The Blue Jays started their draft with a bang, grabbing arguably a top ten talent for a very reasonable signing bonus at the #20 pick as they embarked on a pitching-heavy draft class. Eleven of the nineteen picks they signed were arms, including each of the first three. Rather than targeting all-tools-no-polish types, Toronto opted for more safe-bet and classic projection picks for a lower risk class. Trey Yesavage alone makes this class a huge win, and I'm a fan of eighth rounder Eddie Micheletti as well. With money left over on day three, they were also able to hand out over slot bonuses to three preps while letting D'Marion Terrell walk to Auburn.
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Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. "2-50" would indicate that a player was drafted in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.
1-20: RHP Trey Yesavage, East Carolina {video}
Slot value: $4.07 million. Signing bonus: $4.18 million ($104,100 above slot value).
My rank: #11. MLB Pipeline: #11. Baseball America: #11.
Getting Trey Yesavage here at pick #20, and at just barely over the slot value (still less than the #19 slot value), is an absolute coup for the Blue Jays. Yesavage had rumored interest as high as #8 overall to the Angels, and beyond that was tied to numerous teams throughout the early and mid teens. The consensus #3 college pitcher in the country for much of the season behind Chase Burns and Hagen Smith, he got some competition for that title late from Jurrangelo Cijntje but most still had the ECU right safely ahead of his Mississippi State counterpart. Statistically, Yesavage was one of the most dominant pitchers in the country in a year where offense was up across the league. In fifteen starts, he went 11-1 with a 2.03 ERA and a 145/32 strikeout to walk ratio over 93.1 innings, including a fifteen strikeout performance against Wichita State in April. Stuff-wise, he's one of the best in the country too. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and touches 98 at peak, coming in with massive riding live (22" IVB!) from an ultra high release height nearing seven feet. It's a full arsenal behind the fastball, beginning with a hard cutter/slider in the upper 80's with late two-plane tilt. He's backed off his signature curveball a little bit but it's a real hammer with hard, sharp bite. His splitter has really come along as well, missing a ton of bats with late off-the-table action and giving him a real weapon against lefties. Altogether, he shows above average command and has possibly the most complete profile of any pitching prospect in this draft class. The Pennsylvania native stands 6'4" with a strong, sturdy frame, albeit one lacking much further projection (not that he needs it), and has proven durable in 169.1 innings over 31 appearances (30 starts) the last two seasons. The delivery is simple and compact, based more on strength than any kind of explosive athleticism, and he repeats it well with an ultra high, over the top release point that brings the ball straight down on hitters. To top it off, Yesavage is very young for the class and didn't turn 21 until after the draft. This is a legitimate #2 starter profile.
2-59: RHP Khal Stephen, Mississippi State {video}
Slot value: $1.49 million. Signing bonus: $1.12 million ($372,250 below slot value).
My rank: #124. MLB Pipeline: #88. Baseball America: #105.
Khal Stephen's ascent has been impressive. Hailing from a small town in western Indiana, he began his career nearby at Purdue and spent two seasons more or less under the radar. He caught Mississippi State's attention with a strong run through the Cape Cod League (2.73 ERA, 27/11 K/BB in 26.1 IP) and transferred down south, where he opened a ton of eyes with one of the better, more consistent seasons of any SEC starting pitcher this year. Stephen's arsenal is fairly ordinary, beginning with a low 90's fastball that touches 97 with plenty of riding life from a fairly high slot. His slider comes in with good power and dives under bats late when located, while he also has a less used curveball and changeup that round out the arsenal well. He has plus command from a simple delivery and sequences his pitches well, which helped him carve up SEC lineups full of future pro hitters. The 6'4" righty is durable and looks the part of a #4 or #5 starting pitcher, one who could move relatively quickly if he gets enough out of his secondaries to keep missing bats. He does lack a strikeout pitch which limits his upside, but the Blue Jays love the sum of his parts and his trajectory and think he's a high probability MLB starter.
3-95: LHP Johnny King, Naples HS [FL] {video}
Slot value: $767,200. Signing bonus: $1.25 million ($480,300 above slot value).
My rank: #107. MLB Pipeline: #124. Baseball America: #120.
Toronto's largest over slot bonus went to Johnny King, a high school arm out of Florida, to sign him away from a Miami commitment. King has a ton to like and the sky is really the limit if the Blue Jays develop him right. The fastball isn't overwhelming, sitting in the low 90's and touching 95 with run and sink from a low slot, but it's a great start for a high schooler when combined with his other traits. He's begun to separate his curveball and slider, which previously blended together, into sharp, distinct bat missers with more depth and shape. His changeup, while inconsistent, gives him a fourth promising pitch. King stands 6'3" and is built like a string bean, which when you combine with his extreme youth (17 on draft day), makes him extremely projectable. That means the fastball is almost certain to tick up a little bit and his breaking balls should continue getting sharper and harder, giving him the chance to become much more of a "stuff" guy down the line. King has also gotten more consistent with his delivery, which features a three quarters arm slot to get that running action, and his command is getting closer to average. He has an extremely long way to go and won't be in the majors for a long time, but the Blue Jays think his projectability and athleticism will turn him into an impact left handed starter. It's pretty hard to draw them up any better than King at 17 years old.
