For the first time in years, Blue Jays had a new minor league home run king

A new name is at the top of the Blue Jays farm system when it comes to home runs. And for the first time since 2019, it is not Orelvis Martinez.

Damiano Palmegiani topped all minor leaguers with 21 home runs in 129 games, the majority of which was with Toronto's Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons. His teammate and Bisons outfielder Will Robertson was second in the organization with 19 home runs in 119 games. Martinez and Arjun Nimmala finished tied for third with 17 home runs.

Nimmala played 82 of his 90 games this season with the Jays' Low-A affiliate, the Dunedin Blue Jays. He also spent time with the Florida Complex League, where he hit one homer in eight games. Martinez appeared in just 74 games with Buffalo and played a game in Toronto. But after making his major-league debut with the Jays, Martinez was suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

Prior to the suspension, the talk around Martinez was his power. He certainly has shown the ability to crush the ball, as seen by his 110 home runs, 93 doubles, and .834 OPS in five minor league seasons with the Blue Jays farm system. So it was probably going to take some kind of event to help unseat Martinez as the farm system HR leader, although the Blue Jays and the fanbase would've preferred that event be a permanent stay in the big leagues.

But Palmegiani is a worthy successor to the Toronto MILB home run crown. Palmegiani, 24, spent the majority of the 2024 season with Buffalo. But after a stint on the Injured List in June, Palmegiani spent six games on a rehab assignment with Dunedin. He hit two home runs during his time with the D-Jays. The corner infielder and occasional outfielder has certainly shown some power over the last few seasons.

Between Buffalo and Dunedin, Palmegiani posted a .711 OPS and a .316 on-base percentage. He hit 18 doubles, scored 66 runs and drove in 71 runs. Those numbers were down from his 2023 season with Buffalo and New Hampshire, which saw Palmegiani slash .255/.365/.478. His OPS was .842 and he hit 33 doubles and drove in 93 runs in 128 games.

There wasn't a minor league season in the shortened season of 2020. Then Martinez's reign began in 2021, when he hit 28 home runs in 98 games between Dunedin and the High-A Vancouver Canadians. The following season, Martinez hit 30 home runs for New Hampshire, while Palmegiani was third in the farm system with 24 round-trippers between Vancouver and Dunedin. Addison Barger smashed 26 home runs for Vancouver, New Hampshire, and Buffalo.

Then in 2023, Martinez set the organizational pace again with 28 home runs between Double A and Triple A. Palmegiani was second with 23 home runs playing at the same levels. He also was the runner up in the Arizona Fall League's 2023 home run derby, losing by a single homer to Kala'i Rosario of the Minnesota Twins in the derby finals.

Since being drafted in the 14th round of the 2021 MLB Draft, Palmegiani has hit 70 home runs while playing in the Toronto farm system, second only to Martinez during that time. And since 2022, Palmegiani has hit 68 of those homers, (he hit two in 48 Rookie-level Florida Complex League plate appearances in 2021), just seven fewer than Martinez during that time period.

Outfielder Patrick Kivlehan led the Blue Jays organization with 28 home runs in 101 games in 2019. Kivlehan was acquired that season for cash considerations in a May trade with Pittsburgh. After just 11 games with New Hampshire, Kivlehan moved up to Triple A and played 90 games in Buffalo. Griffin Conine, who just finished 2024 visiting Rogers Centre with the Miami Marlins, was second on the farm in 2019 with 22 home runs in 80 games with then-Class A affiliate Lansing Lugnuts.

In 2018, the organizational home run leader was Cavan Biggio, who hit 26 dingers with New Hampshire and won the Eastern League MVP Award. That Fisher Cats team also won the league championship that year, led by manager — and current Jays skipper — John Schneider.