Blue Jays announce rosters for Double-A, High-A, and Low-A affiliates
1 year ago
On Wednesday afternoon, three Blue Jays affiliates released their opening day rosters.
In this article, we’ll look at surprises from the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats’ roster, the High-A Vancouver Canadians roster, and the Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays roster.
Last week, I did a series of three articles on the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons roster. You can read the position players here, the starting pitchers here, and the relief pitchers here.
Let’s start with Double-A:
New Hampshire Fisher Cats’ roster:
Toronto’s Double-A team kicks off their season on April 6th at 6:00 PM. Their roster is similar to last season’s, but let’s look at the promotions, the one demotion, and who is missing.
Damiano Palmegiani certainly earned the promotion. Last season, the 23-year-old slashed .239/.342/.473 with 24 homers in 500 plate appearances with Low-A Dunedin and High-A Vancouver. Palmegiani hits nukes, doesn’t strike out a ton, and can take a walk. He ranked as Blue Jays Nation’s 10th-overall prospect.
Troy Watson is a name you should know. The reliever averages fastballs in the high-90s and had a 32 K% in 29 innings pitched between the FCL, Low-A, and High-A in 2022, along with a 2.79 ERA. He could rise up the minor league system quickly.
The other promotions to Double-A include Miguel Hiraldo, Leo Jimenez, and Steward Berroa. Jimenez is on the 40-man roster and had an on-base percentage of .340 while hitting a career-high of six homers in 2022. Hiraldo has some power as a second baseman (11 homers in High-A), it’s a big season for the 22-year-old. Steward Berroa led the Blue Jays organization in stolen bases, stealing 47 bases in 54 attempts.
Adrián Hernández was the lone “demotion”, but my theory is that he was placed in Double-A so he could get more high-leverage innings. As you may know, Buffalo’s bullpen is absolutely insane for Triple-A, and they also have plenty of high-leverage relievers.
Pitchers repeating the level: Andrew Bash, Jimmy Burnette, Parker Caraci, Jol Concepcion, Nick Fraze, Adam Kloffenstein, Alejandro Melean, Sean Mellen, Gabriel Ponce, Luis Quiñones, Sem Robberse, Jimmy Robbins, and Paxton Schultz are the pitchers that will repeat the level.
Position players repeating the level: Orelvis Martinez is the most notable of the players repeating, but Luis De Los Santos, Zac Cook, Sebastian Espino, and Will Robertson will also repeat the level.
Hagen Danner and Ricky Tiedemann are the two notable players missing from the roster. Danner was assigned to New Hampshire on March 29th but was shut down on March 11th due to right forearm inflammation. Ricky Tiedemann is expected to join the Fisher Cats “soon”, according to MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson.
Vancouver Canadians roster:
Like the New Hampshire Fisher Cats’ roster, Vancouver’s roster remains quite similar to last season. Let’s look at the promotions and who remains on the roster. Thanks to CsPlusBaseball for the roster sheet.
Cade Doughty was selected with the 78th overall pick in the 2022 draft. He got an aggressive promotion to High-A after slashing .272/.370/.495 in 119 plate appearances and adding six regular season homers with the Dunedin Blue Jays in 2022.
Devonte Brown had the highest wRC+ out of any player in the Blue Jays system with 100+ plate appearances. Somehow, he was an undrafted free agent, yet he slashed .308/.477/.449 in 107 plate appearances with Dunedin in 2022. He also had a higher BB% (22.4%) than K% (19.6%), along with two homers. It’s pretty evident he needs a new test.
The Jays also promoted Josh Kasevich (100 wRC+ with Dunedin in 2022) and Alan Roden (105 wRC+ in Low-A in 2022) to High-A to round out position players drafted in 2022. They also promoted Estiven Machado, who slashed .263/.342/.345 with a homer in 380 plate appearances with the Dunedin Blue Jays in 2022.
Cooper Benson was selected in the 17th round of the 2021 draft, and man, he looked great last season. Between the FCL and Low-A, he had a 1.80 ERA in 35 innings pitched, along with a 37 K% and a 5.1 BB%. Keep an eye on him.
