As the low level minor league seasons finally start their shorter schedule, we get a chance to follow some of the younger prospects of the Blue Jays who aren’t quite ready for full season ball. Two of those such prospects made their professional debuts tonight with the Bluefield Blue Jays of the rookie Appalachian League.
The first of those prospects was young lefty Daniel Norris, drafted by the Blue Jays in the second round of last year’s draft. Norris was the highest rated high school lefty, and could have easily gone in the top 10, but signability concerns scared away most clubs. Luckily, the Jays were very aggressive and convinced him to sign for an above slot deal.
Daniel Norris is now the 5th best prospect in the Jays system, accoring to MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo, and he debuted tonight with Bluefield. In his debut, he pitched four perfect innings, allowing no hits, walks or runs while striking out five batters en route to his first professional win. Obviously, I wasn’t at the game so I didn’t get to watch him pitch, but I’m hearing from people who could make it to the game that he pitched as well as the box score would lead you to believe. He was absolutely dominant in his first outing of his hopefully long pro career.
The second of the young prospects making their debut was Joe Musgrove, a high school right hander that was the 46th pick of last year’s draft. At 6’5", 230 pounds, he’s a big kid and is already being pegged as a Major League workhorse who could pitch 200 innings year after year. He’s the Jays’ 11th best prospect, and he pitched the first four innings of tonights Bluefield game against Bristol. He did okay, but as good as Norris, but still pretty good, allowing two hits, one run, zero walks while striking out 5 batters.
Kevin Comer, Toronto’s number 15 prospect, is set to make his debut tomorrow with Bluefield, and I’ll keep you updated on his first pro outing, as well as all the other Baby Jays making their professional debuts!
