Blue Jays Arizona Fall League Update: A tale of three Jakes, including Jake Cook's torrid start

The Arizona Fall League is nearly through the end of its fourth week, meaning there are just a couple weeks of action remaining in the annual prospect showcase. The Toronto Blue Jays sent eight players to participate with the Mesa Solar Sox, who are second-to-last in the standings with an 8-11 record.

Wins and losses don't mean a bunch right now, though. The fall season is all about getting top minor leaguers additional reps before the offseason. Since our last update, Jake Cook has continued his hot hitting while Jake Bloss finally slipped up with a rough outing.

Let's go through everything we're seeing from Blue Jays prospects in the AFL right now.

Jake Cook is cooking in the AFL, while Jake Casey struggles to find his footing

Ignoring the fact that former Blue Jays prospect Arjun Nimmala is one of the hottest hitters in the AFL right now (1.243 OPS over the past week), we need to express some adulation for Jake Cook's performance this fall. He went 5-for-15 over his past three games, bringing his team-leading hit total to 19 (in just 13 games). After a middling first professional season in Low-A, he's put himself firmly on the radar with his showing over the past month.

Unfortuantely, fellow Blue Jays outfield prospect Jake Casey isn't matching his vibe. He went 0-for-15 during the same stretch, and he's down to a .082 batting average in what's been a disastrous showing in the AFL.

At least Aaron Parker smashed four more hits this week to bring his AFL line up to .367/.500/.467 -- that on-base percentage is the highest on the Solar Sox, by the way.

Jake Bloss gets rude awakening in fourth AFL outing after his dominant start

Jake Bloss got off to a really hot start this fall that reinvigorated a lot of excitement in the top prospect's game. Unfortunately, he hit a wall in his last start really hard; he lasted just one inning against the league-worst Desert Dogs, allowing seven runs on seven hits. What was once a 2.70 ERA through three starts is now an unsightly 10.57 ERA through four, though we shouldn't lose sight of how well he was doing earlier just because of this slip-up.

What's key is that Bloss, who has thrown just 51 innings over the past two seasons while recovering from Tommy John surgery and a teres major strain, looks healthy. So long as he keeps taking the mound for his scheduled outings, we have to consider his time in the AFL a success.

Other Blue Jays pitchers on the Solar Sox had less eventful (but still shaky) weeks; Gilberto Batista allowed three runs over three innings in a semi-shaky outing, while Yondrei Rojas gave up three runs over two innings in his pair of relief appearances (though he did lock down a save).

The good news is Brandon Barriera struck out three over two scoreless innings in his lone relief appearance. Fernando Perez did not make an appearance.

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