Blue Jays Criminally Underrated Prospect Off to Incredible Start This Season
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The Toronto Blue Jays do not have what anyone considers to be an elite farm system by any means, but each and every year, prospects across baseball emerge to become household names.
In reality, only a small percentage of the most highly-rated youngsters wind up panning out, and while the rankings system is a helpful guide to who to pay attention to, countless others will come out of the woodwork as well.
This seems like it may be the case for Toronto's No. 17 overall prospect, slugging infielder Sean Keys.
After showing some flashes in big league spring training this year, Keys quietly began the season in Double-A New Hampshire despite just one full season of professional baseball under his belt. That decision to put him there is proving to be a great one, as through the first month of the season, Keys has been absolutely dominant.
Keys is Dominating at Double-A for Blue Jays
Through the first month of the season, Keys has played in 24 games so far during his first experience as high as Double-A and has not looked phased one bit. Slashing an absurd .310/.429/.667, the 22-year-old already has nine home runs and 22 RBI to begin the year.
Undoubtedly, he is due for a big jump when the rankings are updated here in the near future, but clearly Keys entered the year under the radar and is performing well above expectations right now.
If he is able to keep this up, it won't be long before he's promoted to Triple-A, and perhaps he even has an outside shot at making his big league debut for Toronto in 2026.
When Keys Could Realistically Make Blue Jays MLB Debut
Going into the year, 2027 seemed like the earliest possible timeline for someone as Young as Keys, but perhaps that has shifted at this point.
It's probably not likely that he is able to come in right now and help Toronto, but the possibility is looking more and more realistic with each passing day. The Blue Jays are unlikely to bump Keys direct from Double-A to the big leagues without a stint in Triple-A, so when that promotion comes will be telling.
If Keys keeps raking and Toronto decides before the summer he's ready to make the trip to Buffalo, then it becomes a whole lot more realistic that he could see a September call up. Should he not show any signs of slowing down, it could even wind up being sooner than that.
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Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.