4-125: 3B Sean Keys, Bucknell {video}
Slot value: $572,200. Signing bonus: $569,700 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #159. MLB Pipeline: #211. Baseball America: #151.
For their first bat, the Blue Jays did not get cheated. An unheralded recruit out of Long Island, he didn't play much as a freshman but broke out to hit .339/.444/.679 as a sophomore in 2023. In 2024, he took it to a whole new level, slashing .405/.535/.798 in 46 games. Raw numbers alone, he was one of the best hitters in the country, but Bucknell does play in the Patriot League which is on the lower end of Division I competition. Keys is built strong at 6'2", 225 pounds, using a simple left handed swing to effortlessly tap his plus raw power in games. He also rarely chased in 2024, albeit of course against Patriot League pitching, leading to a high contact rate to go with his plus power. The jump to professional pitching will be steep, but Keys performed well in a small sample in the Cape Cod League, slashing .333/.393/.646 with four home runs in a dozen games. Meanwhile, he moves pretty well at third base despite his bigger size, and has a chance to stick there if he maintains his body and really puts in the work. There's a good chance he does move to first though if he slows down at all, which seems likely, and that will really put pressure on his bat to make the jump. Keys projects as a left handed, power hitting platoon bat, but he has a chance to play every day if he continues to make contact at a high rate, while sticking at third base would further his chances. He's still adjusting to pro pitching and is so far slashing .194/.268/.333 with one home run and a 12/4 strikeout to walk ratio in nine games for Low A Dunedin.
4C-136: OF Nick Mitchell, Indiana {video}
Slot value: $515,100. Signing bonus: $467,500 ($47,600 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #301.
Nick Mitchell spent his first two seasons at Western Illinois, then turned in a nice showing in the Cape Cod League while earning a transfer spot at Indiana back in his home state. Mitchell continued to rake at Indiana, and now he comes off the board perhaps a few rounds earlier than most expected. Clocking in with a compact 5'10" frame, he's a very different hitter from the man Toronto drafted eleven slots in front of him. Mitchell uses a quick left handed swing to gash line drives around the field, combining a very patient approach with high contact rates to walk (15.4%) more than he struck out (13.8%) in 2024. There's some moderate pop in the bat and he can send it out when he turns on the ball, so he could top out around 10-15 home runs per season at peak if we're lucky, but he'll always be a hit over power type that will knock lots of doubles and triples. He's an above average runner who can get up to plus when he turns on the jets, which further helps that profile, and could have a shot at center field if he maintains that speed and shows a little more defensive refinement in pro ball. It's a pretty clear fourth outfielder profile as a guy who can get on base, steal some bases, and ambush pitchers with a little bit of power, though the upside may be a bit limited. He was extremely young for a college junior, not turning 21 until well after the draft. So far, he's slashing .286/.364/.543 with a couple home runs and a 10/6 strikeout to walk ratio through nine games at Low A Dunedin.
5-158: RHP Jackson Wentworth, Kansas State {video}
Slot value: $414,600. Signing bonus: $412,100 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #205. MLB Pipeline: #164. Baseball America: #429.
Jackson Wentworth is another guy who came out of nowhere. He didn't pitch as a freshman, then posted an 8.72 ERA in 2023 and began 2024 in the bullpen. However, he showed so well that he eventually moved to the rotation and his 115 strikeouts placed him tied for fourth in the Big 12 and eighteenth in Division I overall (among those ahead was Jays' first rounder Trey Yesavage at #5 in the nation). The fastball sits in the low 90's and touches 96, coming in with moderate riding life from a higher slot, so it's fairly ordinary overall from a pro perspective. Wentworth has a full arsenal of secondary stuff including a hard cutter, two-plane slider, truer curveball, and a nice changeup, all of which look like at least average major league pitches with a few potentially popping towards above average. The 6'1" righty pounds the strike zone with above average command and gets nice deception in his funkier delivery which features a deep arm plunge and exaggerated rock-back. This is a pretty safe #4/#5 starter profile, perhaps with a bit more upside if the Blue Jays can get one or two pitches to take a step forwards and get closer to plus. On the downside, he's old for a college junior and turned 22 less than a mont after the draft, making him more than a year older than Nick Mitchell one pick earlier in this class.
