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Which Blue Jays prospect is next in line to make their MLB debut?

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The Blue Jays have had four players make their major league debuts this season in pitchers Braydon Fisher, Paxton Schultz, and Mason Fluharty, as well as outfielder Alan Roden. Roster shuffling is inevitable due to injuries, doubleheaders, etc., and there’s always a chance that the Blue Jays will need to pull from their farm system and give someone a chance to make their major league debut.

Several of Toronto’s top prospects are in high-A Vancouver and double-A New Hampshire, so it’ll be a bit before we see them. Down in Buffalo, several position players – Davis Schneider, Orelvis Martínez, Joey Loperfido, Will Wagner, and Leo Jiménez – have already made their debuts, so the list of options on that side of the ball is rather thin. With the pitchers, you can never have too much depth, but the Jays have Erik Swanson, Max Scherzer, Nick Sandlin, and Alek Manoah scheduled to return from their injuries soon.

Even with all of that being said, one never knows what could happen and when the major league club will need another body on a plane to Toronto as soon as possible. Who could be next when those situations arise?

Riley Tirotta

Tabbed by GM Ross Atkins as major league ready, Tirotta broke onto the scene last season when tapping into his power after a promotion to triple-A in late-May. In his first 20 games with the Bisons, Tirotta hit seven home runs and 18 RBIs with a 1.158 OPS.

This season, Tirotta has been one of Buffalo’s best hitters, slashing .258/.333/.462 with a .795 OPS, six home runs, 17 RBIs, seven doubles, and six stolen bases in 37 games. He’s cooled off during this past week or so with only three hits in his last 20 plate appearances, but before that, Tirotta’s season OPS was just a hair under .900. Albeit a small sample size, he’s excelled against lefties this season, posting a 1.131 OPS against them with a pair of homers.

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After primarily playing first base last year, the Bisons have moved Tirotta all around the diamond this year. In fact, while he’s played mostly at first and third, Tirotta has logged time at every defensive position except centre field and catcher this year. Defensive flexibility is a noteworthy trait for any prospect, but being able to play other positions would work to Tirotta’s advantage in this case given that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. isn’t going anywhere (for 14 years, to be exact) at first, and Addison Barger seems to have a hold on third base right now.

With the amount of fringe MLB guys in Buffalo that I mentioned earlier, as well as a player like Yohendrick Pinango on the rise, Tirotta’s window is closing some. He’ll need a spot on the 40-man roster, so a lot of dominoes would need to fall for Tirotta to debut with the Jays this year, but if Atkins thinks he’s ready to go, he could get the green light if the stars align.

Andrew Bash

The last name yells “major leagues”, and over the past couple of seasons, so have the numbers. Bash has pitched in 33 innings across 15 games this season, pitching to a 2.18 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 28 strikeouts, and 13 walks. The 28-year-old righty has had stints in Buffalo in each of the last four seasons, and he’s posted a 2.59 ERA over his previous 55 games at that level.

It’s hard to classify what Bash’s role is since he has pitched in a multitude of situations with the Bisons this year. He’s started games as an opener, in which he’s gone anywhere from one inning to four innings. He’s pitched in middle relief, whether it be short or long, and he’s also closed a game this season that resulted in him earning his first professional save since 2022. Given the volatility of his pitching roles, he’d be an ideal candidate for an abrupt call-up if the team needed another arm in a pinch.

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Bash has an arsenal similar to that of Mason Fluharty, although it’s a bit more expansive. He features a sweeper and a sinker that he throws 43% and 29% of the time, respectively. He also throws a fastball and a changeup that make up the other quarter of his pitch selection. A fastball velocity averaging in the low 90s isn’t overwhelming, but his changeup and sinker both have allowed an xSLG under .300. Throughout his minor league career, Bash has also done a nice job keeping the ball in the yard; he’s posted a HR/9 of 1.0 or less in each of his minor league seasons.

Jimmy Burnette

I wrote about Burnette during the offseason as a potential lefty option this season for the Blue Jays, but he had to overcome the dip in production between double-A and triple-A.

For each of the past three years, Burnette has started his respective season at New Hampshire and has been promoted to Buffalo after excelling with the Fisher Cats. He followed almost the same roadmap this season (he had a zig-zag between Buffalo and New Hampshire at the end of April), after he allowed just one earned run in 8.2 innings of relief with 12 strikeouts and four walks during his time in double-A. With the Bisons, however, Burnette has allowed three earned runs across 10 innings with 14 strikeouts. While those numbers are solid and have kept the ERA low, Burnette has still not fixed his base path traffic issue, walking 13 batters and giving up nine hits with the Bisons.

To his credit, Burnette has maintained his high strikeout numbers that he’s had while with the Blue Jays organization. He also hasn’t allowed a home run yet this year, another trend that he’s put on display over the past few seasons. Lefties are struggling to hit against him, posting a minuscule .091/.333/.121 slash line, but the OBP% is inflated due to the walks that Burnette has allowed.

Burnette features a cutter, slider, sinker, four-seam fastball, and an occasional curveball, although he has thrown the former three pitches all between 20 and 30% of the time. He still has some kinks to work out in triple-A, but if he’s able to straighten those out and maybe something were to happen to one of Brendon Little or Mason Fluharty, there’s a world where the Jays would give him a shot.

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