Blue Jays prospect Khal Stephen has been turning heads this season

Khal Stephen opened the season as the Blue Jays' No. 10 prospect per MLB Pipeline, and he's done nothing to disprove that so far this season.

Through five starts this season with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays, Stephen has a 1.29 ERA with 25 strikeouts across 21 innings. He also has sported a WHIP of 0.71 and a strikeout rate of 32.5%.

Even if the 22-year-old is still a bit away from helping the Blue Jays, he's why he's still a prospect that Blue Jays fans should know about.

Blue Jays prospect Khal Stephen has been turning heads this season

In his most recent start for the Dunedin Blue Jays, Stephen tossed five shutout innings with five strikeouts. Stephen's been on a tear this year in his first season since the Blue Jays drafted him in the second round of the 2024 MLB Draft.

Stephen started his career as a back-end reliever at Purdue before becoming a starter in his sophomore year. He then transferred to Mississippi State, where he posted a 3.28 ERA in 96 innings for the Bulldogs before being drafted by the Blue Jays, where he signed for $1.12 million, which was a bit below slot for the pick.

Stephen is part of the Blue Jays' young core that represents the team's bright future.

At 6-foot-4, Stephen's boasts a fastball that can tough 96 miles per hour along with a wipeout changeup. While he still needs to develop another secondary pitch (MLB Pipeline gives his curveball and slider a 50-grade), his 6-foot-4 frame helps his fastball jump on hitters quickly.

This year marks Stephen's first year in affiliated ball, as he didn't pitch at any level after being drafted last summer (which is the same thing the organization did with Trey Yesavage). And, like Yesavage, he's impressed.

Along with having that aforementioned five inning start, he also had a solid six inning start with nine stirkeouts on April 10. He's gone at least five innings in all four of his starts and has had at 5+ strikeouts in all those starts.

That start might be the best of his young career. He got 14 whiffs in his nine strikeout performance, and 45% of his pitches were either a whiff or a called strike. Seventy-five percent of the pitches he thew were strikes.

If Stephen and Yesavage (2.84 ERA in 12 2/3 innings) keep this up, they could fit into the Blue Jays' pitching plans as early as 2026. They should both earn promotions at some point this season, and it looks like their arsenals are both playing at Single-A.

Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and José Berríos could all be gone after 2026, and the Blue Jays already have a lack of MLB-ready starting prospects. The Blue Jays will need to revamp their rotation at some point in the future, and it seems like Stephen and Yesavage will be a part of that.