Apr 1, 2011; Toronto, ON, Canada; Two new banners are displayed above the scoreboard to honor Hall of Fame inductees former general manager Pat Gillick (not pictured) and second baseman Roberto Alomar (not pictured) before the Toronto Blue Jays game against the Minnesota Twins at the Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays beat the Twins 13-3. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-US PRESSWIRE

The only man in the history of this organization who had the temerity (darn pg-13) to change the face and culture of the team. Remember when we referred to Pat Gillick as “Stand Pat”? Then he traded an all-star shortstop and power hitting first basman for our so far only hall of famer and the man who hit the biggest home run in the history of our franchise. That deal launched the Jays into bona fide contenders for a world championship. This is the deal in which AA has truly turned the face of the franchise from “future” to “now”. This is the deal that should shut the naysayers up about our lack of moves, Rogers being tight-fisted with the money, our perceived lack of direction.

Did we give up too much future for the present? I applaud AA for dipping into our bountiful plethora of prospects to do this deal. There are 4 potential all-stars heading over there. That had to be tough when they are “your guys”. One of the pitchers we are getting has a history of injury almost on par with his excellence on the mound. How will Reyes work out on turf?

All these questions and more will swirl in the minds of die-hard and fair weather fans alike. Perk up the banal fodder of conversation around the water cooler. Something to truly seize the sporting landscape and drawing in more fans just for the immensity and breadth of this deal. It is a deal that will be talked about for the rest of the history of the Blue Jays franchise…for better or worse. This is no guarantee folks but it is as close to going all in as a GM can get.

This is the final push we have been pining for since Gord Ash. Alex took his time, checked the landscape and came up with this whopper. We waited over a year and a half for Gillick to pull the trigger…we waited longer for this powder keg to explode. In time I will break this down but for now I just want to revel in the moment. That sense of history that this potentially could be. With another tweak (Lind + Catcher for Left Fielder maybe?) and better luck from the injury gods this could truly be a World Series calibre team.

I know when I see a young failing sapling I will think about our new starting five and the hall of fame shortstop that I will have the pleasure to watch going forward…oh and McDonald’s coffee…yummy.

Las Vegas 51s (more…)

Sure, we feature a ton of prospects in our Top 50 lists each season, but as Yan Gomes has taught us recently, some of the least heralded prospects sometimes deserve just as much attention as the most heralded. Of all things, we shouldn’t take their accomplishments lightly, whether it’s a hot streak, a promotion, or a great half season!

One such prospect is none other than Lansing’s Kevin Pillar, one of my favourite dark horse Jays prospects. You can follow him on Twitter: @KPILLAR4.

(more…)

Now, making his full season debut as a member of a dominant Lansing Lugnuts starting rotation, Syndergaard hasn’t allowed an earned run in three outings, with 14 strikeouts to three walks in nine innings of work. He has been working hard on developing his curveball, and I was able to catch up with the big Texan this week in Lansing to discuss the progress that he’s made on the pitch, prospect hype, velocity and much more.

The video below was taken from the third inning of Syndergaard’s start this past Monday, when he racked up his sixth strikeout of the night (fourth swinging) after retiring South Bend Silver Hawks designated hitter Gerson Montilla with a curveball. Even if Montilla hadn’t swung so far out in front of the pitch, it would have been a called third strike on the outside corner of the plate at his knees.

-JM

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David Rollins should be an important part of the Lansing Lugnuts' rotation this season.

A 24th-round pick by the Blue Jays in last year’s draft and ranked No. 50 on our top 50 prospects list, Rollins signed quickly and put up good numbers in stints with rookie-level Bluefield and short season-A Vancouver in 2011. He was considered one of Toronto’s biggest steals in the 2011 draft, and after watching him pitch last night, it’s easy to see why.

