Blue Jays: Projecting the Buffalo Bisons 2022 Roster

Infield: Kellin Deglan, Cullen Large, Gosuke Katoh, Samad Taylor, Jordan Groshans

As mentioned before, there’ll be no Gabriel Moreno here. Instead, there are five different, quality infield options at the Bisons’ disposal. Deglan, a Langley native, was re-signed to a minor league deal this past winter. He spent a handful of games in the Blue Jays organization last year, after previously being with the Yankees and Rangers. He’s slotted to be their starting catcher with Moreno still unable to play.

I have Cullen Large slotted at first-base, as he’s played a multitude of positions throughout his time in professional baseball. The Blue Jays don’t have much prototypical first-base prospects at this point in time. Guys like Rowdy Tellez, Matt Dean, and David Cooper have come and gone. Large is a capable bat and has experience across the diamond.

With the MLB lockout still going strong, the Blue Jays affiliate is set to begin on April 5th. Here’s a projection of the Buffalo Bisons roster for 2022.

A new signing in Gosuke Katoh should get most of the starts at second base. Katoh is a minor league veteran, and has split time between the Yankees and Padres organization since 2013. This past season, as a 26 year old in AAA El Paso, he hit to a .862 OPS while playing throughout the infield. Katoh is definitely a guy I feel will be an infield option at some point in 2022 for the Blue Jays.

The short-stop position sees the highest-ranked prospect on this roster. Jordan Groshans is looking to build off of his longest season in professional baseball, and will be given plenty of at bats at the highest level of the minor leagues in 2022. The former first round pick should split time on the infield between short and third as well. MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson reports that increased Groshans is showing increased increased velocity during batting practice. Groshans is no doubt in an interesting spot within the organization. On one hand he’s an interesting trade-chip if the Blue Jays were to pursue an upgrade to their major league roster. On the other hand, Groshan’s minor league success and strong athletic makeup could show that he’ll become a mainstay in this teams lineup in the next couple seasons. For now however, he’ll be getting regular reps in Buffalo.