Why Fernando Perez is a name to keep an eye on in the Blue Jays system

The Toronto Blue Jays have a strong young pitcher named Fernando Perez and he's making his mark this season with the Blue Jays' High-A affiliate Vancouver Canadians. While most eyes are on names like Trey Yesavage, Johnny King, and other high-ranking pitching prospects, Perez has gone under the radar for some time.

Perez was named to MLB's All-Star Futures Game in 2024, and if he continues the way he's been going this isn't going to be the last time he's mentioned in an "all-star" context as he climbs up the minor league ladder. Boasting a 3.19 ERA across 87.1 innings with Vancouver this year, Perez has been one of the most successful pitchers on their roster and could be earning a promotion in the near future.

Why Fernando Perez is a name to keep an eye on in the Blue Jays system

Perez was recently awarded Pitcher of the Week honours in the Northwest League (NWL) for his performances against the Tri-City Dust Devils, the Los Angeles Angels' High-A affiliate in the week of July 28-August 3. Perez started two games against the Dust Devils, notching 11 innings of shutout baseball, allowing a total of 4 hits, zero walks, and striking out 13 batters.

Perez hasn't necessarily been primarily a strikeout pitcher at High-A this year like his other seasons in lower levels of the minors, but he's been more effective than ever before. A lot of this success comes from his lack of allowing walks consistently, as his BB/9 sits at an impressive mark of 1.96 across almost 90 innings.

Currently the 11th-ranked Blue Jays prospect according to MLB.com, Perez may not be on many people's radars, but he's an important piece to consider in what has become a very talented pitching organization from top to bottom in Toronto.

Perez's fastball sits in the region of 93-95 MPH and he has a sharp-breaking slider that sits in the low-80's to along with it. His pitch mix will continue to evolve over time, but he's clearly got the feel for the strike zone. His lack of control issues is somewhat of a rarity in the low levels of Minor League Baseball (MiLB), as pitchers typically haven't grasped a consistent ability to throw strikes. Expect to see a pitcher like Perez make waves over the coming seasons with this talent of his.

His Fangraphs page indicates that his ERA- and FIP-, both of which are stats where 100 is average and a lower score is better, rate Perez's ERA and FIP at a 73 this season. His strikeout to walk ratio (K/BB) of 4.00 is second in all of the Northwest League, only behind Shane Rademacher in the San Francisco Giants' system.

What's more is that Perez is doing all this at 21 years of age; Rademacher and many of Perez's contemporaries in the Northwest League are older than Perez and finding more struggles than he has thus far in 2025. Perez may be a depth prospect and not one of the more widely-known arms in Toronto's farm system, but he's worth keeping an eye on over the coming years.