After issuing a four-pitch walk to open the game, Rollins settled down and dominated the South Bend Silver Hawks for 4 and 1/3 innings. Throwing pitches similar in location to his first four, the 22-year-old induced a groundout and flyout in the first inning before getting a swinging strikeout on a high, low-90′s fastball.

Needing just eight pitches to retire the side in the top of the second inning, Rollins benefited from a double play ball that erased a leadoff single before striking out South Bend first baseman Bobby Stone on four pitches. After taking the first pitch for strike one, Stone, a left-handed batter, whiffed on a nasty changeup and took a high fastball for ball one before swinging right over the top of another changeup low and inside for strike three.

If he’s ever behind in the count, Rollins becomes more aggressive and goes right after the hitter, which is something I noticed after he missed high for ball one against Silver Hawks leadoff man Fidel Pena in the top of the third. After getting a swinging strike and three foul balls, not to mention firing a tough-to-lay-off slider low and inside for a ball, Rollins went back to his changeup for his third swinging strikeout of the night. After fouling off pitches to stay alive in a 1-2 count, South Bend shortstop Nick Gallego legged out an infield single in the next at-bat, which gave me the opportunity to pay closer attention to how Rollins pitches out of the stretch and how he works with a runner on base.

After throwing to first to check Gallego with the count 1-1, Rollins seemed to ignore him after that and focused solely on retiring Ender Inciarte at the plate. His delivery also seemed to imply that, as it was no different or quicker with a runner on than when the bases were empty — easy for baserunners to time. After Inciarte fouled off two pitches, Rollins used his changeup once again to register another swinging strikeout and strand the runner.

Rollins fell behind 3-0 to the next batter, Silver Hawks left fielder Tom Belza, and battled back to a full count with a pair of strikes low and inside, but Belza managed to rope a single to left field to put runners on first and second, prompting a mound visit from Lugnuts pitching coach Vince Horsman. Rollins escaped the inning unscathed, though, after fielding a comebacker to the mound and throwing to first for the final out.

Facing Helm once again in the top of the fourth, Rollins got ahead 1-2 on two swinging strikes, and after running the count full, he got Helm to ground out. Facing Canadian Marc Bourgeois next, Rollins threw strikes on the outside corner before getting him to chase a high fastball for the swinging strikeout. After retiring Bourgeois, a left-handed hitter, Rollins retired Roidany Aguila, a right-handed hitter, after that with yet another swinging strikeout.

Leading off the top of the fifth, Rollins worked himself into a full count on Bobby Stone before retiring him on a low and inside changeup for the second time. The next batter, Fidel Pena, also worked a full count, but managed to crank a single to center field. With a right-handed hitter on deck, Lugnuts manager John Tamargo headed to the mound, marking the end of Rollins’ night. Rollins finished with a line of 4.1 IP/4H/0R/1BB/7K.

In what was easily the most impressive start of his professional career, Rollins racked up a career-high seven strikeouts. Four were against left-handers and three against righties, and all seven came with the batter swinging. This was largely because he established his 92 mph fastball early and threw his changeup better than he ever has before. He worked inside and outside, high and low, regardless of a batter’s handedness, and mixed in a few sliders as well after not throwing a single one in his previous start.

What’s special and unique about Rollins, though, is the fast pace at which he operates on the mound. Keeping hitters guessing and on their toes, there were multiple times where I’d finish writing a quick note about one of his pitches and look up to see him already in his windup on the next. Consider him the anti-Josh Beckett.

I discussed Rollins’ fast pace with him after the game, where he also talked about his nasty changeup, researching the opposing lineup and pitching in a star-studded rotation. I’ve embedded the audio below:

-JM

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On a night where gusty winds made for a chilly atmosphere for the announced attendance of 646, I was fortunate to be one of mere 30 actual people that were on-hand to witness this impressive pitching display from two highly-touted right-handers.

Ranked as the Jays’ best pitching prospect and No. 99 in all of baseball by MLB.com, Noah Syndergaard, known for his blazing fastball, lived up to the hype while showcasing an impressive curveball.

