Blue Jays Nation’s 2025 Pre-Season Prospect Countdown – No. 34: Lazaro Estrada
Photo credit: © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Feb 6, 2025, 19:15 ESTUpdated: Feb 20, 2025, 03:55 EST
Today’s prospect has steadily put up good results in the Toronto Blue Jays system over the last few seasons.
This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual Pre-Season Prospect Countdown, this time looking at the top 40 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 our 34th-best prospect, Lazaro Estrada.
Getting to know Lazaro Estrada…
Position: Starting pitcher
Throws: Right
Born: April 24, 1999
Acquired: 2017-18 International Free Agency
Previous ranking: Not ranked
Estrada signed in early 2018 from Cuba. He made his debut the same season, posting a respectable 2.06 ERA and a 2.48 FIP in 70 innings pitched with a 31.2 K% and a 4.3 BB%. The next season, Estrada’s ERA jumped to 5.85 with a 5.54 FIP in 47.2 innings pitched.
He had limited action in 2021, pitching just 20.1 innings pitched with a 2.66 ERA and a 3.54 FIP between Single-A and High-A. It was much of the same in 2022, as he pitched just 19 innings between the Florida Complex League and Single-A where he had a 3.79 ERA and a 1.95 FIP.
Estrada returned to full-time action in 2023, pitching exclusively in Single-A. That season as a 24-year-old, Estrada had a 2.83 ERA and FIP in 76.1 innings pitched, with a 33.3 K% and an 8.4 BB%.
The Cuban right-handed pitcher started the 2024 season in Single-A, making two starts where he had a 1.93 ERA and a 2.70 FIP in 4.2 innings pitched. He earned a call-up to High-A early in the year and finished his tenure with the Vancouver Canadians posting a 1.96 ERA and a 3.24 FIP in 41.1 innings pitched. Estrada ended the season with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, posting a 4.47 ERA and a 3.42 FIP in 52.1 innings pitched.
Altogether, he had a 3.29 ERA and a 3.31 FIP in 98.1 innings pitched, with a 28 K% and an 8.2 BB% in 2024. Due to missing part of the start of the season, Estrada was one of the Blue Jay representatives who pitched in the Arizona Fall League where he had a 3.86 ERA, 41.3 K%, and an 8.7 BB% in 11.2 innings pitched.
Estrada’s fastball sits in the mid-90s, paired with the best curveball in the Jays organization and a good slider. He earned an invite to Spring Training and could potentially factor into the Blue Jays’ plans in 2025 if all goes well in Triple-A.
As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.
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