Blue Jays Top Prospects Report

The MiLB season got underway on April 4th and thus some Toronto Blue Jays affiliates already have 10+ games under their belt.

Double-digit numbers seem like a decent enough sample size to begin diving in and looking at how some of the Blue Jays top prospects are faring in a star-studded farm system that has the Buffalo Bisons, New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Dunedin Blue Jays and Lansing Lugnuts all currently rolling through their seasons. All stats in this article are through Sunday, April 14 as all four clubs are back in action tonight and all rankings are via MLB Pipeline.

Blue Jays # 1 prospect (# 1 in baseball), Vlad Guerrero Jr: After picking up a base-knock in each of his four games with Dunedin before coming up to Buffalo, he made it known he was back with the Bisons with his first home run of the year, and it was a loud one of course. Over seven minor league games, Guerrero is slashing .360/.448/.560 with three extra-base hits, six RBI’s and more walks than strikeouts. It shouldn’t be much longer before we see baseball’s top prospect manning the hot corner at the Rogers Centre.

Blue Jays # 10 prospect (# 7 2B in baseball), Cavan Biggio: Biggio is another player who has been off to a hot start this season, also his first stint in Buffalo. He’s picked up a hit in all but one of his ten games, leading to a .394 batting average and .500 OBP. The 2018 Eastern League (Double-A) MVP has shown his power is still there with two homers, a double and a triple. He’s also displayed his patience at the plate and ability to swipe bases early on in 2019.

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Blue Jays # 2 prospect (# 11 in baseball), Bo Bichette: Bichette struggled early on, going 2-for-20 through his first five games with the Bisons. He’s made adjustments it seems and in the following five games he’s picked up a hit in each, going 7-for-21 with a home run, a double and 3 RBI’s. Defensively, Bichette committed three errors in the Bisons first six games but should see his fielding percentage jump back up as more games are played.

Blue Jays # 11 prospect, Anthony Alford: After getting an early game in with the Blue Jays, Alford returned to the Bisons and looked sharp over his first six games with three multi-hit games, two home runs and a batting line of .292/.346/.667. In his three games after that hot stretch though, Alford has gone hitless in all three games and it must be noted that he has struck out in every minor league game he’s played this season, including four multi-strikeout games.

Blue Jays # 23 prospect, Reese McGuire: McGuire has caught seven games so far for the Bisons and been exactly what Jays fans have come to expect from him, a catcher who does his best work behind the plate. McGuire has only batted .200 so far but is seeing the ball well as his strikeouts are down and two of his five hits have come through a double and triple. McGuire has only thrown out one runner on six attempts but as the season moves along, he should be back to his old self and nabbing more runners on the bases.

Blue Jays # 9 prospect, Sean Reid-Foley: 2019 has been a tough one for Reid-Foley so far. After getting roughed up in his first start with the Blue Jays, he didn’t fare any better with the Bisons. His first start he went three innings allowing eight earned runs on six hits, two home runs, and four walks. His next appearance, which was out of the bullpen, he allowed four earned runs over 2.1 innings with four hits and three walks. Reid-Foley will need to find his command and start missing more barrels if he wants to get his season back on track.

Blue Jays # 7 prospect, Kevin Smith: In his first stint in Double-AA, Smith has worked a fair amount of innings at both short and third. At the plate, he’s struck out multiple times in five of his nine games but has still been spreading the ball with a .270 average, three doubles and a home run. Blue Jays fans should expect to see more from Smith as the season moves along and he will be looked to as a leader for the Double-AA New Hampshire squad.

Blue Jays # 6 prospect, Jordan Groshans: The Blue Jays 2018 first-rounder will be one to follow as he goes through his first full pro season, beginning with the Lansing Lugnuts (Class-A). He’s been red-hot to start the year at the plate slashing .346/.452/.577 with three doubles, a home run, and five walks. Groshans has been more selective at the plate so far this year, drawing more walks and has worked all his innings at his true shortstop position.

Blue Jays # 4 prospect (# 74 in baseball), Nate Pearson: Pearson has been dominant to start the year in Dunedin (Class-A Advanced) after missing almost all of 2018 when he broke a bone in his forearm. Over 12 innings of work, he has allowed just one run on five hits leading to an ERA of 0.75 and WHIP of 0.50. Most impressively for the hard-throwing right-hander, he has struck out 17 batters and walked only one.