That curveball got Syndergaard his first strikeout of the game in the first inning, but a throwing error from Lugnuts backup catcher Pierce Rankin allowed the runner to reach base. After a stolen base and a groundout advanced the runner to third, Syndergaard induced a popout to end the frame unscathed.

Using his curveball once again in the second inning, Syndergaard threw off the timing of his next victim, Silver Hawks first baseman Bobby Stone, to record his second swinging strikeout of the night. Then, after giving up a single, Syndergaard proceeded to freeze the next two batters and strike them both out looking — the first on a curveball and the second on a fastball, for good measure.

Then in the third inning, after using a fastball to rack up his fifth strikeout of the night, Syndergaard fielded a bunt attempt down the first base line and twirled an off-balance toss that wound up taking Lugnuts first baseman K.C. Hobson off of the bag, allowing the runner to reach safely. He responded by going right after Silver Hawks DH Gerson Montilla, who flailed helplessly out in front of yet another curveball to give Syndergaard his sixth and final strikeout of the night.

For a guy who apparently needs to work on his off-speed stuff, Syndergaard seems to be doing just fine. He toggled between his fastball, curveball and circle changeup while allowing merely three hits in three scoreless innings with six strikeouts. The man he was up against, however, pitched even better.

Archie Bradley, considered the Diamondbacks’ No. 2 prospect and No. 20 in baseball overall, single-handedly overpowered the Lugnuts in five no-hit innings. Hovering in the mid-90s with his fastball, Bradley, who told MiLB.com later in the night that he could have gone the whole game if his manager wanted him to, looked exactly like a top prospect. He fanned a personal-high eight batters – including a stretch of six straight – induced nine groundouts and issued a pair of walks that both came after full counts.

Despite not managing a hit, the Lugnuts had runners in scoring position in three of Bradley’s five innings thanks to some poor fielding by South Bend and a stolen base from Lansing center fielder Markus Brisker, who had been hit in the helmet with a fastball moments before. The Lugnuts that reached base gave Bradley a few chances to showcase his impressive pickoff move, and there was one time where he started to walk off the mound because he thought he had gotten a runner at first.

The star pitching duel between Syndergaard and Bradley overshadowed an impressive performance by Lugnuts right-hander Anthony DeSclafani, who worked quickly and finished with three scoreless innings of his own, including three strikeouts.

Things got interesting for DeSclafani in the fifth, though, when Lugnuts third baseman Kellen Sweeney fielded a two-out grounder but airmailed the throw way over the head of Hobson to extend the inning. Then, fielding a single from the very next batter, Brisker misplayed the ball in center field but threw out the potential first run of the game rounding third with a great throw to the plate.

Also important not to be overlooked was a dominant performance from right-handed Lugnuts reliever Javier Avendano, who struck out all six batters he faced thanks primarily to his filthy curveball. Avendano, a 21-year-old from Venezuela, was selected by the Blue Jays in the minor league portion of last year’s Rule 5 Draft.

Lugnuts closer Ajay Meyer, who found his footing with Bluefield last year but has really carved himself a role in the back end of Lansing’s bullpen, logged his league-leading fifth save of the year in only the Lugnuts’ 11^th game of the season.

-JM

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I disagree for two reasons. While Norris was indeed a high school draft pick, he played in the state of Tennessee where cold weather has no impact on the baseball season – he pitched 68.1 innings and struck out an otherworldly 123 batters in his senior year for Science Hill. Most pitchers are hard-pressed to reach the 60-inning plateau with a short season team like Bluefield or Vancouver, so by holding him back from full season ball, Norris will actually throw fewer innings in 2012 than he did in 2011. Barring injury, it’s rare to see a top pitching prospect go backwards in innings like Norris will this year. Second of all, how cool would it have been to see Norris join a rotation that already includes Noah Syndergaard, Justin Nicolino, and Aaron Sanchez? Lansing would have four of the top five pitching prospects in the system, giving them a historically talented pitching staff. I’m a big believer in having your best prospects develop and win together, as beyond the friendships and camaraderie they build, they can also improve their baseball skills by learning from each other. This is even more relevant with pitchers, as, for example, most Blue Jays fans would love for Nicolino share the secret of his devastating changeup with his teammates.

