2026 Blue Jays Minor League Pitcher of the Year: Nolan Perry
By Hannah Wells ·
Nolan Perry is 80Grade's 2026 Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the Toronto Blue Jays, earning the award with the best season among the organization's ranked prospects who logged at least 60 innings. Working as a starter across Single-A Dunedin, High-A Vancouver and Double-A New Hampshire, the 23-year-old right-hander finished with a 2.50 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 117 strikeouts over 82.2 innings in 21 appearances (20 starts), striking out 36.0 percent of batters faced while posting a 26.2 K-BB percentage. He ranks fifth on 80Grade's Blue Jays list and 145th overall.
The Season
Perry opened 2026 at Single-A Dunedin, his first competitive action since undergoing Tommy John surgery, and he wasted no time establishing himself. He posted a 1.71 ERA with a 41.0 K% over 21 innings in April, a stretch that included Florida State League Pitcher of the Week honors after he threw five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and punching out 12, on April 16. The Blue Jays promoted him to High-A Vancouver on May 3, and May was his best month: 1.08 ERA and 40 strikeouts over 25 innings earned him Northwest League Pitcher of the Month recognition. June brought his Double-A assignment on June 30, but the mid-promotion month was rough, with an 8.31 ERA across 8.2 innings as he straddled two levels. Perry was placed on the 7-day injured list retroactive to July 22 after being struck in the head by a line drive on July 19; he cleared concussion protocols and returned on August 6. August at Double-A was uneven at a 4.08 ERA with his walk rate climbing to 13.7 BB%, but September showed what the stuff can do at the level: nine innings, a 0.00 ERA and 14 strikeouts. Johnny King, No. 4 on 80Grade's Blue Jays list, also had a strong year with 139 strikeouts over 105.1 innings and a 3.16 ERA, but his 13.6 BB% and 16.9 K-BB% left him behind Perry's run-prevention and strikeout efficiency.
How He Got Here
Perry grew up in Carlsbad, New Mexico, and was committed to Texas Tech before the Blue Jays selected him in the 12th round, 368th, in the 2022 draft out of Carlsbad High School, signing him for $200,000. He worked his way through Toronto's lower levels before Tommy John surgery cost him significant development time: he spent all of 2025 on Dunedin's 60-day injured list, activated in November 2025, then returned in 2026 with a five-pitch arsenal.
Scouting Report
Perry's profile features a four-seam fastball that 80Grade's evaluation grades at 55, sitting 93-95 mph and generating ride from a three-quarters release. Gameday pitch tracking covered only his Dunedin starts, and in those he averaged 94.1 mph on the pitch and touched 96.4, velocity that came through the surgery-and-return process intact. His slider earns a 55 grade as well; it averaged about 85 mph in those tracked starts, with tight, short movement, and it functions as his primary whiff pitch, while a 55-grade curveball in the 79-80 mph range gives him a second breaking ball with different shape and velocity to disrupt hitters' timing against left-handed bats in particular. The splitter checks in as a 45, inconsistent enough in shape and location that Perry leans on the three-pitch combination far more often, and the changeup is also a 45. His command grades a 45, and the season numbers support the nuance in that number: he was sharp at the lower levels but issued 15 walks in 31 Double-A innings, an 8.7 BB% at High-A climbing to 12.4 at Double-A.
80Grade's evaluation projects Perry as a No. 5 starter with an up-down outcome, and the 2026 line does both things at once: it shows a pitcher whose stuff can miss advanced bats at a 36.0 K% across three levels, while the durability questions and command inconsistency at the top level are unresolved. The handedness splits were non-issue territory this year, with Perry striking out 35.8 percent of right-handed hitters and 36.2 percent of left-handed hitters, which pushes against any concern that a two-breaking-ball mix would leave him exposed to one side. The bigger follow-up item is whether he can sustain his current velocity and swing-and-miss rate across a full 150-inning workload as a legitimate rotation piece, or whether the post-surgery sample limits him to a back-end role.
What's Next
Perry figures to open 2027 at Double-A New Hampshire with a chance to push toward Triple-A Buffalo if his command tightens. He is not on the 40-man roster and is Rule 5 eligible this December in his first year of eligibility, so the Blue Jays face a decision in November. The two things he must demonstrate are walk reduction at Double-A, where his 12.4 BB% needs to come down, and more consistent splitter command against left-handed hitters to reduce his dependence on two breaking balls.