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Blue Jays prospect Dylan Watts promoted to High-A Vancouver
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Photo credit: © Peter Aiken-Imagn Images
Michael Coyle
Jun 16, 2026, 18:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 16, 2026, 16:18 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays’ pitching pipeline continues to take steps forward. 
On Tuesday, another promotion within the farm system was announced as right-hander Dylan Watts is moving up from Single-A Dunedin to High-A Vancouver after a strong start to the 2026 season. 
Watts is in the midst of his first professional season after the Blue Jays selected the 21-year-old during the seventh round of the 2025 MLB Draft. Watts came to the Blue Jays’ organization after two seasons with the Auburn Tigers, in which he worked almost exclusively as a reliever. Over his two seasons, Watts pitched in 32 games (five starts) and went 2-5 with a 7.25 ERA and 1.61 WHIP across 58.1 innings pitched. 
Since joining the professional level, Watts has found a whole new level of success.
Through 12 games (six starts), Watts is 3-0 with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP across 43.2 innings pitched. After striking out over a batter an inning during his time at Auburn, Watts has continued to showcase an ability to miss bats, highlighted by his 45 punchouts over 43.1 frames. 
Watts’ best outing of the season came on May 29 during the Blue Jays’ 8-3 win in 10 innings over the Clearwater Threshers. Watts entered the game in the bottom of the fourth and ended up turning in a pitching line of 5.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K to pick up his second career professional win. For his efforts, Watts was named Florida State League’s Pitcher of the Week, a nice achievement in his first season. 
The hitless outing on May 29 wrapped up a strong month of May in which Watts went 1-0 with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP across his 20 innings pitched. Watts opened June with much of the same success, tossing six scoreless frames before he was tagged for five earned runs over five innings in his most recent appearance with the Blue Jays. 
While it remains to be seen what role Watts will be used in upon his promotion to the Canadians, the right-hander has continued to show the ability to pitch deeper into games, as he hasn’t thrown fewer than three innings in his second outing of the season back on April 10. 
The Canadians’ rotation already consists of top 30 prospects Johnny King, Nolan Perry, and Daniel Guerra, who is currently on the 7-day injured list, so Watts is set to bring another talented arm to a team already filled with high-profile pitchers in the organization. 

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