logo
Blue Jays: Looking at the standouts from the Spring Breakout game
alt
Photo credit: © Nathan Ray Seebeck - Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Mar 24, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 24, 2026, 13:45 EDT
Comments
Last Saturday, the Toronto Blue Jays prospects played in the third annual Spring Breakout game.
Introduced during Spring Training in 2024, the Spring Breakout game is a way to showcase prospects. Ultimately, a late Blue Jays comeback against the Philadelphia Phillies’ prospects fell short, but there were plenty of bright spots from the game.
In this article, we’ll look at the Blue Jays prospects that stood out.

Gage Stanifer

Gage Stanifer was the big standout prospect for either team in this one. Entering in the bottom of the fourth, Stanifer gave up a lead-off walk on five pitches, which happened to be the lone baserunner the Phillies would get with Stanifer on the mound. The 22-year-old righty got out of the inning thanks to a flyout, caught stealing, and a groundout.
He then took over in his next two innings, striking out the side in the bottom of the fifth, and getting a pair of groundouts and a strikeout in the bottom of the sixth. That gave him an impressive line of 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K.
Overall, he generated seven whiffs, four on his fastball (six total swings), two on his splitter (four total swings), and one on his slider (four total swings). Only Gage Wood had more whiffs in the game. More importantly, Stanifer’s fastball was sitting at 95.6 mph, but reached as high as 97.4 mph.
Stanifer’s Spring Training games weren’t terrific by any means, but 2026 will be a big season for the 19th-rounder.

Javen Coleman

Of the five prospects who’ll be mentioned in this article, Javen Coleman has the best chance to make his big league debut (closely followed by Stanifer). Coleman, a 24-year-old left-handed pitcher, pitched a scoreless inning in the Spring Breakout game, with his fastball averaging 93.1 mph and touching 94.4 mph.
While this innings wasn’t particularly dominant, the same cannot be said for the 2025 season, his first as a professional. He had a 4.45 ERA and 3.65 FIP in 28.1 innings pitched with the Dunedin Blue Jays, but authored a 1.40 ERA and 1.15 FIP in 25.2 innings pitched in High-A. Coleman’s strikeout rate sat at 38.1% with a 10.3 BB%. That walk rate improved in Vancouver, dropping to 6.1%.
Armed with a four-seamer, changeup, and slider, Coleman will begin his season with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats and could quickly rise up the minor league ladder.

Austin Cates

Austin Cates started the game for the Blue Jays prospects, giving up two home runs in the first inning. The 22-year-old locked in from there, getting a fly out, ground out, and pop out in the bottom of the second. In his final inning, Cates struck out a pair and got Canadian Dante Nori to fly out.
The right-handed pitcher was drafted in the seventh-round of the 2024 draft and made his professional debut in 2025. Beginning in Single-A, he had a 3.51 ERA and 4.11 FIP in 82 innings pitched, with a 23.2 K% and 8.3 BB%. In his five starts with the Vancouver Canadians, he allowed just six earned runs for a 1.95 ERA and 1.89 FIP, with a 35.9 K% and 5.8 BB% in 27.2 innings pitched.
Vancouver is likely where he’ll begin his season.

JoJo Parker

There were a handful of prospects drafted in 2025 that we got our first look at. Tim Piasentin and Blaine Bullard started the game, but it was JoJo Parker who made the most noise. Entering the game in the top of the seventh, he notched a single in his first professional plate appearance. Big whoop right? Well, it came off the bat at 109.1 mph, the hardest-hit ball of the game.
It’s not a fluke either. On Monday, the Twitter account Milb Central posted a video of Parker smacking a ball for a home run, with a reported exit velocity of 109.3 mph. Earlier this month, there was a video of him hitting a home run with an exit velocity of 111 mph.
Drafted eighth overall in 2025, Parker will make his professional debut with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays, and there’s a lot to be excited about.

Juan Sanchez

By the same token, there hasn’t been a lot of footage of Juan Sanchez’ impressive 2025 season in the Dominican Summer League. Like Parker, he was an in-game replacement, with his big moment coming in the top of the ninth when he hit a bases-clearing double, bringing the Jays to within one run.
That was another hard hit ball, as it came off the bat at 105.6 mph. His other ball in play in the seventh inning came off the bat at 74.8 mph, a force out to end the top of the seventh.
It’s been a while since the Blue Jays had a prospect perform the way Sanchez did in the DSL last season. Over 56 games, the shortstop slashed .341/.439/.565 with eight home runs in 253 plate appearances for a 156 wRC+. He’ll likely begin the season in the Florida Complex League.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

Featured

Editorials

Breaking News