<span style="font-weight: 400;">The deadline to add players to the 40-man roster to protect them in the Rule 5 draft is November 19.</span>



<span style="font-weight: 400;">There are a handful of prospects in the Blue Jays system that are set to become eligible for the Rule 5 draft. While most of these players won’t be added to the Blue Jays 40-man roster, let’s take a look at how each of these players performed in 2024.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">We’ll start with position players before shifting gears to pitchers.</span>
<h2><b>Phil Clarke</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Blue Jays don’t have a whole lot of catching prospects, much less catching prospects that could impact the team in the next few years. The only exception is Phil Clarke.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Last season, the 26-year-old catcher slashed .307/.421/.366 with no home runs in 121 Double-A plate appearances, along with a 13.2 BB% and a 4.1 K%. He didn’t do as well once reaching Triple-A, slashing .230/.352/.323 with three home runs in 193 plate appearances, along with a 14 BB% and a 14.5 K%.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Clarke’s defence is worrisome, as he threw out less than 10% of runners while allowing eight passed balls, but the bat is interesting.</span>
<h2><b>Riley Tirotta</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Riley Tirotta had a terrific start to his season between a rehab assignment in Single-A, as well as a stint in Double-A. Starting with his tenure in New Hampshire, the 26-year-old slashed .286/.438/.464 with two home runs in 73 plate appearances, along with a 21.9 BB% and a 26 K%.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Like in Double-A and Single-A, Tirotta had a good start to his Triple-A career but slowed down throughout the season. As a whole, he slashed .240/.360/.425 with 12 home runs in 342 plate appearances, along with a 13.2 BB% and a 28.1 K%.</span>

https://twitter.com/BuffaloBisons/status/1828963981723111674

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Tirotta also played first base, third base, left field, and right field last season, with most of his time coming at first base.</span>
<h2><b>Adrian Pinto</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Blue Jays acquired Adrian Pinto before the beginning of the 2022 season, trading Randal Grichuk to the Colorado Rockies.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Pinto has spent a large portion of his Blue Jays career on the injured list but has been a good hitter when healthy. With the High-A Vancouver Canadians in 2024, the 5’6” second baseman/centre fielder slashed .300/.355/.571 with three home runs in 76 plate appearances, with 12 of his 21 hits being of the extra base variety.</span>

https://twitter.com/vancanadians/status/1822486700729475449

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Pinto is currently playing in the Arizona Fall League in an attempt to get more at-bats.</span>
<h2><b>Alex De Jesus</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Another player acquired in a trade, the Blue Jays acquired Alex De Jesus (and Mitch White) at the 2022 trade deadline by trading prospects Nick Frasso and Moises Brito.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">A big test for De Jesus coming into 2024 was moving to the upper minors. He spent his entire season with the Double-A Fisher Cats, where he slashed .260/.328/.377 with eight home runs in 425 plate appearances, along with an 8.2 BB% and a 28 K%.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">It seems like his future position lies at third base, playing 647 innings there compared to only 78 at shortstop.</span>
<h2><b>Damiano Palmegiani</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Damiano Palmegiani is the first prospect we’ve looked at so far who has a legitimate chance of being added to the 40-man roster.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The 24-year-old struggled for the first time in his career in 2024, slashing .210/.311/.381 with 19 home runs in Triple-A, including two more on a rehab assignment in Single-A. For the first time since 2019, the Blue Jays had someone not named Orelvis Martinez lead the minor league system in home runs.</span>

https://twitter.com/BuffaloBisons/status/1837931933864509446

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Palmegiani’s power potential is exactly why the Blue Jays may be forced to add him to the 40-man roster.</span>
<h2><b>Rainer Nuñez</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">One player who has had quite a few ups and downs throughout his career is Rainer Nuñez.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">After winning the Florida State League batting title and Dominican Winter League Rookie of the Year in 2022, the first baseman struggled in 2023 once reaching Double-A. Well, he repeated the level in 2024, slashing .275/.349/.416 with 12 home runs in 433 plate appearances. Moreover, his BB% rose from 6.4% to 10.2%, while Nuñez’s K% dropped from 27% in 2023 to 20.1% in 2024.</span>

