MESA, Ariz. -- Jake Casey had Tommy John surgery while at Kent State in 2024. He broke a hamate in his first game of the 2026 season after the Blue Jays took the Kent State product in the 15th round of the 2025 Draft. So getting off to a slow start in the Arizona Fall League is not going to stress him out.
“Obviously, you’re looking for the first hit, but you don’t really want to go off of results here,” said Casey, who is still looking for his first hit of the campaign with the Mesa Solar Sox. “I think it’s more, ‘How can I learn and get better every day’ here. Just stay with the process is the biggest thing here.”
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The Blue Jays’ No. 23 prospect is the son of former big leaguer/current MLB Network analyst Sean Casey, and while the 23-year-old outfielder says there are some similarities with his dad -- the left-handed swing and some mannerisms they share -- there are far more differences. That starts with speed. Even though Jake thinks his dad gets a bad rap for his lack of it, he’s aware it sets him apart from Sean.
“My mom’s side,” is where the speed comes from, Casey said. “My mom’s dad, he was a really good athlete when he was growing up. He would tell me he played football. He was really athletic. And I trained with people growing up and did a lot of speed stuff. That’s probably the reason why.”
Even though he came up empty in the hit column in Tuesday night’s 4-3 loss to Glendale, Casey showed that he’s learning that speed doesn’t slump, even if you've gone 0-for-11 to start the season. He got aboard three times and wreaked havoc on the basepaths, an area of emphasis after he stole 10 bases in 64 games during his first full season.
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“Nothing to show for it the first three games, but I think I’ve already learned a lot,” Casey said. “Three bags today, a career high. Learning how to steal bases, learning how to use my speed. Understanding that I have a really elite tool -- speed -- and talking with these coaches and understanding that I can impact the game in more ways than just hitting. One thing I’m trying to learn more is to use that tool to my advantage, learn how to be a better baserunner and defender.”
He’s also working on some mechanical things along with adapting his approach, another reason why the stat sheet doesn’t matter as much. Casey got to his power in 2026 with 13 homers and a .504 slugging percentage, but that came with a 28.1 percent strikeout rate.
“I’m definitely trying to tinker with my swing a little bit,” Casey said, “trying to cut down on the swing-and-miss, cut down getting to two strikes in a lot of at-bats, trying to do more damage earlier in the counts.
“I’m using this Fall League more as an opportunity than trying to be so perfect, an opportunity to improve my offense, improve my swing.”
While Casey missed more than two months and then had some of the typical post-hamate adjustment at the plate, he swung the bat well late in the year, with a 1.012 OPS in August. And he capped things off with something every player wants to experience as part of the last team standing when the Vancouver Canadians won the High-A Northwest League title.
“That was really cool, especially being an everyday guy in that lineup, being a part of that group of guys was really special,” Casey said. “Shout out to Vancouver, they packed the house every night. It was a really cool atmosphere to play in. That was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life, winning that championship.”