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Blue Jays Under the Radar prospect: Aldo Gaxiola’s power surge
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Photo credit: © Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
May 27, 2026, 19:30 EDTUpdated: May 27, 2026, 19:03 EDT
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Sometimes, a prospect’s breakout comes out of nowhere.
Last season, the Toronto Blue Jays had a few of those players, mainly on the pitching side. Gage Stanifer is the most notable, but Juaron Watts-Brown, Johnny King, and a few others took a step forward. 
The biggest step forward by a position player in the organization last season was Juan Sanchez, who quickly became one of the team’s best power-hitting prospects. But other examples include Yohendrick Piñango and RJ Schreck.
This season, Aldo Gaxiola’s start to his season has been an interesting one, and he’s the prospect we’ll take a look at in this week’s edition of Under the Radar prospects.
Gaxiola, a 6’2”, 187 lbs corner infielder, signed with the Blue Jays as an international free agent back in May 2023. His debut season can be described as average, but he had a strong 2024 in the Dominican Summer League, slashing .286/.383/.464 with four home runs in 131 wRC+.
Coming stateside for the first time last time, Gaxiola helped the Florida Complex League Blue Jays win the championship, slashing .258/.344/.333 with two long balls in 225 plate appearances, good for a 100 wRC+.
Over his first three seasons, Gaxiola only had one above-average season in terms of wRC+, but had a sub-20 K% with a solid walk rate. He’s looked like a different hitter through his first 36 games with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays.
Gaxiola’s play has been hit or miss. Over those 36 games, the Mexican product is slashing .235/.299/.409 for a 91 wRC+. That isn’t great, nor is his jump in strikeout rate (17.8% in 2025 to 27.8% this season). Gaxiola is also taking fewer walks, getting to first on a free pass in just six of his 144 plate appearances.
But the power improvement has been tantalizing. Coming into this season, Gaxiola hit just seven home runs over his first 432 professional plate appearances. Over 144 plate appearances, he has now set a new career-high with six.
The underlying metrics are encouraging as well. Looking at his ProspectsSavant page, Gaxiola’s maximum exit velocity of 112.5 mph is in the 95th percentile, one of the hardest-hit balls in the Florida State League. Power is important, especially for a corner infielder, and all signs point to him improving in that regard.
He’s barreling the ball at a solid clip, but there are also some swing and miss concerns. Gaxiola’s 31.3 percent whiff rate isn’t bad, but the 19-year-old has a 34.65% chase rate, the percentage of swings at a pitch out of the zone, which is quite concerning. He also hasn’t drawn many walks.
That said, the worm is starting to turn for Gaxiola. He got off to an abysmal start, slashing .174/.269/.348 with three home runs and three doubles over his 78 plate appearances in April. But since the calendar flipped to May, Gaxiola is slashing .302/.333/.476 with three home and two doubles over 66 plate appearances.
Even more encouraging is the drop in his strikeout rate. Since May, Gaxiola has struck out 15 times, good for a 22.7 K%. That’s down from his 32.1 K% in April.
Turning 20 next month, Gaxiola is still years away from any potential impact he could make at a big league level. That said, he’s becoming a player worth monitoring thanks to his hard-hit balls and increase in power. Lowering his chase rate, and in turn lowering his strikeout rate, is the most important next step for the corner infielder.
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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