-- Zach Stewart is set to make his highly-anticipated Major League debut on Thursday afternoon against the Orioles.
Stewart received the call from Double-A New Hampshire after rookie right-hander Kyle Drabek was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas to work on his command.
The 24-year-old Stewart has been one of Toronto's top prospects since coming over in a 2009 non-waiver Trade Deadline deal with the Reds for Scott Rolen.
"His composure," Blue Jays manager John Farrell said when asked what impressed him the most about Stewart. "His ability to throw three pitches for strikes. He's able to get two outs with one pitch because of his good sinking fastball. I think he showed it very well in Spring Training."
In 2010, Stewart went 8-3 with a 3.63 ERA for New Hampshire. This year, Stewart was assigned to the Fisher Cats for the second consecutive season, but things didn't start off as smoothly as they finished.
Stewart went 2-2 with a 5.56 ERA in six starts during May, but he appears to have turned a corner in recent outings.
The native of Texas closed out the month with eight shutout innings and has allowed a total of five earned runs over his past 19 frames.
"[His] arm strength has continued to climb coming out of Spring Training," Farrell said of Stewart's progression. "That's not to say that everything is relying on sheer velocity, but the quality of the execution has been more consistent from start to finish of his outings. Two of the last three have been very strong games."
The club decided to start Stewart at Double-A this season to keep him away from the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League in Triple-A. The PCL is notoriously tough on pitchers because of the high altitude, poor fielding conditions and more advanced hitters.
The Blue Jays made a similar decision with Drabek in 2010, but Farrell said it's not necessarily always going to be the approach Toronto takes. Each situation is handled on a case-by-case basis.
"I can't say there's an actual blueprint on what every position player or pitcher should follow," Farrell said. "The one thing that he hasn't experienced is the older, more veteran journeyman-type of hitter that might be able to sit on pitches more regularly.
"But regardless of a hitter sitting on those pitches, if he goes out, executes and pitches to the bottom of the strike zone, which he can, even when a ball is squared up, that has resulted in the ball being put on the ground."
Stewart is ranked Toronto's No. 4 prospect by MLB.com. He was 4-2 with a 4.37 ERA in 10 starts this season for New Hampshire.
Stewart received the call from Double-A New Hampshire after rookie right-hander Kyle Drabek was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas to work on his command.
The 24-year-old Stewart has been one of Toronto's top prospects since coming over in a 2009 non-waiver Trade Deadline deal with the Reds for Scott Rolen.
"His composure," Blue Jays manager John Farrell said when asked what impressed him the most about Stewart. "His ability to throw three pitches for strikes. He's able to get two outs with one pitch because of his good sinking fastball. I think he showed it very well in Spring Training."
In 2010, Stewart went 8-3 with a 3.63 ERA for New Hampshire. This year, Stewart was assigned to the Fisher Cats for the second consecutive season, but things didn't start off as smoothly as they finished.
Stewart went 2-2 with a 5.56 ERA in six starts during May, but he appears to have turned a corner in recent outings.
The native of Texas closed out the month with eight shutout innings and has allowed a total of five earned runs over his past 19 frames.
"[His] arm strength has continued to climb coming out of Spring Training," Farrell said of Stewart's progression. "That's not to say that everything is relying on sheer velocity, but the quality of the execution has been more consistent from start to finish of his outings. Two of the last three have been very strong games."
The club decided to start Stewart at Double-A this season to keep him away from the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League in Triple-A. The PCL is notoriously tough on pitchers because of the high altitude, poor fielding conditions and more advanced hitters.
The Blue Jays made a similar decision with Drabek in 2010, but Farrell said it's not necessarily always going to be the approach Toronto takes. Each situation is handled on a case-by-case basis.
"I can't say there's an actual blueprint on what every position player or pitcher should follow," Farrell said. "The one thing that he hasn't experienced is the older, more veteran journeyman-type of hitter that might be able to sit on pitches more regularly.
"But regardless of a hitter sitting on those pitches, if he goes out, executes and pitches to the bottom of the strike zone, which he can, even when a ball is squared up, that has resulted in the ball being put on the ground."
Stewart is ranked Toronto's No. 4 prospect by MLB.com. He was 4-2 with a 4.37 ERA in 10 starts this season for New Hampshire.
