Blue Jays top prospect Ricky Tiedemann struck out four in his latest rehab outing

Here’s some good Ricky Tiedemann news for your Wednesday evening.

Toronto’s top prospect tossed 2.1 innings and allowed zero hits, zero runs, two walks, and five strikeouts for Single-A Dunedin earlier tonight, marking his second straight scoreless outing. Wednesday’s outing was the third rehab appearance Tiedemann has made on his path back to Triple-A. As you know, he hit the 7-day Injured List in mid-April due to inflammation in his pitching elbow.

Tiedemann threw 44 pitches on the night with 10 whiffs – six on the fastball, and two on both the sweeper and changeup. Only four of his nineteen fastballs registered under 95 mph, with his fastest one maxing out at 98.1. The two walks Tiedemann allowed were in consecutive at-bats with one out in the second inning. However, he collected himself nicely and struck out Lakeland’s David Smith and Daneurys De La Cruz on fastballs to end the inning.

Also making a rehab outing for Dunedin tonight was 1B Joey Votto, who continues to work his way back from ankle and back injuries. Votto went 0-for-3 with a pair of lineouts and a groundout, although the lineouts had xBAs of .750 and .630. Despite being pulled after three at-bats, it was the second consecutive day that Votto made a rehab outing as the Blue Jays continue to ramp his play back up.

In other minor league news, 10th-ranked prospect Kendry Rojas made a start last night for the FCL Blue Jays, pitching three scoreless innings and allowing two hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. Rojas began the season with High-A Vancouver, but was placed on the IL with an undisclosed injury after only two starts.

Rojas wasn’t among Toronto’s Top 30 prospects a year ago, but he shot all the way up to #10 this season thanks to an increase in velocity. Moreover, the Cuba-native has a fastball/slider/changeup mix. Since being signed in October of 2020, the lefty has accumulated 157 innings and has held a 3.55 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in those frames.