Baseball America Top 10 Blue Jays Prospects: No. 3. RHP Yosver Zulueta

You know the drill by now. Baseball America recently released their prospect rankings (subscription required) for each MLB team and we've been diving into the...well, Blue Jays ones.

So far, we've hit each of the following:

Editor's note, each player on this list will move up one spot eventually due to the trading of Gabriel Moreno, the No. 1 Jays prospect.

No. 10 Nate Pearson (story link)

No. 9 Hayden Juenger (story link)

No. 8 Cade Doughty (story link)

No. 7 Tucker Toman (story link)

No. 6 Orelvis Martinez (story link)

No. 5 Addison Barger (story link)

No. 4 Brandon Barriera (story link)

We move on to the No. 3 prospect in the Blue Jays system, right-hander Yosver Zulueta.

Zulueta, 24 (25 next month), has made himself into a household name since joining the organization via international free agency in 2019.

A Tommy John surgery and a canceled minor league season lost him a bit of development, but he entered 2021 healthy and ready to go. That is, until he faced just one batter and tore his right ACL, resulting in another missed season.

2022 marked the first full campaign under Zulueta's belt. He made 21 appearances (12 starts) split between four minor league levels, going 2-5 with a 3.72 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 55+ innings.

What makes Zulueta a name to know is his incredible ability to limit the long ball. He surrendered just two home runs last season, good for a jaw-dropping 0.3 HR/9 rate.

Zulueta earned himself an invite to the Futures Game last season and showed off his impressive arsenal along the way. His repertoire features an explosive fastball that comfortably sits around 96-97mph and occasionally reaches all the way up to triple digits.

He pairs this fastball with a slider that sits in the mid-80's and has significant break to it, as well as a mid-80's changeup and a still-developing high-70's curveball.

Zulueta could go either way in his future, being either a strong starting pitcher or a well-above-average relief pitcher. If he somehow makes it to the big leagues in 2023 (which is not out of the question), he could fill either role for the big league club.

Baseball America's 80-grade scouting grades show Zulueta around here:

Fastball: 60

Slider: 60

Curveball: 50

Changeup: 50

Control: 40