Obviously, the dream assignment never happened. Norris made an appearance with Lansing this month, but it was only during an exhibition game against the Michigan State Spartans. He returned to extended spring training shortly thereafter, where he’ll continue to work until the short season assignments are handed out in late June.

For the Lansing Lugnuts, Justin Nicolino is one of their best arms.

Even without the services of Norris, who I think, is the organization’s top pitching prospect, Lansing hasn’t missed a beat, moving to 7-0 after a 3-2 victory over West Michigan Thursday night. The pitching staff has been the story early on, as their combined 1.76 ERA leads the Midwest League.

In an effort to protect their talented young arms, the Blue Jays have employed a piggy-backing system with their pitchers. Justin Nicolino has been pitching in tandem with Aaron Sanchez, while Noah Syndergaard has been working with another impressive young arm, Anthony DeSclafani, a sixth round pick by the Blue Jays last June. One of the two will start the game, and will be immediately followed by the other after they get their work in. When their next turn in the rotation comes around, the order will be reversed, so each pitcher gets an opportunity to open the game fresh. As the month wears on and their arms have been better conditioned, the pitchers will cut the cord and begin working exclusively in their own games.

Needless to say, the strategy has been effective early on. In their 18 combined innings, they’ve allowed 1 earned run (0.50 ERA) and 16 base runners (10 H, 6 BB, 0.89 WHIP) while striking out 24 (12.00 K/9). It’s easy to quote small sample size –- and to be fair, it is only 18 innings –- but the scouting reports on the big three have been so glowing it’s possible they could take yet another step forward this season.

During Tuesday’s Blue Jays broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet, General Manager Alex Anthopoulos joined the booth for half an inning to discuss some of the early happenings in the minor leagues. One thing that was mentioned, and perhaps not emphasized enough, was that Aaron Sanchez has touched 98 mph already. This most certainly is news, as last season’s scouting reports -– including those by expert Keith Law -– had Sanchez touching 95-96 mph, not 98 mph, which is a very big number. It’s always been said that Sanchez has a ton of projection, and at only 19 years old, it appears he’s ready to fulfill it.

Nicolino has received plenty of praise as well, as during the April 5th edition of the “Up & In Podcast”, Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus chose him as one of his favorite prospects outside Kevin Goldstein’s top 101. During the two minutes or so of discussion, Parks mentioned that he had received a 70-future grade (also known as plus-plus) on Nicolino’s circle changeup from a scout, and that his velocity is already ticking up from his breakout 2011 season. He also mentioned that Nicolino could easily make the jump into the top 50 prospects in all of baseball next year.

Kevin Gray, a New Hampshire beat writer, had an opportunity to both watch and talk to Syndergaard at the minor league complex this spring, and came away very impressed. In an interview with the pitcher, Syndergaard confessed he had issues maintaining arm speed with his curveball in 2011, but that he’s already feeling better with it this year. Gray also spoke to Double-A manager Sal Fasano, who said a repeatable delivery will be the key for Syndergaard moving forward. Fasano mentioned that, from what he’d seen, the mechanics were already getting better.

The biggest question for Blue Jays and Lugnuts fans –- though for very different reasons -– is how long will these three pitchers be calling Michigan home? Nicolino will likely be the first to go, as he has the most polish and has the pitching intelligence of a wily big league veteran. I feel like he has a Drew Hutchison-like minor league run in him this year, and could easily close the year with Double-A. The two power pitchers are far more likely to spend a significant amount of time in Single-A working on their mechanics and command, but barring injury or implosion, both should see a summer promotion to High-A Dunedin, where they will finish the year. 2011 was the year that the three stuck their foot in the door, but 2012 could be the season in which they truly explode onto the prospect scene, and earn some well deserved recognition from fans and baseball people south of the border.

