Blue Jays Predicted to Miss Out on Top Youngster, Add Right-Hander Instead

Kudos to the Toronto Blue Jays for turning their season around over the past few weeks, sitting at 44-38. Only three games out in the American League East, many thought that the Blue Jays were done just a few months ago. Instead, the Blue Jays have consistently competed at a very high level, and if things start to break their way, it’s possible they could be in a position to win the division. 

However, there are still some concerning signs for the organization to address, including its farm system. If the Blue Jays want to be the team they’re looking to be, they have to improve their farm system. Recently, when considering who they could select in the 2025 MLB draft, the Blue Jays would accomplish just that by taking Kyson Witherspoon, as recently predicted by MLB.com. 

“Doyle is a bit of a wild card; if he doesn’t go No. 2, he could end up here. If all of the lefties are off the board, the Jays could be looking for the next best college arm in Witherspoon. Hernandez could be an option, and this might be another landing spot for Irish,” they wrote.

Doyle’s Draft Outlook

Regarding Liam Doyle, who MLB.com was speaking about, he’d be an even better pick. Doyle, a left-hander out of the University of Tennessee, is arguably the best pick in the draft. Outside of Kade Anderson, who they had going No. 1 overall out of LSU, Doyle is lights out. 

“This is the seventh mock draft we’ve done this spring and in all seven, we’ve had a college arm here. If Holliday goes 1-1, then Anderson goes here. In this scenario, Doyle seems the most likely, though the Angels are open to other avenues, like high school shortstops (Eli Willits leading that group),” they wrote.

Where Do the Blue Jays Pivot if They Miss Out on Doyle?

But if the Toronto Blue Jays don’t have an opportunity to select Doyle, there’s no reason to be too upset with Witherspoon. Witherspoon has been very good throughout his college career and is expected to transition well into professional baseball. 

For the Oklahoma Sooners this season, he posted a 2.65 ERA and struck out 124 hitters in 95.0 innings. When looking at what he does on the mound, The Athletics’ Keith Law recently spoke about how he has some stuff to work on, like leaving pitches up in the zone, but outside of that, he’s got a good changeup, electric fastball, and more. 

“His arm is really quick, and the fastball is lively, while his off-speed stuff wasn’t as sharp in this outing. He threw a slider and a cutter that ran into each other, all in the 85-90 mph range, leaving too many of them up in the zone.

“He’s got very good arm speed on a hard changeup at 88-89, and his curveball is really sharp, almost certainly a spike given its shape, but he didn’t use either pitch that much in this game. He’s very athletic and I think there are probably some small delivery tweaks a team could make to get him to a more consistent release point and shore up the command. He’s a mid-first rounder for sure, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him get into the top 10 as a hard thrower with a fair bit of room for growth beyond just velocity,” he wrote.

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