Today’s prospect has yet to pitch professionally.
This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual pre-season list, in which I’ll take a look at the top 50 prospects in the organization. We’ll look at the player’s stats, my observations, and other publications’ scouting reports if available.
Let’s take a look at Landen Maroudis.
Getting to know Landen Maroudis…
Position: Starting pitcher
Throws: Right
Born: December 16, 2004
Acquired: 4th-round, 2023 draft
2023 Team: N/A
Previous Ranking: 13
Unlike most players we’ll look at throughout this series, Maroudis doesn’t have any professional statistics as of yet. This is because the Blue Jays tend to hold off on young pitchers pitching in the minors until their first full season in the organization – think Ricky Tiedemann and Brandon Barriera.
Instead, we’ll look at scouting reports from Fangraphs, TSN’s Scott Mitchell, as well as MLB Pipeline’s 2023 report on the 19-year-old.
Fangraphs rank Maroudis as the 17th-best Blue Jays prospect, noting that he tops out at 96 mph with the fastball but sits anywhere from 90-95 mph on it. However, the fastball can play up due to the delivery of the pitch. The 19-year-old also features a changeup which is still under development, but has the highest future grade of 55 (the present grade is 40), with Fangraphs noting that Maroudis knows how to create action on it. It’s also noted that the slider is fine, with no “nasty bite or depth”.
Mitchell ranks Maroudis as his 12th-best Blue Jays prospect and mentions that he still has a ton of projection left, which means that his velocity could tick up even more. The 19-year-old is athletic and will benefit from focusing on pitching, as he also played shortstop in high school.
The 2024 update for MLB Pipeline has yet to be released, but Maroudis ranked as the eighth-best Blue Jays prospect during the 2023 update. His report on Pipeline notes that the fastball has good ride, while they’re also higher on his changeup than Fangraphs. The bio also mentions that “some evaluators worry a little bit about his breaking stuff due to how low his elbow is in his delivery.” Like Fangraphs, his MLB Pipeline reports that he does a good job of throwing strikes and has advanced command for his age.
It’ll be interesting to see where the 19-year-old starts his 2024 season, but there’s a good chance he’ll start in the Florida Complex League.
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