10 Toronto Blue Jays Prospects To Know Beyond The Top 30 in 2024

31. Cade Doughty, 2B

Louisiana State baseball is a family tradition for the Doughtys. Cade followed his father Richard and brother Braden to LSU. Over his decorated college career, Cade was a three-year starter and hit .301 with 30 home runs and a .921 OPS. The Blue Jays drafted him in the supplemental second round in 2022 Doughty spent all of 2023 with High-A Vancouver, hitting .264/.342/.459 with 18 home runs. While Doughty’s surface-level stats are solid, his underlying data showcases how poor his plate skills were in 2023. 

32. Alex De Jesus, 3B

Acquired in the trade that sent righthander Nick Frasso to the Dodgers, De Jesus is a bat first their baseman with major questions around his glove. De Jesus hit .248/.340/.466 over 82 games and showed improvements in contact, in-zone contact and chase rates. De Jesus has fringe-average power and a knack for finding the barrel. De Jesus got more aggressive this season with a 4% jump in swing rate and showed real skill progression. De Jesus lacks adjustability in his barrel which adds some question to his hit tool despite improvements. 

33. Adrian Pinto, 2B/SS

Pinto was acquired by the Blue Jays from the Rockies in the Randal Grichuk trade a few weeks before the 2022 season began. Over two seasons in the Blue Jays organization Pinto has been limited to just 82 games as he’s dealt with multiple lower body injuries (quadriceps and hamstring). When Pinto has been healthy, particularly in his 35 games this season, he’s shown a well rounded skillset at the plate. Pinto is an above-average contact with a patience rarely seen in the lower levels of the minor leagues. Despite dealing with injuries Pinto saw gains to his exit velocity data without sacrificing contact. Pinto is a fit at a variety of positions defensively but lacks the arm strength to play shortstop long term. He’ll likely move to second long term with a possibility he moves to the outfield. 

34. CJ Van Eyk, RHP

Van Eyk received significant buzz leading up to the Rule 5 draft after a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League. Van Eyk returned from Tommy John surgery this summer and reached Double-A by season’s end, pitching as a starter limited to three to four innings per appearance. Van Eyk mixes a four-seam fastball at 92-94 mph with a power curveball at 81-83 mph and a cut slider in the mid-80s. Van Eyk has been flagged as a candidate for a potential move to the pen, where evaluators believe his stuff could play up. 

35. Nick Goodwin, SS

Kansas State has produced some solid prospects in recent seasons and Goodwin might be the next Wildcats alumni to find success as a professional. Goodwin combines solid plate skills with a knack for finding the barrel. Hes likely to move off shortstop but has enough offensive upside to move to second or third base. Goodwins high level outcome is a bat-first utility infielder. 

36. Devereaux Harrison, RHP

After spending most of his college career and the early portion of his professional career working as a reliever, Harrison made the jump to the Vancouver rotation on May 21st. In the 16 starts the followed Harrison pitched to a 2.88 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and a .224 opponents average. Harrison mixes a four-seam fastball at 92-94 mph, a riding sweeper slider at 82-84 mph, a changeup and a cutter. Harrison doesn’t generate many strikeouts, but his unusual combination of ride and sweep on his slider make it an above-average pitch. Harrison generates an outlier amount of extension for his 6-foot-height averaging 6-foot-8 feet of extension on average. 

37. Gabriel Martinez, OF

After a breakout 2022, Martinez’s lack of approach and middling exit velocity data caught up to him. These were all factors lurking beneath the surface in his underlying data the season prior. Remarkably Martinez’s contact rate, chase rate, in-zone contact rate and exit velocity average and 90th percentile all look nearly identical. Martinez has natural bat-to-ball ability and a swing that looks to do damage, he simply lacks the strength at present to optimize this approach. Martinez is a corner outfield only prospect with a lack of defensive skills, putting more pressure on him to perform at the plate.

38. Manuel Beltre, SS

Signed in July of 2020 for $2.35 million, Beltre is one of the Blue Jays more highly billed international free agents in recent years, but has failed to hit as a professional. Beltre is an above-average defender in the infield, who profiles best as a utility infielder long term. Beltre hit .231/.335/.340 in 2023 and his underlying contact (27.1%) and chase (28.5%) rates are only average. Beltre lacks power and is a slightly above-average runner and basestealer, limiting his offensive upside. Improvements to Beltre’s approach and contact hitting could yield enough offense to profile as a defensive utility infielder. 

39. Ryan Jennings, RHP

A fourth round pick in 2022 out of Louisiana Tech, Jennings looks like a potential steal at $70,000. After Jennings showed upper-90s velocity at Louisiana Tech, his velocity was down in 2023 as he sat 93-94 mph touching 95-96 mph at peak. Despite missing a chunk of the season with injury Jennings returned for the playoffs. Jennings mixes a fastball with heavy armside run, a power curveball in the low-80s, a mid-80s gyro slider, a cutter and a changeup. If Jennings can recapture his college velocity and maintain health he could move up the rankings in 2024. 

40. Dasan Brown, OF

There aren’t many players with Brown’s athleticism and twitch. A standout centerfield defender, Brown’s defense is a true plus tool. Unfortunately he’s struggled to develop as a hitter over parts of five seasons. Brown had the worst offensive season of his career in 2023 after returning to High-A, where he had success to finish 2022. Brown has above-average approach and solid bat-to-ball skills, but well below-average impact, limiting the quality of all of his contact. At 21 years old potential strength gains can still come, but that remains to be seen.