#9: RHP Aaron Sanchez

Name: Aaron Sanchez
Position: Right-handed SP
Acquired: 1st round (2010)
Opening Day age: 18
Height/weight: 6'4", 190 lbs
Best/worst tool: Fastball/command

Scouting Report:

Aaron Sanchez is a pitcher who oozes natural talent and projectibility, but is seriously lacking in polish. He features a fastball that sits in the low 90's and touches 93 mph while showing run and sink, an offering that should only improve as he matures and fills in his long, lanky frame. Sanchez' primary breaking ball is an average curveball with a 1-7 drop that he can throw for called strikes. He also throws a changeup, but he rarely uses it and the pitch needs a lot of work. Sanchez has a good mound presence, keeping his composure during rough innings and rarely having emotional outbursts. Sanchez' biggest flaw is his command, which is primarily due to inconsistency with his delivery. The command is below average now, but could improve with a few years of professional coaching.

2010 Stats: 25 IP, 23 H, 6 ER, 1 HR, 17 BB, 37 K
2.90 GO/AO, 2.16 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 13.32 K/9

2010 Analysis:

Sanchez made 10 starts between the Blue Jays GCL affiliate and Auburn, but due to inning restrictions placed on the high draft pick he threw only 25 innings. His pitching line matched his scouting report, as he walked a lot of batters due to his below average command, and struck out a lot of batters while posting a strong ground ball ratio due to his above average fastball with movement.

2011 Stats: 10 IP, 18 H, 13 ER, 1 HR, 7 BB, 6 K
1.88 GO/AO, 11.70 ERA, 2.50 WHIP, 5.40 K/9

2011 Analysis:

Aaron Sanchez debuted in 2011 for the short season Bluefield Blue Jays in the Appalachian (Rookie) League. He has struggled across the board, with the only positive being his > 1.00 GO/AO ratio in all 3 of his appearances. With that being said, the sample size is far too small to make any real judgements on his 2011 season thus far.

Future outlook:

Aaron Sanchez is without a doubt a project prospect. He is loaded with potential and projectibility, but he has many flaws to correct over the next few years if he is to ever see the major leagues. His fastball is good now and should only improve, but he'll need to put a lot of effort into improving both his curveball and changeup, as more established hitters will sit on the fastball if that's all he can throw. Additionally, Sanchez will need to work on his pitching mechanics with professional coaches in order to establish a more easily repeatable delivery, in hopes of improving the command of all his pitches, particularly his fastball. Luckily for him, he is only turning 19 during the 2011 season. His age, in addition to the wealth of pitching prospects Toronto has in the middle/upper minors, should enable him to take his time during development without any rushing. If Sanchez makes the major leagues prior to 2015, I will be shocked. He would be 22 on Opening Day 2015, so even 2016 might be more realistic.

Perfect world projection: A fringe #2/#3 starter, if his offspeed pitches develop and he can get his command to consistently average.

Worst case scenario: The worst case for Sanchez would be that his development stalls and he never reaches the upper minors.

Most likely outcome: Sanchez is all about projectibility, so it's hard to supply a most likely outcome. As with most highschool pitchers, it's less than 50/50 that he ever sees the majors leagues.

Midseason Report: Double-A New Hampshire

Team Record: 48-33 (1st in Eastern Division)
Number of team Top 15 prospects: 5 -- d'Arnaud, Gose, Hechavarria, Stewart, Jenkins

With 5 of the Blue Jays top 15 prospects on the New Hampshire roster, it's not surprising that the Fisher Cats are in first place in their division and are well on their way to the playoffs. They roster is well rounded, with their .747 OPS ranking 4th in the Eastern League and their 3.67 ERA ranking 3rd.

Notable hitters:

C Travis d'Arnaud: .306/.380/.525 (.905 OPS), 19 2B, 10 HR, 28 RBI, 22/51 BB/K

d'Arnaud is establishing himself as the top catching prospect in the Blue Jays system, and the possible catcher of the future. While d'Arnaud has always had great well rounded tools, 2011 is the first year he has put it all together at the plate. In addition to a good approach at the plate, he is finally showing his power, with the potential for 20 HR seasons down the road feasible.

CF Anthony Gose: .258/.352/.408 (.752 OPS), 9 2B, 5 3B, 8 HR, 36 RBI, 38 SB, 36/78 BB/K

Gose has been highly scrutinized since being acquired for Brett Wallace, and 2011 has been an up and down season for him. Keeping in mind that he is 20 years old in Double-A, that should be expected. The high point for Gose was May, during which he showed all of his tools, posting an .889 OPS with 9 extra base hits, 20 walks, and 14 stole bases. April and June were much different however, with a combined OPS around .600, 9 extra base hits, and a 15/49 BB/K ratio.

SS Adeiny Hechavarria: .231/.268/.351 (.619 OPS), 17 2B, 4 3B, 5 HR, 30 RBI, 16 SB, 16/50 BB/K

Hechavarria has struggled with the bat since being signed as a Cuban defector last year. While his defense is still outstanding, Hechavarria is going to need to show more with the bat than this if he's ever going to see the major leagues. Adeiny will need a big second half if he wants to avoid repeating the Double-A level in 2012.

1B Mike McDade: .312/.357/.534 (.891 OPS), 30 2B, 13 HR, 58 RBI, 19/68 BB/K

While the standards for being a "prospect" at first base are extremely high, McDade's 2011 should atleast be putting him in consideration for the label of legitimacy. While the home run totals are modest for a 22 year old first baseman, it should be noted that his 30 doubles lead the Eastern League, 5 ahead of his nearest competition.

