Blue Jays tab 'big velocity' lefty Barriera

The Blue Jays targeted upside with the 23rd pick in the 2022 MLB Draft on Sunday, selecting hard-throwing high school lefty Brandon Barriera. Toronto, which had four selections on Day 1, then added shortstop Josh Kasevich from Oregon with the 60th selection overall, followed by high school shortstop Tucker Toman at No. 77 and LSU second baseman Cade Doughty at No. 78.

Ranked as MLB Pipeline’s top left-hander in this Draft class and the No. 15 overall prospect, Barriera will add to the Blue Jays’ stable of high-upside young arms deep in the farm system, representing the next wave of MLB talent. Barriera isn’t lacking confidence, either, as we saw during an emotional interview following his selection in Los Angeles.

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"Looking at those 22 teams before me, they're going to regret this,” Barriera said on MLB Network.

The Blue Jays loved this part of the package, too. There may be some young pitchers in the class who are more projectable than Barriera, but there aren’t many who have better stuff at his age, making him a unique high school arm. With a little bit of swagger to pair with it, there’s no surprise that Barriera said he’s looking forward to meeting Alek Manoah, the fellow Floridian and All-Star with a personality that fills Rogers Centre.

“The compete level is something that we definitely noticed and something that drew us to him,” Blue Jays director of amateur scouting Shane Farrell said. “We look forward to seeing that play out on the field in our uniform. We’re excited for him to get his career started.”

• Increased velo brightens Barriera's outlook

Barriera took a risk to get to this moment. Or, he played it safe -- depending on how you look at it. The 18-year-old ended his senior season in April after just eight starts to avoid an arm injury and prepare for the MLB Draft. After posting a 5-0 record and a 2.27 ERA to go with 68 strikeouts in just 37 innings, Barriera felt he’d done enough. The unorthodox move paid off.

The Vanderbilt commit is on the smaller side for a pitcher (6-foot-2, 180 pounds). But he features an electric four-pitch mix. Barriera's fastball ranges from 90-95 mph and reportedly hit as high as 99 mph this season. He also throws a changeup, curveball and slider. The latter pitch, which he learned from Andrew Painter (now with the Phillies and MLB's No. 53 prospect), gets a ton of swings and misses.

“It’s obviously about the arm talent that Brandon possesses, the big velocity and the plus slider, but most importantly the athleticism is what really stood out to all of us,” Farrell said. “We started watching last summer and scouted him through the spring, obviously leading up to the Draft. We’re really excited about Brandon.”

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Barriera went to American Heritage High School in Plantation, Fla., which is known for churning out big league players, including Eric Hosmer and Red Sox prospect Triston Casas. But the baseball powerhouse hasn’t been as successful with pitchers -- Shaun Anderson is the only Major League arm to come from the school. Barriera is looking to change that, and his old head coach thinks he’s bound to do it.

"He's the best pitcher we've ever had come through here," American Heritage head coach Mike Macey said of Barriera. "I'm not even going out on a limb to say that. I think that's pretty obvious. He's the only pitcher that we've ever had you'd consider to be a first-round guy. He's got the most hype around him."

The left-hander didn’t start out throwing that way. At five years old, Barriera told his father, Sergio, that throwing with his right arm didn’t feel right. His baseball dreams took off from there. Barriera came to Florida via Brooklyn, N.Y. When Sergio noticed his son’s baseball talents at a young age, he moved his family south where he could play year-round rather than deal with the harsh New York winters.

Round 2 (60): SS Josh Kasevich, Oregon
Already known as an excellent defender, the 21-year-old Kasevich impressed scouts offensively with an outstanding plate approach and high contact rate. He was ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 67 prospect in the class.

“It’s something we were really drawn to,” Farrell said. “We’ll see about the future defensive home. He’ll definitely be able to go out and play shortstop. This is obviously a plan we’ll build around with the player, but getting him exposure to other positions will be key, too, like it is with any other player. We’re certainly excited to have Josh and add that type of contact to the organization.”

Given his defensive base and success with the wooden bat in the Northwest League, Kasevich fits the Blue Jays’ model of an NCAA infielder who could get a quick start in the Minor Leagues and climb the ladder.

Compensation Round (77): SS Tucker Toman, Hammond School (HS)
Toman, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 35 prospect in the class, was selected with a compensation pick the Blue Jays received when Marcus Semien signed a free-agent deal with the Rangers in the offseason. The switch-hitting Toman was viewed by some as a potential first-round pick, so given his NCAA commitment to Louisiana State, Toronto will need to make an aggressive play to sign the 18-year-old.

Toman is also the son of longtime college coach Jim Toman, who currently leads the Middle Tennessee State program. You’ve heard this same story plenty of times with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and others in the organization, whose fathers were involved in the game at a high level. It’s something teams are now targeting more actively.

“I don’t think there’s one way to value or quantify it, but what I do believe is that they know the ups and downs, the lifestyle and the struggles that come with playing this game on a daily basis,” Farrell said. “Tucker, from spending some time around him this spring and early this summer, he definitely has the personality for that.”

Compensation Round (78): 2B Cade Doughty, LSU
Doughty was selected with the final compensation pick for Robbie Ray’s offseason signing with Seattle. The second baseman, who was ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 55 prospect, was the Gatorade Louisiana High School Player of the Year in 2019, and Doughty could have gone in the top three rounds that year were it not for his strong NCAA commitment. The 21-year-old has the ability to move around the diamond, including shortstop and third base, but it was his offensive production that caught the organization’s eye.

“Coming from the best conference in college baseball and being one of the better hitters in the SEC, we’re excited to add him,” Farrell said. “We think there is a little bit of power potential in there in addition to his contact ability, as well.”

After selecting Barriera and Toman in the early rounds, two high school prospects with upside, the Blue Jays will now need to make good use of their bonus pool to have money available for those deals, potentially saving some money with under-slot deals in the rounds to come.