Northbound Jays Prospect Weekly: Rogers Treading Water at Buffalo, IL Returners Rejoining the Fold
By Hannah Wells ·
Northbound Jays Prospect Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the Blue Jays farm system.
Rogers Runs Out of Room at Triple-A
Grant Rogers (AAA, RHP, Rank: 38) turned in 5.2 innings against 26 batters this week at Buffalo, allowing 8 hits and 4 earned runs without issuing a walk. The zero walks is a positive data point in isolation, and the 8 swinging misses across 91 pitches show the sinker-cutter mix still generates some weak contact. But 8 hits in 5.2 innings, four runs allowed, and just 4 strikeouts is a line that fits the broader pattern of a season that has gone sideways at Triple-A. Over the last 30 days he has pitched to a 14.06 ERA across 16 innings, surrendering 33 hits and 25 earned runs against just 8 strikeouts in 92 batters faced. The strike rate in that stretch, 38.1 percent, is down from his season mark of 41.9 percent, and neither number is good enough to miss bats consistently when the stuff grades out at average or below across the board.
The 2026 season line at Buffalo tells its own story: a 6.73 ERA across 129.2 innings, a 12.9 percent strikeout rate, and 21 home runs allowed in 595 batters faced. The contrast with 2025 is stark. Last year he combined for a 3.47 ERA across High-A and Double-A, with a 17.8 percent strikeout rate and a much cleaner WHIP of 1.25. The jump to Triple-A has exposed the limitations the scouting report points to plainly: a six-pitch mix without a true bat-misser, a command grade of 40, and a 45-grade four-seamer that flattens when his delivery gets long. He is a 25-year-old long reliever or up-down depth arm at this point, and the best version of that role probably involves narrowing the arsenal around the sinker, cutter, and splitter rather than trying to sequence through six offerings. The floor exists, but the ceiling conversation ended sometime around June.
Quick Hits
John Klein (MLB, RHP, Rank: 36) · was recalled from Buffalo by Toronto on September 25. His combined Triple-A numbers across two organizations this season show 86.1 innings pitched with a 6.56 ERA and 95 strikeouts, including 22.1 innings at Buffalo with a 7.66 ERA. The September recall on a big-league roster is a procedural opportunity rather than a projection statement, but getting a look at the major-league level before the offseason is never a bad thing for a depth arm trying to stick.