Edward Duran ranks as Blue Jays Nation’s 24th-best prospect in 2025 mid-season update

Edward Duran went from being added as a player to be named later in a trade to the Toronto Blue Jays’ best catching prospect.

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.

Duran has emerged as a potential backup catcher for the future with solid potential with the bat, thus ranking as our 24th-best Blue Jays prospect in the mid-season countdown. If you missed the last article, Tim Piasentin ranked as our 25th-best prospect in the system.

Getting to know Edward Duran…

Position: Catcher

Bats: Right

Born: May 29th, 2004

Acquired: Trade with Miami Marlins

Previous ranking: Unranked

Duran was born in Venezuela. The catcher signed for a bonus of $450,000 with the Miami Marlins during the 2021 International Free Agency period. In his first professional season, Duran slashed .340/.450/.440 with no home runs in 60 plate appearances for a 159 wRC+. Beginning the 2022 season in the Dominican Summer League once again, Duran slashed .224/.325/.306 with no home runs in 169 plate appearances for an 84 wRC+.

At the beginning of August, the Blue Jays traded their 2018 first-round pick, Jordan Groshans, to the Marlins in exchange for relievers Zach Pop and Anthony Bass. That trade also involved Duran, who was a player to be named later.

The catcher didn’t play with the Blue Jays in 2022, but split his 2023 season with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays and the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays. Duran found success that season at both levels, slashing .315/.4222/.417 with two home runs in 154 plate appearances, with 93 of those plate appearances coming with the D-Jays.

All of the 2024 season was spent with the D-Jays, as Duran slashed .245/.346/.313 with no home runs in 327 plate appearances, with an 11.9 BB% and 15.3 K%, down from his 15.6 BB% and 13 K% in 2023.

Once again, Duran started the new season in Dunedin to begin 2025. The catcher found success in his third season with the team, slashing .296/.378/.439 while hitting a career-high five home runs in 291 plate appearances. Spanning the entire month of May, Duran had a 22-game hit streak.

Duran earned a promotion to the High-A Vancouver Canadians, where he’s slashing .212/.322/.308 with two home runs through 121 plate appearances for an 82 wRC+. While that isn’t great on paper, Duran had a rough beginning to his stint and is slashing .273/.394/.418 with two home runs in 66 plate appearances since August 5th, giving him a 131 wRC+ in that stretch.

Although Duran has found success with the bat so far in his Blue Jays tenure, that’s not what he’s best known for. Duran has the profile of a backup catcher, as he has a strong arm, is a good receiver, and is a solid blocker. So far this season, he has thrown out 39 would-be base stealers in 168 total attempts, giving him a caught stealing percentage of 23.2%.

Duran ranks as MLB Pipeline’s 14th-best Blue Jays prospect in their mid-season update. He’s athletic with good receiving ability and a strong arm, as that tool is graded as a 60. Duran has improved offensively and is someone who can take walks, but defence is his calling card.