<p>In a year where the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/">Blue Jays</a>&#8216; farm system has taken a massive step forward, thanks in large part to a monstrous 2024 draft class and some holdovers having breakout seasons, no singular prospect has improved their stock more than starter Gage Stanifer.</p>
<p>The 21-year-old right-hander burst onto everybody&#8217;s radar this season while he was piggybacking Trey Yesavage starts down in Dunedin and putting up zero after zero after zero across four to five innings each outing while displaying elite swing and miss stuff. He received a promotion to Vancouver in early June and has continued to dominate his competition, earning <a href="https://twitter.com/milb_central/status/1962364240678863194">another reported promotion</a> to New Hampshire.</p>
<div class="mb-5">Stanifer was a 19th-round pick by the Blue Jays out of Westfield High School (Westfield, Indiana) in the 2022 amateur draft. There was some talk that he’d forego signing with an MLB team to honour his commitment to the Cincinnati Bearcats. Regardless, the Blue Jays took a shot at upside and selected Stanifer late and were able to come to terms with him on a $125,000 signing bonus.</div>
<div></div>
<div><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-90692" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/08/gage-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1024" srcset="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/08/gage-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/08/gage-300x300.jpg 300w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/08/gage-150x150.jpg 150w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/08/gage-768x768.jpg 768w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/08/gage-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/08/gage.jpg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
<div></div>
<div>In his third professional season in the Blue Jays farm system, Stanifer has taken off.</div>
<div></div>
<div>In 102 innings pitched, he&#8217;s put together a 2.56 ERA/2.30 FIP/2.44 SIERA while striking out 36.6% of all hitters he&#8217;s faced and generating a solid amount of groundballs (44%) across two levels A/A+. His elite pitch mix has firmly put him in the Trey Yesavage and Johnny King tier of pitching prospects in the system, and I would be shocked if the latter two didn&#8217;t find themselves on some top 100 lists as we head towards the minor league offseason.</div>
<div></div>
<div>
<div class="mb-5">Stanifer wields a four-pitch mix which includes a sinker, slider, changeup, and 4-seam fastball. All four of his offerings grade as above average by stuff+. His 4-seamer is comfortably a plus pitch, potentially double-plus. It sits in the mid-90s, producing 17.3″ of IVB, 2308 RPM, and is unbelievably flat as evidenced by its -4.3 VAA. This gives the illusion that the pitch is “rising,” which allows it to play incredibly well at the top of the strike zone, as evidenced by the high 40% whiff rate. It’s also the pitch Stanifer uses the least, which is intriguing. His sinker has also produced phenomenal results, and it’s more of an east-west pitch, while the 4-seamer is more north-south. There’s room to incorporate both in his usage.</div>
</div>
<div></div>
<div>Stanifer&#8217;s dominant 2025 has put him firmly on the radar of not only the Blue Jays&#8217; brass but also fans.</div>
<div></div>
<div>
<hr />
</div>
<div><strong>PRESENTED BY 6IX INNING STRETCH PODCAST</strong></div>
<div>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@bluejaysnationdotcom"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-88534" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2099/08/6IS-107-GRA_ShowPromo_727x404-V4.2.png" alt="" width="727" height="404" srcset="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2099/08/6IS-107-GRA_ShowPromo_727x404-V4.2.png 727w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2099/08/6IS-107-GRA_ShowPromo_727x404-V4.2-300x167.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 727px) 100vw, 727px" /></a></p>
<p>Love baseball? Don’t miss The 6ix Inning Stretch — the brand new podcast from The Nation Network, presented by Betway. Hosted by Toronto sports reporter Lindsay Dunn and 3-time MLB All-Star Whit Merrifield, this weekly show delivers insider stories, unfiltered Jays talk, player interviews, and expert analysis from around the majors. New episodes drop every Wednesday — listen on your favourite podcast platform or watch on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@bluejaysnationdotcom" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/@bluejaysnationdotcom&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1752618160475000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0OzeJ9qt2a5kxzVjmdwaEg">Bluejaysnation YouTube channel.</a></p>
</div>


In a year where the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/">Blue Jays</a>' farm system has taken a massive step forward, thanks in large part to a monstrous 2024 draft class and some holdovers having breakout seasons, no singular prospect has improved their stock more than starter Gage Stanifer.

The 21-year-old right-hander burst onto everybody's radar this season while he was piggybacking Trey Yesavage starts down in Dunedin and putting up zero after zero after zero across four to five innings each outing while displaying elite swing and miss stuff. He received a promotion to Vancouver in early June and has continued to dominate his competition, earning <a href="https://twitter.com/milb_central/status/1962364240678863194">another reported promotion</a> to New Hampshire.
<div class="mb-5">Stanifer was a 19th-round pick by the Blue Jays out of Westfield High School (Westfield, Indiana) in the 2022 amateur draft. There was some talk that he’d forego signing with an MLB team to honour his commitment to the Cincinnati Bearcats. Regardless, the Blue Jays took a shot at upside and selected Stanifer late and were able to come to terms with him on a $125,000 signing bonus.</div>
<div></div>
<div><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-90692" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/08/gage-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1024" /></div>
<div></div>
<div>In his third professional season in the Blue Jays farm system, Stanifer has taken off.</div>
<div></div>
<div>In 102 innings pitched, he's put together a 2.56 ERA/2.30 FIP/2.44 SIERA while striking out 36.6% of all hitters he's faced and generating a solid amount of groundballs (44%) across two levels A/A+. His elite pitch mix has firmly put him in the Trey Yesavage and Johnny King tier of pitching prospects in the system, and I would be shocked if the latter two didn't find themselves on some top 100 lists as we head towards the minor league offseason.</div>
<div></div>
<div>
<div class="mb-5">Stanifer wields a four-pitch mix which includes a sinker, slider, changeup, and 4-seam fastball. All four of his offerings grade as above average by stuff+. His 4-seamer is comfortably a plus pitch, potentially double-plus. It sits in the mid-90s, producing 17.3″ of IVB, 2308 RPM, and is unbelievably flat as evidenced by its -4.3 VAA. This gives the illusion that the pitch is “rising,” which allows it to play incredibly well at the top of the strike zone, as evidenced by the high 40% whiff rate. It’s also the pitch Stanifer uses the least, which is intriguing. His sinker has also produced phenomenal results, and it’s more of an east-west pitch, while the 4-seamer is more north-south. There’s room to incorporate both in his usage.</div>
</div>
<div></div>
<div>Stanifer's dominant 2025 has put him firmly on the radar of not only the Blue Jays' brass but also fans.</div>
<div></div>
<div>

<hr />

</div>
<div><strong>PRESENTED BY 6IX INNING STRETCH PODCAST</strong></div>
<div>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@bluejaysnationdotcom"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-88534" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2099/08/6IS-107-GRA_ShowPromo_727x404-V4.2.png" alt="" width="727" height="404" /></a>

Love baseball? Don’t miss The 6ix Inning Stretch — the brand new podcast from The Nation Network, presented by Betway. Hosted by Toronto sports reporter Lindsay Dunn and 3-time MLB All-Star Whit Merrifield, this weekly show delivers insider stories, unfiltered Jays talk, player interviews, and expert analysis from around the majors. New episodes drop every Wednesday — listen on your favourite podcast platform or watch on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@bluejaysnationdotcom" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/@bluejaysnationdotcom&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1752618160475000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0OzeJ9qt2a5kxzVjmdwaEg">Bluejaysnation YouTube channel.</a>

</div>

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