TORONTO – In the midst of another gem during a breakout season as the Friday night starter for Ole Miss, Gunnar Hoglund had no reason to expect what was about to happen.
He’d allowed just one hit with nine strikeouts through 5.2 innings of dominance against South Carolina on April 30, when he threw a fastball to Brady Allen and felt a little tug and some discomfort in his right elbow.
Hoglund shook it off, got a groundball to first a couple of pitches later to end the inning and called it a night. The next week, he managed only 18 pitches at Texas A&M before walking off the mound. The diagnosis – a torn ulnar collateral ligament – ended his season and his push into the top-10 of the draft. He had Tommy John surgery May 18.
“It just happened out of the blue on one pitch,” he remembers. “I tried to pitch against Texas A&M but it just wasn’t coming out the same. I knew something was wrong.”
The injury set off a chain of events that led the Toronto Blue Jays to select him 19th overall in the draft, an upside play for them, a soft landing for the 21-year-old, who received a bonus of $3,247,500 that was a tick below the pick’s assigned value.
Despite the lengthy rehabilitation he’s recently begun, Hoglund slotted in at No. 7 in the Blue Jays’ mid-season prospect rankings by Baseball America, in essence replacing Simeon Woods Richardson, dealt to the Minnesota Twins along with No. 1 Austin Martin for Jose Berrios.
For an organization that remains pitching hungry, particularly at the upper levels of the system, Hoglund’s recovery is pivotal to supplement a second wave of prospects to replenish the current big-league core in two or three years. The Blue Jays are confident that he’ll have no issues regaining his past form, and quickly resume the ascent in his trajectory.
“His ability to move his fastball around the zone is really impressive,” says amateur scouting director Shane Farrell. “When looking at the injury and some things that can be challenging when you come back from something like Tommy John, knowing that the control and command of his fastball was already in place prior to the injury gave us some comfort in making the selection.”
Before he can get back on the mound, Hoglund must first endure months of tedious rehab. His current regimen includes exercises to strengthen his shoulder and scaps and rebuild the range of motion in his surgically repaired elbow. He should resume throwing in the next four months, with full recovery somewhere in the 15-month range from the date of surgery.
Along the way, Hoglund will try to lean on an ability to command the baseball he’s always had. Growing up, rather than chasing velocity, the focus when playing catch with his dad was on hitting the glove rather than simply popping it.
Everything since has really fallen into place.
“The biggest things were just my fastball velocity and then my repertoire as a whole,” he says of his main gains before the injury. I” thought I really developed my changeup this past year and that was a big pitch for me in the spring. I was a three-pitch guy with great command and my fastball velocity was up. Those were the big things that I worked on.”
Things he hopes to soon work on again.
Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
The Blue Jays acquired Canadian catcher Kellin Deglan, a Texas Rangers first-rounder in 2010, in a minor-league deal with the New York Yankees. The native of Langley, B.C., will help backfill for Riley Adams, who was dealt to the Washington Nationals for Brad Hand. … Catcher Gabriel Moreno, now ranked as the club’s top prospect, is likely to end up with the Bisons once he’s ready to return from his thumb injury toward the end of this month. … Kevin Smith continues to have a season of note with a .973 OPS while playing, mainly, shortstop but also third, left and right field. … The Bisons make their return to Buffalo on Aug. 10 against Rochester, a date the club is cleverly calling reopening day. … Multi-talented super-utility man Otto Lopez was promoted to triple-A earlier this week after posting an .854 OPS across 69 games at double-A.
