Blue Jays prospect continuing his comeback season in Arizona Fall League

The World Series will mark the end of the 2024 Major League Baseball season, but it doesn't mean the end of baseball this year. The annual Arizona Fall League, where MLB prospects get one last taste of high-level competition before heading into their offseason, is in full swing.

The Toronto Blue Jays sent eight minor leaguers to the desert to get some extra reps this fall. Among the Blue Jays on the Scottsdale Scorpions roster is Lazaro Estrada, a right-handed pitcher who casual fans likely haven't heard much about. The 25-year-old Cuban put his name back on the map in 2024 with a comeback season after a few lost years thanks to injuries and the pandemic.

Estrada, who recently renewed his contract for two years, has continued to flash the skills in the AFL that enticed the Blue Jays to sign him as a 17-year-old international free agent in 2018.

Blue Jays pitching prospect Lazaro Estrada is off to a big start in the Arizona Fall League

Ranked as Jays Journal's No. 17 Blue Jays prospect, Estrada threw a career-high 98 1/3 innings across three levels this season. After making short work of the Single- and High-A competition, he was promoted to the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats in July. He posted a 3.29 ERA with 113 strikeouts when all was said and done before heading to the AFL.

Jays Journal's Charles Kime picked Estrada as one of the Blue Jays prospects with a chance to keep improving his stock this fall, and he's off to a hot start in Arizona.

With a 1-0 record in three relief appearances for the Scorpions, he has allowed four earned runs in 8 2/3 innings (three of those runs came in his most recent three-inning outing on Oct. 23). He has shown off his swing and miss stuff, logging 14 strikeouts, easily leading the Scorpions staff and topping all pitchers in the AFL. He has given up just three walks, and his 1.04 WHIP and .188 batting average against put him in the top 10 among qualified AFL pitchers.

Per MLB.com's Jesse Borek, Estrada will be heading into a big season in 2025.

"Having exceeded the 100-inning mark for the first time in his career, the 25-year-old is setting himself up for 2025 to be a make-or-break year as he pushes toward Toronto," says Borek.

While all 22 of his 2024 appearances in the Blue Jays system came as starts, there's a good chance that his three-pitch mix of a low-90s fastball, a low-80s changeup and a low-to-mid 80s curveball might find him eventually pitching out of the bullpen. Wherever the next season takes him, the Blue Jays must be intrigued by Estrada's continued success generating swing-and-miss in the AFL.