Brandon Valenzuela ranks as Blue Jays Nation’s 37th-best prospect in 2025 mid-season update

There was only one prospect the Toronto Blue Jays acquired before the 2025 trade deadline: Brandon Valenzuela.

This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual mid-season prospect list, where we’ll take a look at the 50 best prospects in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. I’ll look at the player’s stats, what other publications have to say, as well as my own observations of the players.

The Blue Jays don’t have a whole lot of highly regarded catching prospects, but our 37th-ranked prospect (Valenzuela) has future backup catcher written all over him. If you missed the 38th-ranked prospect, we looked at Angel Bastardo.

Getting to know Brandon Valenzuela…

Position: Catcher

Bats: Switch

Born: October 2, 2000

Acquired: Trade with San Diego

Previous Ranking: Unranked

During the 2018 free agency, Valenzuela signed a bonus of $100,000 with the Padres. He made his debut the same season, slashing .253/.379/.323 with a home run in 243 plate appearances for a 114 wRC+. The 2019 season was spent in rookie ball before Valenzuela moved to the “A” affiliates in 2021. That season, the catcher slashed .299/.393/.429 with seven home runs in 443 plate appearances for a 123 wRC+, a career-best.

Valenzuela’s entire 2022 season was spent in High-A, where he hit a career-high 10 home runs, but finished with a 96 wRC+. He split the 2023 season between High-A and Double-A, slashing .239/.337/.374 with five home runs in just 264 plate appearances. Valenzuela split his 2024 between Double-A and Triple-A, and slashed .232/.312/.352.

Before the trade to Toronto, Valenzuela slashed .229/.313/.387 with 12 home runs in 374 plate appearances in Double-A, a career-best in homers. On July 31st, he was acquired by the Jays, as they sent Will Wagner to the Padres. Since joining the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, Valenzuela is slashing .250/.333/.350 with a home run in 45 plate appearances, but his K% has jumped to 31.1%.

With the bat, Valenzeula is below average when it comes to both the hit tool and power tool, although there is a bit of raw power. His value lies with his glove, as he’s an excellent receiver and has a strong arm, posting a 35.4% caught stealing percentage in 2025.

Thanks to his strong defence with some pop in his bat, Valenzuela has the potential to be the Blue Jays’ backup catcher in the coming years. It’ll be interesting to see how the 24-year-old finishes the 2025 season.