Getting to know Jacob Sharp, the Blue Jays’ newest catching prospect

As you may know, the Toronto Blue Jays traded reliever Yimi García to the Seattle Mariners on Friday evening.

In return, the Jays acquired the Mariners tenth-ranked prospect, Jonatan Clase, as well as catching prospect Jacob Sharp. The former was already covered in the “Getting to Know” series, and you can read that article here. In this article, we’ll get to know Jacob Sharp.

Looking down the list of the Blue Jays’ top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, there is only one catcher – Franklin Rojas, who ranks 29th-overall and has an estimated time of arrival in 2029. With that being said, the Blue Jays, who were once a catching factory, desperately need intriguing catchers, especially if they trade Danny Jansen at this season’s trade deadline.

Well, they acquired one of those intriguing catchers on Friday. Sharp was selected in the 17th-round of the 2023 draft, (517th overall) from the University of Nevada – Las Vegas. After spending his first two collegiate seasons at a Junior College, the junior slashed .335/.395/.606 with 12 home runs in 215 plate appearances, with 16 walks and 21 strikeouts with UNLV.

Sharp also showed pop with the wooden bats, as he hit 14 home runs in 190 plate appearances in the West Coast League back in 2022.

The 22-year-old’s first season in professional ball didn’t go great, as he slashed .143/.250/.143 with no home runs in 32 plate appearances with the Mariners’ Arizona Complex League team. However, his numbers have improved since joining their Single-A team in his first full season, as is slashing .255/.339/.435 with six home runs in 191 plate appearances, along with a 9.4 BB% and 9.9 K%.