🔥 HOT NEWS: Toronto’s hidden legends emerge as the Blue Jays’ all-time greatest draft picks by bWAR rewrite what fans thought they knew ⚡.DD

Many of the best Blue Jays draft picks came in the later rounds.

The MLB draft is a difficult thing to ace. Most of the best players in the draft get taken in the first round, and the hit rate is pretty low. That’s not always the case, though, as was shown by the recent Toronto Blue Jays pick Nate Pearson.

In a lot of cases, the best players available in a year aren’t even available in drafts. Carlos Delgado and Tony Fernandez are in the top five of Blue Jays all-time career bWAR, but they were international signings, not available for the draft.

That makes finding a franchise star in the later rounds even more difficult. But throughout their history, the Jays have done a good job of finding slept on prospects. While a first-round Hall of Famer will be on this list, Toronto’s all-time bWAR leader was taken in the fifth round.

1. RHP Dave Stieb, 56.9 bWAR

Toronto selected Stieb in the fifth round of the 1978 draft out of college, likely not knowing they found their ace of the next decade. After 19 minor league starts in 1978-79, Stieb made his major league debut in 1979, throwing 129.1 innings of 4.31 ERA ball as a 21-year-old.

After an up-and-down rookie year, he would begin a 13-year stretch of excellence. He made his first two All-Star appearances in 1980-81, posting ERAs below four and bWARs of 4.9 and 4.4, respectively. He threw 183.2 innings in 1981 and would go on to throw at least 200 in eight of the next nine seasons.

From 1982-95, Stieb led the league in bWAR, including a career high of 7.9 in 1984. He leads the league in innings twice, ERA once in 1985, and ERA+ twice in 1984-85. During that stretch, he made two All-Star teams and finished fourth in Cy Young voting in 1982 and seventh in 1984. He threw the most innings in baseball and had the 13th-best ERA over that stretch.

He had two down years in 1986-1987 before bouncing back from 1988-1990, when he made two All-Star teams and finished top five in Cy Young voting in 1990. After two down years following 1990, Stieb left before the 1993 season and missed out on the World Series. However, he would return for 19 games in 1998.

For 14 years at the beginning of his career, Stieb was one of the most reliable pitchers in all of baseball. One of the most underrated starters of his era, Steib’s accomplishments earned him seven All-Star nods.

Stieb sits first in franchise history for bWAR, wins, innings, strikeouts and games started. His time in a Blue Jays uniform might be rivaled by just one other pitcher.

2. RHP Roy Halladay, 48.4 bWAR

Halladay, a former first-round pick, was a first-ballot Hall of Famer when his time came up. For over a decade, he was one of the very best pitchers in baseball. A bona fide workhorse, Halladay earned the plaque in Cooperstown.

The right-hander’s career got off to a bit of a slow start, however. In his first four years, he never threw more than 150 innings and wasn’t a regular member of the rotation, even relieving 18 games in 1999. However, his storied career took off in 2002.

Halladay led the league in bWAR and innings pitched in 2002-03. He made the All-Star team in both seasons and even won the AL Cy Young in 2003. In that season, he threw 266 innings with an 8.1 bWAR, 3.25 ERA, and nine complete games.

From 2004-09, he posted 5.3 bWAR or more four times, including 6.2 or higher two times. Halladay made four more All-Star games and finished in the top five in Cy Young voting in four straight years. He led the league in complete games four times and innings for the third time in his career.

He went on to finish his career in Philadelphia, where he won another Cy Young, but his dominance began in Toronto. Halladay is second in the franchise’s history in wins, strikeouts, shutouts and bWAR.

3. LHP Jimmy Key, 29.7 bWAR

Key was drafted out of high school, but opted to go to college instead, eventually being drafted in the third round in 1982. Key made his debut in 1984 as a reliever, tossing 62 innings, before becoming a starter the next year, where he would become an All-Star.

1985 would begin the best stretch of Key’s career, when he threw 212.2 innings with a 5.0 bWAR, 3.00 ERA and an All-Star nod. A major ground ball pitcher, only striking out 85 batters, Key began a streak of three straight seasons with over 200 innings.

The lefty had a different type of year in 1986, striking out 141 batters in 232 innings, nearly two strikeouts more per inning than the previous year. He had four complete games and posted a 3.57 ERA. The 4.8 bWAR was a small step back, but nothing too frightening.

1987 was the best year of his career. He struck out a then career high 161 batters over a career high 261 innings, posting a league leading 164 ERA+ and 2.76 ERA as well as a career high bWAR, 7.4. Although Key earn an All-Star nod, he finished in second place for the AL Cy Young.

Key wouldn’t quite reach those levels again with the Blue Jays, but he was consistently about a league-average pitcher, posting a 2.0 bWAR or higher in three of his final five seasons with the Blue Jays. He was an All-Star again in 1991.