Blue Jays farm report: Yohendrick Pinango pushes up to Buffalo

TORONTO – Over the past couple of weeks, the Toronto Blue Jays were debating how to push Yohendrick Pinango from double-A New Hampshire to triple-A Buffalo without taking at-bats away from their other priority outfielders on the Bisons roster.

The logjam eased over the weekend when injuries to Anthony Santander and Daulton Varsho led to the promotions of Alan Roden and Davis Schneider, in the process pulling up Pinango, who walked in two plate appearances after debuting as a pinch-hitter Sunday.

The 23-year-old joins Joey Loperfido and Will Robertson in a Buffalo outfield that’s already sent up, or sent back, Roden, Schneider and Jonatan Clase to the big-leagues. A new level will test this season’s impressive progress for Pinango, who was acquired from the Chicago Cubs with shortstop Josh Rivera last July for Nate Pearson and batted .298/.406/.522 with eight homers and five stolen bases in 47 games with New Hampshire.

“After we got him, there were plenty of things that we liked, the bat speed was for real, the (exit velocity) was for real, but we saw some opportunities,” said Blue Jays farm director Joe Sclafani. “All the credit goes to him for putting in the work there. His attack angle used to be pretty steep, so he hit the ball really hard to get those EVs, but he hit it more directly into the ground, or just lower in general. We worked on that and he's getting on plane earlier and staying in the zone for longer. … He's spraying the ball with authority everywhere, which is awesome.”

Pinango first reached double-A last season, posting a .608 OPS in 88 games between the Chicago and Toronto systems, but spent the off-season working on a series of drills designed to adjust his swing plane and buy him time to make better swing decisions, in turn producing better results from the contact he makes.

“We were just trying to accentuate what he was already capable of,” said Sclafani. And between that and “the way he competes in the box,” the Blue Jays feel his gains can be sustainable.

“He doesn't give anything away, so there are some intangible pieces to it,” Sclafani explained. “The approach has continued to get better. He understands how people are attacking him. He's bought into it, asks the right questions, and you can just see the confidence every time he steps in the box now.”

Also pushing for playing time in the Buffalo outfield is R.J. Schreck, acquired from the Seattle Mariners last summer for Justin Turner. The 24-year-old is batting .265/.394/.522 with nine homers in 40 games thanks to a “super cerebral” approach he uses “to pick up on patterning, thinking through how guys are going to attack him.”

“His strength is the more he sees guys, the more that he has that image in his mind and can work through it and that helps him form a plan,” added Sclafani. “So he's the type of dude that gets better as he goes.”

The Blue Jays are counting on it to continue for both him and Pinango, further bolstering an area of depth they can try to leverage at the trade deadline should they end up buying. Their system is certainly deeper than it was a year ago, potentially giving general manager Ross Atkins more to work with than in recent summers, although market scarcity will remain a challenge.

Here’s a look elsewhere around the system.

Pitching push

Mason Fluharty, Braydon Fisher and Paxton Schultz have provided the Blue Jays with the type of pitching-depth contributions (combined 47.1 innings and 3.23 ERA in 38 games) they’ve too often lacked in recent seasons. That’s one of several areas Justin Lehr, the club’s first ever pitching director, was hired over the winter to help change and his work thus far in moving the organization from chasing stuff first to a better balance between pitchability and pitch design.

“It's never easy shifting philosophy and it wasn't like a drastic shift where we're starting back from ground zero, but we were definitely shuffling some of the prioritization around a little bit,” explained Joe Sclafani. “We've been talking about throwing strikes and executing, getting ahead, winning leverage counts. It's really neat traveling around, you're hearing these guys talk about it now. … It's cool because guys are still improving with their stuff, that hasn't gone away and we still feel pretty good about some of that stuff. But the strike-throwing makes a major difference, (as does) controlling the running game, some of the more nuanced pieces. We're talking about fastball command, what works off of it, educating these guys, not just giving them the information, on how to set hitters up, all of those different pieces. It hasn’t happened overnight, but I really feel like we have good momentum there.”

