Blue Jays draft U.S. high school shortstop JoJo Parker 8th overall

The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jul 14, 2025 12:42 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

The Toronto Blue Jays selected shortstop JoJo Parker eighth wide successful the archetypal circular of Major League Baseball's draught connected Sunday.

The six-foot-two Parker, 18, attended Purvis High School successful Mississippi. He became the highest-ever prime retired of Purvis.

He batted .489 with 13 location runs and 35 runs batted successful this past season.

The 200-pound jock besides stole 30 bases to pb the Tornadoes (29-8) to the Class 4A authorities title game.

Parker, besides a right-handed pitcher connected the precocious schoolhouse level, boasted an 8-2 grounds with a 2.77 earned-run mean and 89 strikeouts successful 55.2 innings.

He is presently signed to play assemblage shot with Mississippi State University adjacent season.

In the 3rd round, the Jays selected Jake Cook of Madison, Miss., with the 81st pick.

The 22-year-old left-hander was recruited arsenic a two-way subordinate by Southern Mississippi. He focused connected pitching and reached 96 miles per hr with his fastball, but his inability to propulsion strikes led to him redshirting successful 2023 and moving conscionable 2 innings past year.

Converted to a centre-fielder this spring, helium batted .350 with a 7 per cent strikeout complaint and displayed immoderate of the champion velocity and outfield scope successful assemblage baseball.

He tin get from location to archetypal successful little than 3.8 seconds and turned successful the champion 30-yard dash (3.51 seconds) of each players who participated successful diversion investigating astatine the draught combine.

On Tuesday, Toronto chose right-handed pitcher Micah Bucknam with its fourth-round pick.

The Blue Jays besides selected him successful the 16th circular successful 2021 earlier helium chose assemblage ball. Bucknam was calved successful New Zealand but was raised successful Canada.

Charles Davalan, an outfielder from St-Bruno-de-Montarville, Que., became the archetypal Canadian-born subordinate selected erstwhile the Los Angeles Dodgers took him 41st wide successful the Competitive Balance Round A.

Canadian hurler a astonishment prime astatine 70th

The University of Arkansas standout made a sanction for himself successful the SEC, combining speed, defence, and violative accumulation to go a top-end draught prospect.

Right-handed pitcher Will Hynes of Mississauga, Ont., was selected by the Cleveland Guardians with the 70th wide pick.

Hynes is simply a prep righty who is listed astatine six-foot-two, 180 pounds. He wasn't expected to beryllium drafted this high, but Hynes has been up to 95 mph with his fastball and is precocious astatine spinning the ball.

Hynes, a subordinate of the Junior National Team, is known for his poise and projectability connected the mound. He participated successful the outpouring grooming Dominican Summer League and MLB Draft League camps.

He is committed to attending Wake Forest.

Three further players with Canadian ties were besides selected connected the archetypal time of the draft.

• Tyler Bremner of San Diego, Calif., a Canadian national done his parents, went 2nd wide to the Los Angeles Angels aft a ascendant play astatine UC Santa Barbara.
• Slater de Brun of Summit, Ore., besides a Canadian citizen, was selected 37th wide by the Baltimore Orioles retired of Summit High School.
• Cam Leiter of Bayville, N.J., who spent a decennary surviving successful B.C. and played for the Langley Blaze, was taken 65th wide by the Los Angeles Dodgers aft pitching astatine Florida State University successful 2024.