20
Current Level: Low-A
Currently on the IL, he was having another good season slashing .293./.435/.331 but still showing to have no power.

17. Dasan Brown, OF (January rank, #14)
Age: 19
Current Level: Low-A
Speedy outfielder has 11 SB and a lot of upside as a future leadoff hitter.

18. Ricky Tiedemann, LHP (January rank, N/A)
Age: 18
Current Level: Not assigned
6’4″, 220 lb left-hander is a strikethrower who was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of the junior college ranks.

19. Joey Murray, RHP (January rank, #22)
Age: 24
Current Level: Rookie (FCL)
The strikeout machine has made just one appearance in the FCL after spending the entire season on the IL.

20. Rikelbin de Castro, SS (January rank, #19)
Age: 18
Current Level: Rookie (FCL)
He’s previously been listed as Rikelvin, the top signing from the 2019 IFA period is off to a slow start in his debut in the FCL.

21. Irv Carter, RHP (January rank, N/A)
Age: 18
Current Level: Not assigned
The 5th round pick from the 2021 Draft who was signed to an over-slot bonus to forego his college commitment has a 94 mph fastball and a lot of potential.

22. Sem Robberse, RHP (January rank, #35)
Age: 19
Current Level: High-A
Robberse was recently promoted to High-A Vancouver after an impressive season at Low-A Dunedin where he had a 1.15 WHIP and  3.90 ERA.

23. Josh Palacios, OF (January rank, #39)
Age: 26
Current Level: AAA
Palacios is coming back from a hand injury that derailed a promising season in which he began hitting .250 in 10 games with the Blue Jays after making the team out of Spring Training.

Tier 5

24. Vinny Capra, 3B (January – unranked)
Age: 25
Current Level: AAA
Seemingly out of nowhere Capra has been raking with a 1.038 OPS and running second only to teammate Gabriel Moreno for the AA Northeast League batting title with a .356 average earning a recent promotion to AAA Buffalo.

25. Bowden Francis, RHP (January rank, Brewers #46)
Age: 25
Current Level: AAA
Acquired along with reliever Trevor Richards from Milwaukee for Rowdy Tellez in July the 6’5″ right-hander is 10-4 with a 4.00 ERA across two levels this season and could be an option for a promotion to the majors at some point this season.

26. Will Robertson, OF (January rank, #26)
Age: 23
Current Level: High-A
Robertson is starting to find his way at High-A Vancouver after spending the bulk of the season on the IL.

27. Nick Fraze, RHP (January – unranked)
Age:23
Current Level: High-A
Drafted in the 22nd round in 2019, Fraze was leading all Vancouver starters with a 2.14 ERA and 0.881 WHIP before a recent promotion to AA.

28. Tanner Morris, 2B (January rank, #34)
Age: 23
Current Level: High-A
In his first full season, he is among the team leaders in most offensive categories while playing 2B, 3B and SS.

29. Trent Palmer, RHP (January rank, #36)
Age: 22
Current Level: Low-A
The 3rd round pick from the 2020 MLB Draft has been steadily improving each time out this season but the control is an issue with 29 walks in 34 innings.

30. Zach Logue, LHP (January – unranked)
Age: 25
Current Level: AAA
Logue has quietly moved through the system and now just one step away the lefty has become a strikeout machine with 12.5 K/9 earlier this season at AA New Hampshire.

31. Cristian Feliz, OF (January rank, #44)
Age: 18
Current Level: Rookie (DSL)
Feliz at 6’5″ has tremendous raw power and is off to a strong start with a team-leading 3 HR in his debut season in the organization.

32. Naswell Paulino, LHP (January – unranked)
Age: 21
Current Level: Low-A
Up and down year with start slow in May, was great in June, struggled a bit in July and then threw a 6 inning no-hitter in August.

33. J.J. D’Orazio, C (January rank, #43)
Age: 19
Current Level: Low-A
Another good-looking catcher earned a promotion to Low-A Dunedin after a scorching start in the FCL slashing .370/.400/.500 in 15 games.

