Top prospects for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2024: Ricky Tiedemann may join the major league rotation by summer, Despite his youth, Toronto’s No. 2 prospect has the potential to become a superstar.
The statement says, “You’re selling wins or you’re selling hope.” By analyzing each team’s farm system, we at CBS Sports try to give as much optimism as we can at this time of year.
Naturally, not every team has a farm system that is equally effective; as you will see during this process, some teams fall short in that regard. However, it does mean that over the course of the next several months, CBS Sports will be analyzing the top three prospects in each organization. A young player’s absence is most likely due to the fact that we define “prospects” as those who will still be eligible to play as rookies in 2024.
After discussions with scouts, analysts, and player development specialists, these lists and assessments are created. Firsthand assessment and prejudice are also included. Recall that evaluating players is a difficult undertaking, and you are free to disagree with the rankings. These are only views, and the future is not really affected by them.Click here to view our list of the top 25 for winter.In light of that, let’s get started by breaking down the Toronto Blue Jays.
1. Ricky Tiedemann, LHP (age 21).
Tiedemann struck out six of the 14 hitters he faced in his final Triple-A start of the season. Nevertheless, his outlook’s error bars are still as large as those of any other prospect rated in the top 50. Including 44 this season, he has thrown 122 innings since being chosen in 2021. It was in the Arizona Fall League when he threw an additional eighteen frames.
Tiedemann has three good pitches a mid-90s fastball, a changeup, and a sweeping slider that he delivers from a low slot that could theoretically make him at least a mid-rotation starter. If he hopes to avoid being sent to the bullpen, he will actually need to demonstrate sooner rather than later that he can manage a starter’s workload.
2. 18-year-old Arjun Nimmala, SS
According to reports, Nimmala dropped to the 20th pick in the draft due to bonus demands, despite our assessment of him being a top-10 prospect. His skill set would resemble yours if you were to sketch up a set of abilities capable of star-level performance. Despite his youth, he possesses the necessary movements and arm strength to play shortstop.
Offensively, he’s demonstrated the capacity to create loud contact with a simple swing. In the upcoming years, Nimmala’s slender build appears to be ready to gain muscle, which might allow him to play a premium position and have an alluring mix of power and defense. Of course, there are also a number of possible drawbacks. He’s your man, though, if you’re hungry for upside.
3. 22-year-old Orelvis Martinez, 2B/3B
With 28 home runs in 28 games between Double- and Triple-A last season, Martinez who signed a contract for more than $3.5 million in 2018 repairs his reputation. Martinez’s hit-tool projections and long-term defensive home have been his primary problems. Though it’s noteworthy that he recorded a career-best walk rate in 2023, he’s still prone to an excessively aggressive approach that leads to a high whiff rate.
By giving him a lot of burn at second and third base, the Blue Jays appeared to accept that he won’t be a shortstop. Martinez will either make or break an MLB team depending on how frequently he can use his power against major-league pitchers. Towards the end of 2024, we ought to begin investigating that query.