4 Blue Jays prospects named Northwest League All-Stars after Vancouver title run

The good news did not stop for the Vancouver Canadians. After defeating the Eugene Emeralds for the Northwest League Championship, four Canadians were named to the Northwest League All-Star team.

Johnny King

Johnny King, the third ranked prospect in the Blue Jays system according to MLB Pipeline, was one of the Canadians named to the All-Star team. In his second professional season, King was sent to High-A and he looked really good. In 21 games with the Canadians, King had a 3.21 ERA and 1.38 WHIP across 84 innings pitched while recording 112 strikeouts.

Among Northwest League pitchers (min. 80 innings pitched), King's 30.6% strikeout rate and 12 K/9 ranked first. His 3.21 ERA and 4.03 FIP ranked second. Opposing hitters only hit .211 off him which ranked third-lowest. King earned a promotion to Double-A in the second half of the season.

Daniel Guerra

After breaking out last season, Guerra was assigned to Vancouver to start this season. Guerra looked really good at High-A with King, until an elbow strain in mid-June caused him to miss six weeks. He is currently the 16th ranked prospect in the Blue Jays system according to MLB Pipeline.

In 14 games at High-A, Guerra posted a 3.20 ERA with a 1.32 WHIP over 59 innings and recorded 78 strikeouts. Guerra would earn a promotion to Double-A after returning from injury where he converted to relief. A couple weeks later, Guerra would earn another promotion, this time to Triple-A.

Among Northwest League pitchers (min. 50 innings pitched), his 31.3% strikeout rate ranked third, his 11.9 K/9 ranked fourth behind rotation mate King. His 3.20 ERA ranked sixth, ahead of King and his 3.54 FIP ranked second. Opposing hitters hit slightly better off Guerra than King as his .225 opposing average ranked 11th.

Guerra is eligible for the Rule 5 draft this offseason, and given how he has performed the last two seasons, Guerra should be a shoo-in to added to the 40-man roster.

Alexis Hernandez

After slowly progressing in the Red Sox system for three seasons, Hernandez was selected by the Blue Jays in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 Draft during the 2024 offseason. Though his first season in the organization did not go very well, he looked much improved last season and has been able to carry that momentum to this season.

In 73 games at High-A, Hernandez hit .284/.382/.513 with 14 home runs, 53 RBI, 11 SB, and posted a 134 wRC+. Among Northwest League hitters (min. 300 plate appearances), his .284 average ranked eighth and his OPS ranked third. Hernandez also showed good discipline as his 10.9% walk rate and 20.1% strikeout rate both ranked within the top-20.

Hernandez earned a promotion to Double-A in August where he continued to build on his High-A success. Hernandez is currently not ranked in MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Blue Jays prospects as he is a bit older for a prospect. Given his performance this season, it would not be a surprise if he was ranked in the back end heading into 2027. Hernandez is Rule 5 eligible this upcoming offseason.

Tucker Toman

Toman was selected in the second compensatory round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays were given this selection after losing Marcus Semien to the Texas Rangers during the 2022 offseason.

Toman's progression through the system has been slow to say the least. After a decent debut coming out of the draft, Toman proceeded to struggle at Low-A for two seasons and even spent time on the Development List. In his third go-around at Low-A last season, Toman looked better and earned himself a promotion to High-A towards the end of the season.

This season, Toman was sent back to High-A and continued to show progress. In 79 games at High-A, Toman hit .274/.399/.848 with 11 home runs, 44 RBI, 4 stolen bases and recorded a 129 wRC+.

His improvement has been driven by making more contact and drawing more walks, as according to FanGraphs, his 73.7% contact rate and 14.2% walk rate are the highest of his career over a full season. Among Northwest League hitters (min. 300 plate appearances), his 14.9% walk rate ranks seventh, his average ranked 14th, his OBP ranked third, and his wRC+ ranked fourth.

Toman earned a promotion to Double-A in August, but the results have not been there. Toman is Rule 5 eligible at the end of the season, meaning the Blue Jays will have to decide if he is worth adding to the 40-man roster.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow