Blue Jays highly-touted pitching prospect has different pathways to the majors 

Last year, the Toronto Blue Jays had various prospects that put up impressive minor league seasons while growing and developing their game. Among them included a surprising breakout season from pitching prospect Gage Stanifer.

Taken very late in the 19th round by the Blue Jays from the 2022 MLB Draft, Stanifer has managed to defy the odds to elevate himself into prominence within the past few years. Not only that, with the way that he has been pitching, it appears as though the highly-touted pitching prospect could have different pathways to get to the majors.

Blue Jays highly-touted pitching prospect has different pathways to get to the majors 

Last season, Stanifer split his time between Single-A Dunedin, High-A Vancouver and Double-A New Hampshire in the Blue Jays system as he ascended two minor league levels. Seeing time both as a starter and a reliever, the 22-year-old right-hander compiled an 8-6 record with a 2.86 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, along with 161 strikeouts in 110 innings pitched over 27 appearances that included 16 starts.

More significantly, he saw a drastic difference in performance between starting a game and working out of the bullpen. As a starter, Stanifer posted a 3.78 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, along with a .219 opponents batting average in 16 starts. But as a reliever, he amassed a stellar 1.32 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, .116 opponents batting average while giving up just six earned runs in over 41 innings of work. However, he did walk his fair share of batters a trend that continued in his two spring outings being sent back down to minor league camp.

Even though Stanifer is currently being brought up through the system by the Blue Jays primarily as a starter, he definitely has the nasty and overpowering stuff to make him an electric reliever as well. Therefore, pending on if Toronto wants to further his development as a potential frontline starter or a shutdown reliever, they will need to determine the pitch arsenal that he has to master.

Currently the No. 6 prospect in the Blue Jays organization, Stanifer’s wipeout pitches are his fastball and slider, both getting a 60 grade by. However, his changeup needs some work to help balance out his offering. More importantly, to stick as a starter, he will need to establish better overall control of his pitches going forward. But if all else fails, his fastball and slider combo may be enough already for him to excel in a relief role.

Nevertheless, whichever route ends up working, Blue Jays fans should get excited as another promising pitcher is on his way up to the majors in the not-so distant future.