Jays Journal's Top 30 Blue Jays Prospects - 2024 Midseason Update

7. Juaron Watts-Brown- A+ (Previous Rank: 12)
22 y.o / RHP / SP

Watts-Brown is of the few healthy and performing pitchers in the farm. A third-round pick in last year's draft, he has caught fire in the last month at Dunedin, overpowering hitters with his great slider. JWB has posted great surface level stats and impressive strikeout numbers. He has suppressed the long ball well with one clear area of improvement being the walks. He was recently promoted to High-A Vancouver.

Watts-Brown has an ideal pitcher's frame and a lot of people in the industry have been excited to see if he can add velocity. He was 90-93 MPH out of college but in recent starts he has been up to 93-94 MPH on average. The added velocity has helped what was once a below-average fastball play. He gets solid ride on the pitch and if he can show consistent command it has the potential to be at least average at the MLB level. The real prize is his hard gyro-slider, a no doubt plus offering that carries his profile and has been terrorizing Single-A hitters. This year Watts-Brown has been working to add a cutter that looks to have real potential. Finally he'll add in a curveball to steal strikes with and infrequently uses a changeup. There's reliever risk here in the slider dominant arsenal and work-in-progress command and control, but Watts-Brown has been a much-needed successful pick so far.