Jake Bloss is a man on the move. Is Toronto next for the Blue Jays pitching prospect?

BUFFALO, N.Y.—When the Blue Jays restocked their farm system at the trade deadline, there were only two pitchers among the 13 prospects they brought in. But one of them has a chance to be a difference-maker.
Less than a year after being drafted in the third round out of Georgetown University, Jake Bloss made his major-league debut with the Houston Astros, throwing 3 2/3 innings against the high-powered Baltimore Orioles on June 21, giving up two runs.
Two months later, after coming over to the Jays with Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner in a trade for Yusei Kikuchi, he’s a Buffalo Bison with a three-start cup of big-league coffee on his resume after starting this season in A-ball with the Asheville Tourists.
“I didn’t realize how quickly it could happen,” said the 23-year-old as we spoke in the Bisons’ dugout in Buffalo before their 4-2 win over the Omaha Storm Chasers on Saturday.
“I thought usually trades were for guys who had been around a little while … I kind of just got (there). So you get your footing a little bit and then you’re off across the country, not even, (to) a different country.”
Just another move for the North Carolina native in a year that has been full of them.
“Start in high-A for a month then Double-A for a month and a half,” said Bloss. “Then in Houston for a month and now here, so it hasn’t been more than like a month’s stop in any place.”
Bloss is hoping to get settled in one spot after this whirlwind year, but the Jays might not let him put down roots in Buffalo, either. He didn’t allow a run in any of his first three starts with the Bisons before getting his ears pinned back in Durham on Wednesday, coughing up eight runs on nine hits — including three home runs — while recording just five outs against the Tampa Bay Rays’ top farm club.
The blowup outing raised his overall minor-league ERA for the season by almost a full run, from 1.43 to 2.33.
Still, the right-hander has only allowed 46 hits in 77 1/3 minor-league innings this year, with 72 strikeouts.
Bloss was on the injured list with right shoulder discomfort earlier this season for almost three weeks, including four days in Toronto when his Astros were visiting.
“It was Canada Day, so it was a packed house,” Bloss said of his first trip to Rogers Centre. “They definitely have a good fan base there and the city looks awesome. I mean, it’s definitely a good spot. It’s one of the cooler places to play.”
Bloss made a return trip to Toronto after the trade, coming back to Rogers Centre as opposed to going down to the player development complex in Dunedin. He met with general manager Ross Atkins and some members of the training staff who weren’t on the road with the team and also got a chance to say hello to the rehabbing Alek Manoah, with whom he hopes to be in the big-league rotation next year.
The Astros did the Jays a favour by calling Bloss up in June, demystifying the big-league experience for the youngster.
“The big thing I noticed (is that major-league hitters are) a little more patient,” Bloss said of his three starts with Houston. “Even with two strikes, you’ve got to locate, and they’re just a little better at punishing mistakes. If you leave something over the heart of the dish, you’re more likely to get away with it against a 23-year-old than against a 27-year-old who’s been there for four years. So it’s just limiting mistakes, executing with two strikes and you’ll be fine.”
It’s that confidence that certainly made him attractive to the Jays, but a lot more than that, too.
“The athleticism and the delivery really stood out to us,” Atkins said at the time of the trade. “The big-time fastball that doesn’t have a ton of effort to it. Pitchers that have these shapes of fastball with solid secondary weapons, strong, athletic deliveries … with youth on their side often have the chance to get better and better .”
While the Jays are being careful with his innings — one of the reasons he hasn’t been promoted to the big club yet — Bloss feels as though he’s got enough in him to make a few September starts.
“We’re on the same page,” Bloss said of the Jays’ ideas about what his workload should be. “It should be somewhere between 110-120 innings, because last year between college and pro ball I got maybe 90 (actually 95 1/3). So we want to go more than last year but not go crazy, just continue to progress.”
Wednesday’s rough outing in his home state aside, Bloss has done everything the Jays hoped he would in the month that they’ve had him. There’s no reason to believe he won’t be asked to finish off his first full season as a pro in the majors.