New additions dot Jays' monthly prospect report

TORONTO — The lone positive in a lost season is the ability to do what the Toronto Blue Jays just did at the trade deadline.

Tear things down as much as possible, peddle the expiring contracts, and inject some much-needed depth and talent into a minor-league system that’s about to become very important once again in the grand scheme of things for this franchise.

On that front alone, three names in this monthly update weren’t Blue Jays prospects a couple of weeks ago, while two others recently made season debuts coming off injury.

This season will be remembered for one of two things — either the arm injury carnage that has felled three of the club’s top pitching prospects, now a list that includes Ricky Tiedemann, or the trade deadline haul that helped steer the club back on track.

Time will tell which it is.

Using our annual top 50 Blue Jays prospects list as a guide, here’s a look at how some of the prominent names — one notable bat and one notable arm at each of the affiliates, plus a Canadian from the annual league-wide top 20 list — fared in the month of July.

TRIPLE-A BUFFALO BISONS

Bat to watch: 2B/3B Will Wagner (NA)

The son of former Astros closer Billy Wagner, Willy Wags is an under-the-radar prospect who has produced at every stop thus far and he’s going to be viewed as the third piece in the package of prospects that the Jays were able to pry away from Houston in exchange for rental starter Yusei Kikuchi.

The lack of high-end tools is the reason for that, but all Wagner has done since being drafted in the 18th round three years ago is get on base.

In Triple-A this season, the lefty-hitting infielder has taken another step forward — albeit in a great hitting environment — slashing .307/.424/.429 with five homers across 324 trips to the plate before the trade.

Most impressively, Wagner walked 54 times and struck out just 33.

Second base is Wagner’s best position defensively, and the profile is eerily similar to the guy getting most of the run at that spot for the Jays right now in on-base machine Spencer Horwitz.

Arm to watch: RHP Jake Bloss (NA)

An early-season breakout for the Astros after being drafted last July out of Georgetown, Bloss mixes and matches a six-pitch arsenal, keeping hitters off balance rather than overpowering them.

Bloss’ analytically impressive 93-mph fastball has been hit hard in his three big-league starts so far, but he features a pair of solid breaking balls and a developing changeup that might be the next step for the athletic righty.

A quick riser who needed only 19 minor leagues starts in less than a calendar year to make it to the majors, the polish is evident with the 6-foot-3 hurler, and one year after being drafted 99th overall he’s already got a back-end starter floor.

Is there more upside than that? That’s what the Jays are hoping, and if he doesn’t hit the 50-inning threshold this season and lose his prospect eligibility, there’s a chance Bloss is the top name in the entire system, ahead of Tiedemann, who will likely miss all of 2025 after Tommy John surgery.

Bloss will be in the big leagues taking the ball every fifth day at some point very soon.

DOUBLE-A NEW HAMPSHIRE FISHER CATS

Bat to watch: 3B/OF Charles McAdoo (NA)

Dealing all the rental chips was expected, but one of the controllable pieces the Jays decided to part with was Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who made good on the much-criticized two-year pact that GM Ross Atkins gave the super-utilityman last winter.

The Jays would’ve been fine with keeping IKF around for 2025, but McAdoo was apparently too intriguing to pass up.

Drafted in the 13th round last year out of San Jose State, the right-handed hitter has enjoyed a bit of a power breakout in his first full professional season, while splitting his time between the hot corner and corner outfield spots.

The 22-year-old tore through High-A with a .336/.415/.561 slash line, and performed well with the Pirates once he was promoted to Double-A, as well, posting a 134 wRC+ across 27 games.

Arm to watch: RHP CJ Van Eyk (No. 26)

One of the many college arms that the Jays have drafted over the past few years that hasn’t exactly worked out, Van Eyk still shows signs from time to time of finding a groove.

Unable to stay healthy since being selected in 2020, the 25-year-old righty enjoyed a solid month of July, making four starts of at least five frames and posting a 3.47 ERA across 23.1 innings.

It’s not exactly a breakout campaign, but after missing all of 2022 thanks to Tommy John surgery and then only throwing 34.1 innings last year, at the very least Van Eyk’s season is a positive with 76.1 frames and counting under his belt.

He might be trending towards a bullpen future, but there’s an outside chance the stuff takes a big jump in shorter stints.

