Anthony Benjamin Kay...Graduated from Ward Melville High School (Long Island, NY) in 2013, where he set 27 school records...Was the recipient of the Paul Gibson Award, given annually to the best High School pitcher on Long Island...Finished his junior year with a 0.00 ERA (49.0 IP)...Was originally drafted by the Mets in the 29th round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft but did not sign...Attended the University of Connecticut, the same school as Pitching Coach Pete Walker...Named Louisville Slugger Second Team All-American following his junior season at UConn...Also named the 2016 AAC Pitcher of the Year and was first team All-Conference in both his sophomore and junior seasons...Established a UConn record with 263 career strikeouts and became the 6th Husky to reach 20 career wins (22)...Ranked by MLB as Toronto's 4th-best prospect heading into 2020...Ranked 9th by Baseball America.
2020
Kept right-handed hitters to a .195 AVG (8-for-41) while lefties batted .341 (14-for-41)...12 of his 13 outings were 1.0+ innings pitched, seven of which were scoreless for a 3.10 ERA in those 12 games (7 ER/19.1 IP)...Allowed five earned runs over his first 11 games (18.1 IP) for a 2.45 ERA, but gave up seven in his last two appearances (2.2 IP) to finish the campaign with a 5.14 ERA...Earned his 1st win of 2020 (2nd career) with 3.1 scoreless innings of relief on Aug. 8 at BOS (2H, 3K).
2019
Started his campaign with 12 starts for Binghamton, his first action at Double-A...Did not allow an earned run in his first two starts there (8.1 IP)...Went 1-3 for the Rumble Ponies while posting a 1.49 ERA (11 ER/66.1 IP) and a .165 opponents' average (38H, 2HR, 23BB, 70K)...Tossed a 7.0 IP complete-game shutout on May 14 vs. Altoona, allowing three hits with eight strikeouts...Promoted to Triple-A Syracuse in June and went 1-3 in seven starts there...Was selected to the 2019 MLB Futures Game as part of All-Star Week in Cleveland...Threw one inning with one hit allowed and a strikeout...Traded to the Blue Jays along with RHP Simeon Woods Richardson in exchange for RHP Marcus Stroman and cash considerations on July 28...Finished his Minor League campaign with seven starts for Triple-A Buffalo, where he posted a 2-2 record and a 2.50 ERA (10 ER/36.0 IP)...Allowed no earned runs in three of his last five starts...Did not allow more than three earned runs in any of his starts as a Bison...Had his contract selected from Buffalo on Sept. 7 and made his MLB debut that night in Tampa Bay...Lasted 5.2 innings, allowing both of his runs in the 4th inning before leaving the game with a 3-2 lead...Gave up four hits and three walks while recording eight strikeouts, which tied Trent Thornton (8 SO on March 31, 2019 vs. DET) for a team record in an MLB debut...Was Toronto's 38th pitcher used this season to extend a franchise high (36 in 2018) and their 19th different starter (14 in 2017 and 2018)...Also became the 47th player in team history to make his MLB debut as a starting pitcher...Allowed five runs on seven hits over 4.1 innings in his 2nd start, on Sept. 13 vs. NYY (1BB, 2K)...Earned his 1st MLB win as he pitched in relief for the 1st time on Sept. 19 at BAL...Allowed a pair of runs on four hits over 4.0 frames (1BB, 3K)...Over his three big-league outings, kept left-handed hitters to a .182 AVG (2-for-11) while righties went 13-for-46 (.283).
2018
Made his professional debut, Ranked by MLB as Toronto's 4th-best prospect heading into 2020...Ranked 9th by Baseball America...Recorded a season-high 11 strikeouts in 6.2 innings on June 28 vs. Asheville, his final start with Columbia...Was promoted to St. Lucie on July 3...Worked 6.0+ innings in six of his 10 starts with St. Lucie, including a season-high 7.1 innings on July 4 vs. Bradenton...Allowed three runs or fewer in 15 of his 23 total starts...Ranked by Baseball America as the Mets' 5th-best prospect after the 2018 season.