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Toronto Blue Jays minor league deep dives: Dunedin Blue Jays
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Trevor Fitzpatrick
Apr 6, 2025, 09:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 6, 2025, 07:53 EDT
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Coming off their best record of 69-61 since 2019, which was good enough for third in the 2024 Florida State League, the single-A Dunedin Blue Jays are hoping to continue that solid play into this season with their new 2024 draft class reinforcements and a new manager at the helm.
They’ve gotten off to a good start so far, going 1-1 in their first two games against the Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies affiliate).
This deep-dive article will explore the team’s first two games, their top prospects to watch, and a few other prospects not on a top list who could end up with a promotion by the end of the year.
This article is also part of a series that has already covered the Buffalo Bisons, New Hampshire Fisher Cats, and the high-A Vancouver Canadians.
Finally, before diving in, here’s how the Blue Jays’ opening day lineup shaped up for reference as we dissect it:
New year, new manager
Following the Toronto Blue Jays’ disappointing 74-88 2024 season, some of the first changes the team made were with their coaching staff. Of the staff moved around, one of them, Gil Kim, has now taken up the mantle of manager for the Dunedin Blue Jays.
Since he joined the Jays back ahead of the 2016 season, all the way up to the 2022 campaign, Kim has been the director of player development before being swapped over to the team’s field coordinator.
He’ll be back working with young prospects once more in his third role within the team, but this time down with a minor league team for the first time since 2020 when he first joined the big league bench staff.
The first two outings vs the Clearwater Threshers
The Jays’ home opener was a high-scoring contest against the Threshers, but unfortunately, one that the team was on the losing end of. The crew got a great start from Khal Stephen in the 8-4 loss. He went five innings of shut-out ball, but the bullpen couldn’t hang on to the early 2-0 lead.
Bennett Flynn allowed five runs to cross in his 1.2 innings, Javen Coleman let two more score in his sole inning, and then one final run came in against Jay Schueler as he pitched an inning and a third.
Of the Blue Jays’ four runs, the loudest was a solo jack off the bat of Victoria, BC native Sam Shaw in the bottom of the fifth.
His big night continued in the seventh as he plated two more with a 2-RBI single. Manuel Beltre had the only other run for the team, scoring the first run of the game in the fourth inning with an RBI single.
Game two was a much improved showing by the pitching staff as the squad took a 4-1 win, deadlocking the three-game set at 1-1. The pair of Daniel Guerra and Gilberto Batista hurled four innings each, with the only run scored being an unearned one against Guerra, while Colby Martin earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning.
Jaden Rudd was the man of the game, cashing in all four of the team’s runs with two 2-RBI doubles – one in the second inning and one in the sixth.
The final game of the series against the Threshers goes at noon EST Sunday.
Welcome to pro ball!
Seven players taken by Toronto in the 2024 draft cracked the opening day roster, alongside six undrafted free-agent signings. Each player will be listed below, but for the sake of brevity, stories about them will be linked to, and this article will focus on where they played last season, their stats, and, if applicable, their ranking on Blue Jays Nation and MiLB.com’s top 30 Jays prospect lists.
The stories linked to about top 30 prospects are done by BJN writer Ryley Delaney, and all other draftees linked to will be from BJN writer Nick Prasad’s article detailing his initial thoughts on all of the players. Undrafted players will not be linked to, but their stats will still be provided.
2024 draftees:
Trey Yesavage (RHP):
Drafted: Round 1, pick #20.
BJN ranking: 5
MiLB.com ranking: 2 (87th in all of MiLB)
2024 stats with the East Carolina Pirates (NCAA): 15 G (15 GS), 93 1/3 IP, 2.03 ERA, 0.868 WHIP
Khal Stephen (RHP):
Drafted: Round 2, pick #59
BJN ranking: 14
MiLB.com ranking: 11
2024 stats with the Mississippi State Bulldogs (NCAA): 16 G (16 GS), 96.0 IP, 3.28 ERA, 1.010 WHIP
Austin Cates (RHP):
Drafted: Round 7, pick #217
2024 stats with the UNLV Rebels (NCAA): 14 G (14 GS), 90 1/3 IP, 4.08 ERA, 1.306 WHIP
Colby Holcombe (RHP):
Drafted: Round 9, pick #277
2024 stats with the Mississippi State Bulldogs (NCAA): 12 G, (1 GS), 21 2/3 IP, 10.38 ERA, 1.754 WHIP
Brock Tibbitts (C):
Drafted: Round 13, pick #397
2024 stats with the Indiana Hoosiers (NCAA): 46 G, 213 PA, .313/.404/.472
JR Freethy (INF):
Drafted: Round 14, pick #427
2024 stats with the Nevada Wolf Pack (NCAA): 51 G, 241 PA, .303/.414/.580
Colby Martin (RHP):
Drafted: Round 16, pick #487
2024 stats with the Shenandoah Hornets (NCAA): 52 G, 247 PA, .390/.494/.590
Undrafted free agents:
Christian Mracna (RHP):
2024 stats with the Georgia Bulldogs (NCAA): 20 G (10 GS), 45 2/3 IP, 5.32 ERA, 1.599 WHIP
Peyton Powell (C):
2024 stats with the Texas Longhorns (NCAA): 60 G, 283 PA, .318/.406/.485 slash
Jack Eshleman (RHP):
2024 stats with the Hamilton Continentals (NCAA): 11 G (7 GS), 57.0 IP, 2.05 ERA, 0.912 WHIP
Jay Schueler (RHP):
2024 stats with the Southeastern Fire (NAIA): 9 G (0 GS), 7 2/3 IP, 2.35 ERA, 1.435 WHIP
Javen Coleman (LHP):
2024 stats with the LSU Tigers: 12 G (7 GS), 26.0 IP, 5.19 ERA, 1.577 WHIP
Bennett Flynn (RHP):
2024 stats with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (NCAA): 19 G (0 GS), 40.0 IP, 5.40 ERA, 1.575 WHIP
O’Canada!
This year’s iteration of the Dunedin Blue Jays features two Canadians on the opening day roster. Victoria, BC native infielder Sam Shaw, who had a big game one with the team, is one, and a fellow infielder from Hamilton, Ontario, Bryce Arnold, is the other representative.
Shaw, a ninth-round pick in the 2023 draft, had a great interview with BJN writer Veronica Chung in March. BJN also had the chance to interview the 2023 undrafted free agent Arnold when Delaney did so following his signing.
Back for more:
A few key players for the team are returning for this season, including Manuel Beltre and Daniel Guerra.
Beltre, a prolific speed threat infielder, has been with the Jays since his age 17 season in the 2021 Dominican Summer League. Last year, he slashed .236/.334/.326 at the plate while swiping 23 bags across 108 games. He’ll continue to work on improving his bat to go alongside his speed as he hunts a promotion to A+ ball.
Guerra, a right-hander, made six starts for Dunedin in 2024, pitching to a solid 4.28 ERA and 1.138 WHIP following his promotion from the Florida Complex League. He’ll be aiming to recreate the magic of his 2022 season in the Dominican Summer League when he had an unbelievable 0.84 ERA across six starts.
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