Baseball America's Top 30 Blue Jays Prospects For 2019

Tuesday, March 12 2019 @ 07:02 AM EDT

Contributed by: #2JBrumfield

There is plenty of turnover among the Top 30 prospects in the Blue Jays system according to the 2019 Baseball America Prospects Handbook.

2018 Blue Jays second-round pick Griffin Conine finds himself in the middle of the 2019 Blue Jays prospect rankings by Baseball America.

2018 Blue Jays fourth-round selection Sean Wymer also landed a spot just inside the top 30 Blue Jays prospect list from Baseball America.

Here is how Baseball America grades each player, based on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale:

75-80 - Franchise player/number one starter
65-70 - Perennial All-Star/number two starter
60 - Occasional All-Star/number three starter/game's best reliever
55 - First division regular/number three-four starter/elite closer
50 - Number four starter/elite set-up reliever
45 - Second division regular/platoon/number five starter/lower-leverage reliever
40 - Reserve player/fill-in starter/relief specialist

Risk factors for each player are as follows:

Low - Likely to reach realistic ceiling, certain big leaguer barring injury
Medium - player needs to refine tools but is fairly polished
High - Most top draft picks in their first seasons, has plenty of projection involved, player with significant flaw or worrisome injury history
Very High - Recent draft picks with limited track record or injury issues
Extreme - Teenager in rookie ball, player with significant injury history or struggles with a key skill (pitcher's control or hitter's strikeout rate)

The Blue Jays have the 3rd best system in MLB according to BA, up five spots from 2018 and 17 from 2017.

No.#	Player	Position	Grade	Risk	2018 Rank
1	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	3B	80	Medium	1
2	Bo Bichette	SS	65	Medium	2
3	Danny Jansen	C	55	Medium	7
4	Eric Pardinho	RHP	60	Very High	6
5	Jordan Groshans	SS	60	Very High	NR
6	Nate Pearson	RHP	60	Very High	4
7	Kevin Smith	SS	55	High	26
8	Sean Reid-Foley	RHP	50	Medium	11
9	Cavan Biggio	2B	50	Medium	NR
10	Miguel Hiraldo	SS	55	Extreme	17
11	Anthony Alford	OF	45	Medium	3
12	Adam Kloffenstein	RHP	55	Extreme	NR
13	Orelvis Martinez	SS	55	Extreme	NR
14	Ryan Noda	OF	50	Very High	13
15	Griffin Conine	OF	50	Very High	NR
16	Cal Stevenson	OF	50	Extreme	NR
17	Patrick Murphy	RHP	45	High	NR
18	Trent Thornton	RHP	45	High	NR
19	Hector Perez	RHP	45	High	NR
20	Gabriel Moreno	C	45	Very High	NR
21	Leonardo Jimenez	SS	45	Extreme	NR
22	Billy McKinney	OF	40	Medium	NR
23	David Paulino	RHP	40	High	NR
24	T.J. Zeuch	RHP	40	High	12
25	Logan Warmoth	SS	40	High	8
26	Sean Wymer	RHP	40	High	NR
27	Elvis Luciano	RHP	45	Extreme	NR
28	Reese McGuire	C	40	Hold	15
29	Rowdy Tellez	1B	40	Hold	21
30	Chad Spanberger	1B	40	Very High	NR

The biggest risers on the list from 2018 are Smith (26 to 7), Hiraldo (17-10) and Borucki (16-10). The biggest fallers from last year are Warmoth (25-8), McGuire (28-15) Zeuch (24-12) and Alford (11-3). There are 16 newcomers on the list, led by first-rounder Groshans and Biggio at five and nine respectively.

Top Rookie - Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Breakout Prospect - Adam Kloffenstein
Sleeper - John Aiello

Projected 2022 Lineup
C: Danny Jansen
1B: Ryan Noda
2B: Lourdes Gourriel Jr.
3B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
SS: Bo Bichette
LF: Teoscar Hernandez
CF: Kevin Pillar
RF: Cavan Biggio
DH: Randal Grichuk
#1 SP: Marcus Stroman
#2 SP: Aaron Sanchez
#3 SP: Eric Pardinho
#4 SP: Nate Pearson
#5 SP: Ryan Borucki
CL: Hector Perez

Best Tools
Best Hitter for Average:	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Best Power Hitter:	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Best Strike-Zone Discipline:	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Fastest Baserunner:	Reggie Pruitt
Best Athlete:	D.J. Neal
Best Fastball:	Nate Pearson
Best Curveball:	Eric Pardinho
Best Slider:	Sean Reid-Foley
Best Changeup:	Maximo Castillo
Best Control:	Eric Pardinho
Best Defensive Catcher:	Reese McGuire
Best Defensive Infielder:	Kevin Vicuna
Best Infield Arm:	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Best Defensive Outfielder:	Jonathan Davis
Best Outfield Arm:	Chavez Young

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