Nate Pearson, RHP
Acquired: 1st round, 2017 draft
Season to date (Majors): 11.57 ERA | 2.1 IP | 5 BB | 0 K
Season to date (Buffalo): 4.74 ERA | 24.2 IP | 11 BB | 36 K
Thomas Hatch, RHP
Acquired: Trade with Cubs in 2019
Season to date (Majors): 7.36 ERA | 3.2 IP | 1 BB | 4 K
Season to date (Buffalo): 3.15 ERA | 34.1 IP | 13 BB | 32 K
Kevin Smith, SS
Acquired: 4th round, 2017 draft
Season to date: 314 PA | 18 HR | .293/.380/.593 | 38 BB | 74 K
Otto Lopez, INF/OF
Acquired: Signed as international free agent in 2016
Season to date (Buffalo): 8 PA | 0 HR | .125/.125/.125 | 0 BB | 1 K
Season to date (New Hampshire): 312 PA | 3 HR | .330/.397/.457 | 28 BB | 62 K
Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Between the injury to Moreno, the promotion of Lopez and the trading of Martin and Woods Richardson, the Fisher Cats roster has been hit hard over the past month. … Flying under the radar for the Fisher Cats is Vinny Capra, the super-utility man with a 1.062 OPS in 44 double-A games. The 20th-round pick in 2018 is back in New Hampshire after a five-game spell with Buffalo, during which he went hitless in 11 plate appearances. … Jon Harris, the 2015 first-rounder, was recently promoted to Buffalo after logging a 2.15 ERA and 0.818 WHIP in 29.1 innings over 21 relief appearances, but is back at New Hampshire to ensure regular innings. … Elvis Luciano, out since July 18 with an injury, is nearing a return to the mound.
Jordan Groshans, SS/3B
Acquired: 1st round, 2018 draft
Season to date: 228 PA | 5 HR | .279/.355/.428 | 24 BB | 47 K
Gabriel Moreno, C
Acquired: Signed as international free agent in 2016
Season to date: 145 PA | 8 HR | .373/.441/.651| 14 BB | 22 K
Advanced-A Vancouver Canadians
Leading up to the trade deadline, other teams seemed to be valuing Moreno and Orlevis Martinez, promoted from low-A Dunedin earlier this week, more than other Blue Jays prospects. Baseball American had Martinez at No. 4 in the Blue Jays system, behind Alek Manoah and Nate Pearson, so that’s a pretty good public indication of where he stands. … Reliever Hagen Danner, who missed nearly a month with an injury, returned to action July 22, and has allowed a run in four games with five strikeouts since coming back. … Righty Eric Pardinho is working his way back from another setback in his recovery from Tommy John surgery and the hope is he’ll be able to get into a game in a few weeks.
Orelvis Martinez, SS/3B
Acquired: Signed as international free agent in 2018
Season to date (Vancouver): 8 PA | 1 HR | .125/.125/.500 | 0 BB | 1 K
Season to date (Dunedin): 326 PA | 19 HR | .279/.369/.572 | 33 BB | 85 K
Adam Kloffenstein, RHP
Acquired: 3rd round, 2018 draft
Season to date: 6.15 ERA | 67.1 IP | 47 BB | 68 K
C.J. Van Eyk, RHP
Acquired: 2nd round, 2020 draft
Season to date: 6.44 ERA | 64.1 IP | 33 BB | 80 K
Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays
On his way up to Vancouver, Martinez earned low-A Southeast League player of the month honours after recording three four-hit games in a span of five outings and went 13-for-24 with seven homers during a five-game stretch against Clearwater July 13-17. … Panamanian infielder Leo Jimenez is showing solid strike-zone control during his first summer of full-season pro ball. He’s walked 22 times with just 24 strikeouts in 170 plate appearances, leading to a .293/.435/.331 slash line. There hasn’t been much power yet, with just five doubles within his 39 hits. … Dutch teenager Sem Robberse continues to earn notice, with his 4.27 ERA and 1.215 WHIP through 13 games in a league in which he’s three years beneath the average age. … Cuban right-hander Yosver Zulueta, who tore his ACL during his first outing of the season, could see some action in winter leagues if his knee recovers sufficiently. … Righty Nick Frasso, a fourth-round pick last year, underwent Tommy John surgery. He logged five innings over three games this season.
Miguel Hirlado, 2B/3B
Acquired: Signed as international free agent in 2017
Season to date: 327 PA | 5 HR | .252/.349/.399 | 40 BB | 72 K
Zach Britton, C/OF
Acquired: 5th round, 2020 draft
Season to date: 248 PA | 4 HR | .203/.359/.330 | 39 BB | 76 K
