Blue Jays Under the Radar prospect: Troy Guthrie has had a strong start to his professional career
Photo credit: © Nathan Ray Seebeck - Imagn Images
Jun 30, 2026, 15:15 EDTUpdated: Jun 30, 2026, 18:36 EDT
The Toronto Blue Jays sure have found success drafting high school pitchers in the past four drafts.
While Brandon Barriera hasn’t panned out, the Jays have found gems in Nolan Perry, Gage Stanifer, and Johnny King. There are two other notable starting pitchers drafted in the latter rounds in the last four drafts. Carson Messina is off to a great start this season, recently earning a call-up to the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays.
Messina, drafted 12th overall in 2024, has a 2.73 ERA and 3.24 FIP in 26.1 innings pitched between the Florida Complex League and Single-A. He joins another 2024 draftee in the D-Jays rotation, Troy Guthrie, who is today’s Under the Radar prospect.
Guthrie was picked one round before Messina, making his debut the following season, as is the case for most pitchers the Jays select. In 11 games with the FCL Blue Jays, the 6’3”, 205 lbs righty finished the season with a 2.28 ERA and 2.76 FIP in 43.1 innings pitched, starting three of the 11 games he appeared in.
The righty didn’t have eye-popping strikeout numbers like Stanifer, Perry, or King, registering just a 21.6 K% that season. What he did have was excellent command, especially for how young he was. In the 43.1 innings, he walked just 14 batters, good for a 4.2 BB%.
Messina began the 2026 season in the FCL, as his 2025 season was derailed due to injuries. That’s where their paths brielfy diverged, as the Jays felt comfortable starting Guthrie in Single-A. So far this season, he has a 3.88 ERA and 3.90 FIP in 67.1 innings pitched over 15 games. He’s started the season with a similar K% and BB% to last season, striking out 22.3% of the batters he’s faced, while posting a 5.1 BB%.
Guthrie isn’t a hard thrower, sitting in the lower 90s with his four-seam fastball. He features two main secondaries, a low-80s slider and an 80 mph curveball, but also mixes in an occasional cutter and changeup. Command is the name of the game for the right-handed pitcher, and it’s encouraging to see him excel there this early in his career.
The underlying numbers are a mixed bag. He’s getting hitters to expand the zone thanks to a 33.62 chase %, and when he’s not getting batters to chase, he’s pounding the strike zone with pitched. That said, Guthrie doesn’t get a whole lot of whiffs, and when batters make contact, it tends to be hard-hit.
Still, the numbers have been solid for Guthrie, and if he keeps pitching the way he did in the first half of 2026, there’s a good chance he’ll find his way to the High-A Vancouver Canadians before the end of the season.
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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