The Blue Jays want to use the learnings from last year’s progress to their upcoming minor league season.
According to farm director Joe Sclafani, “trying to be targeted about the way they work and what’re focused on to what their future major-league value could be” was the driving force behind organizational thinking in adopting such a strategy. “I gained some knowledge last year. Looking forward to releasing a couple more this year. Each year, the majority of the off-season is devoted to reviewing our progress in those areas and trying to improve our procedures.
During those discussions, the topic of pitchers’ ability to travel between buckets came up. For example, all-star closer Jordan Romano was selected as a closer out of Oral Roberts, turned into a starter following Tommy John surgery, then rotated through the minor leagues for three years before making a comeback to the bullpen in 2019, which accelerated his rise to the top of the game. Roles in majors and minors have alternated for Bowden Francis. It’s important to place each person in the appropriate bucket.
Naturally, each person is unique, which adds complexity to the calculations of how much leeway to allow someone in a certain function. New Major League Baseball roster restrictions that exclude three players from each level of the competition this year have made that even more difficult.
Then, according to Sclafani, “we came up with a form where we’re considering different areas” to help organize the reviews. “How do you store your belongings? It includes performance. How are the tracking data returns coming in? We are factoring a huge number of distinct inputs. The simplest, clearest response is that if you do well in that role and demonstrate your ability to go through a lineup once, we’ll see about one or two more, and if you continue to perform well, hopefully you’ll reach a point where it’s evident that this individual deserves to start.
Exhibit A on that front is right-hander Devereaux Harrison, a 2022 ninth-round selection out of California State University, Long Beach, who played both outfield and as a relief while attending. Because the Blue Jays weren’t sure how much work he could handle, he started the previous season in the bullpen with the advanced-A Vancouver Canadians. He performed well in the role, earned a seat in the rotation, and made an emergency start when promotions called for it.
Harrison’s development led to a promotion to double-A New Hampshire and an invitation to big-league spring training this season.
We weren’t sure how his body would hold up because he hadn’t thrown a lot, according to Sclafani. We informed him from the beginning that we would assess the situation as we go. He performed incredibly well, demonstrated his ability, and hasn’t looked back.
Harrison’s development served as a reminder from the Blue Jays system of the previous season of why talent evaluators should never close the door on a player.
Davis Schneider provided another.
A 28th-round pick in 2017 (the draft now consists of just 20 rounds), he was early trapped in the system, almost hit a brick wall during the pandemic shutdown, but started to show signs of improvement by the end of the 2021 season. Eventually, last year, he broke through and had an immediate impact.
Sclafani states that, in terms of broader lessons for staff members involved in player development, this is “an interesting question.” One recommendation is to connect players who “do things the right way, check all the boxes, intangible pieces, work hard, are a good teammate” with “at least one thing they do really well” in order to slow down the turnover rate.
It’s a good thing that we normally have a propensity to concentrate on things that can improve. Sclafani continues, “I just think you need a good balance of it.” “Schneids was able to endure because he was exceptional at a few things. It simply takes a little longer to click at times. It serves as a helpful reminder to not jump to conclusions hastily and to act with greater haste now that the window of opportunity has shrunk, particularly in light of the new roster regulations.