At one point, the Blue Jays had one of the deepest prospect catching pools in the league.
However, Alejandro Kirk graduated and Gabriel Moreno was eventually traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Daulton Varsho. By the start of the 2024 season the Blue Jays had no catchers in MLB Pipeline’s top 30.
The last catcher to rank in the top 30 was Luis Meza, who ranked 30th in MLB Pipeline’s 2023 top 30 Blue Jays prospects. However, he had a rough 2023 season and fell off the list. That being said, he’s rebounded nicely and perhaps I’ll write about him in this series one day.
There are some other interesting catchers in the organization as well. With a minimum of 50 plate appearances, Phil Clarke’s 126 wRC+ since the beginning of the 2023 season is the best for catchers in the Jays’ system. Jackson Hornung, Zach Britton, and Nicolas Deschamps are some other interesting catchers I’ve debated writing about.
However, the topic of today’s article is catching prospect Edward Duran.
Getting to know Edward Duran
The Miami Marlins signed Edward Duran to a signing bonus of $450,000 on January 15, 2021. In his first professional season in the Dominican Summer League, Duran slashed .340/.450/.440 with no homers and five doubles in 60 plate appearances, along with a higher BB% (11.7%) than K% (10%). It was a small sample size, and his 2022 saw regression.
For the same team, Duran slashed .224/.325/.306 with no homers and 10 doubles for a career-low 81 wRC+. His last game was in late August.
However, he was included in a rather infamous trade with the Blue Jays as the player to be named later. In the same trade, the Blue Jays acquired Anthony Bass as well as Zach Pop in exchange for 2018 first round pick, Jordan Groshans.
OFFICIAL: We’ve received Minor League C Edward Duran from the Marlins as the player to be named later to complete the August 2 trade. pic.twitter.com/88qAJz1dFi
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 1, 2022
As you know, Bass is no longer with the organization, while Pop has returned to the Jays and has a 5.40 ERA and 5.39 FIP in 18.1 innings pitched with the team. The Marlins certainly didn’t win this trade either, as he had 65 plate appearances with the Marlins in 2022 before eventually being designated for assignment. His 133 plate appearances in 2022 with the Marlins was the last time he had a wRC+ above 100 at any level.
Usually, players to be determined later are minor league depth, but that may not be the case for Duran. Last season between the Florida Complex League and Single-A, Duran slashed .315/.422/.417 with two homers in 154 plate appearances, along with a higher BB% (15.6%) than K% (13%) for a 132 wRC+.
For any player with a minimum of 100 plate appearances in the organization, his wRC+ ranked eight, just behind players like Ernie Clement, Davis Schneider, Spencer Horwitz, and Alan Roden.
Duran has had an okay start to his 2024 season, playing solely for the Dunedin Blue Jays in the Florida State League (Single-A). This season, the 20-year-old catcher is slashing .244/.355/.321 with a high BB% Of 13.5%, as well as a low K% of 16.1% in 155 plate appearances.
Duran, on the double!
Edward starts the scoring for the Jays. pic.twitter.com/MYrukXdN8T
— Dunedin Blue Jays (@DunedinBlueJays) May 31, 2024
However, he has yet to hit a home run in one more plate appearance than last season. He evidently has doubles power, as his 10 doubles are tied for the third most on the D-Jays.
Duran carries a strong eye at the plate and is athletic. Defensively, he’s had his struggles this season with 10 passed balls, but has thrown out 15 would-be-stealers in 69 attempts for a 21.7 caught stealing percentage, which isn’t awful with the implementation of the pitch clock.
The 20-year-old catcher is still quite a few seasons away from even sniffing the big league roster, and that would require him to continue hitting well up the minor league ladder. However, he could very well be the next catcher on the Top 30 list.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.
