Toronto Blue Jays Hitting Prospects: Who Has a Chance to Fly North?

It seems that Customs allowed us to take the scanner north of the border, in order to get a STAT-Scan bead on future Toronto Blue Jays.  Unlike some of the other organizations, there is a divide between the prospects identified by the experts and those picked out by the STAT-Scan.  We’ll just have to see what happens.

Who will join

signing autographs for Toronto fans? Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

In our S2S STAT-Scans, each player is assigned a “Plate Skills Index,” which is based on the ability to “win plate appearances” (described in detail here), a “Production Index,” based on the ability to produce offense (described in detail here), and a “Composite Index,” which is a combination of the two.  Additional detail on “the three numbers,” with some examples, can be found here.

It is important to remember that age, level and position also factor into the analysis.  And note that this is a statistical analysis of the actual results, so scouting reports don’t factor into the numbers.

On the Radar

Andy Burns, SS/2b … 2013 age: 22; 2012 level: Low-A

Plate Skills: 106  Production: 116  Composite: 122

Burns split between shortstop and second, and, despite the lukewarm .248 average, he put up an .815 OPS, which is plenty good for a middle infielder.  He also stole 15 bases and was only caught twice.

Art Charles, 1b … 2013 age: 22; 2012 level: Rookie, Short Season-A

Plate Skills: 143  Production: 149  Composite: 192

The big (6-foot-6) LH hitter put a lot of oomph into the ball (.528 SLG), collecting 13 homers in 64 games.  He also had a solid .381 OBP, although most of that was racked up in the rookie-level Appalachian League.

Distant Early Warning

Dalton Pompey, OF … 2013 age: 20; 2012 level: Rookie, Short Season-A, L0w-A

Plate Skills: 107  Production: 97  Composite: 104

Pompey only played 20 games due to injuries, but the switch-hitting teen center fielder ended up in the Low-A Midwest League.  He put up nice numbers along the way, including a .375 OBP.

John Silviano, C … 2013 age: 18; 2012 level: Rookie

Plate Skills: 138  Production: 92  Composite: 130

The lefty-hitting catcher hit only .164, but he was only 17, and … he not only had more walks than strikeouts, he had more walks than hits.  You don’t see that very often.

On the Whole

The Blue Jays have had massive turnover in their system in the last year.  They swapped a bunch of prospects with Houston, used some of their prospects to help acquire Jose Reyes and R.A. Dickey (e.g., Travis d’Arnaud), and shed some of their formerly top-ranked guys like Travis Snider and David Cooper.  There isn’t a lot left to get overly excited about in the minors, but the major-league roster has been made over as well.