Four Blue Jays named to Baseball Prospectus Top 101

Number 62: Orelvis Martinez

This is the first appearance on the Baseball Prospectus list for Martinez, although he was ranked #96 on Baseball America’s list in 2021. He’s #75 on that list for 2022.

Signed in 2018, Dominican-born Martinez is just 20 years old. The upside for the infielder projects him to have a powerful bat and a strong arm from the left side of the infield. To that point, he hit 28 home runs across two leagues in 98 games in 2021. Martinez has experience at both third base and shortstop, but in 550 innings at short last year, he played to a respectable .916 fielding percentage. Overall, it was a strong showing for a guy who did not log any professional 2020 at-bats due to COVID-19 fallout.

Baseball Prospectus top 101 prospects list includes four prominent Blue Jays: Gabriel Moreno, Jordan Groshans, Orelvis Martinez and Nate Pearson.

Ending the year at A+ ball, expect Martinez to appear in AA New Hampshire this year. If he continues to work on fielding and limiting his strikeouts (113 in 98 games) and adjusting to higher levels of pitching, Martinez could fit in very well with the Guerrero-Bichette-Groshans infield of the future.

Number 60: Jordan Groshans

Sliding into the list just two spots ahead of Martinez is infielder Jordan Groshans. The Texas native was drafted one year after Pearson but out of high school, so he is just 22 years old today. Groshans has been in varied spots on the prospect lists the last few years, but this is his lowest ranking on the Baseball Prospectus list.

Groshans put together a nice 2021 solely with AA New Hampshire, posting a .291/.367/.450 line in 75 games before missing time with an injury.

Groshans has all the raw ingredients to become a plus hitter with plus game power. The ball jumps off his right-handed bat because he combines a balanced swing with plus bat speed and a knack for barreling the baseball. He consistently hits hard line drives with backspin carry to all fields, has no problem turning around quality velocity and employs an approach that’s advanced for his age. – MLB.com scouting report on Groshans

The talk of Groshans becoming the Blue Jays’ third baseman of the future has increased as the team looks to find a solid answer at the position. Cavan Biggio, Santiago Espinal and company aren’t the answer and the Blue Jays’ attempts at acquiring Jose Ramirez didn’t materialize in 2021 and aren’t likely to. Groshans has spent nearly twice as many innings at shortstop than third base, and with better early results, but profiles well as a future third baseman nonetheless.

A quick Twitter search will result in tons of Groshan hits in fans’ trade packages for the likes of Ramirez, Matt Chapman, Ke’Bryan Hayes and more. However, a trade for any star third baseman seems unlikely at this point and the Blue Jays seem content to see what internal options materialize for the position. Groshans should see time at Triple-A Buffalo and pending how things go with the big-league third-base options and how Groshans’ own season plays out, he could find himself at the major-league level at some point in 2022. Whether that would be at shortstop – currently maintained by Bo Bichette – or third base remains to be seen. The rest is up to Groshans.

Number 22: Gabriel Moreno

21-year old Venezuelan Gabriel Moreno is all the talk of the Blue Jays fanbase this past year. The Jays’ number one prospect burst onto the scene in a big way in 2021, despite a thumb fracture injury that derailed a few months of his season. The Blue Jays have had a few “catchers of the future” of late, namely in Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk, and even Reese McGuire but Moreno appears to be for real.

Moreno was signed five years ago as an international free agent and as such has had a lot of time to develop. The catcher has played in 191 minor-league games and has posted a combined .857 OPS. He has hit at every level, but before his injury this year, he was hitting everything. In 32 games, Moreno hit .373/.441/.651 to a tune of a monster 1.092 OPS. Perhaps more incredible, he returned from his injury and took part in the Arizona Fall League, where he continued to slug, hitting .329 in 100 plate appearances, with a .904 OPS and drove in 18 runs in 22 games.

2022 projects to be a huge year for Moreno and should he stay healthy, he could also be in Toronto at some point this season. If 2021 was any indication, he will soon enter Vladimir Gurerro Jr.-level hype.

However, the Blue Jays do have three catchers currently on their roster, barring any trades once those are allowed again, and Moreno shouldn’t be rushed until he is ready both offensively and defensively. By the looks of it, that should be soon, but again, let’s not let the dream of a catcher hitting over .200 full-time cloud our vision of Moreno being fully developed before arriving on the scene for good. Triple-A Buffalo could play a key role in rounding out the young catcher. No matter when he gets here, it will certainly be fun to watch his whole journey.