Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins Talks Toronto's Top Prospects
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins met with the media ahead of Wednesday's game against the Mariners.
He discussed the state of the team, some injury updates, and recent trends on the mound and from the hitters. But one of the biggest takeaways from Atkins' chat with the press was his praise for a pair of Toronto's top prospects, Gabriel Moreno and Ricky Tiedemann.
On Gabriel Moreno:
The reports from Triple A have been “awesome” on top Jays prospect Gabriel Moreno, Atkins said.
The GM lauded the young catcher’s athleticism on defense and offense, mentioning consistent hard contact. In 24 Triple A games, Moreno is slashing .323/.376/.398, including a 4/5 night on Tuesday.
While Moreno’s receiving behind the plate has improved, per Atkins, his room for growth remains in game-calling, and the learned confidence to lead a pitching rotation and put down signs.
“Alejandro Kirk went through it and has been exceptional with that transition,” Atkins said. “You guys can probably see the difference in him and how much confidence and conviction he has right now, the ease of his game-calling.”
Atkins said that a large part of Moreno's game-calling education will "probably" happen at the big league level and the new PitchCom communication system between catchers and pitchers can help ease the transition. The technology takes away the complication of different finger patterns and simplifying the process takes some stress of young catchers, Atkins said.
"It's definitely going to alleviate some of the pressure," he said.
On Ricky Tiedemann:
Ricky Tiedemann fell to the Blue Jays in the third round of the 2021 MLB Draft, and has quickly risen to join the organization's top youngsters.
Atkins gave a shoutout to assistant GM Tony LaCava and scouting director Shane Farrell for finding Tiedemann early in the draft process, and said the team was eyeing him at that third-round pick throughout the draft. With a 1.8 ERA and 14.7 K/9 in his first six Single A starts this year, the 19-year-old earned a promotion to High A Vancouver earlier this week.
The Toronto GM said Tiedemann's quick ascent in the organization's prospect rankings comes from his curiosity and drive, combined with 'elite' stuff. Beyond the obvious high-90s fastball, Atkins praised Tiedemann's slider and overall spin rates.
"He has the stuff to compete right now in the major leagues," Atkins said. "It's a matter of just being really consistent with it and building a full workload."
Mitch Bannon is a baseball reporter for Sports Illustrated covering the Toronto Blue Jays and their minor league affiliates.Twitter: @MitchBannon