With the Blue Jays playing in their first ALCS since 2016 this week, it isn’t hard to imagine a world in which Josh Kasevich would have been a factor for the AL East champs, if not outright on the postseason roster, in 2025.
The 2022 second-rounder out of Oregon entered his third full season with arguably the organization’s best hit tool, having hit .325 with just a 14.5 percent strikeout rate in 41 games with Triple-A Buffalo last season.
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Except instead of in the ALCS, Kasevich finds himself spending his October in the Arizona Fall League in hopes of generating some production in a 2025 season that was otherwise waylaid by a stress reaction in his lower back.
Unable to break Spring Training camp with Buffalo, the 24-year-old infielder tried returning with rehab performances in Florida in May, only to miss nearly two more months as he went back to the rehab process with a wrist issue. He didn’t make his season debut for Buffalo until Aug. 15 and played only 29 games for the Bisons, making him a prime AFL candidate.
“It was a really difficult process,” said Toronto’s No. 12 prospect.“ There are some good days, some bad days. You have progress and then you kind of feel like you take a step back. So it's just staying the course and staying.in tune with the coordinators that are setting up your rehab. It took a while to feel like I'm 100 percent. I went through a couple of different rehab stints, but now I finally feel like I'm back.”
There were aspects of the right-handed hitter’s game that came back immediately in the International League. He rarely expanded the zone with his swings, with Statcast putting his chase rate at just 19.2 percent, and his whiff rate on pitches inside the zone was a low 12.2 percent.
But all that contact came with very little power. Only one of Kasevich’s 17 hits with Buffalo went for extra bases, and that was a double. He slugged .184 in his 114 plate appearances, and his max exit velocity was just 106.3 mph, another indication that thump was missing from his game.
The mixture of discipline and contact at least gave the former Duck something to hang his hat on before his move to the desert, and to his point about feeling “back,” he’s already passed that EV high with a 108.3 mph batted ball on Oct. 8. In fact, three of his six highest exit velocities in Triple-A or the AFL have come in his one week as a Glendale Desert Dog.
It’ll take a longer run of success to have the conversation more seriously, but it’s worth noting that Kasevich is Rule 5-eligible this offseason and must be added to the 40-man roster by Toronto or else be risked as a possible MLB option for the other 29 clubs. But Kasevich says he isn’t thinking about the November protection deadline. He has October to play through first.
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“Not too much in my head,” he said. “I'm just excited to play again. [It’s] been a long road to get back and just really excited to play kind of restriction-free.”
One potential factor in that thinking: defense. Franchise shortstop Bo Bichette is a free agent this offseason, and after seeing some time at third base in Triple-A, Kasevich has only played at the six so far in the AFL. Bichette’s status aside, shortstop is where the prospect feels most comfortable, and comfort – any comfort at all – is huge for Kasevich in 2025.
“That’s where I want to be,” he said. “I feel like I'm the captain out there.”
Blue Jays hitters in the Fall League
Edward Duran, C (No. 13): Toronto was a bit catching-starved until Duran broke out this season, first hitting .296/.378/.439 with five homers and a 131 wRC+ in 66 games at Single-A Dunedin. His numbers over 34 games with High-A Vancouver weren’t of the same caliber (.230/.329/.336), but he’s still considered at least an above-average defensive catcher with plus arm strength – attributes that give him a decent floor at a premium position. The 21-year-old is Rule 5-eligible this offseason, and while he still hasn’t reached the upper Minors, a decent offensive fall with Glendale could make the 40-man conversation more interesting.
Cutter Coffey, 3B/2B (No. 27): The Blue Jays acquired Coffey from the divisional rival Red Sox at last year’s Trade Deadline in a move for Danny Jansen, and the infielder needed to repeat High-A after a rough introduction to Vancouver in 2024. He was a better performer in the second half when healthy this summer and finished with a .273/.359/.427 line with 11 homers in 99 games, winning the Canadians’ Offensive Player of the Year award. Coffey is a good fit at third base with his strong arm, and he draws comparisons to a right-handed Addison Barger from some in the organization.
Blue Jays pitchers in the Fall League
Alex Amalfi, RHP: The 24-year-old right-hander spent most of the season in the Double-A New Hampshire bullpen before transitioning to the rotation in August. He finished with a 4.41 ERA, 100 strikeouts and 47 walks in 87 2/3 innings with the Fisher Cats, and his 26.6 percent K rate was seventh-best in the Eastern League (min. 80 IP). Amalfi started in his AFL debut on Oct. 7, showing a 90-93 mph fastball with 16-20 inches of ride and played off that with an 81-85 mph slider and 72-76 mph curveball. He’ll very rarely mix in a mid-80s changeup.
Yondrei Rojas, RHP: Rojas may only be 5-foot-10, but he brings some heat to the mound with both a four-seamer and a sinker that can sit 96-98 mph. His 88-90 mph cutter can also show enough difference in both velo and horizontal movement to befuddle hitters, and he’ll sprinkle in upper-80s changeups and mid-80s sliders. He had a 1.43 ERA with 47 strikeouts and 11 walks in 37 2/3 innings as a reliever at High-A and Double-A but was roughed up in his AFL debut, giving up three runs on three hits (including a homer) in one frame on Oct. 7.
Chay Yeager, RHP: A junior college arm who went in the 12th round of the 2023 Draft, Yeager stormed out of the gate as a High-A reliever this season with a 1.77 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings for Vancouver. He still averaged above a strikeout per inning after a Double-A promotion in July but was hit much harder to the tune of a 4.50 ERA and four homers allowed in 20 innings. He has velo in his pocket, having touched 97.9 mph in his first AFL outing, but he’s at his best when he’s blowing 89-92 mph cutter/sliders past hitters.