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Blue Jays Nation’s 2026 Pre-Season Prospect Countdown – No. 4: Gage Stanifer
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Photo credit: © Nathan Ray Seebeck - Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Feb 27, 2026, 19:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 27, 2026, 06:18 EST
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The biggest breakout arm in the Toronto Blue Jays system in 2025 was Gage Stanifer.
This is Blue Jays Nation’s bi-annual prospect ranking, where we’ll look at the top 35 prospects in the system in the month of February. As always, I’ll look at the player’s stats, what other publications have to say, as well as my own observations of the players. If you missed the fifth-ranked prospect, you can read about Juan Sanchez here.

Getting to know Gage Stanifer…

Position: Starting pitcher
Throws: Right
Born: November 18th, 2003
Acquired: 19th-round, 2022 MLB draft
Previous ranking: 4th
The Blue Jays have a tendency to draft a high school player in the final five rounds. A good rule of thumb is that if they’re a ranked prospect, like Greg Pace in 2022 or D’marion Terrell in 2024, that’s a hedge pick. That said, there is usually an unknown prospect in the latter rounds who gets selected, like Jordan Rich in 2025, Gavin Smith in 2024, and Gage Stanifer in 2022.
It wasn’t a breeze to begin his professional career, as the Illinois native posted a 6.33 ERA and 4.42 FIP in 42.2 innings pitched in 2023. He wasn’t much better in 2024, authoring a 6.34 ERA and 5.27 FIP in 59.2 innings pitched in Single-A, with a walk rate of 18.1%.
Something changed in 2025. Piggybacking off Trey Yesavage’s starts, Stanifer had a 0.69 ERA and 2.24 FIP in 26 innings pitched in Single-A, with a 36.9 K% and 11.7 BB%. Both he and Yesavage were called up to High-A, and had the same routine. Yesavage would start, Stanifer would come in after. Their paths diverged after Yesavage made four starts, as he was promoted to Double-A, then Triple-A, and you know the rest of the story.
Stanifer remained in High-A for most of the season, finishing his tenure with the lone Canadian minor league team with a 3.20 ERA and 2.30 FIP in 76 innings pitched, along with a 36.5 K% and 11.7 BB%. In his final two starts of the season, Stanifer was promoted to Double-A, where he had a 6.75 ERA and 7.92 FIP in eight innings of work.
Among pitchers with 70 or more innings pitched in the minor leagues last season, Stanifer’s 35.5 K% ranked sixth-best. Expanding the scope to all pitchers, he also had the sixth-most strikeouts with 161, one ahead of Yesavage and three ahead of former Blue Jay, Juaron Watts-Brown.
It was never about if Stanifer was going to break out and be noticed, but when. Armed with a mid-90s heater, Stanifer features a plus slider, which is nicknamed the “death ball”, as well as an average splitter (not a changeup, as it’s often miscategorized as). The walk rate remains a concern, but there’s a chance that Stanifer could get some serious helium with a good start to his season.
He’s likely to begin his season with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, but a trip to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons at some point this summer certainly isn’t out of the question.
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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