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Top five risers in the Blue Jays’ farm system this season
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Photo credit: © Ray Seebeck - Imagn Images
Ian Finlayson
Sep 26, 2025, 07:48 EDTUpdated: Sep 26, 2025, 14:57 EDT
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The Buffalo Bisons played their final game of the 2025 season on Sunday, and with it, the year officially ended for all the Blue Jays minor-league affiliates. It’s been a successful year on the farm for the Blue Jays, with their prospect pool rising from 27th on MLB Pipeline’s preseason report to 20th by midseason, and from 23rd on FanGraphs initial report to 19th currently.  
Here we will examine which prospects have helped contribute to this rising reputation with their own upwards trajectory. Specifically, which prospects have risen the most in MLB Pipeline’s rankings since the start of the season. For those who were not ranked, we will simply count rising from not ranked as No. 31, for the sake of simplicity.  
While the group still may be towards the bottom third in baseball according to these expert rankings, emerging prospects, particularly on the pitching side, have contributed significantly to Toronto’s major league success this season. Not only has Trey Yesavage rocketed through every minor league level to make an impact on the MLB roster, but top 30 prospects Juaron Watts-Brown, Khal Stephen and Kendry Rojas were all part of trade deadline deals that brought in serious talent.  
Let’s take a look who is trending towards being a difference maker in the future. 
R.J. Schreck – From No. 21 to No. 10 (+11) 
Schreck was acquired in a one-for-one trade with the Seattle Mariners for Justin Turner when the Blue Jays sold at the 2024 deadline.
After posting a modest batting line in his first professional season in the Mariners organization, the left-handed-hitting outfielder hit for a .251/.388/.462 slash line with 17 home runs while splitting his time between high-A Everett, double-A Arkansas and double-A New Hampshire in 2024. Yet most of that season was spent at high-A and Schreck still had plenty to prove to his new organization. And he did just that, swatting nine home runs and recording a .914 OPS with New Hampshire before being called up to triple-A and keeping pace with another nine long balls and an .828 OPS.
Schreck’s final stat line for the season: A .249/.395/.459 slash with 18 homers, good for second-most in the system. The 25-year-old is on the cusp of being major-league ready. Don’t be surprised to see him with the Blue Jays in 2026 if they need to tap into their abundant outfield depth.  
Edward Duran – From NR to No. 13 (+18) 
Only a few years ago, the Blue Jays were ripe with more young catchers than a team could reasonably carry. To start this season, that had flipped.
While the 26-year-old Alejandro Kirk was locked up on a five-year, $58-million deal, there was minimal depth at the position through the minors. Duran has emerged and started to change that. The 21-year-old hit for a solid .275/.362/.405 line while flashing a little power for the first time in his professional career, hitting eight home runs after not leaving the yard at all the previous year. But Duran’s athleticism and defensive acumen drive his budding profile more than anything, with his speed, receiving, blocking and arm strength all grading out above average.  
Victor Arias – From No. 30 to No. 9 (+21) 
Arias had a monster start to the year at high-A Vancouver, with 25 extra-base hits, 12 steals and an .818 OPS over 66 games all while playing an outstanding centre field, earning him a well-deserved promotion to double-A.
The offence didn’t quite translate as the 22-year-old had a .624 OPS with an OBP and slug each about .100 points lower than they were one level down over 36 games. However, Arias just turned 22 last month and was 2.5 years younger than the average age at double-A. It’s reasonable to give him patience and time as he adjusts to the level of play in the Eastern League.  
Yohendrick Pinango – From NR to No. 7 (+24) 
Similar to Arias, except one level up, Piñango raked with the Fisher Cats – slashing .298/.406/.522 with eight homers in 47 games – before going up to triple-A and cooling down. He had only seven bombs in nearly double the plate appearances with the Bisons while his line dropped to .235/.335/.379.
Still, the 23-year-old outfielder that was acquired in return for Nate Pearson has some impressive numbers under the hood at the highest minor-league level. He posted a 98th percentile max exit velocity of 115.4 mph and an 85th percentile hard-hit rate (47.8 percent). His plate discipline numbers were also excellent; he walked at an above average rate (12.6 percent) and struck out less than average (19.1 percent). Piñango had much better than average whiff rates and zone contact rates, demonstrating the kind of bat-to-ball skills the Blue Jays value. He slots into the crowded group of MLB-ready depth outfielders alongside Schreck and Jonatan Clase.  
Gage Stanifer – From NR to No. 6 (+25) 
Stanifer has been one of the most popular names in the Blue Jays’ system this season outside of Trey Yesavage, and for good reason. The 21-year-old righty blew away opposing batters across three levels this season finishing fifth in all affiliated ball with 161 strikeouts and first amongst qualified pitchers with a 35.5 percent strikeout rate (Yesavage had a 41.1 percent K% over 98 innings but narrowly missed out on qualifying).
 After starting the season piggybacking off Yesavage’s starts, Stanifer eventually began starting games when Yesavage was called up to New Hampshire. During those 14 starts he pitched to a 3.39 ERA over 61 innings, striking out 89, walking 27 and allowing only two home runs. Stanifer mainly relies on two pitches: a 95 mph two-seam fastball that averages both 17.5 inches of induced vertical break and over a foot of armside run and gyro slider that sits mid-80s and breaks straight down. He has a changeup that he throws exclusively to lefties and grades out as roughly average. His biggest hurdle will be control, as he already has above-average walk rates and keeping the free passes under control will only become more difficult as he continues to ascend the minors. It remains to be seen whether Stanifer will ultimately end up as a starter or in the bullpen, considering he has only found consistent success with two of his pitches, but what is clear is that his future is bright. Even brighter than Yesavage’s potentially, according to “the player development people.”  
Honourable mentions: 
Sam Shaw – The 20-year-old Victoria, B.C. native had a .801 OPS and hit seven homers at low-A Dunedin before making the jump to Vancouver. He jumped from NR to No. 19. 
Juan Sanchez – Sanchez, a 17-year-old international signing out of the Dominican Republic, also jumped into the top 30 after being previously not ranked, landing at No. 18 in the most recent update after hitting eight homers and posting a 1.004 OPS in the DOSL. 
Johnny King – King, the Blue Jays third-round selection in 2024, jumped from No. 13 to No. 5 after striking out 105 batters and recording a 2.48 ERA over 61.2 innings in his first pro season split between rookie ball and low-A at the age of 18.  
Silvano Hechaverria – The Cuban right-hander broke into the top 30 in a big way this season (No.25), pitching to a 2.28 ERA over 86.2 innings across three levels.  
Sean Keys – The slugging corner infielder led all Blue Jays affiliate players with the 19 home runs he hit for the Canadians, vaulting him into the top 30 where he currently sits at No. 26.  
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