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Blue Jays farm system notes (April 16): Nolan Perry strikes out 12 in five innings of work
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Photo credit: © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Apr 17, 2026, 11:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 17, 2026, 01:34 EDT
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Thursday’s slate of minor league games had it all.
One of the Toronto Blue Jays’ top prospects made his debut, a big leaguer made a rehab start, and there was an otherworldly performance from a bulk reliever. That’s just in one game, as the Dunedin Blue Jays walked off the Clearwater Threshers for the second night in a row.
Additionally, an outfielder took over sole possession of the most home runs in the Blue Jays’ farm system. Let’s take a look at the big storylines from Thursday’s three minor league games.

Nolan Perry strikes out 12

For the second consecutive night, the D-Jays walked off the Threshers, moving their season record to 7-5. On Wednesday, the walk-off came courtesy of a walk, on Thursday, it was thanks to a hit by pitch.
The standout of the game, Nolan Perry, entered the game in the top of the fourth. Perry struck out the side on 10 pitches, with his lone blemish that inning being a pitch below the zone. The Blue Jays’ 12th-rounder in 2022 had the same results in the top of the fifth, but gave up a one-out double in the sixth. That didn’t matter, as the double was sandwiched between a strikeout on one side, then a lineout and his eighth strikeout of the game.
Perry only struck out two batters in the top of the seventh, as well as two in the top of the eighth. Overall, Perry finished with a line of 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K. Unfortunately, the stadium’s Hawk-Eye stopped working before Perry came out of the bullpen, so there’s no pitch data. That said, Perry has now struck out 22 of the 46 batters he’s faced, good enough for a 47.8 K%. His walk rate is down as well.

José Berríos makes first rehab start

Perry was the D-Jays expected starter, but José Berríos coming down to make the rehab assignment changed that. Berríos didn’t find the success that Perry did either, giving up four earned runs in the first inning, then a solo home run in the second inning.
Fortunately, results don’t matter all that much on a rehab assignment. Berríos’ fastball averaged 94.2 mph (before the stadium’s Hawk-Eye stopped working) and he threw 39 strikes on 47 total pitches.
The other pitchers to pitch in this game were Lluveres Severino, two-way player Austin Smith, and Jack Eshleman, who picked up the save.

Juan Sanchez makes Single-A debut

Focusing more on the hitters, there were a few notable storylines in the game. Blaine Bullard struck out four times, JoJo Parker hit his fifth double, Eric Snow hit his fourth double, and Dariel Ramon hit his first career home run. Thursday’s game also happened to be the debut of Juan Sanchez, one of the Blue Jays’ top prospects.
The shortstop notched his first career Single-A hit, pulling it to left field in the bottom of the fourth. Batting third, his first plate appearance was in the first, where he softly flew out on the sixth pitch.That was the same result as his second plate appearance, flying out on the fourth pitch.
Sanchez’s hit came during his third plate appearance, with the 18-year-old grounding out in his fourth plate appearance, then leading off the fifth by reaching base thanks to a fielding error.

Jace Bohrofen hits another home run

Up north, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats won their fourth consecutive game, their third against the Chesapeake Baysox. Again, they put up double-digit runs, defeating the Baltimore Orioles’ Double-A team 12-6.
They finished with 15 hits, with three different players notching a three-hit game. Jackson Hornung hit a single, a double and a triple, while Alex Stone hit two doubles and a single. Jay Harry, batting ninth, hit three singles and drove in two. Cutter Coffey and Ismael Munguia hit the other two doubles.
Of the 15 hits, only one was a long ball, as outfield prospect Jace Bohrofen hit his fifth home run of the season, briefly moving into sole possession of the organization lead. Behind him is teammate Sean Keys with four. The Jays also have three prospects with three home runs.

Gage Stanifer has solid outing

Starting the game for the Fisher Cats was Gage Stanifer. The 22-year-old is one of the Blue Jays’ better pitching prospects, but he’s struggled since joining Double-A. Late last season, he pitched eight innings, giving up six earned runs in two games. In his first two starts of the season, Stanifer gave up 10 earned runs in just six and one-third innings.
Thankfully, the righty had a better start on Thursday. He struck out two in his first and second innings, another batter in the third, and another batter in the fifth. Heading into the fifth, Stanifer walked just one batter, struck out five, and allowed just one hit.
It wasn’t until the fifth until he started to run into some trouble, as he walked the next two batters and was replaced by Mason Olson. Both those runners came into score. Overall, Stanifer finished with a line of 4.1 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K.
As for the other batters, Olson went two and one-thirds, allowing two earned runs, a walk, and striking out five. Kai Peterson got the final three out, allowing two earned runs, two walks, a hit, and striking out a batter.

Carter Cunningham hits another home run

The Vancouver Canadians are starting to get back on track, with Carter Cunningham being a big reason why they won Thursday’s game 9-7.
Down to just two outs remaining and down 5-3, Cunningham stepped up to the plate with a runner on base. As expected, the first baseman/outfielder went deep again, his fifth home run of the young season. Eventually, the C’s scored four runs in extras, before allowing two runs to Spokane, but more on that in the next section.
Cunningham can’t stop hitting home runs. Last week, the first baseman/outfielder was named as the Northwest League’s Player of the Month. On Wednesday, he hit a grand slam, his fourth home run of the season. That was one of two grand slams the Canadians hit on Wednesday, as Kendry Chirinos also went deep.
Through 12 games, the 25-year-old is slashing  .326/.448/.739 with five home runs, two doubles, a triple, and 20 RBIs. Cunningham’s five home runs are tied for the most in High-A (including the other two leagues), while his 20 RBIs are the most, and it’s not particularly close. Gavin Kilen of the Eugene Emeralds is second in the NWL with 14 RBIs, while Tai Peete’s 12 RBIs lead the Midwest League and Caleb Bonemer’s 14 RBIs lead the South Atlantic League.

Grand slam galore

In Wednesday evening’s victory, Cunningham and Chirinos each drove in four with one swing of the bat. After Cunningham tied it with a two-run shot in the top of the ninth, Tucker Toman hit his first home run in High-A, a grand slam in the 10th. That was the C’s third home run in just two days.
The other home run hit by the C’s belonged to Maddox Latta, who hit a solo shot on the first pitch of the game, his second of the season. Latta had a three-hit game, as did Toman, who hit a double and went 3-4 with a walk. Jacob Sharp hit his third double of the young season.
It wasn’t all good news though, as Chirinos departed the game after stretching to make a play at first base. It’s unclear what the injury is, but hopefully it’s a short recovery. Coming into this game, the corner infielder hit two home runs in the first two games of the series.

Daniel Guerra

Perry’s pitching performance wasn’t the only standout of the night in the system. Daniel Guerra made his third start of the season, throwing five no-hit innings with two walks. However, the most impressive stat from his line was the 11 strikeouts. The 22-year-old right-handed pitcher’s season ERA now sits at 3.14 with a 40.4 K%.
Trace Baker, the Blue Jays 13th round pick in 2025, was tagged with blown save, giving up five runs (four earned) in two-thirds of an inning. Eminen Flores struck out and walked two in two and one-third innings, while Jonathan Todd gave up two runs (one earned), walked a batter, and struck out two.
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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