Eleven players dropped off the list. Enmanuel Bonilla, Connor Cooke, Damiano Palmegiani, Chad Dallas, Hagen Danner, Cade Doughty, Dahian Santos, Alex De Jesus, CJ Van Eyk, Tucker Toman and Michael Dominguez.
Some of those pitchers dropped due to injury issues. Guys like Dallas and Cooke missed time and could easily be on next year's list if they bounce back. Bonilla and Toman were both rated in the Top 30 at one time but they haven't developed. Toman was on last year's list, but that was hopeful rather than based on performance. Bonilla was probably the most disappointing player of those who dropped off, he showed nothing much in the Complex League. He is still young but a .186 batting average and a 35% K rate does not bode well.
Danner and De Jesus did get votes but not enough to make the top 30, they just missed. Danner was injured most of the season and was waived in December before being claimed recently by Seattle. DeJesus spent the season in New Hampshire. He hit .260 but had a 28% K rate.
Many of the hitters drafted in the 2024 draft had excellent cameos with Dunedin. Sean Keys, Eddie Micheletti Jr., Aaron Parker, Brock Tibbitts and JR Freethy all played well. But we need to see more before we can place them in the Top 30. These players had between 70 and 80 at-bats, just a taste of what's to come.
Similarly, there are a couple of very young pitchers at the lower levels who showed a little something that might or might not develop into something. They are Daniel Guerra and Roberto Batista. Also, Edward Duran is a catcher in Dunedin who has shown flashes with the bat.
Similarly, some players who joined the organization at the trade deadline haven't made the list. Eddinson Paulino and Jacob Sharp are two of these. Neither seem to be Top 30-caliber but sometimes a trade can either depress stats in the short term or reenergize a player for their second season.
The Jays had plenty of pitchers going under the knife in 2024. From the Top 30, Ricky Tiedeman, Barriera, Dallas and Maroudis had UCL surgery. Nolan Perry is another pitcher who could have made the Top 30 if he didn't have surgery.
Connor O'Halloran
Pitchers can always add a pitch or tweak a pitch to become more effective. Dominguez, Connor O'Halloran and Devereaux Harrison are three such players who were close to the Top 30 but need a little more to make it.
The Jays have a ton of very good relievers, many at the AAA level who aren't in the Top 30. The Jays opted not to give many of them a shot at the major leagues in 2024. Are they good enough now or could they find something to take them up to the major leagues? Hayden Juenger, Van Eyk, Cooke, Santos and Brandon Eisert are close. Eric Pardinho could have made this list but he was a free agent and signed back with the Jays in late December.
Kai Peterson
Some other under-the-radar pitchers include Kai Peterson who led the organization in K rate but also walked a ton of hitters. The next three pitchers in K rate were Bo Bonds, Josh Mollerus (traded to Texas) and Johnathan Lavallee. All of them, like Peterson, had walk rates that were too high. Andres Tolhurst is another pitcher with a big K rate but he had a decent walk rate.
Anders Tolhurst
Riley Tirotta did have a good year in the system. But guys like him, Rainer Nuñez and Palmegiani who aren't the best fielders need to hit a ton to make it to the majors.
That's your Top 30, and others, for 2024. I hope you enjoyed the coverage. Thanks again to #2JBrumfield, aka Niall O'Donohoe, aka C's Plus Baseball, for joining me in this endeavour.