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Left-hander Justin Nicolino and right-handers Noah Syndergaard and Aaron Sanchez lead the starting rotation as perhaps the best top-three in the entire Midwest League. Joining them and not to be overlooked are 2011 draft picks Anthony DeSclafani and David Rollins, while the bullpen will feature 2011 Lugnut Brandon Berl as well as other intriguing arms like Jesse Hernandez, Blake MacFarland, Ajay Meyer and Tyler Ybarra, though Meyer and Ybarra could be starters periodically throughout the year as well.

Catching-wise, I’m somewhat surprised that Carlos Perez will be returning. Though he did have a down year for the Lugnuts in 2011 getting used to both the colder weather and full-season ball, I would have that he would have been promoted anyway to Dunedin given the departure of A.J. Jimenez.

Overall, there’s a great group of fielders, as notable prospects Chino Vega and Kellen Sweeney will man the left side of Lansing’s infield while Chris Hawkins and Kevin Pillar will patrol the outfield.

Here’s the full list:

Pitchers

RHP Javier Avendano

RHP Brandon Berl

RHP Kramer Champlin

RHP Anthony DeSclafani

RHP Jesse Hernandez

RHP Blake MacFarland

RHP Ajay Meyer

LHP Justin Nicolino

LHP Carlos Pina (DL)

LHP David Rollins

RHP Aaron Sanchez

RHP Noah Syndergaard

LHP Tyler Ybarra

Catchers

Carlos Perez

Pierce Rankin

Infielders

1B K.C. Hobson

1B Kevin Patterson

2B Jonathan Berti

3B Kellen Sweeney

3B Bryson Namba

3B/SS Andy Burns

SS Chino Vega

Outfielders

LF Christopher Hawkins

CF Kevin Pillar

CF Kenny Wilson

RF Markus Brisker

-JM

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No. 32: Sean Patrick Nolin

Starting Pitcher / 22 years old / 6′5″ 235 lbs

Born: December 26, 1989 in Seaford, New York

Bats: Left    Throws: Left

High School: Seaford (Seaford, NY)

College: San Jacinto JC (Houston, TX)

Acquired: Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 6th round (186th overall) of the 2010 Amateur Draft, signed on July 23, 2010.

Pre-2011 Rank: N/A

Quick Facts:

• Learned to throw a curveball as his first off-speed pitch
• Was always a pitcher, but dabbled with first base and the outfield in high school
• Grew up a Yankees fan, though his father was a Mets fan
• Played on the same college teams as 2011 Blue Jays draft pick David Rollins
• Majored in General Studies
• Was in his apartment at school in Houston when he discovered that he was drafted by the Blue Jays
• Helped new teammate Justin Nicolino get acclimated to Midwest League hitters

Career stats:

Lansing Lugnuts team ranking (min. 3 GS):

• 1st in strikeouts (113)
• T-1st in walks (31)
• T-2nd in starts (21) and home runs allowed (9)
• 3rd in innings pitched (108.1) and earned runs (42)
• 4th in ERA (3.49), hits (102) and WHIP (1.23)

Extra Information and previous experience:

Growing up in Seaford, New York and the Long Island area, Nolin attended a pre-draft showcase in 2008 when he was in high school and impressed an onlooker from Laar University so much that he was referred to San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas. That year, he was drafted by the Brewers in the 50th round but decided to, understandably, go to school at San Jacinto instead in an effort to boost his draft stock.

As a freshman in 2009, Nolin went 4-1 with a 2.72 ERA in 46 1/3 innings, striking out 56 and walking 25. He ended up getting drafted once again that year, this time by the Mariners in the 48th round, but again did not sign and returned for another college season.