HIGH-A VANCOUVER CANADIANS

Bat to watch: OF Victor Arias (No. 46)

Arias has been one of the few Jays’ bats in the lower minors to excite this season, and it recently earned the 20-year-old outfielder a promotion to Vancouver.

With his 21st birthday on the horizon later this month, we’ll get a much better idea of Arias’ prospect stock at the High-A level, where he's still more than two-and-a-half years younger than the average age.

No matter how Arias finishes out his year, he will be one of the biggest movers on the top 50 list, jumping from No. 46 this year into the top 30 for 2025. If he tears it up in Vancouver, it could be even higher than that when all is said and done.

Arm to watch: LHP Kai Peterson (NR)

An unheralded final-round pick last summer, 604th overall, Peterson put up some goofy swing-and-miss marks at Single-A Dunedin through the month of June, earning him a promotion to Vancouver heading into July.

The 21-year-old lefty hasn’t encountered much resistance there, either, striking out nine across six innings and posted a 1.50 ERA.

Back to those goofy swing-and-miss stats.

On June 12, Peterson threw 30 pitches in a two-inning outing, all of them sinkers. He ended up getting an unreal 13 whiffs while using just one pitch.

Then, on June 16, Peterson threw 45 pitches and got 11 whiffs, all of them again on his 93-mph sinker.

Peterson’s last 16 innings in Dunedin featured a whopping 34 strikeouts.

SINGLE-A DUNEDIN BLUE JAYS

Bat to watch: SS Arjun Nimmala (No. 3)

It’s been an interesting year for last year’s first-round pick, as a June demotion to the complex league seems to have paid off, helping Nimmala reset his season.

While there’s still a ton of swing-and-miss that will have to be ironed out, the toolsy 18-year-old is already getting to his power in games in impressive fashion, evidenced by six homers across 81 trips to the plate since being pushed back to the Single-A level in July.

Thus far, Nimmala’s first pro year has stayed true to the draft scouting reports — lots of pop, lots of hit-tool risk that could sewer it all.

Arm to watch: RHP Grant Rogers (NR)

He’s 23 years old in the low minors without much projection as a 13th-round pick out of McNeese State last summer, but Rogers is still a fun arm to track.

A quick worker with a six-pitch mix and a fastball that that sits in the 91-92 mph range, Rogers is a big-bodied arm at 6-foot-7, 230 pounds, built in the Chris Bassitt kitchen sink mould.

He’s never going to get much prospect love, but he may continue getting outs until he’s really challenged in the upper minors at some point.

FCL BLUE JAYS

Bat to watch: 2B/OF Adrian Pinto (No. 33)

A rib injury delayed Pinto’s start to the season until July, but the pint-sized speedster seems to be making up for lost time with at least one hit in all eight games since returning July 15.

Acquired from the Colorado Rockies in the Randal Grichuk trade a couple years ago, Pinto has been unable to stay on the field during his Jays tenure, but he’s flashed an electric package of skills when he has been healthy enough to play.

After splitting time between shortstop, centre field and second base, Pinto has been focused solely on his development at the keystone so far this year.

There will be long-awaited breakout vibes with Pinto heading into 2025 if he can finish out the season on a high note.

Arm to watch: LHP Johan Simon (NR)

Another oft-injured pitcher who has been unable to stay on the mound over the past couple of seasons, Simon quietly returned with three excellent outings in July.

The 6-foot-1 lefty struck out six over three innings in his season debut, then rattled off a pair of strong five-frame performances with five punchouts in each.

In a year where their organizational pitching has been decimated by arm injuries, the Jays will take any positive pitching performances they can get to close out the season.

CANUCK OF THE MONTH

RHP Jonah Tong (NR)

As the baseball talent in this country has continued to improve over the past decade, the lack of pitching becomes apparent each time the World Baseball Classic arrives.

Canada can field a fairly star-studded lineup these days, but we’re still no match for the powerhouse countries that have a bevy of MLB arms to choose from in international competition.

Tong, however, is one of the young pitchers hoping to change that and the 2022 seventh-round pick of the New York Mets is one of the minors’ biggest breakout arms  this summer, regardless of nationality.

He’s already drawing some Spencer Strider comparisons thanks to his high-octane heat and big time swing-and-miss.

After finishing out June with an 11-strikeout game, Tong did the same in the month of July, completed the month with 10 punchouts over 5.1 innings on July 31.