<p>The<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/"> Toronto Blue Jays</a> signed 18 of their 19 draft picks this past summer and added a handful more before and after the draft on minor league deals. It was a boost to the Jays&#8217; farm system, which has seen a rise in the depth charts after sitting near the bottom of the rankings.</p>
<p></p>
<p>While not every player from the recent draft has found their way to the diamond just yet, such as first round pick JoJo Parker and Canadian&#8217;s Tim Piasentin and Micah Bucknam, a few players are seeing some game action with the Dunedin Blue Jays to finish off the calendar year.</p>
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<p>Here are six players who are finding some early success to kick off their pro careers.</p>
<h3>Jake Casey &#8211; OF</h3>
<p>Son of Yankees hitting coach Sean Casey, Jake seems to have gotten some helpful advice from his father before starting his pro career. A 15th-round pick out of Kent State, Casey&#8217;s first big league hit was a triple in his second game with the Jays, and he added a double the following night, collecting four RBIs in the process.</p>
<p>Through 19 games and 53 at-bats, <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-select-jake-casey-442nd-overall">Casey</a> has collected 15 hits and owns a .283/.441/.566 slash line with a 1.007 OPS. He&#8217;s also added four stolen bases and has amassed 12 RBIs out of the gate with three home runs, two of which came on the same day against the Lakeland Flying Tigers on August 19th.</p>
<p>The left-handed bat is known for his power at the plate, collecting 41 roundtrippers through 161 games at the collegiate level, and he&#8217;s finding that success early with Dunedin.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jake Casey clubs his first professional big fly &#8230; and his second!</p>
<p>The <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BlueJays</a> 2025 draftee &#8212; and son of three-time All-Star Sean Casey &#8212; checks off two milestones during his first multihomer game for the <a href="https://twitter.com/DunedinBlueJays?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DunedinBlueJays</a>. <a href="https://t.co/p4qKNI4Ueg">pic.twitter.com/p4qKNI4Ueg</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiLB/status/1957952252829987251?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h3>Maddox Latta &#8211; INF</h3>
<p>An undrafted free agent signing out of Cal State Fullerton, Maddox Latta has been one of the hottest bats for Dunedin since turning pro.</p>
<p>Through 58 at-bats, he has amassed 19 hits, including three doubles and one triple, and has also chipped in with 10 RBIs while walking six times. He owns a .328/.391/.414 slash line and a .805 OPS to start his pro career, and has been used across the field, splitting time at second base and shortstop with a couple of starts at third base mixed in. Lotta has just one error to his credit through 16 games, and his versatility looks like a welcome addition to the Blue Jays&#8217; farm system.</p>
<h3>Danny Thompson Jr. &#8211; RHP</h3>
<p>After splitting five years between North Carolina Wesleyan and UNC Greensboro, the Jays drafted right-hander Danny Thompson Jr. in the eighth round and signed him to a heavily underslot $5,000 bonus to turn pro.</p>
<p>So far, <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-select-danny-thompson-jr-232nd-overall">Thompson</a> has proven that he can handle single-A bats out of the gate. Through 8 2/3 innings, mostly in relief (he made one start, pitching two innings), Thompson owns a 1.04 ERA and a 1.038 WHIP while allowing just one earned run off of seven hits and two walks. He&#8217;s struck out five batters to the tune of a 5.2 K/9 and has generated a 48.1% groundball rate through the limited sample size.</p>
<p>His FIP is a bit elevated (4.93) because of the two walks and a home run allowed for the lone run against, but the Jays staff trust him out of the gate, with his first save already under his belt back on August 20th.</p>
<h3>Dayne Pengelly &#8211; RHP</h3>
<p>A UDFA signing out of the University of New Mexico, right-hander Dayne Pengelly began his pro career in NAIA ball before landing with Pima Community College in the JUCO circuit and then eventually in D1 with the Lobos. It&#8217;s a storied timeline, which includes a dominant stretch in the MLB Draft League (x2) that has amounted to his current opportunity, and out of the gate, Pengelly is finding success on the mound.</p>
<p>Through two starts and 4 1/3 innings, Pengelly owns a 2.08 ERA with just one run allowed off four hits and two walks. While the sample size is incredibly small compared to others listed, Pengelly separates himself from the pack because of his seven strikeouts, authoring a 14.5 K/9 to start his pro career. He&#8217;s also the only pitcher to be used as a starter only so far and could remain in the rotation moving forward after making over 22 starts for the Lobos across two collegiate seasons.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dayne Pengelly racks up 5 K’s in just 2.1 innings of work 🔥</p>
<p>The <a href="https://twitter.com/DunedinBlueJays?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DunedinBlueJays</a> righty has 7 strikeouts through his first 4.1 professional innings!<a href="https://twitter.com/DaynePengelly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DaynePengelly</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueJays</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LightsUpLetsGo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LightsUpLetsGo</a> <a href="https://t.co/vFj9kWWFWK">pic.twitter.com/vFj9kWWFWK</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Blue Jays Player Development (@JaysPlayerDev) <a href="https://twitter.com/JaysPlayerDev/status/1958320377563635860?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>The key for the 22-year-old will be to find fewer barrels as time goes on, but the upper-90s fastball and his low-80s offspeed/breaking pitches are keeping hitters off balance.</p>
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The<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/"> Toronto Blue Jays</a> signed 18 of their 19 draft picks this past summer and added a handful more before and after the draft on minor league deals. It was a boost to the Jays' farm system, which has seen a rise in the depth charts after sitting near the bottom of the rankings.



