One hyped Blue Jays prospect at every minor league level that may disappoint in 2023

High-A Vancouver Canadians – Eric Pardinho

Back in 2017, the Blue Jays signed Pardinho, an exciting international prospect from Brazil. He possessed a strong three-pitch arsenal of a plus fastball, curveball, and changeup and made huge strides coming right out of the gate with two impressive seasons in 2018 and 2019 with a sub 3.00 ERA in Rookie and A-ball with the Jays’ affiliates. Pardinho was so impressive that he was once ranked as high as in the top five for Jays’ top prospects in 2019.  

However, his promising ascension through the system was derailed by Tommy John surgery, along with some further nagging elbow issues and rehab setbacks, limiting him to only three innings pitched over the next two years. Finally, in 2022, after starting the first couple months of the season dealing with a right elbow injury, Pardinho was able to get fully back into action, but pitched to a 5.70 ERA with a 1.7 WHIP across three affiliates with limited innings. Now, with a new fresh season to start with, he has gotten into one game and gave up six runs over 1.2 innings pitched.

Unfortunately, he has once again landed on the 7-day IL, and hopefully this time, it is just a short-term issue. So it appears once again it may be a longer road for Pardinho this year, but more importantly, the key aspect for his comeback will be staying healthy and breeding patience, with hopes to rediscover his form prior to 2019.