2025 Bluebird Banter Top 40 Blue Jays Prospects: 33-36

Approaching the top of the list and getting to prospects with more impact potential, we have lefty and righty high school pitchers with plus pitches, a faraway infielder with a sky high ceiling contrasted against a skills over tools outfielder on the cusp of the majors.

12. Juan Sanchez, SS, age 18 (DOB: 9/27/2007), grade: 40, 2025: unranked

Sanchez received the second largest bonus in the Blue Jays’ 2025 international class at just a hair under $1-million, so while he wasn’t one of the very top ranked prospects there was certainly some pedigree there. He more than put himself on the map last summer with a LOUD debut at .341/.439/.565, more than 50% abover league average.

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Hot for average? Check. Power? Check. An idea at the plate? Check. There’s plenty he’ll have to show against much better pitching of course, but everything looks good so far. In the Spring Breakout game, Sanchez smashed a hanging slider from the Phillies 4th rounder last year off the fence with a short swing that exploded off his bat. It’s but one data point, but a heck of an impression.

Defensively, he split his time between short and third, and at 6’3” is not expected to stay a shortstop despite good athleticism. Regardless, this is about the potential for an impact bat, and it that works out it’s be no trouble to find him a home elsewhere on the infield, or even potentially in the outfield. Would he ideally rank this highly in a better system? No. There’s still an incredible amount of risk here.

11. Gage Stanifer, RHP, age 22 (DOB: 11/18/2003), grade: 40+, 2025: unranked/just missed

I really wish I had got around to publishing my just missed/pref list last year, because Stanifer was at the head of it (you’ll have to take to my word for it). The Blue Jays’ 19th rounder out of an Indianapolis high school in 2022, the Jays landed Stanifer for the $125,000 limit that doesn’t count against the draft pool. I’m always intrigued by these late round picks who clearly have a strong preference to play professionally rather than in college, and amount to essentially a free lottery ticket for the team if scouts can turn up a diamond in the rough.

So while Stanifer’s complex league debut wasn’t remarkable, I had tucked the name away and when he went up to Dunedin in the wake of several injuries to the rotation in early 2024 it was a priority follow for me. Again, while the results didn’t standout (6.34 ERA with 50 walks in 59.2 innings), there were some promising building blocks. He shows good fastball velocity, holding low-90s velocity, paired with the ability to spin a breaking ball that flashed plus. It’s just consistent strike throwing was his undoing, but nonetheless there was plenty to like.

Sometimes young pitchers never progress beyond that, and sometimes something clicks. And click it did for Stanifer in 2025. Piggybacked behind Trey Yesavage for the first half of the season, Stanifer blew away low-A hitters (0.69 ERA with 38 in 26 innings over seven starts). There were a few bumps initially at Vancouver, mostly control wobbles, but really hit his strike down the stretch in the rotation (60K in 37 IP in his last seven high-A starts) before a late season cameo up to AA.

Stanifer’s fastball was firmed up towards the mid-90s, and he misses plenty of bats with, but his best pitch is a mid-80s slider with big depth that can look like a power curve (and he mixes in either a slower variant or what is actually more of a power curve with more depth). His change-up is distinctly a third pitch, but encouragingly for a development perspective he used it plenty and would flash some good fade. Physically, he’s pretty already pretty maxxed out.

It’s going to come down to throwing enough strikes for Stanifer because the stuff is plenty good. That was an issue in his Spring Training appearances this year. Between the tenuous control and the change-up being a work in progress, my gut is he ultimately ends up in the bullpen (I’d put it at something like 75/25). He’s touched the upper 90s with his fastball and potentially could tick up to that consistently in short stints. And there’s not insignificant risk that the basic strikethrowing undermines him short of the majors.

10. Johnny King, LHP, age 19 (DOB: 7/26/2006), grade: 40+, 2025: 23th

One of the youngest players drafted in the 2024 Draft, King received a well overslot $1.25 million bonus to forgo his commitment to Miami as the Jays’ third rounder. The prototypical day two high school arm, King had a loose, whippy delivery from a low three quarters arm slot from a 6’4”/185 frame with room to add weight as he fills out.

Promoted to low-A Dunedin at midseason after bullying hitters on the complex (41K in 24 innings), King had a broadly successful 11 appearance run, with a 3.35 ERA in 37.1 innings, with a ridiculous 64 strikeouts amounting to just under 40%. The one drawback was 30 walks (18%), though it wasn’t a huge issue of not being able to throw strikes so much as running a lot of deep counts and losing hitters. A little overboard on the two true outcomes.

King did this principally with two pitches. His fastball sat in the low-90s with some run to his arm side, presenting a tough angle especially for young pitchers unfamiliar with that from the left side. He’s young enough that it could tick up as he matures and gets stronger. That’s paired with a big two-plane curve in the mid-70s that piled up swings and misses, albeit against hitters who were largely befuddled and completely eaten up by it. He used his changeup some, but more often and then he’d go away from it and rely on his others.

Though there is plenty of risk remaining, the successful debut has already somewhat derisked King’s profile in that the stuff clearly translated to full season ball. A solid athlete, he could project to have good command but it’s still well a work in progress. While he’s very young, there’s a lot of reliever traits and absent steps forward in command or to a viable third pitch, my gut would have him ultimately landing in the bullpen, with the distribution above reflecting that.

9. RJ Schreck, OF, age 25 (DOB: 7/12/2000), grade: 40+, 2025: 32nd

After four years at Duke and one season with Vanderbilt, Schreck was a priority senior sign by the Mariners in the 9th round of the 2023 Draft. After an unremarkable post draft debut, he put himself on the map at high-A Everett in the first half of 2024 with 12 home runs and .404 OBP. Traded to the Jays for Justin Turner, the power carried over to New Hampshire finishing the season at .251/.388/.462 (138 wRC+) and 17 HR.

I was the low guy on Schreck last year, skepticism stemming from both home parks having extreme short porches to right field thereby exaggerating his production (.240 home ISO, .188 road ISO). Beyond that, the production was driven by plate discipline outcomes, which for an experienced ACC/SEC hitter can be just waiting out wild young pitchers rather than true excellence (and his strikeout rate increased significantly at AA).

Schreck’s 2025 went a long way to dispelling at at least allaying that. After replicating his AA production, he moved up to Buffalo and had the profile hold up at AAA in posting a .242/.392/.435 line good for a 129 wRC+. He walked 16% while holding the strikeouts to 21%, and added 9 HR in half a season in a neutral environment.

While Schreck does not standout tools wise, added strength in the past few years has enhanced his power potential and he makes excellent swing decisions. Defensively, he’s been used in all three positions. While he doesn’t embarrass himself in CF and would be serviceable in a pinch, his future is in a corner where good reads and routes and an average arm acquit him well.

As a corner outfielder without above average power (or a standout hit tool), Schreck’s profile remains risky in terms of projecting a regular role. That said, he’s already shown improvements beyond his pre-draft profile with secondary skills that buffer shortcomings in raw tools. Until the profile and production shows signs of cracking, there’s reason to believe a late blooming diamond in the rough who could profile as an OBP-oriented everyday regular.

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