Blue Jays prospect's breakout turning forgotten 2024 deadline deal into trade steal
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Last year the Toronto Blue Jays traded Nate Pearson to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for shortstop Josh Rivera and Yohendrick Pinango.
Now, a little more than 10 months after the deal, Pinango is beginning to look like a steal of a deal thanks to a strong showing at Double-A New Hampshire.
Pinango entered play on Monday with the New Hamshire Fishercats slashing .303/.421/.521 with seven home runs and 17 RBI in 41 games.
Yohendrick Pinango's breakout turning forgotten Blue Jays/Cubs 2024 deadline deal into trade steal
He's clearly off to a great start this season and is one of the hottest hitters in the Blue Jays' system.
Yohendrick Pinango has the tools to be a legit corner OF bat. Upper tier EVs paired with his line drive approach allow for some ridiculous home runs like this one. 7 home runs and a 1.090 OPS on the year now. Thank you, Nate Pearson.
He's also tallied eight doubles and five stolen bases, which has helped him generate an incredible 183 wRC+.
And while Pinango's strong production would be great at face value, it's even better when you consider how he got to Toronto.
As mentioned above, the Blue Jays acquired him in a trade with the Cubs in exchange for Pearson, a trade that looks better and better by the day.
While Pearson had a 2.73 ERA in 26 1/3 innings last year for Chicago, he got off to a horrible start this year.
The 28-year-old posted a 10.38 ERA in 8 2/3 innings with the Cubs this year before being demoted to Triple-A Iowa.
While he's been a bit better in Triple-A (3.29 ERA in 11 games), they didn't acquire him to be a depth arm.
Which brings us back to Pinango, who is turning the Eastern League into his playground.
Pinango has recorded 11 multi-hit games this season for the Fisher Cats, and recently had a stretch where he hit four home runs in five games.
His best game of the season came on April 19 when he went 4-for-4 with a Triple in a 4-2 win over Harrisburg.
His strong performance to start the season earned him kudos from Baseball America, who highlighted him as one of their prospects to watch after his strong start to the season.
He has above-average exit velocity numbers (he's hit a ball 112 miles per hour this year) and is generating a ton of power to his pull-side.
While his glove is still a work in progress, he has the hit tool that should help him have some success in MLB, even if his future is as a corner outfielder/designated hitter.
Prior to this year, his best year in the minors came in 2022 when he smashed 13 home runs and drove in 63 runs for the Cubs' High-A affiliate. He should fly past those numbers this year.
He's also due for a promotion to Triple-A, which would put him one step closer to making his MLB debut.
It's not hard to imagine how Pinango can help the Blue Jays at the big league level. He'd likely move between left field and designated hitter along with Anthony Santander in the same way that George Springer currently does.
The Blue Jays will likely have Daulton Varsho in center field for the foreseeable future, so they'll be able to afford to trot out some subpar defenders in the corner outfield spots.
But his success and bounce back character this season has made him a prospect to be on the lookout.
Do you think Yohendrick Pinango will make it up to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons this season?
Tell us what you think in the poll below.
| POLL | ||
MAI 29 | 63 ANSWERS Blue Jays prospect's breakout turning forgotten 2024 deadline deal into trade steal Do you think Yohendrick Pinango will make it up to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons this season? | ||
| Yes | 36 | 57.1 % |
| No | 12 | 19 % |
| Too early to tell | 15 | 23.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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