Blue Jays: Seven prospects recognized on Baseball America Top 100

The Toronto Blue Jays had seven farm hands recognized on Baseball America’s Top 100 rankings as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. retained the top spot.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the unanimous selection and the first Dominican Republic native to ever grace the top spot on the BA ranking.  Joining Vladdy on the century list is Bo Bichette, Danny Jansen, Nate Pearson, Eric Pardinho, Jordan Groshans and Kevin Smith.

Positionally the Blue Jays have four infielders (3-SS, 1-3B), two pitchers and a catcher on the newest BA 2019 rankings. It is also the first preseason rankings that do not feature any Yankees or Red Sox prospects on the list.

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Bo Bichette remained in the Top 10 coming in at the 8th spot on the updated rankings. Bichette spent last season with Double-A New Hampshire hitting .286/.343/.453 with 11 home runs and 32 stolen bases in 131 games.

Danny Jansen finds himself in the 42nd spot on the list, the backstop will likely be the Blue Jays starting catcher once the season commences. Jansen hit .247/.347/.432 with eight homers in his first taste of the majors. The Blue Jays have all but handed him the starting job following the trade of Russell Martin.

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Pitcher Nate Pearson ranks 70th following an injury-riddled season where he only made one start. The big hurler received some further seasoning in the Arizona Fall League making six starts with an inflated 6.20 earned run average during the fall league. Pearson is arguably the pitching prospect with the most upside in the entire Jays system.

Eric Pardinho ranked 84th in his debut on the BA Top 100, the young 18-year old hurler was impressive in 2018. In 11 starts with Bluefield, Pardinho went 4-3 with a 2.88 earned run average while fanning 64 hitters in 50 innings of work. The teenager rivals Pearson as the most promising arm in the minor league ranks.

Jordan Groshans was selected in the 1st round, 12th overall of the 2018 amateur draft. The shortstop debuts at 89th on the rankings after hitting .296/.353/.446 with five homers in 48 games during his rookie campaign.

Kevin Smith is the third Jays shortstop to garner the BA honour coming in at 91st on the BA list. Smith spent the 2018 campaign between two levels finishing the season in High-A with Dunedin. In 2019, Smith hit 305/.358/.528 with 25 homers and 29 stolen bases in 129 games.

This is the first time in Blue Jays history that seven prospects have made the Top 100 rankings in the same season.