3 Jays Prospects Make BA’s Prospect Hot Sheet

The Jays have a lot to look forward to in terms of up-and-coming prospects. Many of their prospects are off to wonderful starts and Baseball America highlighted 3 of them in their Prospect Hot Sheet, which is free to anyone and is completed by all BA Staff.The top 3 were no purprises since all of them were top prospects going into the season: Mike Montgomery, SP KC, was #1, Carlso Santana, C CLE, was #2, and Mike Stanton, OF FLA, was #3. The surprise to most, even the most ardent Jays fans, started at #4.

Brad Mills was #4 on the List

Here’s what BA had to say about his performance after noting his line of: “1-0, 0.79, 11 1/3 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 18 SO”

"“Life has been good lately for Blue Jays lefties. Ricky Romero nearly threw a no-hitter earlier in the week for Toronto, while Double-A New Hampshire’s Luis Perez has been nearly unhittable as well (see below). Mills doesn’t have plus velocity, but he’s been able to get hitters out by locating and mixing his pitches, including a 70 changeup on the 20-80 scale and a sharp curveball.”"

Travis d’Arnaud was 8th on the List

Here’s what BA had to say about his performance after noting his performance “.400/.406/.667 (12-for-30), 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBIs, 1 BB, 3 SO, 1-for-1 SB”

"“When you’re involved in a series of trades involving Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor and Brett Wallace, it’s easy to get overlooked. Maybe that’s the case with d’Arnaud, the former Phillies farmhand who went to the Blue Jays in the Halladay trade. His quick bat and hand-eye coordination make him difficult to strike out, and he’s flashed power with two home run in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. With J.P. Arencibia’s struggles in Triple-A, d’Arnaud is looking more and more like Toronto’s catcher of the future.”"

Luis Perez (AA) was the last to make the List at #13

Here’s what BA had to say about his performance after noting his line of “1-0, 0.00, 10 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 SO”

"“Sure, he’s repeating Double-A, but Perez has thrown 10 innings of one-hit ball to start the season. Perez doesn’t have the otherworldly strikeouts of some of the other pitchers on the Hot Sheet, but he gets his fastball up to 93-94 mph with heavy sink to keep the ball on the ground. He might fit in best as a reliever in the Blue Jays’ bullpen down the road, but if he can continue to befuddle hitters he might get a chance as a back-of-the-rotation starter.”"

Also interesting was the fact that the “almost got traded to Toronto” player, and Canadian, Phillipe Aumont made the no so hot list. They doubt he can stick as a starter after noting his delivery and performance thus far. I’m much happier having Kyle Drabek on board than Phillipe Aumont. It was especially nice to see Mills fit in ahead of Aroldis Chapman and Jacob Turner – two much more hyped up prospects. Stephen Strasburg, in case you were wondering, did not make the list.

It’s a good week when so many Jays prospects can much such a tough-to-make list. We won’t have that many most weeks and may not have any some others, but I like the start for these 3 guys in particular and would add that Brett Wallace with his .303 average, .395 OBP, 5 walsk to 7 Ks, and 4 HRs deserved some consideration.

I also disagree with the whole “JP Arencibia’s struggles” part, as I consider  a .273 average and .360 OBP pretty decent for a AAA catcher and believe he’s just getting warmed up after a mediocre 2009. Since when is it a struggle for a first year catcher to hit 21 HRs in his first season in AAA at only 23 years of age? Sure, his average and OBP were down, but they should get better this season with experience and I still think he has the stuff to be an every day catcher. Still, the future of Arencibia and d’Arnaud behind the plate for the Jays looks awfully bright!