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Blue Jays Arizona Fall League check-in: Jake Cook and Brandon Barriera off to good starts
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Photo credit: MLB.com
Cynthia Ryley Delaney
Oct 13, 2026, 15:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 13, 2026, 11:42 EDT
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While the Toronto Blue Jays’ season may be done, a handful of their prospects are still playing in the Arizona Fall League.
In the 2026 edition, eight Blue Jays’ prospects are representing the Mesa Solar Sox, who have begun the season with a 2-4 record, second last in the six team league. It hasn’t been the fault of the majority of the Blue Jays’ prospects there, as several have had a strong start to their 2026 autumn campaign.
The 2026 Arizona Fall League has been going on for 10 days now, so let’s check in on how Blue Jays’ prospects are performing during the month-long season.

Pitchers

Three pitchers have hurled scoreless outings so far. Southpaw Brandon Barriera has appeared in one game, pitching two innings, where he struck out two, didn’t walk a batter, and gave up an unearned run. This is good news for the Blue Jays’ first-round pick in 2022, as he’s spent the vast majority of his career injured.
Barriera pitched his lone game (October 6th) in relief, with 17 of his 27 pitches being four-seam fastballs. The heater averaged 93.1 mph, topped out at 94.5 mph, and generated two swings and misses on eight total swings. Barriera’s slider was his second-most used pitch, generating two whiffs on four total swings, giving him a 31 whiff percentage for the game. Pretty strong outing.
Jake Bloss began that outing, going six up, six down thanks to two fly outs, two ground outs, and two pop outs while throwing just 24 pitches. He used all five of his pitches, but threw his fastball the most, getting a swing and miss on eight total swings. That was his lone whiff, as he finished with an eight whiff percentage for the game. Still, the heater was up, averaging 94.6 mph and touching 95.6 mph.
Bloss was scheduled to start on Monday, but that game was postponed due to weather.
The other Blue Jays’ prospect who has yet to give up an earned run is reliever Yondrei Rojas. In his two outings, the right-handed pitcher has struck out four, walked two, and gave up an unearned run in four innings of work.
In his first outing on October 5th, the righty threw 38 pitches, generating three whiffs on seven total swings with his sinker. The two-seamer averaged 94.7 mph and he topped out at 97.1 mph with his fastball. In his second outing on October 9th, Rojas generated just one whiff with a heater that average a tick above 95 mph and topped out at 96.8 mph.
Gilberto Batista’s first outing was solid, striking out two over an inning and one-third while picking up the win. His second appearance didn’t go nearly as well, walking three and giving up two earned runs over two-thirds of an inning. In the loss, his fastball averaged 94.8 mph and he generated three whiffs on three total swings with his cutter. Funnily enough, Batista managed to generate just two whiffs in his first outing, with a fastball that averaged 95.5 mph.
Fernando Perez started October 9th’s game, which happened to be Rojas and Batista’s most recent outings. Perez went an inning and a third, walking two and giving up two earned runs. It was a tough outing for the righty, as none of his 32 pitches generated a whiff. His heater averaged 91.2 mph.

Position players

Of the three position players the Blue Jays sent to the AFL, no one is having a better start to their month-long campaign than Jake Cook. In his 14 plate appearances, the outfielder is slashing .364/.500/.364 with four singles, two walks, and five strikeouts. He’s been a menace on the base paths as well, going 5/5 in stolen base attempts. The strikeout rate remains an issue and he’ll need to hit for some more power.
Fellow Jake, Jake Casey, is slashing just .125/.333/.375, but has managed to hit a home run and a double while also stealing five bases. More concerning is his strikeout rate, as the outfielder has a 42.9 K% over his 21 plate appearances.
Aaron Parker has seen limited action in the Solar Sox’ six games, but registered three singles in his five plate appearances, giving him a line of .600/.600/.600. He’s also stolen a base and driven in a run. Parker started his only game behind the plate, committing an error and throwing out a runner in three attempts. Hopefully he’ll get some looks in the outfield.
While he’s no longer a Blue Jays’ prospect, Arjun Nimmala has had a strong start to his AFL campaign. Over 26 plate appearances, the shortstop is slashing .238/.385/.381 with a home run and five hits.
Cynthia Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, DFOEdmonton, and DFOCalgary. She can be followed on Twitter @CynthiaRDelaney.
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