Jonatan Clase and Other Blue Jays Prospects Shine During Winter Workouts, Raising Hopes for 2026.NL
It’s time for winter league baseball, and the Toronto Blue Jays have several players in action including: Damiano Palmegiani, Richard Gallardo, Alexis Hernandez, Jonatan Clase, CJ Van Eyk.
The most impressive one out of the bunch has been Case, the sole player out of the Dominican Republic.
Who’s hot and who’s not out of the Blue Jays prospects?
Ryley Delaney of Blue Jays Nation wrote about the six prospects currently in action this winter. Some are starting to thrive and others are struggling, it’ll be interesting to see who moves up and down the prospects rankings.
Palmegiani struggled this past season for the Bisons in 2025, but his winter league stretch has been much better. Hopefully it will lead to some confidence heading into the 2026 season.
“Damiano Palmegiani has played 16 games with Cardenales de Lara in Venezuela and is slashing .274/.370/.435 with two home runs and four doubles in 73 plate appearances. Unfortunately, Palmegiani hasn’t played since Nov. 7.”-Delaney
Out of the three pitchers between Gallardo, Hernandez and Van Eyk, only Van Eyk has performed well so far. He has opted to play in Mexico this winter and the Blue Jays second round pick has been showing some promise down south.
“In Mexico, CJ Van Eyk has pitched 34 innings with Aguilas de Mexicali, where he has a 2.91 ERA. In those six starts, the 27-year-old has struck out 27.7% of batters and has a 5.7 BB%. Most of his time was spent in Triple-A, where he had a 4.94 ERA and 5.52 FIP in 89.1 innings pitched. As a whole, Van Eyk had a 4.79 ERA and 5.17 FIP in 126 innings.”-Delaney
The biggest star out of the prospects is Clase, playing in the Dominican Winter League. The 23 year old is putting some terrific numbers with a slash line of .250/.429/.625 with two home runs in only 21 plate appearances. He didn’t do too well in the Minors, but his development may be starting to take a turn for the better.
“Clase’s 2025 season wasn’t great. With the Bisons, he slashed .255/.335/.403 with seven home runs in 352 plate appearances for a 100 wRC+. His numbers in the big leagues were subpar, as Clase slashed .210/.288/.300 with two home runs in 112 plate appearances for a 69 wRC+. He did steal 33 of 38 bases in 2025, so that’s a bright spot.”-Delaney
It’s always interesting to see who will make that jump to the next level. The Toronto Blue Jays haven’t been known to draft standout first round picks, but they are known for always having late round picks surprise people and end up being effective in the majors. It’s very possible some of these players will be the same, especially Clase despite being a higher pick.
