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.

Ty Tice

A 16th round selection in 2017, right-hander Ty Tice is a prospect who used a strong 2019 season to put himself into a potential call-up situation this year.

Similar to Snead, Tice spent the 2019 season in both AA and AAA, pitching to a 2.34 ERA with 64 strikeouts, 29 walks, and a 1.249 WHIP over 57.2 innings across both leagues. Tice has spent his entire professional career as a reliever, with the Arkansas native pitching well enough to find himself added to the 60 man player pool last season and also added to the 40 man roster this past November, a move to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.

Tice should be another name high on the list of potential bullpen call-ups considering he has experience at AAA and has performed well in his role since being drafted in 2017. A strong start to the 2021 season with the Buffalo Bisons will help his cause, as a player injury or a struggling pitcher on the major league roster could see Tice don the Blue Jays jersey sooner rather than later (as he is already on the 40 man roster).

Julian Merryweather

Acquired from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Josh Donaldson in mid-2018, Julian Merryweather joined the Blue Jays Rookie and Advanced-A ball leagues in 2019 before being added to the Blue Jays 60 man player pool in 2020.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1300931949050163200

The right-hander would make eight appearances for the Blue Jays last year, going 13.0 innings and starting three games while earning a 4.15 ERA with 15 strikeouts with a 1.308 WHIP. He has spent his minor league career as a starting pitcher, but at 29 years old he is more likely destined for a bullpen role rather than being in the rotation after dealing with injuries for a large portion of his minor league career.

He still could make spot starts for Hyun-Jin Ryu or Tanner Roark during the dog days of summer, but a spot in the bullpen seems more likely moving forward, whether it be in AAA or in the MLB (he too is on the 40 man roster).

Bryan Baker

Although he was not drafted by the Blue Jays, right-hander Bryan Baker is one pitcher to keep an eye on this season.

Traded to the Blue Jays back in 2018 as part of the Seunghwan Oh deal, Baker made the jump to AA and AAA baseball back in 2019, throwing 54.0 innings and racking up 12 saves across both levels. Baker would finish the campaign with a 3.17 ERA with 71 strikeouts and a 1.315 WHIP, appearing in 49 games over the course of the season. The Florida native would make the Blue Jays 60 man player pool last season and would be included in spring training as a non-roster invite both in 2019 and 2020.

He would appear in the Blue Jay’s first spring training game this season against the New York Yankees, pitching a clean inning while striking out two batters to close out the game, earning the save in the process. Baker should begin the season in AAA along with Tice and Snead and could be a potential bullpen call-up this year, but he would need to be added to the 40 man roster before that is a possibility.

Simeon Woods-Richardson

One of the Toronto Blue Jays prospects fans are very excited to see pitch this spring, Simeon Woods-Richardson is one of the younger players at this year’s camp but appears to be in a good position to use 2021 to advance up the farm system.

The Blue Jays 4th ranked prospect, Woods-Richardson was acquired in 2019 in the Marcus Stroman trade and found himself pitching with the Dunedin Blue Jays in Advanced-A ball (Dunedin is now the Blue Jays Low A affiliate starting in 2021 with the juggling/elimination of various farm teams across the league), pitching to a 2.54 ERA with 29 strikeouts and a 0.882 WHIP over 28.1 innings and six starts.

This season should see SWR head to AA in New Hampshire, with a possible quick promotion to AAA if he can pitch well like scouts are raving he can. Mature beyond his age at just 20 years old, there is a legitimate chance that Woods-Richardson could find himself in the Blue Jays bullpen this season when rosters expand in September. The Blue Jays could (and hopefully) will be fighting for a playoff spot come August/September and having a hard-throwing pitcher like Woods-Richardson in the bullpen could be a boost that helps the team win games later in the season.

While we could see SWR on the major league roster this year, don’t be disappointed if the Blue Jays choose to save him for next year where he will most likely be competing for a role in the starting rotation rather than a spot in the bullpen with a few veteran starters off the payroll.