Better know your Blue Jays 40-man: Sean Reid-Foley

Sean Reid-Foley has been on our prospects lists for a few years now. This year he was number 7 on our list after being 3rd in 2017 and 9th in 2018. He was our second round pick in the 2014 draft.

Last season he made it up up to the Jays for 7 starts, coming up in August and staying in the rotation for the rest of the season.

And we saw the good and the bad. The good? He struck out 42 guys in 33.1 innings, a very nice 28.0% strikeout rate. The bad? He walked 21 guys for a 14.0% walk rate. It is pretty tough to successful when you walk 14% of batters.

That’s been the worry about Sean. Great stuff, inconsistent control. If he could find the strike zone more he could be a star. But if he doesn’t find the strike zone more, he’ll be putting up ERAs in the 5.13 range, which is what he had in the majors last year (though his FIP, 4.96 and xFIP, 4.21 were a little better).

He throws hard (averaged 94.2 on his fastball last year) and has a slider, curve and changeup.

PECOTA figures him to have a 4.23 ERA in 63 innings this year, with 26 walks and 63 home runs. So far this spring Sean has pitched 11 inning, allowed 6 hits, 5 walks with 9 strikeouts. I’d love for him to get a good long look in the majors, but after signing Sunscreen Boy, Sean will be among several fighting it out to be the first callup should another pitcher be needed.

The mustache is a little much.....