These Blue Jays prospects are looking good

This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson’s Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The clock is ticking on the Minor League season, so it’s time for top prospects to either salvage a sunken season or finish their breakouts on a high.

For many on the Blue Jays’ updated Top 30 list, those slow starts have already been shaken off. This list added some new life following the MLB Draft, too, giving it a great shot at ending the season in a better place than it found itself two months in.

Here’s a look at five prospects putting up big performances at the right time:

No. 2 -- INF Orelvis Martinez

Here’s an interesting one for you. Martinez made his first career start at second base this week, 350 games into his Minor League career.

The Blue Jays are saying that this is just a natural progression to add some versatility to Martinez’s game, so it’s nothing to ring an alarm bell over, but it’s worth keeping in mind for next Spring Training when Martinez, Addison Barger, Davis Schneider and others will be competing for infield jobs. Martinez is impressing through 25 games in Triple-A, posting an .843 OPS with five home runs.

“He’s doing well. He’s carrying over what he did to get up there, in terms of approach,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “The power is obviously real and everyone knows that. He’s handled the transition to that level pretty well and the reports have been very positive.”

No. 3 -- SS Arjun Nimmala

So far, so good for the Blue Jays’ first-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. Nimmala has gone 4-for-16 (.250) in his first six games, but walked nine times (.520 OBP). Let’s not put much weight into a week’s worth of games in the Florida Complex League, but these positive first steps can only help Nimmala’s confidence.

This will get interesting in 2024, when Nimmala could get his first taste of full-season ball with Single-A Dunedin at some point. For now, keep an eye on his walk rate and plate approach. The more advanced that proves to be, the more quickly you’ll get a glimpse of his very exciting power.

No. 7 -- OF Alan Roden

Roden is an on-base machine and needs to be on the short list of Blue Jays prospects you track each night … if that’s your idea of fun.

The 2022 third-rounder has kept it rolling in Double-A after his promotion and has a combined .318 average with a .435 OBP this season. His seven home runs over 94 games don’t point to much power, but that’s not Roden’s ticket to the big leagues. There might be no prospect in this organization who has helped their career more in 2023 than Roden, and at this rate, he could put himself in position to push for the big leagues as early as 2024.

No. 17 -- 1B Spencer Horwitz

Horwitz had his moment earlier this season when he was promoted during a series on the road against the Rangers, but credit to the 25-year-old for finding another gear since he returned to Triple-A.

Since June 22: .362 /.465 /.579 (1.044 OPS, 7 HR in 40 games)

Horwitz and Roden are quickly becoming the model that the Blue Jays love to develop, and if you can stack a couple of those styles of hitters in a lineup around some power bats, it could be dangerous. Horwitz’s defense does limit him, but with Brandon Belt a free agent after this season and Horwitz’s production, he should at least have an opportunity to compete for a job next spring.

That’s a bit of a theme here: Spring Training 2024 could be the first camp we’ve seen in a few years with multiple legitimate competitions for roster spots.

No. 21 -- OF Jace Bohrofen

What a start for the Blue Jays’ sixth-rounder out of the University of Arkansas.

The 21-year-old Bohrofen is batting .290 with six home runs and a 1.250 OPS over just 13 games. This cameo as Barry Bonds won’t last forever, of course, but it’s another very positive start for a recent draftee with whom the organization is thrilled. Draft reports tagged Bohrofen as having above average power, so it’s encouraging to see that showing up in pro ball after his NCAA success.

The Blue Jays are finally starting to develop some legitimate outfield prospects, which is desperately needed, and Bohrofen has a shot to be part of that next wave a couple of years down the line.