Blue Jays: Examining Juan Sanchez’s start in Single-A

At the start of the season, the Toronto Blue Jays were aggressive with one of their best position player prospects.

Juan Sanchez signed as an international free agent in the 2025 period, then became one of the Blue Jays’ best hitting prospects in the system. The shortstop made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League, slashing .341/.439/.565 with eight home runs in 253 plate appearances for a 156 wRC+, with a 10.3 BB% and 17.4 K%.

Because of his strong performance in 2025, he Jays placed Sanchez in Single-A to begin the season. Usually, players signed in the international free agency spend their second season in rookie ball, either repeating in the DSL or moving to the Florida Complex League.

It’s hard to pinpoint historical examples of Blue Jays prospects going from the DSL to Single-A, but since the minor league format changed to just two rookie teams and four “A” affiliates for the 2021 season, it hasn’t happened in the organization.

It’s a tough jump, and Sanchez’s numbers in his first 26 games prove that. Heading into Saturday’s game, the shortstop is slashing just .152/.250/.242 with two home runs in 112 plate appearances. More worrisome is his jump in swing and miss, going for a 17.4 K% in 2025 to a 28.6 K% with the Dunedin Blue Jays.

The good news is that the 18-year-old has been a league-average hitter over the past two weeks. Since May 8th, Sanchez is slashing .220/.319/.416 with both home runs he’s hit, two doubles, and five walks. His K% is still high in this span, sitting at 25.5%, but the Blue Jays anticipated this.

Sanchez has had far more success in limited plate appearances against left-handed pitching. Both of his home runs have come with a lefty on the mound, and he’s slashing .250/.368/.688 against southpaws. However, Sanchez is hitting just .133/.226/.157 with two doubles in 93 plate appearances against right-handed pitchers.

The underlying metrics aren’t particularly great either. Lauded for his ability to hit the ball hard, Sanchez’s average exit velocity sits at just 83.4 mph, which is in the 18th percentile for Single-A hitter. His maximum velocity sits at 105.8 mph, which is middle of the pack percentile wise, but still not great when considering his penchant for chasing, whiffing, and striking out.

Are the alarm bells ringing, though? Probably not. It’s been a slow start to his season, but Sanchez is just one of 12 position players who are 18 years old or younger who have 100 or more plate appearances in all of Single-A. Even fewer of those 11 other players are off to a good start.

With how young Sanchez is combined with his last two weeks, it looks like he could be turning his season around after a slow start.