Part 1: Blue Jays 2015 Draft End of Season Wrap-Up

The 2015 amateur draft saw Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos & Co. select 4 RHP with the first 5 picks, using their first pick (29th overall) on 6’3″ RHP out of Hazelwood Central HS, Jon Harris (or Jonathan Harris). Many know what Harris did in his first professional season, but not many follow the other 32 players selected.

We will start with the first 5 rounds: Jonathan Harris, Justin Maese, Carl Wise, and Jose Espada.

Round 1

Jonathan Harris RHP (21-yrs-old)

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Many felt the Jays would be aggressive with Harris, but he struggled with the Vancouver Canadians failing to register a win in 12 games (11 starts). Harris failed to get past the 5th inning, only completing 5 innings once. Harris has endurance issues, which should disappear with a off-season conditioning program. He’ll be heading to the Florida Instructional League this off-season.

2015 line: 0-5, 6.75 ERA, 36IP, 48H, 27ER, 21BB, 32K, and 1.92WHIP

Round 2

Brady Singer (Unsigned)

Round 3

Justin Maese RHP (18-yrs-old)

Justin was send to the Gulf Coast team and dominated the GCL. Maese used his above-average fastball (mid to low 90’s) and slider to win 5 games with no losses. His 5-0 record and 1.01 ERA were good enough to earn him the honor of receiving the club’s R. Howard Webster Award. Despite his solid numbers, Justin will need to improve on his 4.79 K/9 as he moves up the system. He’ll be heading to the Florida Instructional League this off-season.

It looks like Justin will be getting jacked this off-season, check out his youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHNrPa3IxzAcMtjDIVqywWg

2015 line: 5-0, 1.01ERA, 35.2IP, 32H, 6BB, 19K, 1.07WHIP, and 2.75 FIP

Round 4

Carl Wise 3B (21)

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The 6’2″ third baseman from Lexington, South Carolina struggled mightily against RHP, hitting under .200 in over 140 at-bats. He played 7 games in Bluefield before heading to the Northwest League to man the hot corner for the C’s. He struck out roughly 20% of the time and only walked about 5%, while not showing any of the scouted power .077 ISO. He hit 11 doubles and a triple in 54 games across two levels. He’ll be heading to the Florida Instructional League this off-season.

2015 line: .235/.273/.310, .585 OPS, 1 HR, 31 RBI, 25 R, 10BB, 49K

Round 5

Jose Espada RHP (18-year-old)

The six-footer from Puerto Rico shined with the Jays GCL team, making 10 appearances, seven of them starts. He held opponents to a .198 BA while being 2.2 younger than his competition. He used his high-80’s to low-90’s FB, his plus curve and a developing change to strike out 8.13/9. He had his innings limited, only pitching 5 innings once. There is a lot of projection in Espada, keep your eyes on him as he could by-pass Vancouver and head straight to Lansing in 2016. He’ll be heading to the Florida Instructional League this off-season.

2015 line: 0-2, 3.41ERA, 34.1IP, 25H, 8BB, 31K, 0.96 WHIP, and 3.34 FIP

Next: Is the home field advantage issue exaggerated?