Horwitz's major impact still felt in the Minors

This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson's Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

TORONTO -- How good has Spencer Horwitz been this season? Well, he’s been in the big leagues for a month and nearly everyone in the Blue Jays’ Minor League system is still chasing him.

Only fellow contact machine Josh Kasevich (Blue Jays' No. 11 prospect) has more hits (87) than Horwitz’s 71 in the Minors this season. No one is close to Horwitz’s system lead in doubles (22), only five players have more RBIs (38), and among players who have played in at least 20 games at a full-season level, Horwitz’s .335 batting average and .456 on-base percentage rank first in the system.

Horwitz, who just graduated after being the No. 16 prospect, hasn’t played a game in the Minor Leagues since June 6, but he did enough in those 57 games to be the Blue Jays’ top performer in the first half. It’s something he’s carried right into the big leagues, too, where he’s already changed the potential trajectory of his career with a hot start at the plate and some unexpected defensive versatility.

Until the Blue Jays moved on from Cavan Biggio and eventually Daniel Vogelbach, there just wasn’t much room on their roster for Horwitz. What more could he do, though, with those numbers? He had no other choice than to keep producing ... and wait.

“It’s definitely easier to say than do,” Horwitz said. “Everyone says to trust the process, be where your feet are, all of the clichés. For me, it helped me to dig into myself and my own routines, to really lean on those. I also leaned on other guys. Our Triple-A team this year was pretty young. Hopefully, I helped some guys, and that was my goal, to become more of a leader there. I got to learn from Ernie [Clement] last year as a guy who had a year-plus of Show time, and he really helped a lot of guys. I tried to do that.”

This has been another challenging season for the Blue Jays’ farm system, especially when you consider how heavily this organization may need to lean on it in the coming years. Coming into the year, MLB Pipeline ranked this as the No. 24 system in MLB, and that hasn’t changed much. There have been success stories further down the ranks, but given the injuries to top-end pitching and the 80-game suspension to No. 2 prospect Orelvis Martinez (No. 61 overall) after a positive test for a performance-enhancing substance, the ceiling hasn’t been raised.

Horwitz represents the type of story the Blue Jays need more of. The 2019 24th-round pick has grown his standout ability -- that plate approach -- into a legitimate tool in the big leagues and has evolved the rest of his game around it.

If Horwitz keeps this up, he’s seen Buffalo for the last time.

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Kasevich is all contact but lacks power, which is a story you’ve read before about Blue Jays prospects. He’s hit just three home runs with a .383 slugging percentage this season, but he controls the zone very well and the organization loves his defense at shortstop. His name is brought up constantly by Minor League staff and teammates. They call Kasevich a “robot” for his work ethic and consistency, so if he’s able to find even a marginal increase in power, all of the other pieces are there.

Honorable mentions are due to lefty Adam Macko (No. 9), who looks ready for a taste of Triple-A later this season, and outfielder Alan Roden (No. 7), who earned that promotion on June 14.

High-A Vancouver Canadians
Canadian outfielder Dasan Brown (No. 25) is having the type of season he needed, which means that he’s reaching base. Brown’s elite speed makes him a threat on the bases at all times and gives him the potential to be an excellent defender in the big leagues, but his bat has always been the inconsistent squeaky wheel. Credit to Brown, who has walked 30 times in 52 games (.370 OBP). He could get a taste of Double-A later this summer.

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays
The D-Jays have done some great things with their starting pitching, including Juaron Watts-Brown (No. 17 prospect) and Connor O’Halloran, but Futures Game selection Fernando Perez (No. 23) has been particularly impressive. The 20-year-old righty with an advanced feel for pitching has a 3.60 ERA over 70 innings with 76 strikeouts. He’s going to continue to climb up prospect lists with a season like this.