Toronto Blue Jays 2015 Top Prospects: #9 Sean Reid-Foley

It is that time of year, where the team here at Jays Journal once again discusses the Toronto Blue Jays Top Prospects. We ha™ve compiled our Top 20. Basically, we wanted to create the most all-inclusive Blue Jays prospect ranking out there.

So, we took a mixed approach to our rankings. Not only did we take a ranking from each member of our writing staff, but we also figured in the rankings from other publications as well, including MLB.com, Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and Minor League Ball.

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We have already begun our Top 20 prospects in the Toronto Blue Jays system. #20– A.J. Jimenez, #19– Matthew Dean, #18– John Stilson, #17- Alberto Tirado, #16- Dwight Smith Jr., #15- Anthony Alford, #14- Dawel Lugo, #13– Richard Urena, #12– Matt Smoral, #11 Jairo Labourt, and #10 Mitch Nay

Today we focus our attention on Sean Reid-Foley, another of the high-ceiling arms in the Blue Jays system.

Name: Sean Reid-Foley
Position: Pitcher
Date of Birth: 08/30/1995 (19)
Acquired: Drafted in the 2nd round (49th overall) of the 2014 draft; $1.128 M signing bonus
Height/Weight: 6ft 3in/220 lbs
Bats/Throws: R/R

Awards and Accomplishments

• 2014 Perfect Game First Team All-American
• 2014 Florida – All Region First Team
• 2013 Perfect Game Underclass Second Team

Stats and Analysis

Now, Reid-Foley’s numbers may not pop out at you at first. After all, he made just nine appearances after being drafted in June, all with the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. However, there is definitely some underlying things to like here.

First off, it’s always nice to see an 18-year-old kid jump into a level where he’s 2.4 years younger than his counterparts and put up a solid 9.9 K/9 ratio over his first 22.2 innings of work. That indicates he has the stuff to put hitters away already, which shows a lot of polish for such a young arm

Secondly, it was good to see him keep the balls in play on the ground, with Reid-Foley doing that efficiently with a 1.73 GO/AO ratio. Having the pitches to get swings and misses is great, but keeping hitters off-balance and inducing weak contact will get him to move faster.

Finally, don’t let the 4.0 BB/9 ratio fool you. Six of those ten walks came in just two appearances, his two toughest outings as a pro. Generally speaking, Reid-Foley gets high marks from scouts for his ability to control all of his pitches and throw any of them for strikes.

Outlook/ETA

Many scout predicted that Reid-Foley had first round talent, making the fact that he fell to the Blue Jays in the second round a steal (not to mention that he signed for the designated slot price as well).

At just 19-years-old, Reid-Foley has a lot more polish than most pitchers his age. He features a four-pitch arsenal, throwing a plus, mid-90’s fastball and complimenting it with an above-average slider, a solid curveball, and a change-up that gets heavy sink action and induces a lot of ground balls. As you can see in the above video, his fastball gets a lot of riding action and he works that slider in with nasty results, getting a lot of late movement on the ball. His delivery is short and compact, and he does a good job of hiding the ball, which coupled with his size allows his fastball to appear to have more velocity than it truly does.

That all said, Reid-Foley has the makings of a much older pitcher, setting himself apart from some of the higher-ceiling arms in the Blue Jays system. That makes him a bit more projectable than others, as he appears closer to a finished product than others.

Given his performance with the GCL Jays, Sean Reid-Foley is destined for short-season ball. While that would normally mean he would be slated to join Bluefield next, his MiLB page indicates that Reid-Foley will be with the Vancouver Canadians next season. There he’s be reunited with GCL manager John Schneider, who was promoted to Vancouver this winter.

His rise to Toronto may be a bit slower than one would expect, given his age and experience level. However, his polish could allow him to ascend quicker than most. That may mean we see Reid-Foley at early as 2018 if he continues to impress.

Next: Blue Jays and Rockies swap Tyler Ybarra for Jayson Aquino