It turned out to be a great move, as Nolin went 13-0 with 84 strikeouts and a tidy 1.98 ERA as a sophomore en route to being named to the NJCAA All-Region XIV team. In the 2010 draft, the Blue Jays felt that they had seen enough from the left-hander and selected him in the sixth round with the 186th-overall pick. Growing up a Yankees fan and following the AL East closely as a teenager, Nolin knew all about the Blue Jays.

After pitching over 100 innings that year, Nolin decided to use the signing period as an opportunity to take a break and let his body recover. When he made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast League Jays at the end of July, he fanned four hitters and allowed one hit in two scoreless frames. The outing was good enough to earn him a promotion to the Jays’ former short-season A affiliate, the Auburn Doubledays of the New York-Penn League.

There, Nolin made six starts with mixed results. While he did manage to rack up 22 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings (10.2 K/9), he also gave up 25 hits (11.6 H/9) and nine walks while limping to a 6.05 ERA. His results were likely attributed to fatigue after a busy college season, but it was also noted that he was out of shape and could benefit from improving in that regard. At that time (August 2010), he had spotty command of a 84-88 mph fastball, a decent feel for a high-70′s changeup and a curveball that needed a lot of work.

Over one year later, a lot has changed.

After working extremely hard over the 2010-11 offseason to get in shape, a very slimmed-down Nolin reported to spring training almost as practically a new pitcher. Having been more than stretched out in his draft year, he reported to Lansing in April for full-season ball and, after making a couple of relief appearances that month, he eventually became a full-time member of the Lugnuts’ starting rotation. He reaped the positive effects of his improved physique, which made his pitches crisper overall and even added a few ticks to his fastball that topped out at 94 but was routinely in the 89-91 mph range.

Stats-wise, Nolin’s 2011 season was certainly a success. In 25 games (21 starts), he fashioned a 3.49 ERA/3.16 FIP to go along with a team-high 113 strikeouts in 108 1/3 innings. He cut down his walk rate, limited opposing hitters to a .681 OPS, kept runners in check with his impressive pickoff move and managed a 6.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio against left-handed hitters.

Like all pitchers at his level, though, Nolin has some things to work on as well. Although he has an intimidating look on the mound, he’s not a power pitcher at all–consistently hitting high 80′s/low-90′s on the radar gun–but doesn’t make up for it with his command, at least for now. His four-seam grip changeup is his best off-speed pitch, but it still has a ways to go to consistently be even a major-league average pitch. His curveball is still considered a work in progress and he added a slider this year while toying with a cut version of his fastball, but none of the offerings are considered average pitches yet.

Expected 2012 team: Dunedin Blue Jays (A-Advanced)

Ultimate ceiling if he puts it all together: No. 5 starter

Seeing Nolin in spring training this year, the first word that comes to mind is big. He towers over his teammates and it’s easy to see why he’s able to throw the ball on a great downhill plane. Command struggles with his off-speed repertoire and some bouts of inconsistency are what he’ll look to work on while with Dunedin this season but, as a southpaw, even if he’s able to be more consistent with his changeup and develop it into a more reliable weapon, he could have success with a great complement to his fastball.

After flying under the radar last year, Nolin certainly made a name for himself in 2011. He has some work to do in 2012, but given how much he work he did one offseason ago, there’s reason to think that he’ll continue to improve.

-JM

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No. 37: Daniel J. Barnes

Almost doubling his innings total from 2010, Barnes fanned 99 batters in 66 frames for a 13.5 K/9 in 2011. (whitecapwendy via Flickr)

Relief pitcher / 22 years old / 6′1″ 195 lbs

Born: October 21, 1989 in Manhasset, New York

Bats: Left    Throws: Right

High School: Manhasset H.S.

