Large Adult Son Update: Good things are happening in the upper minors

It’s incredibly easy (and reasonable!) to get enamoured with the high-end of Toronto’s farm system, aka Bo and Vlad, as they appear to be a core very much worth building around in the not-so-distant future. But another thing that’s exciting about Toronto’s future noticeable at the upper levels of the system is the volume of depth the organization has. While Vlad has been injured and Bo hasn’t lit the world on fire in 2018, there have been a wealth of performances in Buffalo and New Hampshire from older prospects that round out the depth within the organization.

Probably the biggest revelation this season in the system has been fireballer Sean Reid-Foley. After an ugly year in Double-A in which he posted a 5.09 ERA, Reid-Foley dominated the level in his second time around. That resulted in a mid-season call-up to Triple-A which, save for one really bad start, has been extremely good. In his first start with the Bisons, Reid-Foley got tagged for eight runs over two-and-a-third innings, but, since then, he’s posted eight quality starts in 11 outings. In his last two outings, he’s scattered three hits over 12 innings of work. Expect Reid-Foley to join Ryan Borucki in the pitching rotation come September as J.A. Happ, Marco Estrada, and Jaime Garcia likely move on.

Last year’s exciting revelation in the system, Danny Jansen, has continued to rake all year at Triple-A. Yesterday, he smacked a coupe of bombs in a win, pushing him up to 10 on the season. Jansen has an .881 OPS this year with Buffalo, which is in line with the .884 OPS he put up over three different levels in 2017. I imagine we’ll be seeing Jansen, who’s on the 40-man roster currently, on the team in September.

There hasn’t been much positive to say about Rowdy Tellez over the past couple seasons as he’s struggled to find his footing at the Triple-A level, but he’s been raking as of late. In his past seven games, Tellez is 10-for-27 with four bombs. His OPS is up to .768 on the season, which still isn’t spectacular, but is a major improvement on the .628 OPS he posted last year.

A prospect who gets very little attention (probably because he’s 26) is Jonathan Davis. I think he’s the one who went as JD Davis and played on the same team as DJ Davis which confused the fuck out of everybody but I could be wrong. Regardless, Davis got the recall to Buffalo after posting an .830 OPS in Double-A. Over his first eight games, he’s got 12 hits in 34 at bats.

When Reid-Foley inevitably gets the call to the big leagues in September, a couple pitchers in Double-A will likely get their chance at the Triple-A level to finish the season. First in line would be Jordan Romano, who, after a bit of a mid-season blip, is back to dominating with the Fisher Cats. Romano had the best start of his season (perhaps career, honestly) last week, allowing just three hits over eight shutout innings. In his last three starts, the Canadian righty has surrendered just three runs on 14 hits and three walks in 21 innings.