Blue Jays: Top 2018 Draft Pitchers

As we go into the offseason, we have now had almost two full seasons from the 2018 Draft Class.  In this article, I will look at the pitchers drafted by the Blue Jays and which ones are excelling.

Of the 40 rounds in the draft class, the Blue Jays drafted 23 pitchers and signed all but four of them.  One pitcher they did not sign was Parker Caracci, but the Blue Jays drafted and signed out of the 2019 draft, so we won’t speak about him in this article.  Out of the 19 pitchers they did sign, 33rd Round Draft Pick Matt Harris retired after five appearances in Rookie Ball in 2018.  Here are the pitchers that are excelling:

Adam Kloffenstein (3rd Round Pick)
If you don’t know who Adam Kloffenstein is you need to.  Kloffenstein just turned 19 years of age at the end of August, played in the North West League (NWL) All-Star Game and was named the Vancouver Canadians Most Valuable Player.  During the season he posted a 4-4 record, with a minuscule 2.24 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and had a nearly 3:1 strikeout to walk rate while averaging nine strikeouts per nine innings.  Kloffenstein is currently ranked as the Blue Jays tenth-best prospect and he will likely start next year in either New Hampshire or Dunedin.

Brad Wilson (13th Round Pick)
Bullpen prospects don’t usually get a lot of hype behind them, but Brad Wilson is looking really good.  At 23-years of age, he finished the season in New Hampshire after starting in Dunedin.  To start the year he held a 1.42 ERA, picked up nine saves and had a WHIP of just 0.84 before being called up to the Fisher Cats.  Between the two levels, Wilson had a 4:1 strikeout to walk rate and had a lot of swing and miss strength.  I could potentially see Wilson at some point with the Blue Jays next year.

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Joey Murray (8th Round Pick)
Joey Murray has been quietly pitching well through the Jays organization. In just over 25 innings last year in Vancouver he had a 1.75 ERA and this year he kept moving up the charts. Murray played at three levels which started in Lansing and finished with New Hampshire.  Over three levels his numbers were pretty consistent, in total he started 25 games and pitched 137 innings with a 2.75 ERA and a 10-7 record.  He had one of the best strikeout rates as he averaged 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings.  Murray currently sits #28 on the MLB Pipeline list for the Blue Jays top 30.  He is another pitcher we may see a bit out of next year.

Nick Allgeyer (12th Round Pick)
Nick Allgeyer played the entire season in Dunedin this past year and started 22 games for 118.1 innings pitched.  It is likely Allgeyer skips Lansing next year and starts the season in New Hampshire.  Allgeyer is a left-handed pitcher who pitches to contact and has good control which will help him if he wants to have a shot and making the majors.

Cre Finfrock (29th Round Pick)
I have to admit, one of my favorite names in the Blue Jays organization is Cre Finfrock.  He is a hard-throwing bullpen pitcher that stands just 5’11”, but gets lots of swings and misses as he had the highest strikeout rate of any pitcher from the 2018 crop.  Finfrock averaged nearly 12 strikeouts per nine innings while having a 1.20 WHIP. Finfrock finished the season playing at both Lansing and Dunedin, which would mean he would likely start the 2020 season with New Hampshire with a chance at Buffalo by seasons end.

The Blue Jays have some elite pitching prospects in their organization and I would list Kloffenstein as being one of those pitchers.  The next tier of pitching looks pretty good too.