5 current (and former) Blue Jays prospects that have fallen from grace

Eric Pardinho

Similar to Martinez, Eric Pardinho was a highly touted international prospect back in 2017 and was ranked in the top five that year on the MLB Pipeline International Prospects list. The Jays signed him to a $1.4M contract and was highly regarded to potentially be the next homegrown star pitcher alongside Nate Pearson in the Jays’ organization. He began with two strong years within the Jays’ Rookie and Single-A affiliates and was ranked within the top ten of Jays’ prospects between 2017-2019, and top 15 from 2020-2021.

However, Pardinho ran into injury woes and required Tommy John surgery in 2020, followed by several setbacks on his way to recovery that had severely diminished his potential and hype as a result. After finally coming back from injury in 2022, it hasn’t been the same Pardinho that initially exploded onto the scene back in 2018-19. Since his comeback in 2022, he has pitched in 24 games, going 39.2 innings and giving up 27 runs and 41 hits, with 23 walks and 52 strikeouts for a 6.20 ERA and 1.63 WHIP.

Some pitchers recover well after Tommy John surgery, whereas others have failed to regain their form prior to surgery. The Jays sure hope Pardinho can stay healthy and work hard to gradually get back to somewhat his dominant form so that he could at least be a serviceable pitcher for the big club in the future.

There may be many more Jays’ prospects that come to mind that may fit on this list, but these five players are probably the most prominent ones from recent years. Here we hope that these current and former prospects will be able to at least salvage a solid MLB career eventually down the road.

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