While not every player from the recent draft has found their way to the diamond just yet, such as first round pick JoJo Parker and Canadian's Tim Piasentin and Micah Bucknam, a few players are seeing some game action with the Dunedin Blue Jays to finish off the calendar year.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="330" data-promotion-id="18983" data-context="“web-content-promocard&quot;"></div>
Here are six players who are finding some early success to kick off their pro careers.
<h3>Jake Casey - OF</h3>
Son of Yankees hitting coach Sean Casey, Jake seems to have gotten some helpful advice from his father before starting his pro career. A 15th-round pick out of Kent State, Casey's first big league hit was a triple in his second game with the Jays, and he added a double the following night, collecting four RBIs in the process.

Through 19 games and 53 at-bats, <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-select-jake-casey-442nd-overall">Casey</a> has collected 15 hits and owns a .283/.441/.566 slash line with a 1.007 OPS. He's also added four stolen bases and has amassed 12 RBIs out of the gate with three home runs, two of which came on the same day against the Lakeland Flying Tigers on August 19th.

The left-handed bat is known for his power at the plate, collecting 41 roundtrippers through 161 games at the collegiate level, and he's finding that success early with Dunedin.

https://twitter.com/MiLB/status/1957952252829987251
<h3>Maddox Latta - INF</h3>
An undrafted free agent signing out of Cal State Fullerton, Maddox Latta has been one of the hottest bats for Dunedin since turning pro.

Through 58 at-bats, he has amassed 19 hits, including three doubles and one triple, and has also chipped in with 10 RBIs while walking six times. He owns a .328/.391/.414 slash line and a .805 OPS to start his pro career, and has been used across the field, splitting time at second base and shortstop with a couple of starts at third base mixed in. Lotta has just one error to his credit through 16 games, and his versatility looks like a welcome addition to the Blue Jays' farm system.
<h3>Danny Thompson Jr. - RHP</h3>
After splitting five years between North Carolina Wesleyan and UNC Greensboro, the Jays drafted right-hander Danny Thompson Jr. in the eighth round and signed him to a heavily underslot $5,000 bonus to turn pro.

So far, <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-select-danny-thompson-jr-232nd-overall">Thompson</a> has proven that he can handle single-A bats out of the gate. Through 8 2/3 innings, mostly in relief (he made one start, pitching two innings), Thompson owns a 1.04 ERA and a 1.038 WHIP while allowing just one earned run off of seven hits and two walks. He's struck out five batters to the tune of a 5.2 K/9 and has generated a 48.1% groundball rate through the limited sample size.

His FIP is a bit elevated (4.93) because of the two walks and a home run allowed for the lone run against, but the Jays staff trust him out of the gate, with his first save already under his belt back on August 20th.
<h3>Dayne Pengelly - RHP</h3>
A UDFA signing out of the University of New Mexico, right-hander Dayne Pengelly began his pro career in NAIA ball before landing with Pima Community College in the JUCO circuit and then eventually in D1 with the Lobos. It's a storied timeline, which includes a dominant stretch in the MLB Draft League (x2) that has amounted to his current opportunity, and out of the gate, Pengelly is finding success on the mound.

Through two starts and 4 1/3 innings, Pengelly owns a 2.08 ERA with just one run allowed off four hits and two walks. While the sample size is incredibly small compared to others listed, Pengelly separates himself from the pack because of his seven strikeouts, authoring a 14.5 K/9 to start his pro career. He's also the only pitcher to be used as a starter only so far and could remain in the rotation moving forward after making over 22 starts for the Lobos across two collegiate seasons.

https://twitter.com/JaysPlayerDev/status/1958320377563635860

The key for the 22-year-old will be to find fewer barrels as time goes on, but the upper-90s fastball and his low-80s offspeed/breaking pitches are keeping hitters off balance.

<hr />

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Blue Jays: 4 recent MLB Draft picks and UDFAs showing early success

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