Blue Jays Nation’s Pre-Season Prospect Countdown – No. 17: Jace Bohrofen

Photo credit:WA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton

5 months ago

Today’s prospect is the highest-ranked position player from the 2023 draft!

This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual pre-season list, in which I’ll take a look at the top 50 prospects in the organization. We’ll look at the player’s stats, my observations, and other publications’ scouting reports if available.

Let’s take a look at Jace Bohrofen

Getting to know Bohrofen…

Position: Outfield

Bats: Left

Born: October 19, 2001

Acquired: 6th-round, 2023 draft

2023 Team: Single-A Dunedin

Previous Ranking: 19

Bohrofen spent a season at the University of Oklahoma, before transferring to the University of Arkansas to finish his last two collegiate seasons. With the Razorbacks in 2023, Bohrofen slashed .318/.436/.612 with 16 home runs in 267 plate appearances, along with a 12 BB% and a 23.6 K%.

In total, Bohrofen slashed .281/.392/.521 with 21 collegiate home runs in 497 plate appearances, along with an 11.5 BB% and a 23.7 K% from 2021 to 2023. This prompted the Jays to select Bohrofen in the sixth-round of the 2023 draft.

Bohrofen started his professional career with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays, slashing .267/.450/.467 with a homer in 20 plate appearances. Moreover, he struck out six times and walked four times.

The Jays obviously felt he was advanced enough, so they promoted him to Single-A. There, he slashed .306/.442/.677 with six homers in 77 plate appearances. Moreover, he walked 19.5% of the time, while striking out just 23.4%. There’s something to say about a small sample size, but six homers in that span of time, but if anything, it shows his raw power.

Bohrofen ranks on two lists, as Scott Mitchell has him as his 17th-best Blue Jays prospect, while Baseball America has him as their 20th-best Blue Jays prospect. Moreover, Fangraphs briefly mention him in their “hitters to monitor” section, saying he (and Devonte Brown) are 50 power and 40 hit players in the future.

Mitchell puts it bluntly by saying that he’s a power hitting corner outfielder and compares him to Will Robertson. Some have the belief that Bohrofen could have a breakout season in his first full professional season.

Either way, the 2024 season will be an exciting one for Bohrofen, as the raw power is there. I’d imagine he’ll start the season in High-A with the Vancouver Canadians.