Blue Jays set to promote top prospect Ricky Tiedemann to Triple-A

The Blue Jays are expected to promote No. 1 prospect Ricky Tiedemann to Triple-A Buffalo over the upcoming weekend, sources tell Jays Journal.

Toronto Blue Jays Photo Day
Toronto Blue Jays Photo Day / Elsa/GettyImages

The Toronto Blue Jays are set to promote No. 1 prospect Ricky Tiedemann to Triple-A Buffalo over the upcoming weekend, sources tell Jays Journal. He will make his start Friday evening against the Somerset Patriots (Yankees) and the expectation is he will be called up either immediately after on Friday night or Saturday morning.

Ricky Tiedemann expected to be promoted to Triple-A Buffalo Bisons.

The 2023 campaign has at times been a trying one for the promising young left-hander, as he has hit the injured list multiple times. He entered the season coming off of one of the most hype-inducing stretches of play we've seen in recent memory, as he posted a 2.17 ERA with 13.4 SO/9 in 18 starts last year between three minor league levels.

According to multiple people close to the Blue Jays' farm system, Tiedemann's arrival to the big leagues is, "closer than you may think", but him getting a bit more seasoning at the Triple-A level with the Bisons is going to be immensely helpful for his development. When healthy, the 21-year-old has continued to be an absolute machine on the mound this season, striking out over 17 batters per nine innings and not allowing a single home run in 13 outings and 38 innings of work.

With the Double-A regular season ending on Sunday, Sept. 17 and the Triple-A regular season continuing until the following Sunday, Sept. 24, this move will help Tiedemann get additional reps under his belt to round out another successful season. Sources say that there are a few other pitchers under consideration for a Triple-A promotion alongside Tiedemann, including dynamic right-hander Chad Dallas, but heavy workloads this year may push their Triple-A debut to early on in 2024.

Getting Tiedemann up to Buffalo is the last step in his development before getting him on to a big league mound. With Hyun Jin Ryu leaving via free agency and Alek Manoah's future very much up in the air, there's going to be at least one spot open in next year's starting rotation, so it will be interesting to see how far a strong Spring Training could take the young southpaw in the near future.