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

While infielder Leo Jimenez, who missed the start of the season with mono, is back with the Bisons and bolstering the Blue Jays’ infield depth, they took a big hit when shortstop Josh Kasevich fractured his right wrist in a collision with Tucker during a rehab game with low-A Dunedin. Kasevich, a gifted defender who’d been improving at the plate, was working his way back from a stress reaction in his back but will now miss an extended period. ... Lefty Adam Macko, who underwent knee surgery early in spring training, is currently with Dunedin and now eight outings into his rehab process. … Hard-hitting infielder Orelvis Martinez followed his dismal .516 OPS April with an .811 in May but what’s impressed team officials is the way “he’s working his ass off down there, equally on his defence and base-running,” said Sclafani. “He's engaged, he's doing all the things that we needed him to do and we've talked about in the past. He hasn't quite gotten on that hot streak that he typically hits around this time yet, but we're pretty confident that he's getting there and he's going to break out pretty soon.”

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Juaron Watts-Brown has made two starts since his promotion from Vancouver, following up a rough five-run, five-inning debut by striking out eight over six innings of one earned-run ball against Hartford, while getting 22 swinging strikes. The 23-year-old right-hander was a third-round pick in 2023 and has been helped along by an adjustment to his slider. “The bulldog on the mound has been unbelievable,” says Sclafani. … His promotion followed that of fellow starter Grant Rogers, who had posted a 1.82 ERA in 39.2 innings across eight starts for the Canadians. His ERA is 4.20 through 15 innings in three starts with New Hampshire, but he continues to impress with his ability to get outs.

Advanced-A Vancouver Canadians

With Trey Yesavage, Khal Stephen and Gage Stanifer joining fellow prospects Arjun Nimmala, Victor Arias, Sean Keys and Cutter Coffey, Vancouver is suddenly a key centre in the Blue Jays’ long-term future. Yesavage picked up right where he left off with 24 strikeouts in 12.1 innings over three starts, during which he’s allowed only three hits and two runs, as have Stanifer (20 strikeouts in 11 outings) and Stephen (eight innings in two starts with five strikeouts). Of that trio, Yesavage’s stay with the Canadians is likely to be the shortest, as the club felt he had big-league stuff when he was drafted and the plan was always to push him as quickly as performance dictated.

Nimmala (.291/.382/.527 with nine homers in 46 games) continues to dominate, which is already leading to some initial talk about a promotion to double-A. But the Blue Jays, mindful that’s he’s just 19, will likely let him marinate with the Canadians longer as they seek to balance his holistic growth against the strength of competition. … Keys, a third baseman taken in the fourth round last summer, is batting .217/.367/.389 with six homers and 31 walks against 48 strikeouts in 44 games, while upping his peak exit velocity by roughly five miles an hour. … Arias (.281/.394/.388) is back after missing a couple weeks due to chicken pox and continues to make an impression on all who see him. “This dude is a big-leaguer,” said Sclafani. “He plays his ass off.”

Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays

Righty Colby Martin is opening eyes after allowing only one run on three hits and eight walks with 22 strikeouts in 17.1 innings, with Sclafani calling him, “arguably one of the most impressive arms in our system, at least on the reliever side.” While he’s 24 and 1.8 years above the league’s average age, he’s only in his second season as a full-time pitcher after beginning his college career as a two-way player. He had monster OPS seasons of 1.332 in 2021 and 1.084 OPS in 2023 at Shenandoah, a D3 NCAA school, before transferring to Southeastern, an NAIA school, where he struck out 31 in 17 games last year before he was drafted. … Also impressive in relief so far is Javen Coleman, 23, who has 38 strikeouts in 23.1 innings over 16 games is likely bound for Vancouver soon.

Rookie-level Florida Complex League Blue Jays

Landen Maroudis, an on-the-rise pitching prospect before reconstructive elbow surgery last year, is five outings into his return so far, logging 13 innings with nine walks and 10 strikeouts. Barring setbacks, he should be in Dunedin after his next start. … Brandon Barriera, the 2022 first-rounder also returning from elbow surgery, has touched 99 m.p.h. in live batting practices and could be back in games by month’s end. … Lefty Johnny King, a third-rounder last year, has struck out 19 in 11.2 innings over four outings, allowing a single unearned run on seven hits and three walks. … Outfielder Yorman Licourt, signed a year ago out of Cuba, has an .895 OPS through his first 20 games and is also nearing a bump to Dunedin.