Getting to know Jake Cook, Blue Jays’ 2025 third-round selection

Cook is a former two-way player and was recruited to USM primarily as a pitcher. But there’s a reason why Shohei Ohtani is considered a unicorn: not everyone can replicate what he does.

That was certainly the case for Cook, who was redshirted as a freshman in 2023 due to prolonged control issues. The 6-foot-3 lefty could touch as high as 96 m.p.h. with his heater, but couldn’t throw enough strikes with it. And that remained the case during his first season in summer ball, where he issued more walks (17) than strikeouts (12) across 10 relief appearances.

During his sophomore season in ’24, the talented youngster barely saw any action out of the bullpen, appearing in just three contests, allowing 10 runs (seven earned) on five hits and seven walks while only striking out a pair over two innings of work.

With no end in sight to Cook’s command woes, he gave up pitching prior to his final season with the Golden Eagles, converting to a full-time centre-fielder this past spring. Several months later, he watched his draft stock explode from a late-round selection as a reliever to a third-round pick by the Blue Jays.

So, what drew Toronto’s front office to the Madison, Mississippi, native?

Well, for starters, his elite athleticism, which probably shouldn’t be surprising since he’s a former pitcher. It’s also a trait this organization has continued to prioritize in its evaluation process in recent years.

Most evaluators view Cook’s agility as his strongest asset, earning him an 80-grade speed tool as a plus-plus runner. Given his pitching background, he also features an above-average arm in the field, both of which should allow him to remain in centre field as he transitions to pro ball.

Altogether, Cook has become an electrifying defender in short order, proving as such on multiple occasions — even robbing a home run or two from time to time.

At the plate, the left-handed-hitting outfielder is considered more of a slap hitter, known as an infield-hit machine for beating out countless weakly-hit grounders to the left side of the infield.

Sound like anyone familiar? Perhaps a certain longtime Tampa Bay Rays centre-fielder who’s currently working as a special assistant inside the Blue Jays’ system.

All the tools are seemingly there for Cook to develop into an impact outfielder for the Blue Jays. The biggest thing that’s missing is polish. That’s to be expected, though, following his first season working exclusively as a position player.

Many aspects of Cook’s craft are still relatively raw, like his base stealing, for example. For as much elite speed as he possesses, he only stole three bases in eight attempts in ’25, a total you’d expect to spike significantly in years to come.

There’s also probably room to grow regarding his skills in centre, particularly refining his initial reads and jumps off the bat to ensure he isn’t solely relying on his off-the-charts quickness to cover up other areas of his defence.

In both cases, the Blue Jays already have the perfect teacher for Cook: Kevin Kiermaier. Situations like this are right up his alley. As someone with decades’ worth of knowledge, the four-time Gold Glove winner — who swiped 15 or more bases in four of five seasons from 2015-19 — should become his go-to resource moving forward, especially once he arrives in Dunedin.

Cook needs to be a sponge around Kiermaier, soaking up as many nuggets of information as he can to further his development into pro ball. You can enjoy a long, wholesome major league career by following Kiermaier’s path as a defensive and basestealing specialist. Whether he’ll ultimately reach a higher ceiling lies with his power output, or lack thereof.

The industry-wide consensus is that Cook will hit for more contact than power at the next level. Having said that, with a 6-foot-3, 185-pound frame, some believe he could grow into more strength — and chances are the Blue Jays’ brass are among those, otherwise they likely wouldn’t have chosen him 81st overall.

The key for Cook will be maintaining his elite plate discipline (6.7 per cent strikeout rate in ’25) as he searches for additional power. If successful, it could result in a rapid climb through the system, transforming him into one of the organization’s top all-around position-player prospects. But there’s plenty of work to be done to reach that potential.

As you’ve likely gathered by now, Cook is very much a project for Toronto’s player development staff. He’ll likely require a ton of seasoning to blossom into a valuable asset. There could be a mutual benefit to selecting him in the third round, though, as his odds of signing for below slot value (roughly $994,000) should be fairly high.

Unlike other pro sports, baseball executives must strategize around a prospect’s signability. In this case, by selecting Cook in the third round, the Blue Jays should receive valuable savings they can spend elsewhere — like on fifth-round selection Tim Piasentin, who’ll probably be an above-slot signing, and 11th-round pick Jared Spencer, previously projected as a top college arm in this year’s class before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.

The risk-versus-reward scale certainly favours the Blue Jays with this selection. Betting on a player who arguably features the most athleticism of anyone available is usually a worthwhile gamble. We’ll just have to wait to see how long before it pays off.