34. Chavez Young, OF (January rank, #31)
Age: 24
Current Level: AA
The switch-hitting outfielder is having trouble getting back to the level of his breakout season in 2018.

35. Addison Barger, SS (January – unranked)
Age: 21
Current Level: Low-A
The left-handed hitter got off to a hot start with a 1.039 OPS in May and also hit for the cycle with 2 HR and 7 RBI in one game and though he has slumped a bit since he has good power with 14 HR.

36. Yosver Zulueta, RHP (January – unranked)
Age: 23
Current Level: Low-A
The Cuban right-hander was a bit of a sensation during spring training but we will have to wait on him as he suffered a torn ACL in his first start at Dunedin.

37. Nick Frasso, RHP (January rank, #30)
Age: 22
Current Level: Low-A
Frasso slipped to the 4th round in 2020 Draft because of injury concerns with his elbow, and now after pitching just 5 innings he has undergone Tommy John surgery.

38. Paxton Schultz, RHP (January – unranked)
Age: 23
Current Level: High-A
Trading Derek Fisher looks like a win as Schultz was the player to be named later and is having a decent season with 89 K in 77.1 IP.

39. Angel Del Rosario, 3B (January – unranked)
Age: 18
Current Level: Rookie (FCL)
Hitting well and leading the FCL Jays in stolen bases including 9 in a recent two game stretch.

40. Yaifer Perdomo,  LHP (January – unranked)
Age: 20
Current Level: Rookie (FCL)
Perdomo has been the best pitcher on the Jays complex team so far with 37 K and only 10 BB in 24 IP and should move up to Low-A soon.

41. Adrian Hernandez, LHP (January – unranked)
Age: 21
Current Level: AA
Hernandez was been dominant with 91 K in 52.2 innings of relief moving up three levels this season.

42. Logan Warmoth, OF (January rank, #33)
Age: 25
Current Level: AAA
The former first round pick has moved full-time to the outfield this season is a good speed guy with 14 SB and a .345 OBP.

43. Victor Mesia, C (January rank, #47)
Age: 18
Current Level: Rookie (FCL)
Yet another good catcher in the system, he’s off to a solid start in his debut season.

44. Curtis Taylor, RHP (January rank, #38)
Age: 26
Current Level: AAA
As a relief pitcher he has bounced up and down from New Hampshire to Buffalo a couple of times this season but with the better results coming in AAA.

45. Nick Allgeyer, RHP (January – unranked)
Age: 25
Current Level: AAA
Allgeyer was added to the 40-man in the off-season and pitched well enough early on to earn a couple of very brief callups to the majors.

46. Maximo Castillo, RHP (January rank, #42)
Age: 22
Current Level: AA
The home runs are up this year with 10 already but he always seems to get his wins with a 9-3 record despite the ERA hovering around 5.00.

47.  Yhoangel Aponte, OF (January rank, N/A)
Age: 17
Current Level: Rookie (DSL)
One of the higher-priced signings on January 15, he got off to a quick start with hits in his first 5 games in the DSL but has since cooled a bit.

48. Kyle Johnston, RHP (January rank, #45)
Age: 25
Current Level: AAA
Johnston was recently promoted to AAA Buffalo after a mid-summer move to the bullpen resulted in an outstanding 0.71 ERA while holding hitters to a .174 average.

49. PK Morris, 1B (January – unranked)
Age: 22
Current Level: Low-A
14th round pick from 2017 has some power and a good OBP due in large part to his 65 walks.

50. Chad Dallas,  RHP (January rank, N/A)
Age: 21
Current Level: Not assigned
Selected in the 4th round of the 2021 Draft Dallas was the ace of the Tennessee Vols team that went to the College World Series.

Greg covers the Toronto Blue Jays organization for Prospects1500. Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, a long-suffering fan of both the Blue Jays and the Toronto Maple Leafs. For more than 15 years now a participant/commish in many dynasty baseball leagues, all with extremely deep minor league rosters. Follow on X @gregbracken07.




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