How a Blue Jays prospect is throwing more strikes: cleaner mechanics and clearer vision

ARLINGTON, Texas Gage Stanifer had undergone vision tests before, but nothing like this.

He wasnt reading out progressively smaller lines of letters or following a moving finger.

Instead, the Blue Jays pitching prospect sat in a chair during his 2025 spring training physical, asked to put on a pair of goggles and relay the order of three shining lights.

Advertisement He shouldve seen green, red and blue flashes, but couldnt pick up a single one.

As Stanifer wrapped up the annual vision test, he was asked to stay behind.

Thats when the command-challenged prospect was told he had astigmatism, an imperfect curvature in one of his eyes.

The fix was simple he needed glasses.

Things were definitely more clear, said Stanifer, who is already throwing more strikes this season.

I guess there was no hesitation in the vision so its just a little bit easier for me to focus my eyes on the target.

Last year, Stanifer threw 56 percent strikes with the Dunedin Blue Jays, walking 50 batters in 59 2/3 innings.

Looking back, Stanifer felt his eyes werent quite firing at the same time.

He struggled to pick up the movement on pitches or focus on the catchers glove.

But this spring, in his first bullpen session wearing glasses, Stanifer hit the zone on 80 percent of throws.

The right-hander had a headache after the session, but the catchers mitt was now a crisp target.

If it sounds like the type of storyline straight out of a 1980s baseball movie, thats because it is.

Stanifers eyesight revelation is basically the tale of Charlie Sheens character in Major League Ricky Wild Thing Vaughn got glasses and proceeded to dominate.

The difference in Stanifers story is all the work that came before the vision fix.

Blue Jays pitching coaches and coordinators were already quietly excited for the right-handers 2025 campaign, optimistic he could become the type of high-upside pitching development story the organization needs.

After posting a 6.33 ERA in his first two seasons in Torontos low minors, Stanifer entered this year with raised velocity, improved secondary pitches and cleaner mechanics.

The contact lenses Stanifer eventually switched off glasses for comfort were an unexpected bonus.

The result has been one of the fastest rises in the Blue Jays farm system, with Stanifer posting a 1.64 ERA, filling the zone and earning an early promotion.

Advertisement Greg Vogt, director of the Indiana-based baseball development company PRP Baseball, has worked with Stanifer since he was a big-bodied high schooler with fleeting command.

Back then, Stanifer was a borderline draft pick, striking out 183 batters in 90 innings across his final two years at Westfield (Ind.) High School.

The 60 walks and sporadic stuff held him back.

Since Toronto took a chance on Stanifer in the 2022 drafts 19th round, he has spent three years trying to up his stuff and keep it in the zone.

Bouncing in and out of the Blue Jays pitching lab, Stanifer used weighted balls, water bags and held a football under the glove arm to tighten his action to the plate.

Hes thrown from varying distances to hone command, focused in the weight room and used mound sensors called force plates to find efficiency in his push to home plate.

With a long stride and a short arm action a combination Vogt compared to Spencer Striders syncing up Stanifers top and bottom halves was a challenge.

In the final days of the 2024 season, the 21-year-olds new mechanics began to affix as muscle memory.

The comfort and confidence only built in the offseason.

Hes not a fun guy to play catch with, Vogt said.

People wonder why the fastball is pretty invisible, its like that in catch.

It hurts your hand and its one of those fastballs that when hes yanking it and spraying, its really not fun.

Until he got to the point where his catch play was just locked in.

Vogt and Stanifer saw the results all winter an uptick in velocity, better command and sharper action on his slider and splitter.

Two MLB pitchers Stanifer worked out with at PRP, Tim Herrin and Jared Hoeing, joked the young rightys stuff looked ready for a big league bullpen.

It was like holy cow, Vogt said.

This guy was sitting 95 for strikes with a slider that just goes down the drain in the last five feet.

Guys cant hit it and we were starting to dial those in.

Advertisement Vogt tried to downplay Stanifers strides, not wanting the young pitcher to get too far ahead of himself entering the season.

Dont try to show them youre big-league ready this minute, he told Stanifer.

The message was to stick to routine and throw strikes.

Then Vogt got a text from a Blue Jays minor-league coach before spring training: We fixed Gage.

The second text quickly came through: Im just kidding.

We just gave him glasses.

It was another reason for optimism.

Its funny when you look at all the work that hes done, Vogt said.

And sometimes you just need to be able to see a little better, too.

In his first outing for the Blue Jays Single A affiliate this year, Stanifer pitched four one-hit innings, walking two batters with 62 percent of his pitches finding the zone.

Thats a 62 percent strike rate hes maintained all year, a six percentage point jump from his 2024 form.

Stanifers first-pitch strike rate has gone from 38 percent to 53 percent this season, allowing him to expand the zone later with his slider and splitter.

Stanifer is currently throwing in a piggyback role following Torontos top pitching prospect, Trey Yesavage.

The pair play catch together, prepare for starts together, and then split outings down the middle.

For the Dunedin Blue Jays in Florida, Stanifer prepared for his back-half outings with a classic starters routine warming slowly with a set entry point into games.

Hes still logging heavy innings with the Vancouver Canadians, but ramping up more like a traditional reliever.

Stanifer was amped up in his first inning after promotion, the righty said, walking three of his first four batters in High A.

Since, hes struck out 13 batters to just three walks and his first-pitch strike rate for the Canadians remains over 50 percent.

Advertisement I definitely think them seeing me in multiple roles is going to help out, Stanifer said.

Just to know Im able to do both, and kind of put that final decision in their hands.

Stanifer doesnt care what role hes in.

The rightys current dilemma is contacts or glasses.

He wore sport goggles for one inter-squad game before the 2025 season and all his teammates begged him to bust them back out in a real contest.

The spectacled looks of Tom Henke and Eric Gagne have their perks, but Stanifer said the contacts are easier and more comfortable.

Either way, the vision is what matters.

For Major Leagues Ricky Vaughn, glasses were a switch that flipped him from wild to precise.

For Stanifer, the prescription was another step in a climb hes been on for years.

I think just knowing that side of things is taken care of, Stanifer said.

Then the confidence level of how everythings kind of working right now on the physical side, too, its definitely huge.

(Photo of Gage Stanifer: Courtesy Dunedin Blue Jays).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.