6-187: C Aaron Parker, UC Santa Barbara {video}
Slot value: $323,400. Signing bonus: $297,500 ($25,900 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Aaron Parker has done nothing but hit in three years in Santa Barbara, slashing .354/.438/.597 for his career while blasting 22 home runs in a 109 game sample. It's a very solid all-around profile, with a nice combination of power and contact. Parker starts upright with a simple stance and a low handset, but shows a lot of hand movement as he waggles into his load. It's an accurate barrel as he gets his whole body into his swing, creating average raw power that he can tap to all fields, and he's a patient enough hitter to ensure he's getting the right pitches to drive. There can be some swing and miss when he can't get his hands into the right position, but overall he keeps the strikeout rate down and the walk rate up. Behind the plate, he's considered a fringy to solid defender who has a chance to stick back there at the next level, which would certainly make the offensive profile look even more enticing. He's a smaller guy at 5'9" and would likely be limited to left field if he had to move out, so the Blue Jays likely believe in his glove. He's off to a hot start with the bat, slashing .265/.390/.531 with three home runs and, perhaps most impressively, an even 10/10 strikeout to walk ratio over 14 games.
8-247: OF Eddie Micheletti Jr., Virginia Tech {video}
Slot value: $208,700. Signing bonus: $147,500 ($61,200 below slot value).
My rank: #207. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
I may be a bit biased because he's a Hokie, but I think the Blue Jays have a potential sleeper here. Eddie Micheletti began his career at George Washington, where he turned a big junior season into a transfer opportunity to Virginia Tech. Despite the jump in competition from the A-10 to the ACC, he hit the ground running and spent the season right in the middle of a strong Virginia Tech lineup. Well built at 6'1", he shows above average raw power that plays down to average in games because he's more focused on using the whole field and knocking line drives. He did homer off of second overall pick Chase Burns, which you can see in the video above. Meanwhile, Micheletti is an exceptionally disciplined hitter who took the best at bats in the Hokie lineup this year, running elite chase rates to force pitchers to come to him. When they did, he rarely missed, and he was one of just three players on the BA 500 (out of 145 total) to post a contact rate above 85%, a chase rate below 16%, and a 90th percentile exit velocity above 105 MPH – the other two were first overall pick Travis Bazzana and Rangers seventh rounder Rafe Perich, both of whom are rightly considered "metric monsters." All told, this is an extremely well-rounded offensive profile that could very well hit enough to play every day. The pressure will be on the bat, as the Wilmington (DE) native is a below average runner who will likely slot in at first base or left field, and he's also a senior sign that will turn 23 in the offseason. Still, I really like this value as an eighth round money saving senior sign. So far he has made quick work of Low A pitching, slashing .333/.472/.481 with a 6/5 strikeout to walk ratio in eight games for Dunedin.
9-277: RHP Colby Holcombe, Mississippi State {video}
Slot value: $190,100. Signing bonus: $197,500 ($7,400 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Colby Holcombe had a big freshman year at Northeast Mississippi JC in 2022, earning himself the #169 spot on my draft board that year, but after following through on a commitment to Mississippi State he hasn't built his stock. In two seasons in Starkville, Holcombe carries a 9.05 ERA and an 18.7% walk rate over thirty appearances, so the Blue Jays are drafting pure arm talent here. The 6'6", 250 pound righty has one of the bigger arms in the class, running his fastball up to 99 back at Northeast Mississippi and regularly grabbing the upper 90's in short stints at Mississippi State. He throws a hard slider and curveball that can miss bats as well, making him a high octane arm in relief. To this point, well below average command has held him back as he has struggled to both stay ahead of hitters in counts and execute his big stuff in the zone. There may also be a lack of deception here, letting hitters sitting in 1-0 and 2-0 counts better pick up his stuff out of the hand. At this point, the North Alabama native is almost certainly a reliever, and the Blue Jays will look to clean up his delivery a little bit to help him wrangle his stuff a little bit better. Just on size and arm strength alone, he has big upside in the 'pen. After shouldering a lighter workload at Mississippi State this year, Holcombe has already gotten started at Low A Dunedin having tossed six innings of one run ball with a 3/4 strikeout to walk ratio across three appearances.
12-367: RHP Carson Messina, Summerville HS [SC] {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $550,000 ($400,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: #192. MLB Pipeline: #222. Baseball America: #134.
The Messina family had two boys in the draft this year, with older brother Cole going to the Rockies in the third round while younger brother Carson found his way to the Blue Jays in the twelfth round, albeit signing for late fourth round money. Like Colby Holcombe, this is an arm strength play, though Carson Messina has a better chance to stick in the rotation. His fastball sits in the mid 90's and touches 98 early in starts, though it fades into the low 90's as he gets into the middle innings. Known for his feel for spin, he snaps off an above average slider with late bite that can overwhelm even advanced prep batters, giving him a great one-two punch with which to enter pro ball. At this point, that's the attraction. He's still working to develop a tertiary changeup while his moderately high-effort delivery can lead to fringy command and fading velocity. He'll look to develop physically in the Toronto system and get more athletic with his delivery while learning to repeat it better, which could help him make it as a starter. To me, I see more of a fastball/slider reliever that could be highly impactful in short stints.