https://twitter.com/FisherCats/status/1829299309780533655

<span style="font-weight: 400;">He’s been eligible for the Rule 5 draft since 2022, but it’s nice to see Nuñez find success in the upper minors.</span>
<h2><b>Eddinson Paulino</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Blue Jays acquired Eddinson Paulino before the 2024 trade deadline, along with Cutter Coffey and Gilberto Batista from the Boston Red Sox for Danny Jansen.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Between Single-A and Double-A, Paulino only had 35 plate appearances where he had five hits. However, he slashed .263/.349/.391 with three home runs in 278 plate appearances with Boston’s Double-A team in 2024.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Paulino is exactly the type of player this brass likes, as he has a good hit tool and can play third base, shortstop, and second base.</span>
<h2><b>Yohendrick Piñango</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Yohendrick Piñango is another player the Blue Jays acquired before the 2024 trade deadline that’s set to become Rule 5 eligible. The 22-year-old outfielder was acquired as they sent Nate Pearson to the Cubs for him and Josh Rivera.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">In 127 plate appearances for the Double-A Fisher Cats, Piñango had a rough go of things, slashing .179/.244/.372 with one home run, along with a 7.1 BB% and 21.3 K%. When looking at his season stats, Piñango slashed .239/.331/.389 with 10 home runs in 474 plate appearances for a 111 wRC+.</span>
<h2><b>Will Robertson</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Will Robertson is another player who has been Rule 5 eligible for quite a few seasons.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Last season in his first season in Triple-A, the 26-year-old outfielder slashed .226/.319/.429 with 19 home runs in 464 plate appearances, along with a 10.8 BB% and a 31.3 K%. Overall, Robertson finished the season with a 92 wRC+ while having a rather inconsistent season.</span>

https://twitter.com/BuffaloBisons/status/1819112833633989035

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Robertson also picked up seven assists in the outfield while only committing three errors.</span>
<h2><b>Dasan Brown</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s a matter of when, not if, Dasan Brown makes the big league roster. The question is, in what capacity?</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Brown has a ton of speed, which allows him to steal bases and play great defence in centre field, but the bat has been rather inconsistent throughout his professional career. In High-A this season, the Oakville, Ontario native slashed .257/.363/.411 with eight home runs in 329 plate appearances for a 121 wRC+.</span>

https://twitter.com/Ryley_L_D/status/1789012050141753772

<span style="font-weight: 400;">However, his first stint in the upper minors didn’t go great, as the 23-year-old slashed .217/.284/.302 with no home runs in 119 plate appearances in Double-A.</span>
<h2><b>Gabriel Martinez</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Like Brown, Gabriel Martinez’s big breakout came in 2022, hitting a career-best 14 home runs while posting a wRC+ above 135.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">However, the 22-year-old outfielder has been floundering the past two seasons, with the 2024 season being his worst yet. In Double-A, Martinez slashed .212/.270/.322 with six home runs in 397 plate appearances for a 70 wRC+, his worst season in his professional career.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Martinez is still only 22 years old, but the past two seasons have been incredibly worrisome from a development standpoint.</span>
<h2><b>Victor Arias</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Victor Arias is one of the more intriguing young outfielders in the Blue Jays system.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The 21-year-old left-handed batting outfielder had a great 2024 season. First up was Single-A, where he slashed .279/.386/.454 with eight home runs in 332 plate appearances, with a 10.8 BB% and a 21.7 K% for a 141 wRC+. He was by far the Dunedin Blue Jays’ best hitter in 2024.</span>

