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Bluebird Banter Mid-Season Top Prospect Review: 11-20

This group includes Franklin Barreto, Chase DeJong, Santiago Nessy, John Stilson, Kevin Pillar and others.

By Tom Dakers
Not one picture of Kevin Pillar in our assortment from last night's game.
Not one picture of Kevin Pillar in our assortment from last night's game.
Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sport

Continuing our look at how the players on our Top 40 Prospects list are doing. We looked at players in the Top 10 Tuesday. If you want to look at the list, it starts back here. I planned to post this yesterday, but  the Blue Jays decided to make 20 roster moves.

11. Franklin Barreto: Franklin will be moving up our list next year. He is having a great time of it in the GCL, hitting .298/.368/.532 with 4 home runs, 6 triples, and 10 steals in 43 games. He is having a great August, .348/.423/.836 with 4 home runs in 12 games. Barreto is just 17, years away from the majors. He has made a bunch of errors at short, 18 for a .901 FA but GCL parks don't have the best of infields, he has years to work out his fielding.

12.Chase DeJong: our 2nd round pick from the 2012 draft, Chase has pitched in 10 games, 7 starts at Bluefield. 3.56 ERA, 43 innings, 49 hits, 2 home runs, 6 walks and 46 strikeouts. You have to like the strikeout to walk rate. He's 19, and Bluefield is a long way from Toronto, so he's a few years off..

13. Santiago Nessy: he's our catcher at Lansing, and he's not having a great season, hitting .240/.297/.374 with 4 home runs, 12 walks and 50 strikeouts. He's not throwing out a lot of base stealers either, just 21%.He's a big guy, 6'2" and 230, and you keep thinking there is some power in there but he hasn't really shown it yet. He's just 20 and this is his first time playing full season ball. Santiago is having a much better August, hitting .324/.333/.432 in 10 games, so maybe he has caught up to the pitching.

14. Adonys Cardona: Adonys is having a rough time in Bluefield. He has a 6.75 ERA in 8 games, 5 starts. 13 walks and 27 strikeouts in 25.1 innings. He's getting a lot of ground balls, 3.09 per fly ball, so his numbers might improve as he moves up and the infields and infielders improve. He is just 19, he's got a good arm and has a few years to figure it all out.

15. Mitch Nay: another first round pick from 2012, Nay is having a great time of it in his first pro season. He's hitting .310/.381/.448 with 5 home runs, 21 walks, 25 strikeouts in 49 games at Bluefield. He's just 19, playing third base. Some power, isn't striking out a lot, years from the majors but an encouraging start.

16. John Stilson: John has been in the Bisons' bullpen for most of the season,  putting up a 2.39 ERA with 3 saves in 26 games. In 37.2 innings he has allowed 29 hits, 3 home runs,  14 walks with 34 strikeouts. Not much not to like. Unfortunately for him, the bullpen is kind of crowded at the moment. He turned 23 at the end of July.  If he was on the 40-man roster, I'd be pretty sure he would get a September call up. As is he might have to wait until next season.

17. Andy Burns: he started the season in Dunedin and was great there, hitting .327/.383/.524 with 5 triples, 8 home runs, 25 walks, 38 strikeouts and 21 stolen bases in 64 games. Moved up to New Hampshire and he hitting stopped, .232/.291/.437 with 6 home runs 16 walks, 42 strikeouts and 8 steals in 46 games. It does take some guys a bit of time to catch up with Double-A pitching. Maybe he has figured it out, in August he's hitting .289/.333/.622. Considering we aren't really deep at second base, he's putting himself in a pretty good spot. Andy turned 23 last week.

18. Kevin Pillar: well, you know the story. Started the year in New Hampshire, and raked, .313/.361/.441 with 5 home runs, 19 walks, 31 strikeouts and 15 steals (caught 8 times). Moved up to Buffalo and continued to hit, .299/.341/.493 with 4 home runs, 12 walks, 39 strikeouts and 8 steals (caught 5 times). And now he is in Toronto. Pretty much a fairy tale for a 32nd round pick.

19. Dalton Pompey: a 16 round pick in 2010, he'd like to follow the Pillar model, but he's not having the best year in Lansing. He's hitting .249/.338/.361 with 9 triples, 2 home runs, 49 walks, 93 strikeouts and 34 stolen bases. I'd like him to cut down on the strikeouts, since speed is his tool.  His July was much better, .315/.394/.478 but he's hitting just .129 so far in August. Later round picks don't get the benefit of the doubt with poor seasons, so I hope he turns it on the rest of the way. He's just 20 and a Canadian.

20. Tyler Gonzales: another first round pick in 2012, he's having a rough time in the GCL, has a 10.45 ERA in just 9 relief appearances, 10.1 innings, 12 hits, 12 earned, 12 walks and 9 k. 20 year old right hander, throws hard, he's going to have to figure out where the strike zone is soon.

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