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Blue Jays farm system notes (April 14): JoJo Parker hits first professional home run
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Photo credit: ©Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Apr 15, 2026, 17:30 EDTUpdated: Apr 15, 2026, 17:35 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays’ farm system is off to a good start.
After Tuesday’s slate of games, only the Vancouver Canadians have a losing record, as they are 2-8. That eighth loss was on Tuesday, while the Buffalo Bisons defeated the Rochester Red Wings 5-3. The New Hampshire Fisher Cats were rained out, and the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays fell 9-7.
Let’s take a look at the storylines in the three games on Tuesday, as well as other notes from the second half of last week.

JoJo Parker hits first career home run

The biggest storyline of Tuesday was thanks to the Blue Jays’ first round pick in 2025, JoJo Parker. He’s off to a good start, and even hit four doubles in last week’s series. Well, in the D-Jays’ 9-7 loss to the Clearwater Threshers, Parker hit his first career home run.
It came all the way in the bottom of the seventh, as the D-Jays were well out of the game. With a runner on second base and a 3-2 count, Parker smacked the seventh pitch of the at-bat to right field, with the ball coming off the bat at 108.3 mph.
Heading into Wednesday’s game, the eighth overall pick in the 2025 draft is now slashing .273/.415/.485 with four doubles and a home run in 41 plate appearances. That’s good enough for a 165 wRC+, while also posting a 17.1 BB% and 24.4 K%.

Blaine Bullard is on fire

In the early goings of the 2026 minor league season, Blaine Bullard has been the Blue Jays’ standout from the 2025 draft class. Last week, he hit his first and second career home run, then followed it up with his third career home run on Tuesday. He hit it to centre field on the fifth pitch of the at -bat, coming off the bat at 104.9 mph and travelling a distance of 423 feet.
Adrian Pinto is on a rehab assignment, and he also hit a home run, this one came late in the game, a two-run shot to centre field in the bottom of the ninth. On second base was Bullard, who had drawn a walk in the previous plate appearance. Aldo Gaxiola also hit his second home run of the season.
Four of the D-Jays six hits were of the home run variety, with Enmanuel Bonilla and Will Cresswell also hitting singles. There weren’t any standout pitching performances, as Lluveres Severino was the lone pitcher of the five to throw a scoreless outing. Carson Myers struck out four in two and two-thirds innings, but allowed two earned runs.

Austin Cates matches a career-high

The standout performance in the Vancouver Canadians 5-3 loss to Spokane was Austin Cates. He allowed two earned runs over four and two-thirds innings, but struck out 10. That included seven consecutive strikeouts, beginning with the lead-off hitting in the bottom of the third, and lasting until Kelvin Hidalgo hit a single in the bottom of the fifth. The 2024 draftee has some real helium.
As does fellow 2024 draftee, first baseman/outfielder Carter Cunningham. More on his home runs in the “other notes” section, but he also hit a triple in this game, driving in a run. In the early goings, he’s looking like one of the biggest breakout prospects.
Kendry Chirinos hit the lone home run that the C’s hit in this game, his first at the level. J.R. Freethy and Matt Scannell each hit a double as well, with the latter striking out three times. Maddox Latta hit two singles, while Arjun Nimmala was the lone starter in the C’s lineup to not register a hit.

MLB-ready prospects in Buffalo hit home runs

As for the Buffalo Bisons, who defeated the Rochester Red Wings by a score of 5-3, the storyline from this game was three home runs from three MLB-ready prospects. In the top of the first, Yohendrick Piñango hit a two-run home run, his third of the season.
Then in the top of the sixth, Riley Tirotta hit his second home run of the season, with the ball coming off the bat at 108.7 mph. With the teams tied at three heading into the final two innings, RJ Schreck hit a two-run home run, his first of the season, to give the Bisons the eventual win. Schreck also hit a double, his first of the season, as did Rafael Lantigua.
Austin Voth made the start after re-signing with the organization last week, going four innings with one earned run allowed and three strikeouts. Michael Plassmeyer was credited with the win, throwing two-thirds scoreless innings to bring his ERA to 1.35. Hayden Juenger is emerging as a bullpen option, and he struck out a batter in two innings of work, picking up his first save of the season.

Other notes

It’s been a while since the latest farm system notes, so let’s take a look at what happened in the second half of last week.
  • In the Bisons’ 7-1 win on April 10, Josh Rivera hit a grand slam, his second home run of the season. Chad Dallas went four scoreless outings, while Brendon Little pitched a scoreless outing.
  • The Fisher Cats’ fell 5-2 to the Portland Sea Dogs on April 10th, with Gage Stanifer giving up all five of those runs. He also struck out six in the process.
  • On April 10th, the D-Jays defeated the St. Lucie Mets 9-2, with Nolan Perry throwing four and one-third innings, giving up one earned run. Noah Palmese made his professional debut, striking out a batter
  • The Canadians fell 6-5 to the Eugene Emeralds on April 10th. Carter Cunningham hit his second home run of the series, Danny Thompson Jr. struck out six in four innings of work.
  • April 11th saw the Bisons defeat the Syracuse Mets 5-0, with Josh Kasevich hitting his fourth double and first home run of the season. CJ Van Eyk threw six scoreless innings.
  • As for the Fisher Cats, they fell 2-1 on April 11th. Ricardo Gallardo threw four scoreless innings and still hasn’t given up an earned run.
  • The D-Jays played twice on April 11th, winning 9-2 and falling 11-4. Enmanuel Bonilla hit his first Single-A homer in the win, as did Aldo Gaxiola. Yorman Licourt is off to a good start, hitting his third home run in the loss.
  • Charles McAdoo hit his first Triple-A home run in the Bisons’ 3-2 defeat to the Mets on Sunday. Little threw another scoreless inning, striking out three.
  • The Fisher Cats smashed the Sea Dogs in the series finale, winning 15-9. Jace Bohrofen and Sean Keys each hit their second home run, Jackson Hornung hit his first of the season.
  • Unsurprisingly, Cunningham hit his third home run of week in the C’s 8-5 victory in the series final. Arjun Nimmala walked four times, Kendry Chirinos hit a triple.
  • Jaxson West hit his first professional home run in the D-Jays 13-6 victory on Sunday. Bullard hit his second home run, and Brandon Barriera struck out a batter and allowed two earned runs in his three innings of work.
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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