College: Princeton University

Drafted By: The Toronto Blue Jays in the 35th round (1056th overall) of the 2010 Amateur Draft

Signed: June 15, 2010

Pre-2011 Rank: 41

Quick Facts:

• Posted an 8-1 record with a 0.80 ERA and 103 Ks in 58 innings as a senior in high school.
• Economics major at Princeton
• Works on his degree during the off-season, set to finish this winter
• Moved to the bullpen during his freshman year but soon returned to starting again despite enjoying success as a reliever.
• Only pitched in three games in 2009 due to injury, missing out on a full year of progression as a result.
• The injury led to a slow start in 2010 and a few bad outings.
• Favorite pitcher is Roger Clemens
• Played with Princeton teammate Jack Murphy this past season in Lansing

Career stats:

Lansing Lugnuts team ranking (min. 5 appearances):

• 1st in games finished (25), K/9 (13.5),
• T-1st in appearances (44)
• 2nd in saves (13), strikeouts (99), H/9 (6.0) and WHIP (0.97)
• 4th in ERA (2.32)
• T-6th in wins (5)
• T-8th in innings pitched (66.0)

Interviews:

Three interviews with Lugnuts radio broadcaster Jesse Goldberg-Strassler from summer 2010, April 2011 and September 2011.

Extra Information and previous experience:

Few relievers in the entire Blue Jays organization opened as many eyes as right-hander Danny Barnes did this past season.

After recording an uncanny 7.4 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 27 rookie ball innings in 2010, Barnes skipped a level and closed out the season with Class-A Lansing where he struggled, giving up seven earned runs on 17 hits in 10 2/3 innings along with eight walks.

Last year with the Lugnuts, however, things were quite different.

After storming out of the gate to fan 17 batters in nine April innings, Barnes never looked back and continued his dominance throughout the rest of the season. In a career-high 66 innings–almost double the 37 2/3 he pitched in 2010–the New York native finished the year with a 2.32 ERA/1.79 FIP and struck out 99 batters, good for a 13.5 K/9. To put that into perspective, Barnes’ 99 strikeouts ranked second on the entire Lugnuts roster behind only starter Sean Nolin, who pitched 42 more innings.

While he once again displayed his ability to dominate right-handers, what was most impressive about Barnes’ breakout 2011 season was how he shut down left-handed hitters. After struggling against them in a small sample size one year ago, he managed a 1.88 ERA in 28 2/3 innings against them in 2011 with 47 strikeouts, nine walks and a .150 average.

The key to Barnes’ success last season, though, was his ability to locate his fastball, something that he discovered while pitching in the Gulf Coast League in 2010. Unafraid to throw strikes, he kept his 92-94 mph four-seamer in the zone more often than not, and the result was a pitch that opposing hitters just couldn’t seem to hit.

Having relied primarily on his fastball until now, Barnes will need to really develop his off-speed pitches going forward. A starter with Princeton,  he featured a lackluster curveball and chanegup prior to signing with the Jays. Since then, he has worked hard on his low-80s changeup, turning it into a somewhat effective offering, especially against left-handed hitters. While it’s a pitch that he needs to be more consistent with overall, he feels comfortable throwing it in any count.

Though his high-70s curveball is still mediocre at best, Barnes’ slider could really be the difference-maker for him. Starting out as more of a slurve, he tinkered with it as the season wore on to get it to bite like a pure slider, and his development of the pitch will certainly be something to keep an eye on next season as he faces tougher competition. There has also been rumblings that he was working on a cutter with Lugnuts pitching coach Vince Horsman this past season as well.

Expected 2012 team: Dunedin Blue Jays (High-A)

Ultimate ceiling if he puts it all together: MLB closer

A 35th-round pick by the Jays in 2010, Barnes showed in 2011 that his late-season struggles with Lansing in 2010 were merely a result of fatigue, after having thrown over 70 combined innings in college and the Gulf Coast League.

Now, he enters the 2012 season with the potential to be the best relief pitching prospect in the Blue Jays organization, but he’ll need to stay healthy and further develop both his slider and changeup in order to make that happen. As someone who is acclaimed for his drive and strong work ethic, though, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem for Barnes.

-JM

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