4 Blue Jays prospects with the most to gain in 2024

For the past season, many of the up and coming prospects of the Toronto Blue Jays worked hard in growing and developing their game in preparation for the major leagues. Their main goal was to make level advances in the minor league system to ultimately make the days of reaching the big leagues that much shorter. At the same time, the Blue Jays currently have certain needs that they need to address both their big league club, as well as their organizational depth as a whole in order to maintain success in the near future.

Consequently, which potential Blue Jays prospects could have the most to gain in 2024? Here, we take a look at four players that could be seeing some big time action sooner rather than later.

Alan Roden

The stock for outfield prospect Alan Roden certainly went up a few notches during his impressive 2023 minor league season. After beginning the year outside of the Jays’ top prospects list, he rose all the way to seventh by the end of the season, becoming their top ranked outfield prospect in the process.

In 2023, Roden split his time between High-A Vancouver and Double-A New Hampshire in which he combined to hit .317 with an .890 OPS, along with a whopping 92 runs scored, 29 doubles, 10 home runs, 68 RBI and 24 stolen bases in 115 games played. More importantly, he demonstrated great discipline at the plate, with more registered walks than strikeouts on the season. In the field, he also held his own, committing only two errors across 823.1 innings of action, along with six outfield assists.

With the Jays looking for a solid option that could produce both offensively and defensively to potentially replace Kevin Kiermaier, Roden represents the best internal option available currently in their system. But even if the Jays end up re-signing Kiermaier or find another viable option for his replacement, a strong showing by Roden in Spring Training would give him a leg up on his competition in becoming the team’s fourth outfielder for 2024. In addition, his inclusion on the roster would also provide both speed off the bench, something that the Jays were often missing in 2023.

Spencer Horwitz

For aging prospect Spencer Horwitz, he had an eventful 2023 season with both the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons and the Jays. It was his "coming out season" in regards to his hitting maturity and offensive growth. With the Bisons, he provided consistent run production all season long by hitting .337 with a .945 OPS, along with 61 runs scored, 10 home runs and 72 RBI. At the same time, he drew more walks than strikeouts, showing great plate discipline in the process. As a result of Horwitz’s stellar 2023 performance, it earned him the Stan Barron Most Valuable Player team award in recognition of his achievements.

Moreover, his strong play also earned him a couple of looks at the major league level with the Jays this past season. In 15 games, Horwitz managed a respectable .256 batting average with five runs scored, two doubles, a home run and seven RBI, and didn’t look out of place in his plate appearances. As a result, his solid performance with his bat confirmed that he was indeed MLB-ready.

With the uncertainty of the status of designated hitter/free agent Brandon Belt as he ponders his future, Horwitz becomes the most ideal replacement for Belt this upcoming season. Not only does he profile quite similarly to Belt in that he bats left-handed along with playing in the same positions, he could be an even more effective offensive producer since he does not strike out often like his predecessor.

If the Jays end up re-signing Belt or finding another suitable DH, Horwitz and his big league-ready bat would most likely be dealt to a team that could give him more consistent playing time than the Blue Jays. Either way, Horwitz’s days as a minor leaguer should be coming to an end this upcoming season.

Ricky Tiedemann

Looking back at what transpired for Jays' top prospect Ricky Tiedemann in 2023, it certainly turned out to be a year of the unexpected. What was predicted to be the breakout year for the promising 21-year-old turned into a roller coaster instead. He began his year at Double-A New Hampshire where he had a sensational debut in which he struck out the side in each of the first three innings in his start. However, he would be met with adversity in the following games for the first time in his professional baseball career. Ultimately, things turned for the worst when he suffered a biceps injury that would put him out of action for over two months.

After coming back in late July, Tiedemann produced mixed results in his starts. Overall, the results were encouraging as his health appeared to be close to 100 percent. He also ended the season on a high note, as he was promoted to Triple-A Buffalo for his final start. In the game, he pitched four strong innings, giving up an unearned run along with 6 strikeouts and certainly looked like he belonged. More impressively had been his follow-up performance in the Arizona Fall League, in which his 2.50 ERA, 1.11 WHIP with 23 strikeouts in four starts earned him AFL Pitcher of the Year honours.

With Hyun Jin Ryu entering free agency, the uncertainty surrounding Alek Manoah and the departure of many starting pitchers from the Bisons’ 2023 roster, the Jays will have some important holes to fill in their pitching depth. As a result, unless the Jays sign or trade for a boatload of starting pitchers this offseason, Tiedemann will most likely start the upcoming season in Buffalo.

At the same time, there is a good chance he could potentially be even called up to the big leagues at some point during the year if he continues on his current trajectory. With his rapid growth and progression in the minors, Tiedemann is unanimously the next in line in terms of solid homegrown talent for the organization and could be on the fast-track to the majors if everything goes well.