5 Underrated Blue Jays Hitting Prospects You Need to Know
Toronto's minor leagues are filled with offensive talent and they're flying under the radar. Here are five names to keep an eye on.
The Toronto Blue Jays have a strong presence of young homegrown hitters on their MLB roster thus far in 2025 including names like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Addison Barger. However, the team still has some notable bats in the minor leagues who could make a big impact at the MLB level sometime soon.
Over the past few seasons, Toronto has amassed several high-level prospects through drafts and trades alike, but regardless of where these talents were accumulated they’re performing exceptionally well in the Jays’ farm system.
Will Robertson (OF, Triple-A, Buffalo Bisons*)
*Robertson has reportedly been called up to the Blue Jays’ big-league roster.
Will Robertson has always been a solid offensive producer in Toronto’s system, and he’s starting what is likely to be the best year of his career. Robertson was a 4th-round selection by the Blue Jays in 2019 and has spent the last two seasons now at the Triple-A level among the highest minor league talent.
Last season was a down-year for Robertson, who slashed an unlike-himself line of .226/.319/.429, which only graded out as a subpar 95 wRC+. This was only the second season of 60 or more games played in Robertson’s pro career where he finished below the league average in wRC+.
His 2025 has been nothing short of electric so far, as he leads the Buffalo Bisons in home runs (12), runs batted in (35), and walks (32). His slashline of .288/.408/.583 ranks among the upper echelons of Buffalo’s International League and he’s been one of the best power bats in all of MiLB this year.
Robertson’s ISO (Isolated Power) of .295 tops the International League, as he’s a comfortable five points above Twins outfielder Carson McCusker. Robertson also recently notched a three-homer game against the Syracuse Mets, showing off his incredible power ability. His pure talent at the plate makes him a prime candidate to not only move up, but to thrive at the MLB level in the near future.
Nick Goodwin (3B/SS, High-A, Vancouver Canadians)
Nick Goodwin was a seventh-rounder in the 2023 draft and has turned in a strong performance in the Jays’ minor-league system since he was picked. Now in his third season with the High-A Vancouver Canadians of the Northwest League, he’s slashing .252/.364/.473 with a 127 wRC+.
Goodwin’s high contact rate and good plate discipline make him a feared hitter, and he’s only one of three players to tally at least 30 RBI on the season for Vancouver. His Isolated Power (ISO) of .221 is by far the highest of his career and his .255 BABIP suggests that he might be somewhat unlucky with his batted balls this season.
He might not tally the most hits you’ve seen, but a contact rate nearing 80% shows skill that will only require time to produce impressive numbers. Additionally, he’s shown a distinct ability to hit to all fields rather than pulling the ball. The following chart depicts the pull, center, and opposite field rates of Goodwin’s career.
| Pull% | Center% | Opposite% | |
| 2023 | 54.1 | 18.8 | 27.1 |
| 2024 | 46.7 | 18.7 | 34.6 |
| 2025 | 40.4 | 28.8 | 30.8 |
Goodwin isn’t necessarily a name that’ll jump off the prospect charts, but he’s clearly showing signs of improvement in addition to an innate ability to make consistent contact at the plate. He could be looking at a promotion sometime soon and when he gets it, he just might run with it.
Ryan McCarty (2B/3B, Triple-A, Buffalo Bisons)
Ryan McCarty has already earned a promotion from Double-A New Hampshire to Triple-A Buffalo thanks to an early-season slashline of .267/.382/.387 and posting a 132 wRC+ while with the Fisher Cats. The undrafted infielder was signed by the Blue Jays as a free agent in 2022, and he quickly ran with the opportunity. McCarty hasn’t yet posted a season at any level with a wRC+ under 100.
His promotion to Triple-A came at the heels of a four-game outburst in which McCarty tallied 10 hits, including a home run and a double. What’s more is that in his first game in Buffalo, he roped a 95.2 MPH triple to right field and has reached base safely in seven of his first nine starts at the highest level of the minors.
McCarty hit a walk-off home run for the Bisons on May 31, so he’s shown an ability to succeed in the high-pressure moments. Toronto has plenty of infielders in their system and at the MLB level, but McCarty is one to keep a keen eye on.
Je’Von Ward (OF, High-A, Vancouver Canadians)
Je’Von Ward was signed as a minor league free agent by the Blue Jays prior to the 2024 season, and has hit the ground running ever since joining the organization. In 2024, the 6-foot-7 outfielder posted a very strong batch of rate stats including a great slashline: .279/.393/.443 with a walk rate of over 16%.
Showing even more levels of incredible discipline in 2025, Ward currently leads all of the Northwest League in walks with 50 and has only struck out a miniscule (in comparison) 37 times. On FanGraphs’ Speed Score (Spd) scale that rates a player’s baserunning ability on a scale of 2.0-7.0, Ward’s 2025 season sits at a 6.4 on this scale. He may not be up there among the leaders in stolen bases, but he is one of only 13 players in the Northwest League with multiple triples on the season.
FanGraphs also has Ward’s Raw Power rating scored as 60 grade potential. Perhaps this is why pitchers are being so careful when pitching to him, as his swing rate is only 29.7% this year. He’s feared enough at the plate to warrant pitching around the young slugger. This isn’t an exaggeration either – he’s actually seen more balls than strikes this season at High-A (370 balls/367 strikes).
Ward may not have many extra-base hits this season, but his flyball rate is drastically lower than it has ever been in his pro career. More groundballs and less flyballs are not necessarily ideal for a strong power hitter, but all in all, Ward is a bat to be feared in the lower levels of the minor leagues. Maybe he could be on his way to bringing that fear to a higher level sooner rather than later.
Edward Duran (C, Single-A, Dunedin Blue Jays)
Edward Duran was acquired by Toronto in 2022 from the Miami Marlins and has worked his way up to Single-A thus far as a pro. He’s been a defensive stalwart behind the plate in Toronto’s system and his bat has really caught up to speed this season.
Slashing .294/.388/.471 with a .403 wOBA and 141 wRC+ with Dunedin in 2025, Duran stands among the league’s best catchers at the plate. In fact, he is in the Florida State League’s top 5 qualified catchers in hits, RBI, runs scored, triples, walks, and stolen bases. Not to mention his .294 batting average is third-best in the league through roughly 50 games. He’s also the league’s most balanced spray hitting catcher, boasting ball-in-play percentages of at least 31% to all three directions (pull, center, opposite field).
Duran has an incredible arm behind the plate and has put it on full display in 2025, throwing out 21 runners already this season. He’s also great on the basepaths for a catcher, boasting an astronomical 5 triples this year and a 5.4 Speed Score rating according to FanGraphs. Duran is a talented backstop that could find himself making his way up the levels of the minors over the next few seasons.
These five players deserve some strong consideration for promotions in the near future and the Toronto Blue Jays have plenty of talented depth pieces in the minor leagues. The Jays have already had some injury troubles this season and some of these players could fill in a roster spot if it’s needed.
Written by
Ethan has been writing for Jays Journal, a site on the Fansided network, since 2023 and is fascinated by how sabermetric statistics can assist our understanding…