2 weeks Ago
Like many teams, the Toronto Blue Jays like to give some of their college pitchers drafted each July the rest of the year off. It’s not necessarily off time. For many, they’re working on mechanics at the team facility.
But many Major League teams don’t see much good in dropping a college pitcher into their system right after the collegiate season ends in May, or in the case of NCAA Tournament teams, June. Such was the case for Khal Stephen , the Mississippi State pitcher the Blue Jays selected in the second round (No. 59 overall) last July.
He was just MSU’s 12th second-round pick. More importantly, he was coming off a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Toronto didn’t drop him into the professional ranks right away.
Stephen is off to a torrid start at Class-A Dunedin and that caught the attention of Baseball America (subscription required) in a piece it wrote highlighting 18 prospects and whether their early-season numbers mean anything. The right-hander has started three games at Dunedin and he’s shown good length off the mound, as he’s pitched at least five innings in each start. More importantly, he’s proving to be unhittable.
He’s allowed seven hits in 16 innings, along with just one run. He’s struck out 20 and walked two. He enters his next start with a 1-0 record and a 0.
56 ERA. To the publication, this may be a case of Stephen being more talented than the hitters he’s facing. He’s a college-aged pitcher with three years of experience in Division I baseball.
He may be ready for a call-up to High-A soon. But even in the small sample, Baseball America likes his mid-90s fastball and sees his change-up as a differentiating pitch if it translates against more mature hitters. Toronto drafted him after he put together an impressive junior season at Mississippi State, where he played for just one season after two years at Purdue.
With the Bulldogs last season, he was named third team all-American by several outlets, along with NCAA Charlottesville all-regional team selection. He was also a first-team all-SEC pick. In 16 starts he went 8-3 with a 3.
28 ERA, which was seventh in the SEC. He struck out 107 hitters, which was also seventh in the conference. His 96 innings pitched was third in the SEC and he allowed just 21 walks, a team best.
Batters hit just .213 against him. His 5.
10 strikeout-to-walk ratio was the sixth best in the SEC. With Purdue as a sophomore, he was selected third-team all-Big Ten after he went 6-2 as the Boilermakers’ Friday starter in conference action. He was named Purdue’s pitcher of the year and as the first sophomore selected as an opening-day starter since 2016.
Recommended Articles.
