Blue Jays Nation’s Mid-Season Prospect Countdown – No. 35: Trent Palmer

Photo credit: Dunedin Blue Jays

Aug 17, 2023, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 17, 2023, 19:57 EDT

After a year long layoff, the prospect we’ll cover in this article recently made his 2023 debut!

Just a quick recap of the mid-season list: We’ll look at the player’s stats, my observations, and finally other publications (Prospects Live, MLB Pipeline, Baseball America)’ scouting reports.

Let’s look at Trent Palmer!

Getting to know Trent Palmer…

Position: Starting Pitcher

Throws: Right

Born: April 2, 1999

Acquired: 3rd round, 2020 draft (Blue Jays)

Current Team: FCL Jays (rehab)

Previous Ranking: 29

The 24-year-old righty was drafted in the COVID-shortened 2020 draft, selected with the 77th overall pick. He’s only pitched two innings in 2023, not allowing a run an owning a 3.47 FIP, along with two strikeouts and a walk.

However, we can look at his 2022 for more information. He started last season with the High-A Vancouver Canadians, where he posted a 4.18 ERA and a 4.76 FIP in 23.2 innings pitched. Not great, right? Well, Palmer had an outstanding 32.1 K%, while his BB% dropped to 7.1%. This is notable, as he had a 15.8 BB% in his debut season with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays in 2021.

This earned him a swift promotion to Doiuble-A New Hampshire, where he had a 3.69 ERA and a 4.36 FIP in 31.2 innings pitched, along with a 24.3 K% and an 11 BB%. The last time he pitched in 2022 was on July 1st, before receiving Tommy John surgery in August of the same year.

Ryley Delaney

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@palmer2413's first K of the night. #BlueJays #NextLevel

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11:02 PM · Jul 1, 2022

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Long-term injuries tend to hurt a prospect’s stock when it comes to MLB Pipeline, However, we’ll look at his 2022 profile for some more info. He throws a fastball, curveball, slider, and changeup, with the latter being his best pitch, while his fastball sits in the low-90s. The righty is able to use all four pitches all over the zone against both right-handed batters and left-handed batters. Palmer is also the definition of a “bulldog” on the mound.

Missing a season of development is never a good thing, but Palmer interesting stuff that could push him to Triple-A as soon as next season. Even if it doesn’t work out as a starter, Palmer’s changeup and fastball could be well suited for the bullpen.