Catching up with Blue Jays prospect Brennan Orf

Last winter, Blue Jays Nation editor Tyson Shushkewich had a chance to talk with the Blue Jays 2023 13th-round draft pick Brennan Orf about his first few games in the minor leagues. 

Following his first full season in professional ball with the Jays organization, Blue Jays Nation caught up with Orf again to learn about his journey so far through the Jays farm system, as the 23-year-old continues to forge his path toward the big leagues.

Spending three years with the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Cougars, the outfielder/first baseman made his A+ debut in 2024 with the Vancouver Canadians after spending all of his post-draft year in single-A Dunedin. He posted a .240/.358/.419 slash line through 58 games, his first time playing with a team north of the border. Defensively for the Canadians, Orf split his time between the outfield corner spots while also picking up 27 games at first base. 

“Vancouver’s a pretty cool place, the facilities and sights were all really cool,” said Orf, speaking to Blue Jays Nation. “I’d say (when it comes to the competition) there’s a lot more competitive pitches. The stuff is relatively the same, but everyone’s misses are more coordinated and you have to think a bit more in the box.”

One of Orf’s strongest aspects of his game has been his eye at the plate. During his final college season in 2023, his OBP was an impressive .506 and the year before that it was .492, both of which ranked high on the Cougars squad. 

So far, that ability has translated well into professional baseball, as shown with his aforementioned slash line. Throughout this past offseason, his focus has been on translating that eye into bat-to-ball success and being able to put the ball into play with increased consistency. 

“A lot of my focus is still sitting fastball and going gap-to-gap,” Orf explained. “A lot of my training has been seeing different shapes early out of the hand and being able to hit them as they come through the zone. The Jays staff and facilities have been great, I even got to work with John Mayberry a bit, so that was exciting.”

His 2024 season wasn’t without any setbacks though. Early in the season in May – right around Mother’s Day – Orf slid into third base on a hustle play and dislocated his left shoulder. Orf drove a middle-middle offering from Everett AquaSox pitcher Michael Morales to left field and was able to hustle to third on the close play. Ironically, the ball was fielded by RJ Schreck, who was acquired by the Blue Jays at last year’s trade deadline.

The rehab process saw him back down in Florida at the Dunedin facilities working six days a week to get back to playing form. Once he was game-ready, Orf suited up in six rookie ball games before slotting into four games at the single-A level. After getting the all-clear, it was back to the Northwest League for Orf. 

“Fortunately it was my catching arm, so throwing wasn’t an issue, but building it back up and putting it (the arm) in difficult positions was the hard part,” he recalled. “Once your shoulder goes out of place like that, it is more susceptible to happen again in the future and will need to be monitored as I keep playing.”