Part 3: Blue Jays 2015 Draft end of season wrap-up

The 2015 amateur draft saw 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 how Harris did in his first year with the professional system, but not many follow the other 32 players selected.

More from Toronto Blue Jays Prospects

We started with the first 5 rounds, highlighting the seasons of Harris, Justin Maese, Carl Wise, and Jose Espada. We’ve also completed rounds 6 to 10: JC Cardenas, Travis Bergen, Daniel Young, Connor Panas, and Owen Spiwak. Now we are onto rounds 11 to 19: D.J. McKnight, Ryan Hissey, Jackson McClelland, Christian Williams, Geno Encina, and John La Prise

Round 11
LF D.J. McKnight (21 years old)

D.J. was sent to Bluefield and appeared in 49 games, hitting in the heart of the order for most of the entire summer (23GP). He struggled against LHP (.150), but hit RHP at a .268 clip. He was hit by a pitch 6 times. McKnight showed some power with 7 doubles, 3 long balls and a decent .101 ISO, while posting a nice .339 BABIP. At 21, I’d like to see him jump to Lansing in 2016. He’s heading to the Florida Instructional League this winter.

Line: .253/.367/.354, .721 OPS, 40H, 3HR, 23 R, 24 RBI, 23BB, 47K

Round 14
C Ryan Hissey (21 years old)
Follow on Twitter: @hisseyfit18

Hissey won the Vancouver Canadian’s MVP R. Howard Webster Award. He started the year with the GCL Jays, where he played 10 games before claiming the starting catching role with the C’s. He’s heading to the Florida Instructional League this winter. In 10 games with the GCL, Hissey hit .355 with a HR and 6 RBI. Hissey showed a good arm behind the plate throwing out 32% of would be base stealers and a solid .993 fielding%. He hit LHP really well (.390) versus RHP (.226). Hissey spent most of the year batting 4th for the C’s and should take his 14 doubles and .360 BABIP to Lansing in 2016.

Line: .269/.363/.372, .735 OPS, 53H, 2HR, 33 R, 22 RBI, 23BB, 48K

Round 15
RHP Jackson McClelland (21 years old)
Follow on Twitter: @J_McClelland_23

Jackson only appeared in 3 games, throwing 5.1IP. His status shows that he is active and not on the DL, so not sure where he was after July 3rd.

Line: 0-0, 5.06 ERA, 5.1IP, 4 H, 3ER, 4BB, 2K, 5.10 FIP, and 1.50 WHIP

Round 16
1B/3B Christian Williams (21 years old)
Follow on Twitter: @Chris_w10

The Florida native spent the year with the Bluefield Blue Jays hitting mostly out of the fifth and fourth spots in the lineup. Baseball America listed Williams as the best power hitter in the Jays 2015 draft. He played 33 games at 1st and 24 games at 3rd. He posted an 8.5 BB% and 23.8 K% with a .098 ISO and .287 BABIP. His low ISO was somewhat disappointing for guy who was supposed to be a left-handed power hitter coming out of Gulf Coast CC, Florida; however, he did hit 11 doubles and 2 triples showing that extra base power is in that bat. He’s heading to the Florida Instructional League this winter and we can expect to see a much improved hitter in 2016.

Line: .220/.285/.318, .603 OPS, 47H, 2HR, 33 R, 22 RBI, 23BB, 48K

Round 18
RHP Geno Encina (21 years old)
Follow on Twitter: @G_BabyEncina

The 6’4″ Product of University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas had a really good first season with the Bluefield Blue Jays. Geno made 5 starts and showed really good feel and control of his pitches allowing only 5.4 BB% and 24.3 K%. He fared better against RHB (.227 BA) than LHB (.291 BA). He was much better as a starter, 1-2 2.84 ERA in 5 starts, than coming out of the bullpen, 0-1 5.21 ERA in 7 relief appearances. After allowing 8 runs in his first 2 games (5.1IP), Geno steadily got better with each outing, lowering his ERA from 13.50 down to 3.86 to finish the year.

Line: 1-3, 3.86 ERA, 44.1IP, 45 H, 22ER, 10BB, 45K, 3.34 FIP, and 1.24 WHIP

Round 19
RHP John La Prise (22 years old)

Drafted as a 2nd baseman, it looks like John could be a good one; however, we will need to wait until next year to see what we’ve got. He only played 4 games for UV before having hip surgery. He hit .348, 10 2B and 17 RBI in 50 games in 2014. Baseball America listed La Prise as the Jays best pure hitter of the 2015 draft.

Schedule