Minor league pitching development has been the biggest focal point for the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/">Toronto Blue Jays</a> organization so far in 2025. It&#8217;s been the scene for a multitude of breakouts and feel-good stories, starting with the 2024 draft class featuring the likes of Trey Yesavage, Khal Stephen, Johnny King, and Carson Messina. There are other guys in Gage Stanifer and Juaron Watts-Brown who have taken massive steps forward.
Then there&#8217;s Kendry Rojas. The former 2020 international free agent signee by the Blue Jays out of Cuba, who has progressed through the FCL league up to high-A Vancouver during his pro career and put forward some impressive numbers through his time in the Jays system.
Rojas enjoyed a breakout year in the Blue Jays system in 2024 as he pitched at three different levels (CPX/A/Hi-A) and put up a 2.59 ERA/2.98 FIP/27.0 K%/5.5 BB% with a very respectable 47.3% groundball rate. The Cuban southpaw has had bouts of velocity fluctuation, as his heater typically sits in this 93-94 MPH range but is known to spike into the 95-96 range in shorter outings. The one skill that Rojas has developed that&#8217;s been instrumental for suppressing damage is that he rarely, if at all, allows home runs. His career high was in 2023 with Dunedin (8), and even the,n his HR/9 sat at a pristine 0.86.
Last year, at three different levels and over 62 2/3 innings, his HR/9 finished up at 0.57, a testament to his elite sinker/changeup combination that keeps the ball on the ground the vast majority of the time.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-87711" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/06/ROJAS-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1024" srcset="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/06/ROJAS-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/06/ROJAS-300x300.jpg 300w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/06/ROJAS-150x150.jpg 150w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/06/ROJAS-768x768.jpg 768w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/06/ROJAS-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/06/ROJAS.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-8-kendry-rojas">Rojas</a> pitched and dazzled in the Spring Breakout game against the Twins&#8217; prospects during this past spring training, pitching two perfect innings while topping out at 97.6 MPH with his sinker. Shortly afterward, the southpaw landed on the IL with an oblique strain and missed the first two-plus months of the 2025 season.
He&#8217;s since returned in late May and made five rehab starts between the FCL and single-A, all of which have been dazzling. Kendry&#8217;s pitch mix consists of a sinker, 4-seam fastball, changeup, and slider. All 4 pitches classify as above average offering by stuff+ metrics. The 4-seamer in particular displays outlier traits, as it produces 19″ of IVB, and an extremely flat -4.7 VAA, which gives the illusion that the pitch is rising as it climbs the zone. It averages 95 MPH, but given Rojas generates 6.8 feet in extension, the perceived velocity is even higher on it.
The main outpitch for Rojas is his changeup, which plays off the fastball beautifully. It&#8217;s about a 10 MPH difference in velocity from the fastball and has late glove-side movement, which generates plenty of chase and whiff, as evidenced below.
<div style="width: 1424px;" class="wp-video">
<video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-87707-1" width="1424" height="801" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/06/Rojas-Made-with-Clipchamp-1.mp4?_=1" /><a href="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/06/Rojas-Made-with-Clipchamp-1.mp4">https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/06/Rojas-Made-with-Clipchamp-1.mp4</a></video></div>
&nbsp;
Through six rehab appearences, Rojas has allowed just two earned runs and ten hits to the tune of a 1.00 ERA. He&#8217;s struck out 26 batters and held opponents to an impressive .167 average, and again, he has yet to allow a home run this season through 18 innings. Rojas has also kept the walks in check, posting a 2.5 BB/9 so far this season.
It remains to be seen if Rojas needs another rehab start in Dunedin or not; otherwise, he should be receiving his promotion straight to double-A and bypassing the Canadians in the Northwest League, joining a rotation already boasting Yesavage and Watts-Brown, with Stephen and Stanifer likely not too far behind.
It&#8217;s been a fantastic year on the pitching development front for this organization. There&#8217;s a plethora of arms that have broken out and impressed the Jays brass. Once Kendry Rojas is pitching in New Hampshire, he too will etch his name on the long list.
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Minor league pitching development has been the biggest focal point for the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/">Toronto Blue Jays</a> organization so far in 2025. It's been the scene for a multitude of breakouts and feel-good stories, starting with the 2024 draft class featuring the likes of Trey Yesavage, Khal Stephen, Johnny King, and Carson Messina. There are other guys in Gage Stanifer and Juaron Watts-Brown who have taken massive steps forward.

Then there's Kendry Rojas. The former 2020 international free agent signee by the Blue Jays out of Cuba, who has progressed through the FCL league up to high-A Vancouver during his pro career and put forward some impressive numbers through his time in the Jays system.

Rojas enjoyed a breakout year in the Blue Jays system in 2024 as he pitched at three different levels (CPX/A/Hi-A) and put up a 2.59 ERA/2.98 FIP/27.0 K%/5.5 BB% with a very respectable 47.3% groundball rate. The Cuban southpaw has had bouts of velocity fluctuation, as his heater typically sits in this 93-94 MPH range but is known to spike into the 95-96 range in shorter outings. The one skill that Rojas has developed that's been instrumental for suppressing damage is that he rarely, if at all, allows home runs. His career high was in 2023 with Dunedin (8), and even the,n his HR/9 sat at a pristine 0.86.

Last year, at three different levels and over 62 2/3 innings, his HR/9 finished up at 0.57, a testament to his elite sinker/changeup combination that keeps the ball on the ground the vast majority of the time.

<img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-87711" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/06/ROJAS-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1024" />

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-8-kendry-rojas">Rojas</a> pitched and dazzled in the Spring Breakout game against the Twins' prospects during this past spring training, pitching two perfect innings while topping out at 97.6 MPH with his sinker. Shortly afterward, the southpaw landed on the IL with an oblique strain and missed the first two-plus months of the 2025 season.

He's since returned in late May and made five rehab starts between the FCL and single-A, all of which have been dazzling. Kendry's pitch mix consists of a sinker, 4-seam fastball, changeup, and slider. All 4 pitches classify as above average offering by stuff+ metrics. The 4-seamer in particular displays outlier traits, as it produces 19″ of IVB, and an extremely flat -4.7 VAA, which gives the illusion that the pitch is rising as it climbs the zone. It averages 95 MPH, but given Rojas generates 6.8 feet in extension, the perceived velocity is even higher on it.

The main outpitch for Rojas is his changeup, which plays off the fastball beautifully. It's about a 10 MPH difference in velocity from the fastball and has late glove-side movement, which generates plenty of chase and whiff, as evidenced below.

[video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/06/Rojas-Made-with-Clipchamp-1.mp4"][/video]

&nbsp;

Through six rehab appearences, Rojas has allowed just two earned runs and ten hits to the tune of a 1.00 ERA. He's struck out 26 batters and held opponents to an impressive .167 average, and again, he has yet to allow a home run this season through 18 innings. Rojas has also kept the walks in check, posting a 2.5 BB/9 so far this season.

It remains to be seen if Rojas needs another rehab start in Dunedin or not; otherwise, he should be receiving his promotion straight to double-A and bypassing the Canadians in the Northwest League, joining a rotation already boasting Yesavage and Watts-Brown, with Stephen and Stanifer likely not too far behind.

It's been a fantastic year on the pitching development front for this organization. There's a plethora of arms that have broken out and impressed the Jays brass. Once Kendry Rojas is pitching in New Hampshire, he too will etch his name on the long list.

<hr />

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