Scouting reports on all 19 Blue Jays draft picks from the 2023 MLB Draft

Round 13 (394) - OF Brennan Orf - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Brennan Orf was selected 394th overall out of South Illinois University Edwardsville, where he hit 19 home runs with 48 RBI, 12 stolen bases and a ridiculous slash line of .351/.506/.759/1.265 in 53 games. Though the competition in the Ohio Valley Conference might not be elite, he dominated offensively and finished his college career as one of the most successful players in SIUE history. He has already signed with the Blue Jays and will immediately get to work in the minor leagues where he will play against a higher level of competition, which should give the club a better idea of his overall potential for the future. He was also not ranked in MLB.com’s top 250 draft prospects, but it’s likely that he fell due to the uncertainty of his ability to compete against major league prospects.

Round 14 (424) - P Joe Vogatsky - James Madison University

Joe Vogatsky was selected 424th overall out of James Madison University, where he played three seasons. He struggled during both of his first two seasons as a starter and in relief, but in 2023 he was only used out of the bullpen and showed great improvements. He owned a 3.34 ERA with 36 strikeouts and five saves over 29.2 innings. He has only thrown a total of 71.1 innings during his three college seasons, which is slightly concerning, but it appears that he was always bullpen bound and does not have the wear and tear on his arm like some other young pitchers have. He too was not ranked in MLB.com’s top 250 draft prospects, and needs to gain more experience in order to succeed this young into his career.

Round 15 (454) - P Kelena Sauer - San Diego State

Kelena Sauer was selected 454th overall out of San Diego State University, where he played three seasons, and showed improvements in 2023. He too was deployed almost exclusively out of the bullpen, and owned a 4.22 ERA with 12 saves through 32 innings pitched. He’s only thrown 90 innings during his NCAA career and has struggled with his control shown by his 1.56 WHIP, but he was a First-Team All-Mountain West selection this past year and has the potential to develop into a high leverage reliever. He’ll need to develop more power on his fastball which sits around 91 MPH, but his offspeed plays well which allows his fastball to feel harder than it actually is. He was also not ranked in MLB.com’s top 250 prospects, but this could be another case of his lack of experience causing him to fall to the 15th round.