Jun 14, 2017
Future Watch: Status rising for Bichette, Guerrero Jr.
Each week, baseball reporter Scott Mitchell takes a look at how the consensus top 10 prospects in the Blue Jays’ minor-league system have fared over the past seven days.
Each week, baseball reporter Scott Mitchell takes a look at how the consensus top 10 prospects in the Blue Jays’ minor-league system have fared over the past seven days.
1. 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Affiliate: Low-A Lansing Lugnuts
Age: 18 (3/16/1999)
Pre-season prospect rankings: Baseball Prospectus (3); Baseball America (1); MLB (1); FanGraphs (1)
Projected MLB ETA: 2020
Season stats: .332/.423/.486 with 4 HR, 36 RBI, 6 SB in 208 AB 
Guerrero will head to the Midwest League All-Star Game next week where he’ll also participate in the home run derby Monday alongside teammate Bo Bichette. Guerrero has continued to hit over the past week, posting a .333/.429/.500 slash line with five RBI.
2. OF Anthony Alford
Affiliate: MLB Toronto Blue Jays
Age: 22 (7/20/1994)
Pre-season prospect rankings: Baseball Prospectus (2); Baseball America (2); MLB (3); FanGraphs (2)
Projected MLB ETA: Arrived May 19
Season stats: .325/.411/.455 with 3 HR, 11 RBI, 9 SB in 123 AB at Double-A; .125/.125/.250 in 8 MLB AB
It’s now been three weeks since Alford suffered a broken left hamate bone in his wrist, and he’ll ramp up his rehab at the Jays’ Dunedin complex over the next month. The original four-to-six week timeline should see him return to the field sometime in July.
3. RHP Sean Reid-Foley
Affiliate: Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Age: 21 (8/30/1995)
Pre-season prospect rankings: Baseball Prospectus (1); Baseball America (3); MLB (2); FanGraphs (3)
Projected MLB ETA: 2019
Season stats: 3-4, 5.40 ERA, 1.59 WHIP in 46.2 innings
After two stellar six inning outings, Reid-Foley authored a clunker over the weekend against the Akron RubberDucks (Cleveland), lasting just three innings and giving up six earned runs.
4. SS Richard Urena
Affiliate: Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Age: 21 (2/26/1996)
Pre-season prospect rankings: Baseball Prospectus (6); Baseball America (5); MLB (4); FanGraphs (4)
Projected MLB ETA: 2019
Season stats: .234/.277/.342 with 2 HR, 28 RBI, 0 SB in 231 AB
It was another uneven week for Urena against older Double-A competition, as he had hits in four of six games, but could only muster a .200/.231/.280 slash line, which is similar to his overall season numbers.
5. RHP Conner Greene
Affiliate: Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Age: 22 (4/4/1995)
Pre-season prospect rankings: Baseball Prospectus (4); Baseball America (4); MLB (6); FanGraphs (9)
Projected MLB ETA: 2019
Season stats: 2-5, 3.80 ERA, 1.31 WHIP in 64 innings
Greene’s plus-plus fastball — reports have it sitting between 95-97 mph and even touching as high as 100 at times — propelled him to another solid yet unspectacular five-inning start last week. The 6-foot-3 righty is still searching for a consistent breaking ball.
6. 1B Rowdy Tellez
Affiliate: Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Age: 22 (3/16/1995)
Pre-season prospect rankings: Baseball Prospectus (8); Baseball America (6); MLB (5); FanGraphs (8)
Projected MLB ETA: 2018
Season stats: .201/.279/.320 with 4 HR, 25 RBI, 2 SB in 194 AB
This past week was another struggle for the big first baseman as his average plummeted from .215 all the way down to .201. After slugging a pair of homers on opening day, Tellez has hit just two in 171 at-bats since.
7. RHP T.J. Zeuch
Affiliate: High-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Age: 21 (8/1/1995)
Pre-season prospect rankings: Baseball Prospectus (7); Baseball America (7); MLB (7); FanGraphs (6)
Projected MLB ETA: 2019
Season stats: 3-3, 3.23 ERA, 1.32 WHIP in 53 innings
Zeuch is still on the disabled list with what the Blue Jays described as a minor back issue and hasn’t pitched since May 27. When he has been on the mound, the 2016 first-rounder hasn’t been kind to the worms, inducing ground balls at an impressive 61.1% clip this season.
8. SS Bo Bichette
Affiliate: Low-A Lansing Lugnuts
Age: 19 (3/5/1998)
Pre-season prospect rankings: Baseball Prospectus (10); Baseball America (8); MLB (9); FanGraphs (10)
Projected MLB ETA: 2020
Season stats: .382/.454/.613 with 6 HR, 39 RBI, 7 SB in 212 AB
Those waiting for former Blake Street Bomber Dante Bichette’s kid to cool off will have to wait at least another week as continued his torrid pace with a .385/.448/.577 slash line over six games. When all is said and done this season, the 2016 second-rounder (66th overall) may have made the biggest stock jump of any prospect in the minors.
9. C/1B Max Pentecost
Affiliate: High-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Age: 24 (3/10/1993)
Pre-season prospect rankings: Baseball Prospectus (9); MLB (12); FanGraphs (15)
Projected MLB ETA: Late 2018
Season stats: .291/.355/.495 with 9 HR, 40 RBI, 0 SB in 182 AB
After starting the week hitless in seven at-bats, Pentecost landed on the seven-day DL with a lower back strain, according to the Blue Jays. Of the six games, it’s notable that Pentecost was behind the plate in three of them as Jays’ brass tries to figure out if he can catch for the long-term.
10. SS Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Affiliate: High-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Age: 23 (10/19/1993)
Pre-season prospect rankings: FanGraphs (7)
Projected MLB ETA: 2018
Season stats: .500/.500/1.000 in 2 AB
The Blue Jays are still taking it very slowly with their prized Cuban signing as he’s been on the disabled list since April 19 with a hamstring injury. No setbacks have been reported and Gurriel is still expected to be in the Dunedin lineup in the near future.