Blue Jays: Five lesser known prospects to keep an eye on in 2023

We've all heard plenty about Ricky Tiedemann, Orelvis Martinez and other top prospects in the Toronto Blue Jays farm system. But what about some of the other lesser-known players currently grinding through the minor leagues?

While there are plenty of young, potential big leaguers in the system, here are five prospects I'm watching as they push toward the big leagues in the hope of one day donning a Blue Jays uniform.

Sem Robberse, RHP

Signed out of the Netherlands as a 17-year-old, Sem Robberse joined the Blue Jays' system late in 2019 before losing the entire 2020 season to the pandemic. He has since developed into one of the top arms and the sixth-ranked prospect, by MLB Pipeline, in the Jays' system.

The 6-foot-1 right-hander throws a four-pitch mix with a fastball, slider, curveball and changeup that are all projected as 50 to 55-grade offerings (average to slightly above average on the 20-80 grade scale).

What makes the 21-year-old so intriguing is his quick progression, physical ability and evident cerebral approach to the game at such a young age, especially considering the lost year of competitive development. According to his MLB Pipeline scouting report:

The Blue Jays like Robberse’s feel for pitching and his athletic delivery, which comes naturally and is more self-taught than other prospects in these ranks. Coaches also compliment Robberse’s ability to take feedback and immediately implement it on the mound, which lends to their belief that his development will continue at this rate through the upper levels. He also used much of the down time during the shutdown to develop his mental game, diving into pitch sequencing and mound strategies. 

As a 19-year-old in 2021, he pitched at both Low-A and High-A, starting 19 games across the two levels. He faired well in Low-A, pitching to a 3.90 ERA with a 1.14 WHIP, 9.52 K/9 and 3.12 BB/9.

His initial foray into High-A with the Vancouver Canadians didn't go as smoothly. He had a 5.23 ERA over seven starts but still carried a 9.14 K/9.

He was ready for the challenge when he returned to Vancouver to begin the 2022 season. Over 17 starts, he posted a 3.12 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. While his K/9 dipped slightly to 8.10, he also managed to drop his BB/9 rate to 2.49.

After a promotion to Double-A, Robberse struggled over four starts against stronger competition. He adjusted, however, and went six innings with nine strikeouts and zero earned runs in his final start of the season.

Manuel Beltre, SS/2B

Manuel Beltre signed with the Blue Jays in 2021 as a 17-year-old. The Dominican youngster, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 24 prospect in the 2021 International class, spent 2021 in the Dominican Summer League (DSL) and 2022 in the Florida Complex League (FCL) before finishing the year with a handful of games in Low-A.

Beltre's scouting grades don't pop off the page as anything spectacular. They show a player with a solid foundation, especially when you remember that he is 18 years old. His FanGraphs scouting report describes him as "a polished, skills-over-tools amateur prospect whose work habits might enable him to outpace lower-variance projections."

The young infielder projects an average-level hit tool, which he showed in the DSL. He slashed .225/.391/.346 but walked at an impressive 17.6% clip while striking out 13.9% of the time; it's a good sign anytime a player walks more than he strikes out. In a small sample of five games in Low-A, he walked less but swung the bat with more authority, slashing .381/.409/.571.

Scouts grade his running and speed as average to slightly above average, so he knows how to handle himself on the basepaths. He had 10 steals in his 53 DSL games and swiped nine bags in 49 games in the FCL. In addition, his fielding and arm both grade as average to slightly above average.

The power seems to be where scouts don't think he'll make an impact. At 5-foot-9, he hasn't generated much power so far in his young career, with a .071 ISO and four home runs in 107 games.

As his MLB Pipeline scouting report reads and as noted by Blue Jays MLB.com reporter Keegan Matheson before the 2022 season, people within the Jays' organization are already excited by Beltre's natural leadership and charismatic personality and see him as a future "culture driver" for the club.

I'm excited to follow Beltre's development. Still, with him just beginning his time in Single-A ball and being 18 going into the 2023 season, it looks like he's at least a couple of years away; FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline both list his ETA as 2025.

Irv Carter, RHP

Irv Carter, a fifth-round pick by the Jays in the 2021 draft, split time between the FCL and Low-A as a 19-year-old in 2022.

The 6-foot-4 right-hander, listed by MLB Pipeline as the No. 23 prospect in the Jays system, boasts a three-pitch repertoire of fastball, slider and changeup, all of which are projected to be average or above-average pitches. According to a scouting report, his fastball touches 96 mph, and while his mid-80s slider could end up being his out pitch, he'll be focusing on his changeup moving forward.

In the FCL last season Carter made nine appearances with six starts and 33.2 innings. He boasted a fantastic 11.23 K/9 and 2.94 BB/9 but pitched to a 5.88 ERA. He was a little unlucky, however, with a .341 BABIP and an xFIP of 3.44 but an actual FIP of 5.49. Regardless, he figured out how to get strikeouts with his stuff.

Carter didn't rack up as many punchouts after getting promoted to Low-A. He sported a 7.07 K/9, but after a rough debut, he ran with an impressive 2.45 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and dropped his BB/9 down to 1.64 over his final three starts of the season.

MLB Pipeline likens him to Marcus Stroman and Johnny Cueto in that he employs hesitations and wrinkles in his delivery to throw off hitters' timing. The scouting report also refers to Carter as "one of the higher-upside arms in the system long-term" and projects his ETA as 2025.

You can see in this video from Rob Friedman (aka Pitching Ninja) how Carter's big, athletic frame translated to dominant stuff on the mound back in early 2022. I'm excited to watch this young pitcher's development, with his physical gifts and potential for a legit swing-and-miss arsenal.

Adrian Hernandez, RHP

The next pitcher on my watchlist is a little older than the previous prospects we've looked at, but at 22-years-old, Adrian Hernandez has been pitching in the Blue Jays system since 2018 and progressed to Triple-A in 2022.

After signing with the club in 2017 out of Mexico, Hernandez has made a name for himself with his incredible 65-grade changeup. MLB Pipeline, which has the righty ranked as the Jays' 24th overall prospect, asserts that his offspeed offering is considered "one of the best pitches in the organization."

Geoff Pontes of Baseball America calls the young reliever's changeup an outlier and the best changeup outside the top 100 prospects.

In 2021, across three levels from Low-A to Double-A, Hernandez posted a 2.74 ERA and 0.95 WHIP with 108 strikeouts in 62.1 innings for a ridiculous 15.59 K/9. Per a scouting report, he accomplished this mainly using his changeup, with a low-90s fastball and a rarely-used slider to help keep hitters off balance.

In 2022, he pitched primarily at Triple-A but made rehab appearances in the FCL, Low-A and Double-A after missing time with an injury. He finished the campaign with a 4.22 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, a .206 average against and a 12.45 K/9.

MLB Pipeline thought the talented reliever might make an appearance in the majors by the end of the 2022 season, but the injury seemed to hold him back. Now he'll be looking to earn a promotion during the 2023 season. While he's not currently on the 40-man roster, Hernandez might be on the radar if the Jays have injuries in the bullpen or need a spot-opener at some point during the season.