Thursday, May 21

NEW YORK -- The Blue Jays’ farm system is already helping the big league club with prospects like Brandon Valenzuela and Yohendrick Piñango, but they only represent the tip of the iceberg. 

From each level, this is what’s standing out:

Triple-A Buffalo: INF Josh Kasevich (No. 13)

There’s a lot going right in Buffalo’s lineup right now, including third baseman Charles McAdoo and outfielder RJ Schreck, both of whom are pushing themselves onto the fringes of the Blue Jays’ roster decisions later this season and into the winter. In Kasevich, though, it’s easier to see a potential path to playing time in the near term. 

While McAdoo is stuck behind Kazuma Okamoto, Addison Barger and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the corners, and Schreck is behind a crowded outfield picture, Kasevich’s ability to play a rock-solid middle infield is a major advantage here. Ernie Clement and Andrés Giménez aren’t going anywhere, but the depth beyond them is thin and Lenyn Sosa hasn’t done anything to run away with the job. Between the Blue Jays and White Sox this season, Sosa entered Wednesday having come to the plate 103 times without taking a single walk, rarely even seeing a three-ball count. 

Davis Schneider is, essentially, operating as the backup second baseman, too, but his offensive numbers aren’t jumping off the page, either. Kasevich hasn’t lit Triple-A pitching on fire, but was batting .293 with a .750 OPS through Wednesday and impressed the big league coaches in Spring Training. Speaking with people throughout the organization, you hear plenty of the same things about Kasevich and Valenzuela, two prospects who are big league ready and mature enough to handle the challenges. Kasevich’s call could come any time.

Double-A New Hampshire: RHP Gage Stanifer (No. 6)

There’s a lot to love about Stanifer, but his start in Double-A has been complicated. Walks have been an issue, including a six-walk performance on April 30, but everything else about Stanifer looks like a big leaguer. 

In Stanifer’s most recent start, he threw five innings and allowed one earned run with nine strikeouts, more than enough to cover up for the two walks. With a big fastball and a slider that could work as an out pitch in the Majors right now, Stanifer has a strong foundation to work with. That slider, which has far more downward drop than right-to-left movement, is going to be a problem for hitters. 

Consider this Stanifer’s “setup” year. His 110 innings in 2025 were a great baseline. If Stanifer can build up to 130 innings this season and get a taste of Triple-A as a 22-year-old, that’s a success and it would set him up to compete for a rotation job as early as next spring with the Blue Jays. 

High-A Vancouver: LHP Johnny King (No. 4)

Make some room on the Top 100 lists. King, the 19-year-old lefty, might just be the most exciting thing happening in this system right now. 

King owns a 0.99 ERA with 38 strikeouts over 27 1/3 innings in Vancouver. He opened the season with shorter stints, but has gone five in back-to-back starts. The Blue Jays have been slowly and steadily building his pitch count, too, reaching a new high at 73 last time out.

Yes, King is going to walk some batters along the way, but his overwhelming stuff is making up for that, at least in the lower Minors. As he climbs through Double-A and Triple-A, the Blue Jays will need to see his control improve a bit, but he doesn’t need pinpoint accuracy to win. King is coming off 61 2/3 innings in 2025, so anything close to 100 this year would be a great step. 

King is entering “next big thing” territory. 

Single-A Dunedin: OF Blaine Bullard (No. 15)

Bullard has a tantalizing collection of tools, including some of the best speed in the system and tremendous upside as a defender. He’s already stolen 17 bags and been caught stealing just once through his first 32 games. 

There are still holes in Bullard’s offensive game, which we see in 45 strikeouts compared to 12 walks, but the 19-year-old has plenty of time to iron those out. If the Blue Jays can get Bullard to put the ball in play a bit more, his natural power will handle the rest and he’ll be a problem for opponents on the bases. 

Looking at the prospects in the range of Nos. 8-20 on the list, Bullard may have the highest potential to jump into the top five over the next year.

José Berríos felt like the pitcher who would never break, but the veteran right-hander’s elbow issues finally ended in Tommy John surgery Wednesday. He will now miss 12 to 18 months while he rehabs, a tough blow for both Berríos and the Blue Jays. 

“Since we acquired him, he’s just been steady. He’s been part of what we’re doing and reliable,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “It’s weird not having him. We were looking for him to get back to normal and he was hoping for that, too. It’s definitely weird and frustrating for him, too.”

You can read the full details here.

Across 120 full-season teams and more than 6,000 players, Minor League Baseball has plenty of nicknames. Few, if any, are greater than “The Iowa Meat Truck," which belongs to Peyton Williams of the Blue Jays’ High-A affiliate Vancouver Canadians. 

Over at MLB Pipeline, they’ve picked out 32 of the best nicknames in the Minor Leagues. You can read the full list here and cast your vote for the best. 

You can also read the full story of how Williams earned that nickname from our 2025 profile on the slugging first-baseman.

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