TSN s top 50 Toronto Blue Jays prospects: 31-50
TSN s Scott Mitchell digs into the farm system to rank the top 50 Blue Jays prospects in a series of three pieces. Up today are names 31 through 50 with 11-30 coming Wednesday and the top 10 on Thursday. Blue Jays Top 50 Prospects , TSN
By: Scott Mitchell
TORONTO At the major-league level, things have changed.
The Toronto Blue Jays have very clearly shifted from the teardown stage to the process of building, spending and adding, but that doesn’t mean the rebuild is complete.
Far from it.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, a season or one off-season, and that rings true for the Jays.
February 7, 2021
Garrett Richards has an uncanny ability to spin a baseball. Per Statcast, the 32-year-old right-hander recently signed to a free-agent contract by the Boston Red Sox was 99th percentile in curveball spin last year, while his four-seam spin ranked in the 97th percentile. Moreover, the most-effective weapon in his arsenal, a 2,746-RPM slider, was topped only by Sergio Romo’s 2,913 RPMs among hurlers who threw the pitch at least 200 times.
Richards’s least-effective offering in 2020 was a two-seamer that’s hard to put a positive spin on. The erstwhile San Diego Padre threw 66 of them, and the ones that were put into play tended to get punished. Opposing hitters whacked them to a tune of a .467 batting average and an .867 slugging percentage. And it was even worse in 2019. While a 28-pitch sample obviously needs to be taken with a huge grain of salt, numbers like .500 and .875 stand out like a sore thumb. I asked Richards about his plans going forward, antici
55
Franco spent 2020 at the alternate site and then played just five games for Escogido in the Dominican Winter League before he was shut down due to biceps soreness, which had clearly effected his throwing, as he short-hopped several throws to first base on routine plays. It’s not expected to be a long-term issue, and Franco himself wanted to rest and return to action for Escogido (the left side of los Leones infield would have been him and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.), but the Rays prevented it as a precaution. I suppose there’s some chance that this issue, combined with the presence of other good shortstops in the org like Willy Adames and Taylor Walls (assuming either or both aren’t traded) creates a heightened chance that Franco debuts in the big leagues as a second baseman, but even if we knew that was going to be the case, he’d still easily be the best prospect in baseball.
A look back at the 1997 Royals
Share this story
Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
The 1997 Royals were a zombie franchise. The franchise that was once a crown jewel and a champion a decade before were now set adrift, without an owner or any sense of direction. The team was ostensibly in a youth movement, but seemed focused on adding veterans to prop up a Potemkin village for a potential new owner. The result would be one of the worst seasons in franchise history.
The 1997 Royals
Record: 67-94, 5th place, 19 games back
Say hello to: Jay Bell, Ricky Bones, Hector Carrasco, Scott Cooper, Chili Davis, Jermaine Dye, Jeff King, Gregg Olson, Dean Palmer, Scott Service, Jaime Walker