Blue Jays' former first-round prospect has small gains in long awaited return

It's been a long time coming for Brandon Barriera. The 2022 first-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays (No. 23 overall), is entering his age-22 season and is trying to overcome some long-term arm issues that have plagued him since turning pro. In 2024 he received Tommy John surgery and had an internal brace procedure done, while in August of 2025 he fractured his forearm after returning to the mound following TJS.

He's pitched just 13 games of minor-league ball since being drafted almost four years ago and while he's still very young, the Blue Jays would love to see some progress with Barriera. They got a glimpse of that progress on Tuesday evening with Dunedin.

Barriera shows small glimpses of what made him a top prospect

With Toronto's Single-A affiliate, Barriera got through two innings, allowing two runs on five hits, while getting one strikeout. He walked nobody on 32 pitches. It's not a great stat line, but it's a step in the right direction for a pitcher who was drafted out of high school and had a big arm the Blue Jays were hoping to develop.

However, the worry is that he averaged only 92.1 mph on his four-seam fastball and didn't get any swinging strikes in the game against Lakeland. But that's typical for a guy coming off multiple arm surgeries. The hope is that he can re-build that strength and regain that velocity in due time. There is clearly no rush for Barriera here. While the Blue Jays would love to be able to rely on him, especially with the rash of injuries at the MLB level, Toronto knows it is going to take a lot of patience before Barriera may sniff the big leagues.

Despite the limited action over the last few years, Barriera still finds himself among the Blue Jays Top-30 prospects, ranking No. 22 coming into the season. The scouting report on the lefty says there is plenty of optimism within the organization that Barriera can become a top tier prospect once again. Before he was hurt, he was hitting 96-98 mph on his fastball, but he also needed to harness that command.

No walks in his first appearance is a great step in that direction and again, the Blue Jays don't expect him to put up other worldly stats this year. The team figures that he'll get all of 2026 to show he can get through a season fully healthy and maybe move up a rung or two in the minor leagues. The real test for Barriera will be to see how he responds going into 2027 and can he make a serious push to the upper levels of the minors, let alone be in competition for a major league roster spot.