Blue Jays: Prospect pitchers who could crack the roster in 2021

With the Toronto Blue Jays boasting one of the top farm systems in the MLB, there are a few prospects that fans are excited to see participating in spring training this year. A few players that come to mind are Jordan Groshans, Alek Manoah, Austin Martin, and Simeon Woods-Richardson, all of whom sit pretty high on the Blue Jays top prospect rankings to begin the season.

While a few of these players are still a year or two away from potentially making the active roster, the Blue Jays do host a few pitching prospects who could find themselves on the team later on this season if they have strong MiLB campaigns in 2021.

Who are these prospects you ask?

*All players have at least one minor-league option and can be brought to the major league roster and sent back to the minor leagues this season as long as they are on the 40 man roster*

Kirby Snead

Selected in the 10th round of the 2016 MLB draft, Alabama native Kirby Snead is an interesting prospect that has worked his way up through almost every level of the Blue Jays farm system over the past four years.

In 2019, Snead pitched in both AA and AAA, throwing to a 3.45 ERA with 68 strikeouts and a 1.229 WHIP over 62.2 innings, notching seven saves through both leagues. He would also earn an All-Star nomination in 2019 when pitching with the Bisons, appearing in one inning and striking out one batter while allowing no hits or a walk in the All-Star game.

Snead has been a pretty consistent reliever during his time in the Blue Jays system, never having an ERA over 4.00 over the course of a full season and appearing in 40+ games each year over the past three seasons. He has allowed only 10 home runs over 196.0 innings of work while saving 19 games through his 150 appearances.

While he isn’t the biggest name in the Blue Jays system, Snead should begin the season in AAA and could be called upon if the bullpen starts to struggle or pitchers find themselves on the injured list. He is currently not on the 40 man roster, so he would need to be added before any potential call-up.