Blue Jays land lefty with a familiar profile in latest 2023 MLB Mock Draft

In preparation for the 2023 MLB Draft that will take place this year in Seattle, MLB.com has carried out its first mock draft of the season this past week. For the Toronto Blue Jays, they won’t be in contention for the consensus top two prospects from this year’s draft class in Dylan Crews and Paul Skenes, but they hope to net a solid, value pick with their first round pick in the 20th overall spot in the draft.

From MLB.com’s mock draft, it was projected that the Jays would land left-handed pitcher Thomas White right out of high school from Philips Academy Andover, Massachusetts. His scouting grades (Fastball: 60; Curveball: 55; Changeup: 50; Control: 50) profile very similar to Brandon Barriera (albeit his curveball, as Barriera has his slider), who was also a left-handed pitcher out of high school that the Jays drafted using their first round pick in 2022.

At only 18 years of age, White already possesses a towering 6-foot-5 frame that can impose intimidation on his hitters. Equipped with a blistering fastball in the upper 90s, coupled with a plus curveball with high spin rates in the upper 70s, and an infrequent yet effective changeup in the low 80s, it gives him three strong pitches to deploy from his repertoire in his future career.

Here is an extended demonstration of what White is fully capable of in his pitching:

Being one of the best high school lefties available in the 2023 draft, the Jays would definitely hope White can follow in the footsteps of Barriera, who just had a fabulous debut with the Dunedin Blue Jays last week. In addition, White could join the strong core of high quality left-handed pitchers coming up in the Jays’ system together with Barriera and Ricky Tiedemann, and become the next wave of pitching talent for the Jays in the years to come.