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Instant Reaction: Blue Jays prospects rally falls short in 5-4 defeat to Phillies prospects
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Photo credit: © Ray Seebeck - Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Mar 21, 2026, 16:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 21, 2026, 16:11 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays prospects played the third annual Spring Breakout game on Saturday.
Unfortunately, a late rally fell short, as the Blue Jays prospects lost 5-4 to the Philadelphia Phillies prospects. Since the inaugural Spring Breakout game in 2024, the Blue Jays are 1-2. Let’s take a look at what went on this one.
Austin Cates started the game for the Blue Jays, but he got off to a rocky start. After getting the first out, he gave up a home run to Aroon Escobar, giving the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Felix Reyes hit a solo home run to make it 2-0.
The Jays managed to cut the Phillies lead in half in the top of the third, as Sean Keys led off the inning with a double. After Arjun Nimmala struck out and Jake Casey grounded out, Keys was brought in thanks to an RBI single from Charles McAdoo.
That was all the scoring until the bottom of the eighth. With Adam Macko on the mound, he gave up a lead-off single to Carson DeMartini, who promptly stole second base. Dylan Campbell hit a single to put runners on the corners, and after a ground out, Canadian Dante Nori hit a single up the middle that scored two. Nori came in to score after stealing second, advancing to third on a wild pitch, and trotting home thanks to an Escobar double.
The Jays showed some fight in the top of the ninth, as Josh Rivera led off the inning with a single, followed by an Edward Duran walk. JoJo Parker also walked, and down to their final out, Juan Sanchez hit a bases-clearing double to make it 5-4.
Unfortunately, that’s the closest the Jays came, as it looked as if Aaron Parker hit a three-run shot, but it was deemed to be a foul. He grounded out on the next pitch to end the game.

Takeaways…

The Blue Jays’ prospects totalled just six hits, but the two most impressive hits came from two young shortstop prospects. JoJo Parker’s single in the top of the seventh had an exit velocity of 109.1 mph, the hardest-hit ball in the game. It also happened to be his first professional hit in his first professional at-bat. Juan Sanchez a bases-clearing hit a double, with the ball coming off the bat at 105.6 mph, the fourth hardest-hit ball of the game.
Sean Keys also hit a double, coming off the bat at 102 mph. Later in the game, he grounded out into a double play, with an exit velocity of 105.8 mph. Charles McAdoo, RJ Schreck, and Josh Rivera had the other three hits. Edward Duran also drew two of the four free passes the Jays had in this game.
On the pitching side of things, Austin Cates had a tough start, giving up two home runs in the first inning, but settled in after that. Gage Stanifer had his best outing of Spring Training, going three innings with four strikeouts and a walk. Javen Coleman struck out a batter in a perfect inning, and Macko gave up three earned runs in an inning of work.
This was the third annual Spring Breakout game, and the Jays now have a 1-2 record. In 2024, they fell 9-1 to the New York Yankees prospects, but responded with a 10-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins prospects.
Next year, there’ll be a new format for the Spring Breakout, as it’ll be a single-game elimination tournament. Until next year!
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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