When you think about the Blue Jays’ farm system, what are some of the things that come to mind? It’s a high-floor dominated group of players that’s lacking in ceiling.
There are two exceptions, however: Arjun Nimmala and Ricky Tiedemann. The latter is in the process of recovering from Tommy John surgery dating back to July of last year and likely won’t see much action this year. Nimmala, on the other hand, leads the exciting crop of players starting in high-A Vancouver this year and is off to a hot start himself, posting a .980 OPS/156 wRC+ through his first 33 plate appearances.
However, for this exercise, we will be highlighting another player on the Vancouver roster who had a very good 2024 season that flew almost completely under the radar.
That player is none other than Victor Arias.
Photo and data provided by @TJStats
Arias was signed out of Venezuela by the Blue Jays as an IFA during the 2019 class. Due to the pandemic, his professional debut was delayed until the 2021 season.
He spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons in the DSL before coming stateside in 2023 to start in the Florida Complex League, where he spent most of the season. Then, last season, Arias had his breakout campaign. Between the majority of his time in single-A and a cup of coffee with Vancouver in high-A, Arias slashed .283/.390/.443, with eight home runs, 18 stolen bases, and an 11.3 BB%/20.7 K% to go along with a 140 wRC+.
It is not wise to judge a prospect solely off the slashline. There are far too many factors that can sway the surface-level stats: the ballpark they play in, age compared to the level, injuries that we’re rarely privy to and simply bad luck. So, with that in mind, let’s pop the hood on Arias and see if the surface-level stats match the underlying data Arias put up from his time with Dunedin.
Thanks to Thomas Nestico, also known as TJStats, for providing this graphic that details Arias and his 2024 season.
Right off the bat, we see that Arias hits the ball extremely hard, as evidenced by the 104.5 MPH average exit velocity, ranking in the 90th percentile, his blistering 113.4 max EV, and the 78th percentile barrel rate. Arias has well above average bat speed and stands extremely close to the plate, closing off the ability for right-handers to snap off breaking balls to him in swing counts.
The main issue for Arias is the sweet-spot percentage. He wasn’t squaring up the baseball or hitting the ball at ideal launch angles, which resulted in a lot of his hard contact being on the ground – hence his 50.9% ground ball rate last year. Still, the fact that Arias hits the ball so hard, with an essentially league-average walk rate and limited strikeouts, is a great base of operations.
So far in 2025, Arias has seven hits through 33 at-bats with three doubles and three RBIs with the Canadians. The left-handed hitting outfielder owns a .318 BABIP through the limited sample size and a .307 wOBA with a  69 wRC+. Vancouver returns home after starting the season on the road, so there is a chance to see some increased contact in front of the home crowd at Nat Bailey Stadium.
Keep a super close eye on him this year in Vancouver. If he starts getting the ball in the air consistently while retaining the same exit velocities, the game power is going to explode along with his prospect stock.