Blue Jays Draft Roundup: Quick Facts For Every Toronto Pick

The 2020 MLB Draft is complete, as the Toronto Blue Jays added five fresh faces to their prospect pool.

Austin Martin, their highly touted first round pick, is the most notable name (and potentially the steal of the draft). But any of these draftees might go on to have an impact at the big league level in Toronto or elsewhere.

So, why not give a quick introduction? Here’s a list of the five newcomers, accompanied by a quick fact or two.

First round (5^th overall): UTIL Austin Martin, Vanderbilt

• 6 feet, 185 pounds
• 21 years old
• MLB Pipeline rank: 2^nd
• Projected pick value: $6.18 million

Dan Connolly at The Athletic graced Blue Jays’ faithful with a profile of Martin recently, in which the grabby quote from Martin is, “I hate losing even more than I like winning.”

That’s accompanied by a story about Martin playing Mortal Kombat against a teammate and losing three times. Motivated by defeat, Martin stayed up most of the night practicing the video game. He dominated the next day’s rematch.

Other noteworthy quirks about Martin from Connolly’s story: his friends say he is an “excellent” freestyle rapper, and he devoted some of his time off during the pandemic to learn the ukulele.

Second round (42^nd): RHP C.J. Van Eyk, Florida State

• 6-foot-1, 198 pounds
• 21 years old
• MLB Pipeline rank: 39^th
• Projected pick value: $1.77 million

With high strikeout totals (11.5 K/9) and a solid ERA (3.21), Van Eyk turned in a steady and effective career at Florida State. What wasn’t steady, however, was the identity of the team’s pitching coach.

In three years, Van Eyk worked with three pitching coaches. First, it was Mike Bell, who left to take the head coaching job at the University of Pittsburgh. Then it was Clyde Keller, who was replaced after one season (for unknown reasons) by Jimmy Belanger.

If you want to get deeper into the weeds, Van Eyk obviously had a different pitching coach in high school. And he’ll have another one at whichever minor-league level the Blue Jays place him. That’s five in five years!

Third round (77^th): RHP Trent Palmer, Jacksonville

• 6-foot-1, 230 pounds
• 21 years old
• MLB Pipeline rank: 114^th
• Projected pick value: $805,600

Palmer’s size has allowed him to stand out at least since high school, when he played defensive end at a school outside Minneapolis. Without knowing the specific data behind it, that doesn’t seem like a common background for an MLB pitching prospect.

Of course, Palmer played baseball, too. And his summer team was utterly dominant, racking up a 94-7 record in seven years.

But perhaps what’s most noteworthy about Palmer is how articulate he’s been in a challenging time, as he showed recently while weighing in on the tragic death of George Floyd in an interview with the Florida Times-Union.

“It’s almost a loss of breath watching (the video of Floyd), like, ‘What is this world coming to?’” Palmer told Times-Union reporter Gene Frenette. “No (police officer) needs to go that far at all. I mean, it’s someone’s life. You can always heal from a couple scars, cuts and bruises. But that’s someone’s life.”

Fourth round (106^th): RHP Nick Frasso, Loyola Marymount (CA)

• 6-foot-5, 200 pounds
• 21 years old
• MLB Pipeline rank: 98^th
• Projected pick value: $549,000

On the hardwood, Frasso can absolutely throw down. He averaged 14.3 points and 4.9 rebounds as a high school senior and was named the most outstanding player in his league. Then he did this last summer:

Frasso’s athletic genes can be attributed at least in part to his father, Vincent, who played college baseball at El Camino Junior College and Long Beach State. Frasso’s mother, Sandra, took up ice skating as a child.

Fifth round (136^th): OF Zach Britton, Louisville

• 6-foot-1, 200 pounds
• 21 years old
• MLB Pipeline rank: N/A
• Projected pick value: $410,100

The University of Louisville athletics website hooks it up with quick-hitting facts about Britton: favorite cereal? Frosted Flakes. Favorite movies? The Shawshank Redemption and The Dark Knight. Favorite TV shows? How I Met Your Mother and The Blacklist. Favorite chocolate bar? Heath.

No offense, Zach, but that chocolate bar pick was weak. Anyway…

The first thought with Britton is that his name is eerily similar to that of Yankees reliever Zack Britton. They play different positions and are 11 years apart, but Google still thinks you mean “Zack” — even if you type “Zach.”

Perhaps the younger Britton will be able to change that over the course of his career.