Adam Macko was a part of the Teoscar Hernández trade in November 2022. He had a 35.9 K% in 38.1 innings pitched with Seattle’s High-A team last season. He missed the majority of the season due to injury, but his fastball and curveball are insane.
Pitchers repeating the level: T.J. Brock, Connor Cooke, Chad Dallas, Michael Dominguez, Mason Fluharty, Hunter Gregory, Devereaux Harrison, Justin Kelly, Conor Larkin, Abdiel Mendoza, Eric Pardinho, Naswell Paulino, Sam Ryan, Dahian Santos, and Trenton Wallace
Position players repeating the level: Jommer Hernandez, Andres Sosa, Alex De Jesus, Rainer Núñez, Glenn Santiago, Riley Tirotta, Michael Turconi, Dasan Brown, Gabriel Martinez, and Garrett Spain.
Dunedin Blue Jays roster:
The lowest A-ball level has some intriguing prospects. Let’s look at some of the debuting players, who’s repeating, and who’s missing!
Sammy Hernandez was selected in the 14th round of the 2022 MLB draft. His professional debut in the Florida Complex League was meh, as he slashed .067/.125/.067 in 16 plate appearances. However, he had an excellent spring training on both sides of the ball (he’s a catcher), so the 18-year-old will make his debut with the Dunedin Blue Jays.
Jaden Rudd played for Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic. He slashed .333/.600/.500, with his .600 on-base percentage being the 10th highest in the tournament. Last season with the FCL team, he slashed .203/.363/.320 with two homers in 162 plate appearances. An encouraging sign was his 17.3 BB% and 19.1 K%. He also has a strong arm in the outfield and was an excellent pitcher in high school, but he’ll stick in a corner outfield position.
Tucker Toman was selected 77th overall in the 2022 draft. He started his professional career with the FCL Blue Jays, slashing .289/.391/.368 with five RBIs in just 46 plate appearances. He also had a 119 wRC+. The switch-hitting third baseman/shortstop is a prospect who could end up on Top 100 lists within the next two seasons. Keep an eye on him.
There are two pitchers who’ll make their professional debuts after signing minor league deals. Kevin Miranda has a nasty changeup and was signed out of LSU Shreveport, where Vancouver Canadians manager Brent Lavallee managed prior to joining the Blue Jays organization. Grayson Thurman was signed in March and had a 2.61 ERA and a 36.7 K% in 158.1 innings pitched in D3 ball. In 65 innings in summer ball, he had a 1.66 ERA and a 41.9 K%.
Pitchers repeating the level: Eliander Alcalde, Alex Amalfi, Ryan Chasse, Ian Churchill, Lazaro Estrada, Ryan Jennings, Keiner Leon, Rafael Ohashi, Kelvin Perez, Nathanael Perez, Kendry Rojas, Yondrei Rojas, Harry Rutkowski, and Rafael Sanchez all return to the Blue Jays.
Position players repeating the level: Manuel Beltre, Rikelbin De Castro, Angel Del Rosario, Ryan McCarty, Adrian Pinto, Peyton Williams, Marcos De La Rosa, J.C. Masson, Robert Robertis, Roque Salinas, and Nicolas Deschamps return to the Blue Jays.
Brandon Barriera is the biggest omission on any A-ball roster. The 2022 first-rounder has yet to make his professional debut. According to TSN’s Scott Mitchell, Brandon Barriera is still building up.
What’s next:
It’s been a hot minute since the Buffalo Bisons have played, as their tarp was destroyed and they’ve had some problems with water on their field. With that being said, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats make their debut on Thursday at 6:00 PM, available on MiLB.tv. The Dunedin Blue Jays will follow suit at 7:00 PM, but that sadly won’t be streamed.
Looking ahead to Friday, the Bisons will (hopefully) make their home debut at an unannounced time. The Fisher Cats and Baby Blue Jays will resume their series at 6:00 PM and 7:00 PM respectively, while the Vancouver Canadians make their season debut at 10:05 PM.
Either way, the minor leagues have kicked off in high gear, so enjoy!
As always, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Brennan_L_D.
ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO
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