Blue Jays Nation’s Pre-Season Prospect Countdown – No. 46: Trent Palmer

Photo credit:Dunedin Blue Jays

6 months ago

This pitcher will look to raise his stock after missing most of the 2023 season.

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 Trent Palmer.

Getting to know Trent Palmer…

Position: Starting Pitcher

Throws: Right

Born: April 2, 1999

Acquired: 3rd-round pick, 2020 draft (Blue Jays)

2023 Team: Double-A New Hampshire

Previous Ranking: 39

Palmer had a great debut season in the Jays organization in 2021, when he had a 3 ERA and a 3.50 FIP in 63 innings pitched with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays. He had a fantastic 31.2 K%, but struggled with the walk rate as it sat at 15.8%.

The third-round pick in 2020 had a solid start to his 2022 season, pitching to a 4.18 ERA and a 4.76 FIP in 23.2 innings pitched with the High-A Vancouver Canadians.The ERA and FIP weren’t fantastic by any means, but his 32.1 K% and 7.1 BB% were encouraging to say the least.

Toronto promoted him to Double-A New Hampshire, where he had a 3.69 ERA and a 4.36 FIP in 31.2 innings pitched, along with a 24.3 K% and an 11 BB%. Unfortunately, his season came to an end on July 1, 2022 as he required Tommy John surgery that cut into his 2023 season as well.

He pitched a handful of innings between the Florida Complex League and Single-A, giving up two earned runs in 7 and two thirds worth of innings, while walking seven and striking out eight. To get more innings, the Blue Jays sent Palmer to the Arizona Fall League.

With the 2023 Arizona Fall League champions, Palmer struggled with a 13.91 ERA in 11 innings pitched. On top of that ERA, he also walked 18.8% of batters, the same percentage as his K%. Palmer needs to have a big 2024 season as he’ll be turning 25 early in the season.

The stuff is good, his changeup is one of the best in the organization, while his fastball sits in the low-90s. He throws all four of his pitches, a fastball, slider, curveball, and changeup, to both lefties and righties and is effective all over the zone, but has shown command and control issues in years’ previous.

If he can get back on track, Palmer could provide upper-minor starting pitching depth that the Blue Jays desperately need, while better positioning himself to make the Blue Jays in the coming years.