The 2014 Bluebird Banter Top 40 Prospects: 26-30

On to the next group of prospects. We are getting into the guys that are real prospects.

30.Miguel Castro: Miguel was an international free agent signing in 2012, out of the Dominican Republic. He just turned 19 in December, but he already has a Webster award for being the top player for the Jays Dominican Summer League team in 2013. Miguel played in 3 levels, playing in 11 games, 10 starts for the DSL Jays, 3 games, 2 starts for the Gulf Coast League Jays and 1 relief appearance for Bluefield. In all, he put up a 1.54 ERA in 70 innings, allowing 52 hits, 12 walks and 71 strikeouts. It's easy to like a pitcher that strikeouts out 1 out of every 3 batters he faces. Better yet when he only walks about 5% of the batters he faced.

He's a big guy, listed at 6'5" and 190 lb. He has a low 90's fastball (which should improve as he matures), slider and, like everyone in the Jays' system a changeup. At 18, he was a little bit older than most DSL players, so it would be nice to see him at Bluefield next year and get an idea on how he fairs against better competition.

29. Rowdy Tellez: Rowdy (I guess if your parents name you Rowdy, they aren't expecting you be a politician, though, maybe in Toronto) (actually they named him Ryan, they just called him Rowdy) was our 30th round pick in the 2013 draft. He was 'committed' to play for USC, so teams stayed away from him, but a $850,000 signing bonus convinced him that higher education could be put off for a while. Baseball American called him the best left-handed power bat in the draft and now they say he's the best power hitter in the Jays' system.

He played 34 games for the Gulf Coast League Jays, hitting .234/.319/.372. Not the most exciting slash line but then his first look at pro ball. He's a big guy, 6'4" and 220 lb, at 18.

28. Richard Urena: Richard is another international signing, from 2012, out of the Dominican. He got his first look at pro ball this year, playing most of the season in the DSL, with 7 games at the GCL at the end of the season. In total, 300/.383/.404, with 1 home run and 9 stolen bases in 71 games. He's got enough range and a good enough arm to stay at short as he moves up. It's early yet, he doesn't turn 18 until the end of the month, but he's off to a good start.  He was number 31 on last year's list.

27. Clinton Hollon: Clinton was our #2 pick from last year's draft (getting a $467,280 signing bonus) and, since we didn't sign our #1 pick Phil Bickford, he's the highest pick that's with the team. He had some tendinitis problems the year before the draft, which dropped him into the second round. Clinton isn't a big guy, 6'1" and 195 but he can throw hard. This is what the Crawfish Boxes had to say about him:

His fastball sits in the low 90s and has reached 95-97 at times but doesn't have a lot of movement. His best off-speed pitch is his power curve as some places and his coach describes it, but some call it his slider. Given the low 80's velocity of the pitch, it's more of a slider pitch. He also throws a softer curve that's in the mid-70's and a change-up in the low 80's that has some cutting action on it.

He got into 6 games (3 starts) in his first look at pro ball, pitching 17.1 innings, giving up 8 hits, 6 walks with 15 strikeouts, splitting time between the GCL and Bluefield.  Clinton turned 19 on Christmas Eve. And, if this @ClintonHollon is really his twitter, he's going to be a daddy.

26. Matt Dean: Matt had a very good season, in his second look, at Bluefield, hitting .338/.390/.519, with 6 home runs, 14 doubles, 8 stolen bases and 35 RBI in 63 games, mostly at first base. I was hoping Dean would stay at third, but with Mitch Nay on the same team, one of them has to move off the position.  The 57 strikeouts don't look good but he's got a few years to learn to cut down on the 24.5% strikeout rate. He led the Appalachian League in batting average and OPS, which won him the 'Webster Award for top player at Bluefield.

Matt was our 13th round pick in the 2010 draft, he would have been picked higher but he was 'committed' to the University of Texas, but a $750,000 signing bonus uncommited him. He was 17th on our 2011 prospect list, dropped to 34th last year, after a poor first season in Bluefield, hitting just .222/.282/.353.

Dean is a pretty big guy,  6'3" 190 lb. He turned 21 just before Christmas. It would be nice to see him move up a couple of levels this year.