Taking Wing has been on a bit of a hiatus for the past month, as draft prep and some vacation time have eaten up my free time, but I’m planning to get back to Monday posts this coming week. For now, I wanted to check back in with the eight players I profiled in the first half and see how they’ve been doing. It might be our last look at some of these guys, with the deadline coming up and the team looking like buyers. The improvement they’ve made this year might turn into trade value before we get to see them in a Blue Jays uniform. That’s still a reflection of a good year for the system, though, with many players raising their profiles and becoming significant assets for the organization in one way or another.
- The first guy I profiled this year was 2022 19th rounder Gage Stanifer. He was tearing up A ball after huge gains in his stuff. Since April 21st it’s been nothing but more of the same. He’s worked his way up to A+ Vancouver while still posting dominant strikeout rates (83 of 225 batters since I wrote him up, or 37%). His command has been something of an issue lately, as he has 10 walks in 13.1 innings in July, which has resulted in some short starts and a messy ERA. It’s still a success story overall, though. Evaluators have noticed, with Baseball America bumping him all the way up to the Jays’ #6 prospect on their post-draft rankings update.
- Trey Yesavage also continues his upwards trajectory. He’s had some uncharacteristic walk issues, but that hasn’t stopped him from forcing his way all the way up to AA in his first pro season. He’s racked up strikeouts (41% on the season, 31% at AA) and posted a WHIP below 1.00. He’s been off for a couple of weeks representing the Jays at the Futures Game (where he struck out the one batter he faced) but returns to New Hampshire on Saturday. He’s got a shot to force his way into the big-league picture by early next season.
- Things have been bumpy for Arjun Nimmala of late. He posted a hot 135 wRC+ in May after I wrote him up, but has managed just a 51 since. That looks mostly like some minor BABIP and timing issues, though. He’s maintained his contact rate gains (74% on the season), is walking 11% of the time, and has his strikeout rate in check. A power outage and a .213 BABIP are holding him down, but the one thing we know he has is power so that’s all likely to come. The story of the season is still Nimmala answering all the questions we had last year about getting the bat on the ball while still looking like a true shortstop and holding his own at A+ at 19 years old.
- Yohendrick Pinango has cooled down, on the surface. He really had to, as nobody not named Aaron Judge maintains a 200+ wRC+ for long. Since his promotion to AAA on June 17th, he’s been a roughly league average hitter. Under the hood, though, things look pretty darn good. He’s maintaining a 7.1% swinging strike rate, in the 90th percentile of AAA hitters, with plus contact rates and strong discipline that’s also resulted in a nearly 14% walk rate. More impressively, he’s reached a 115.4mph exit velocity, something only 23 major leaguers can boast. His 57% hard hit rate is also excellent. If you don’t chase, don’t whiff, and hammer the ball, the results will come. Pinango might find himself playing a role for the big league club if they find themselves in need of a lefty bat down the stretch.
- It’s pretty steady for Sam Shaw since I wrote about him at the end of May. He maintained his patience and contact posting a 14% walk rate and striking out only 17% of the time, while adding 9 more extra base hits in his next 135 PA. A .256 BABIP cut down his overall performance, but his tools were still showing up. That earned him a promotion to A+ after the All Star break. It’s been a rough first three games for him, but even reaching Vancouver as a young 20 year old is a significant feat, and pretty good for a 9th round pick.
- Khal Stephen continues to thrive. He made six more appearances at Vancouver after I wrote about him, striking out 33 (26.4%) while walking just 7 (5%) and posting a 0.79 ERA. That earned him a promotion to AA, where he made his first appearance on Sunday. There are still questions about whether he’ll manage to strike out enough batters at the top level to be more than a back end starter, but his combination of command and deep repertoire are as advertised and have him on the fast track to the major leagues.
- Will Robertson appeared in three games, going 1 for 11 with a walk, and was DFA’d a couple of weeks later before being traded to the White Sox for cash. Adios, Will.
- It was a rough next four starts after I wrote about Adam Macko. He made it just 14 innings, giving up 17 earned runs, walking 10 and giving up 27 hits against only nine strikeouts. Good thing they didn’t end up needing him in the majors. Yesterday afternoon was something of a bounce back, as he went five shutout innings with one hit and two walks, punching out five.