Blue Jays reveal two pitching prospects they got for Eric Sogard

Nick Ashbourne
·Writer
DETROIT, MI - JULY 21: Eric Sogard #5 of the Toronto Blue Jays bats against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on July 21, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - JULY 21: Eric Sogard #5 of the Toronto Blue Jays bats against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on July 21, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

Just over a month after the Toronto Blue Jays traded Eric Sogard to the Tampa Bay Rays, the prospects they’re getting back have been made public.

On Sunday, the club announced they’d be bringing aboard two pitching prospects, 19-year-old Edisson Gonzalez and 24-year-old Curtis Taylor.

Gonzalez has posted excellent numbers in short-season A ball this year with extraordinary strikeout (11.12 K/9) and walk numbers (1.88 BB/9) and a 2.45 ERA in 62.1 innings - primarily as a starter. Those statistics are impressive, but listed at just 5’10 160 lbs there may be concerns about the right-hander’s projectability. He doesn’t appear on any major prospect lists.

Taylor may be of more interest to Blue Jays both due to his proximity to the big leagues (he’s currently pitching in Double-A) and his passport. The relief prospect is a native of Port Coquitlam, B.C., and was drafted out of the University of British Colombia.

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The right-hander is has posted a 3.06 ERA and 2.66 FIP in 17.2 innings at Double-A this year with solid but unremarkable strikeout (8.55 K/9) and walk (2.55) rates. He’s primarily a fastball-slider guy who can reportedly dial it up to 96 mph, but tends to sit in the lower 90’s with sink. FanGraphs ranked Taylor as the Rays’ 39th-best prospect prior to the season, indicating his best weapon was his fastball which graded out as a 60 on the 20-80 scale.

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