2 stars shining in improving Blue Jays farm system

This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson’s Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

TORONTO -- Something is beginning to click in the lower levels of the Blue Jays’ farm system.

This is a system that’s lagged behind at points in recent years, both due to performance and injuries, but the early weeks of 2025 have been extremely encouraging. Most important of all, though, is that the potential future stars look like exactly that.

The Blue Jays have done well with producing big league talent on the edges of the MLB roster -- think players like Davis Schneider, Spencer Horwitz, Addison Barger and Alan Roden -- but eventually, another star needs to shoot across the sky here. The rise of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette was a rare moment, but still, this improving farm system will really catapult back up public rankings when it produces a player who raises the floor, not just the ceiling.

That starts at the top:

SS Arjun Nimmala, No. 1 (High-A Vancouver)

Nimmala is one of the youngest players in the Northwest League, routinely facing pitchers who are two to four years older than him, but he still ranks second in home runs (6) and is already showing clear signs of taking a leap forward in 2025.

Get general manager Ross Atkins talking about Nimmala, though, and he doesn’t immediately jump to the 19-year-old’s high-end physical traits or his exciting power potential at shortstop. Atkins, like so many others in the Blue Jays’ organization, goes right to Nimmala’s mental makeup.

“This is very anecdotal and very subjective, but I’ve met a lot of first-round picks in my career,” Atkins said. “There’s a pretty traditional meeting between a GM and a first-round pick. They come in for their physical, and there’s media around them, a spotlight on them. Now that I’m 30 years in, I’ve seen at least 30 of them, and he’s one of the best I’ve ever seen at just handling that situation with maturity and intellectual ability. He’s got a bright future.”

If Nimmala can reach his offensive potential and stick at shortstop, there’s star potential here. Yes, he’ll need to fill out and adapt to more advanced pitching as he climbs, but the Blue Jays believe he’s fully capable. Atkins sees him sticking at shortstop long term, too.

“I personally don’t doubt that for a second,” Atkins said. “He’s got the arm strength, he’s got the hands, he has the feet and he has rhythm. You saw it in Spring Training where nothing ever sped up on him. To see it on that stage, where Bo, Vladdy and Schneids are watching and Bryce Harper is, too? That’s encouraging.”

RHP Trey Yesavage, No. 2 (Single-A Dunedin)

There’s something in the water down in Dunedin. The Single-A Blue Jays entered Wednesday with a 15-13 record, but their plus-61 run differential paints them as a potential powerhouse in the Florida State League and much of the credit belongs with their pitching staff, led by Yesavage and No. 10 prospect Khal Stephen.

Yesavage has dominated the level. He’s posted a 2.31 ERA with 36 strikeouts over 23 1/3 innings, and while Yesavage is clearly too talented for Single-A, this was the plan all along, as the Blue Jays wanted to use Dunedin to get Yesavage into a routine and keep him away from Vancouver and the Northwest League early on, when less predictable weather can throw a wrench into pitcher’s schedules.

If Yesavage makes another start in Single-A, it will probably be his last one.