https://twitter.com/DunedinBlueJays/status/1816270326222802965

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Upon reaching High-A, he slashed .324/.425/.353 with no home runs in 40 plate appearances, along with a higher BB% (15%) than K% (12.5%) for a 135 wRC+.</span>
<h2><b>CJ Van Eyk</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Moving to pitchers now, CJ Van Eyk was selected in the second round of the 2020 draft, the final prospect the Blue Jays have in their organization from that draft.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">He missed all of 2022 and a large chunk of 2023 due to Tommy John surgery but returned to good health in 2024. In Double-A, Van Eyk had a 5.68 ERA and a 4.62 FIP in 95 innings pitched, with 16 of his 30 appearances being starts. Moreover, the 26-year-old had an 18.1 K% and an 8.8 BB%</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Towards the end of the season, he transitioned to the bullpen, but this may have been because of an innings limit rather than a full move to being a reliever.</span>
<h2><b>Trenton Wallace</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Of any pitcher in the Blue Jays minor league system, left-handed pitcher Trenton Wallace is arguably the most underrated.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Last season in Double-A, the 25-year-old had a 2.68 ERA and a 4.37 FIP in 80.2 innings pitched, along with a 29.8 K% and a 9.2 BB%. His tenure in Triple-A didn’t go as well, making nine starts while posting a 6.27 ERA and a 7.11 FIP in 33 innings pitched, with a 19.8 K% and a 16.7 BB%.</span>
<h2><b>Chad Dallas</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">After a terrific 2023 season, it looked like Chad Dallas could become a depth option for the Blue Jays rotation in 2024.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">However, the 24-year-old missed most of the season due to injury, including receiving Tommy John surgery in the summer. When healthy, Dallas had a 6.34 ERA and a 5.54 FIP in 61 innings pitched, along with a 17.8 K% and an 8.5 BB%.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">He won’t pitch much in 2025, if at all, so I wouldn’t expect him to be added to the 40-man roster for this reason.</span>
<h2><b>Lazaro Estrada</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Lazaro Estrada hasn’t gotten a lot of coverage but has been one of the best Blue Jays starters over the past few seasons.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Last season, he had a brief rehab assignment in Single-A to begin the year, but started his year proper in High-A. There, he had a 1.96 ERA and 41.1 innings pitched, along with a 32.7 K% and a 7.4 BB%. Upon reaching Double-A, the 25-year-old had a 4.47 ERA and a 3.42 FIP in 52.1 innings pitched.</span>

https://twitter.com/FisherCats/status/1831100861155835995

<span style="font-weight: 400;">So far in the Arizona Fall League, the Cuban righty has a 4.15 ERA in 8.2 innings pitched, along with a 40 K% and an 8.6 BB%.</span>
<h2><b>Dahian Santos</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Dahian Santos had a solid 2023 season, posting a 3.54 ERA and a 4.78 FIP in 48.1 innings pitched before missing the second half of the season. It took a while for him to return in 2024, but the results weren’t nearly as good.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The 21-year-old righty made the jump to Double-A, starting just two of the 15 games he appeared in while posting a 6 ERA and a 5.08 FIP in 27 innings pitched, with a 25.8 K% and a 16.7 BB%.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s unclear whether or not the plan for Santos is to pitch out of the bullpen as a bulk reliever, or if his lack of starts was due to returning from a long-term injury.</span>
<h2><b>Connor Cooke</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Between High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A in 2023, right-handed pitcher Connor Cooke had a 4.06 ERA and a 2.71 FIP in 44.1 innings pitched, along with a 40.6 K% and a 9.6 BB%. It’s safe to say that the reliever had a ton of hype heading into the 2024 season.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">However, it was a rough season for the 24-year-old, as he posted a 4.55 ERA and a 5.56 FIP in 31.2 innings pitched. More worrisome was the significant decrease in his K%, as it plummeted to 20.3%, while his BB% remained at a high 18.9%.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Triple-A is a tough test for most players, so it’s still far too soon to give up on the 24-year-old, but it’s fair to be concerned.</span>
<h2><b>Hayden Juenger</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Hayden Juneger has been in Triple-A for parts of three seasons now, and it’s not a hot take to say that the 2024 season was his best.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">In 54 appearances, the 24-year-old right-handed pitcher had a 4.19 ERA and a 4.20 FIP in 68.2 innings pitched, along with a 21.7 K% and an 8.8 BB%. More importantly though, his HR/9 has steadily dropped since his first season in Triple-A, sitting at 0.79 in 2024.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">There are quite a few relievers in Triple-A that could find their way to the big leagues in 2025, and Juenger offers length and an excellent three-pitch mix.</span>
<h2><b>Eric Pardinho</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Of all the prospects we’ve looked at, the only lock to make the 40-man roster is Eric Pardinho.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Once a Top 100 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, the 23-year-old Brazilian righty figured it out in 2024 between Double-A and Triple-A, posting a3.25 ERA and a 3.60 FIP in 55.1 innings pitched, along with a 28.1 K% and an 11.9 BB%.</span>

https://twitter.com/Ryley_L_D/status/1836527314605347289

<span style="font-weight: 400;">This included two, one month or longer runs where he didn’t allow an earned in a game.</span>

<hr />

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.</span></i>

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