Notable pitchers:

RHP Zach Stewart: 75.2 IP, 84 H, 34 ER, 5 HR, 23 BB, 53 K, 4.04 ERA, 1.41 WHIP

In his second year with New Hampshire, Zach Stewart has seen his fair share of struggles. While his numbers are not as strong as 2010, they did earn him a midseason promotion to Toronto, where he held his own across 3 starts. Stewart really needs to refine his changeup, as it is easily the weakest of his three pitches and will determine his future with the organization.

RHP Joel Carreno: 90.2 IP, 61 H, 32 ER, 9 HR, 46 BB, 111 K, 3.18 ERA, 1.18 WHIP

In his first year with New Hampshire, Carreno has gone through absolutely dominant stretches. As his .191 BAA and 111 strikeouts can attest, hitters have had a lot of difficulty squaring up Carreno. For example, during the month of May Carreno pitched 31.2 innings, and allowed only 8 hits and 4 earned runs while striking out 41.

RHP Henderson Alvarez: 53.1 IP, 47 H, 20 ER, 5 HR, 13 BB, 37 K, 3.38 ERA, 1.13 WHIP

2011 has been a breakout of sorts for Henderson Alvarez. After making 2 quick starts in Dunedin as a warmup, he was promoted to Double-A where he has performed extremely well. Armed with a plus changeup and a devastating fastball that has touched 101 mph this year, Alvarez is poised for a great second half. While the strikeouts are a bit low for a guy with two outstanding pitches, they will come once his breaking ball improves enough to be thrown consistently. For now, Alvarez just generates weak ground balls by destroying his opposition's timing.

RHP Chad Jenkins: 35 IP, 32 H, 13 ER, 4 HR, 11 BB, 21 K, 3.34 ERA, 1.23 WHIP

The big 2009 1st rounder recently made the jump from Dunedin and has continued his success into New Hampshire. Armed with a heavy sinker, Jenkins' strikeout rate has been relatively low throughout his career, but he has kept a consistent groundball rate. His Independence Day start was the best of his season thus far, going 8 innings while allowing only 1 earned run.

RHP Alan Farina: 17.1 IP, 15 H, 3 ER, 2 HR, 7 BB, 16 K, 1.56 ERA, 1.27 WHIP

Farina is perhaps the Blue Jays top true relief prospect, having dominated the FSL and EL over the past two seasons. In 73 combined innings, he has allowed just 11 earned runs while striking out 90. Farina has a stature similar to that of Jason Frasor, which has led to some flyball issues.

Rest of the year outlook: The 2011 season should continue to be fruitful for New Hampshire. While Double-A can act as a spring board for pitching prospects to the majors (e.g. Drabek, Stewart, Litsch, etc), this group, save Stewart, is likely to remain in the minors for the rest of the season. Additionally, 2010 #1 draft pick Deck McGuire is likely to make the leap from Dunedin at some point this summer, further strengthening the pitching staff. The hitting should remain solid, as most of the big name hitters on New Hampshire's roster are young and will likely stay for the rest of the season. Justin Jackson, the former shortstop turned outfielder who was drafted in the supplemental round of 2007, was recently promoted from Dunedin and should provide offensive and defensive support all over the diamond.

#10: RHP Asher Wojciechowski

Name: Asher Wojciechowski
Position: Right-handed SP
Acquired: 1st round (2010)
Opening Day age: 22
Height/weight: 6'4", 235 lbs
Best/worst tool: Fastball/command

Scouting Report: Wojciechowski features a mid 90's fastball that he pairs with an average yet improving low-to-mid 80's slider and a work in progress changeup. He has a strong pitcher's body, so durability is not a concern. Wojciechowski has a good mound presence and prefers to attack hitters instead of nibbling at the corners. Asher has struggled with command, particularly in long outings, which has led to debate as to whether he should be a starter or reliever long term. He played both roles in college for The Citadel.

2010 Stats: 12 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 HR, 4 BB, 11 K
1.89 GO/AO, 0.75 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 8.25 K/9

2010 Analysis: Due to a high inning count in college, Wojciechowski pitched in only 3 games with the Blue Jays organization, overmatching hitters while working for Auburn of the New York - Penn League.

2011 Stats: 73.2 IP, 94 H, 48 ER, 14 HR, 23 BB, 55 K
1.05 GO/AO, 5.86 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 6.72 K/9

2011 Analysis: Wojciechowski has been working as a starter for the Blue Jays High-A affiliate in Dunedin, and after an extremely successful April (0.87 ERA in 4 starts), his season has taken a turn from bad (6.06 ERA in 6 May starts) to worse (10.62 ERA in 5 June starts), leaving him with an ugly pitching line for the season. According to Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein, Wojciechowski has been relying nearly exclusively on his fastball, which is not going to suffice as a starter in the Florida State League. If he hopes to stay as a starter long term, he is going to need to trust his offspeed pitches, and throw them more often to keep hitters from sitting on his fastball -- it does not have the movement to be an exclusive pitch.

Future outlook: Wojciechowski has two major concerns, his fastball location and his lack of secondary pitches. If he can resolve atleast one of those two issues, he has a chance of sticking as a starter. Otherwise, he's likely ticketed for the bullpen. He likely has the remainder of 2011 and the first couple months of 2012 to prove he can handle the workload, but if he fails he could be fast tracked to the majors by late 2012 or early 2013 as a reliever.

Perfect world projection: An inning eating #3 starter, if he improves his offspeed pitches and locates the fastball better.

Worst case scenario: 7th man or long man in the bullpen.

Most likely outcome: Setup man, if he can improve one of his offspeed pitches. His fastball-slider combo would work well in the 8th inning, but he likely lacks the command to be a true shutdown closer.