Blue Jays: Top 2021 Seasons by Canadians in the Organization

As we got into the offseason, Jays Journal is looking at the Top 11 seasons by Canadian players in 2021 within the Blue Jays organization.  This does not include Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who was born in Canada but developed for the most part in the Dominican Republic and was signed through international free agency.  I’d like to read in the comments if you followed any of these players growing up and who you are most excited about?

11. Kellin Deglan – Langley, British Columbia
The Blue Jays acquired veteran minor league Kellin Deglan in early August from the New York Yankees as a depth catcher.  Deglan was a former first-round pick back in 2010, who signed a $1 million signing bonus after he was selected one pick before Christian Yelich.  Deglan has still yet to make a major league appearance and it doesn’t look like he will get a chance, at least in Toronto.  The soon-to-be 30-year old got into 27 games for the Buffalo Bisons and posted a slash line of .203/.333/.354 over 96 plate appearances and threw out just 3 of 16 base stealers.

10. Brayden Bouchey – Vancouver, British Columbia
The Blue Jays selected Brayden Bouchey in the 33rd round of the 2016 draft from the University of Louisiana.  The 6’5” right-hander looked like he was progressing well through the organization, which included a 2018 season that saw him post a 2.20 ERA between Lansing and New Hampshire.  Unfortunately, Bouchey would require Tommy John surgery that ended his year, which caused him to miss all of 2019, and then COVID canceled the minor league season in 2020.

Bouchey started the 2021 season on the injured list with the High-A Vancouver Canadians and after he was activated, the right-hander made just three appearances before being released by the Blue Jays.  Bouchey faced just 14 batters, plunking five of them while walking an additional three and surrendering one home run, additionally throwing a pair of wild pitches.

Bouchey is currently a free agent.

9. Nicolas Deschamps – Quebec City, Quebec
The Blue Jays signed 19-year old Nicolas Deschamps in the middle of August as an undrafted player.  Deschamps was committed to play at Stetson University next season, however, things changed when the Blue Jays came calling.

Deschamps was assigned to the Florida Complex League and made three appearances, which included collecting his first professional hit in his last appearance on September 18.  In total, Deschamps had four plate appearances going 1 for 3 with a walk and a pair of strikeouts.  There is not a whole lot of information out there on Deschamps at this time.

8. Will McAffer – North Vancouver, British Columbia
The 24-year old North Vancouver product was selected in the 25th Round of the 2018 MLB Draft and bounced back and forth between Vancouver and New Hampshire pitching out of the bullpen during the 2021 season.

Will McAffer started the season in Vancouver and after seven appearances, in which he surrendered seven earned runs over 7.2 innings and walked 12 batters, he was called up to New Hampshire.  McAffer looked like he was taking a jump forward on July 9 when he threw three no-hit innings to collect his first win at the Double-A level, however, over his next three appearances, he tossed a combined 1.2 innings and surrendered eight runs (seven earned) and was reassigned back to Vancouver where he finished out the season.

McAffer struggled on his return to Vancouver as he allowed multiple runs in seven of his final 14 appearances, including five runs on two occasions.  He did finish the season off with three consecutive shutout performances in September.

McAffer is currently still part of the Blue Jays organization and I assume they will give him another season to see if he can rebound.

7. Alex Nolan – Burlington, Ontario
The Toronto Blue Jays signed Alex Nolan in 2019 after watching him in the Northwoods League, a summer league dedicated to collegiate players.  Nolan was pitching for the Kalamazoo Growlers and had struck out 13 batters over 11.1 innings while walking just three and posting a 3.18 ERA.

In 2021, Nolan started the season in Low-A Dunedin pitching out of the bullpen and was called up to Vancouver near the end of June.  After making nine appearances out of the pen and posting a 5.50 ERA, which was ballooned by one appearance where he surrendered five runs over 3.1 innings, he was moved to the starting rotation.  Nolan struggled through August as he made five starts and went 0-4 with a 12.10 ERA; however, was able to turn things around in September.  During his final three appearances (two starts), Nolan posted a 1-1 record with a 2.31 ERA over 11.2 innings.

Nolan will be 26-years old at the start of the 2022 season, so he’ll need to show September was more than just a couple of good outings.

6. John Axford – Simcoe, Ontario
The 38-year old started the season in the Blue Jays broadcast booth analyzing games, but when he was called upon to represent Canada at the Olympic Qualifiers, he found the urge to give another run at a major league career.

John Axford and the Blue Jays came to an agreement on a minor league deal in June and after making one appearance for Toronto’s Rookie team in the Florida Complex League, he was assigned to the Buffalo Bisons.  Axford was dominant in Triple-A where he struck out 14 batters over 10.2 innings while surrendering just two hits and one run.

The Blue Jays had no room to add him to the 26-man roster but did not want to squash his chance at the Major Leagues this year so they traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers for $1.  Axford made just one appearance with the Brewers before having his season shut down with an elbow injury.

5. Curtis Taylor – Port Coquitlam, British Columbia
The Blue Jays acquired Curtis Taylor in September 2019 as one of two pitchers who were players to be named later in an earlier deal that sent Eric Soggard to the Tampa Bay Rays.

The 26-year old bounced back and forth all season between the New Hampshire Fisher Cats and the Buffalo Bisons pitching out of the bullpen.  Taylor was subject to some poor defensive play behind him to start the season but was still able to hold a 4.44 ERA while averaging 14.5 strikeouts per nine innings over the first half of the season.  The 6’6”, 230 lbs right-hander missed nearly five weeks between July and August on the IL and then struggled upon his return.  For the remainder of the season, Taylor pitched to a 9.73 ERA while striking out just two batters over 10 appearances after he returned.

As the Blue Jays are the only Canadian MLB franchise, this article takes a look at the top seasons by Canadian prospects in the organization.

Taylor is a former fourth-round pick that was a 2019 mid-season minor league All-Star.  He has a career minor league ERA of 3.32 while striking out 10.6 batters per nine innings.  If Taylor can bounce back and have a healthy 2022 season there is a chance he sees some major league action next year.

4. J.C. Masson – Levis, Quebec
The Blue Jays used their 26th round pick in 2019 to select J.C. Masson from Cardinal Roy Secondary School in Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec.

Masson was finally able to play his first professional games this season when he was assigned to Blue Jays Florida Complex League in Rookie Ball.  Masson played the entire season as a Designated Hitter and posted a slash line of .283/.382/.500 with six extra-base hits over 46 at-bats.  Masson won’t turn 20 until next August and he is still pretty raw as a prospect.

3. Dasan Brown – Oakville, Ontario
The top Canadian prospect in the Blue Jays organization is 2019-third round pick Dasan Brown.  Brown was selected three draft classes ago, but just turned 20 years of age at the end of the 2021 season.  He played the year nearly two and a half years younger than the average aged player at the Single-A level.

Brown played all of his innings in centerfield this year where he made just one error over 105 chances.  At the plate, he posted a slash line of .212/.310/.323 and struck out 74 times in just 224 plate appearances (198 at-bats).

Speed on the bases is one of Brown’s biggest assets and he did steal 22 bases while being caught eight times.  The 2022 season will be a season to watch to see how Brown progresses in the Blue Jays farm system and see if he jumps to Vancouver during the campaign.