Blue Jays: Top Pitching Prospect Tiedemann Impresses in AA Debut

The Toronto Blue Jays top pitching prospect continues to impress, rocketing up the rankings lists, and earning his second promotion this season to AA New Hampshire.

In his debut with the Fisher Cats Friday night, 19 year old lefty starter Ricky Tiedemann pitched three scoreless innings of one hit ball, striking out five and only walking one in a 6-1 win over the Richmond Flying Squirrels. He threw 30 of his 46 pitches for strikes, facing only two batters over the minimum.

As the game summary noted, “The 19-year-old left-hander joined New Hampshire in style, striking out the first batter he faced on three pitches. Two of his innings were perfect, and he allowed just one hit with one walk.”

The number three prospect overall in the Jays system after catcher Gabriel Moreno and 3B/SS Orelvis Martinez, Tiedemann is now the youngest active player in the Eastern League and second-youngest active player at the Double-A level. Tiedemann doesn’t turn 20 until August 18th.

Note also that Baseball America ranked him the 2nd best Jays prospect after Moreno and #33 overall (Moreno is #1) in their recent mid season top 100 prospect ranking.

Blue Jays Top Pitching Prospect Rocketing Up the Rankings

Tiedemann ranked #61 in the latest top 100 MLB prospects list which is an impressive rise for a kid drafted only last year in the 3rd round (91st overall) out of Golden West Junior College by the Blue Jays. He signed a contract with the Jays on July 21, 2021 for $644,800.

Overall in 2022, he’s now pitched 70.2 innings, with a 2.04 ERA and 0.86 WHIP, and an impressive 13.75 strikeouts per nine innings against 3.31 walks. After 6 starts with Low-A Dunedin, the Long Beach, California native was promoted to High-A Vancouver on May 14th, where he was 2-2 with a 2.39 ERA in 8 starts, with 54 Ks against 12 walks in 37.2 innings. He also introduced himself to a national audience as one to watch last month with a perfect inning in the All-Star Futures Game at Dodger Stadium.

The scouting report says the 6’4” lefty’s four-seam fastball is in the 95-96 mph range (with upside) and a nice horizontal break, and he also mixes in a circle change with a hard slider. His MLB scouting grades are as follows:

Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 55

The Blue Jays won’t need to add him to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule-5 draft until 2025, but he’ll surely garner a strong look in spring training next February,  and be in-line for a potential call-up in 2023 if his development continues like this. It looks like the Blue Jays found a diamond in the rough of last year’s third round.