TORONTO — Cheese, a baseball slang term for fastball, is a great nickname for a pitcher and it’s so ubiquitous for Toronto Blue Jays prospect Chad Dallas, that he can go for days, sometimes weeks without hearing his proper name.
“Somebody called me Chad not too long ago and it sounds weird just because I haven’t even heard my parents say Chad in years,” says the double-A New Hampshire right-hander. “I’ve had that nickname since I was seven or eight and it’s caught on so much, I hear Cheese most of the time.”
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Apt as it may seem for a pitcher with a 2.20 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 49 innings across nine starts for high-A Vancouver and New Hampshire, the origin story of the moniker has nothing to do with baseball. As a kid he emulated the howls of spray-cheese eating character Bobby Zimuruski, voiced by Pauly Shore, in A Goofy Movie, so often that ‘Cheese’ took hold.
Though he’s been up 96 m.p.h. and has sat 93-94 m.p.h. with his fastball this season, Dallas says “I don’t throw hard enough to have that nickname” for baseball reasons. On the mound, “spin to win is what I say,” he explains. “The fastball can almost be used as an off-speed if I’m spinning it really well.”
The way he’s used his slider and curveball, plus the occasional work-in-progress changeup, has made him one of the better stories in the Blue Jays’ farm system this season. A fourth-round pick in 2021 out of the University of Tennessee, he had an up-and-down pro debut at Vancouver last year, logging 88 innings over 21 starts with 86 strikeouts, but also walking 51 while allowing 85 hits.
Looking back, Dallas concedes that he “maybe worried about stuff I couldn’t control,” getting caught up in watching teammates like Ricky Tiedemann, Yosver Zulueta, and Sem Robberse earn promotions while he remained with the Canadians.
He arrived at spring training with a different mindset, determined not to let that happen again.
“Seeing your buddies, your teammates moving on, going up, getting promotions throughout the season, I struggled a bit worrying about how to move up instead of just how to pitch better and letting the promotions happen when they’re supposed to,” says Dallas. “Controlling the stuff you can control, like filling up the zone, working on the things you need to work on instead of only focusing on how to crawl up the ladder, let it happen on its own.”
To that end, the Blue Jays set one of his development goals as throwing more strikes and he’s done that, cutting his walks-per nine from 5.2 a year ago to 3.9 so far. In part, he feels he was “giving the hitters too much credit” last year, which can “shy you away from filling up the zone.”
Now, he’s focused on “going with your strengths and not to their weaknesses.” With his velocity ticking up a notch, he made five starts with Vancouver before earning a promotion to New Hampshire, where he’s continued to roll.
“The main thing we’ve talked about since I’ve been up here is playing the same game I have all season because it’s just a different stadium,” added Dallas. “That’s the plan.”
Elsewhere in the Blue Jays system:
Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Infielder Addison Barger, who has a ligament injury in his elbow, began a rehab assignment at the Florida Complex League on Thursday and played three innings at shortstop on Saturday and six more on Monday. The injury has been more problematic for the 23-year-old swinging rather than throwing, but he was back taking his trademark massive hacks before taking the field. It’s possible he’ll need the injury addressed during off-season, but barring setbacks is on track back to the Bisons. … Righty Matt Peacock was activated from the injured list last week and picked up a 10th-inning save in a 5-4 win over Toledo. Claimed off waivers from Kansas City with an eye toward making him a depth bulk-arm option, he’s pitched in shorter stints this season and he’s been up to 96 m.p.h. … Yosver Zulueta, who’s been in the bullpen since mid-May, has only walked two batters in his last six innings over five outings after walking 23 in his first 24.2 frames. … Infielder Otto Lopez, leapfrogged by Ernie Clement during Santiago Espinal’s recent IL stint, is batting .318/.394/.349 with four stolen bases in five attempts in his last 16 games. … Hard-throwing reliever Hagen Danner, promoted from New Hampshire 2½ weeks ago, posted consecutive shutout outings after getting touched up for five runs in his first three appearances.
Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Lefty Ricky Tiedemann, out since May 4 with biceps inflammation, is still long-tossing and is inching toward getting back up on the mound. The Blue Jays are being overly cautious with his progression given his importance to the club, but he’s said to be strong and throwing without issue. … Infielder Orelvis Martinez, the club’s top position-player prospect, has been on a month-long tear since opening the season .089/.169/.266 through the first 22 games, hitting 12 homers while batting .320/.429/.750 in 119 plate appearances over 28 games. Perhaps most importantly, he’s walked 17 times against 22 strikeouts during that span, seeing some payoff from an early-season focus on pitch selection at the plate. That’s been an area of focus for him since the end of a disappointing 2022 and if the 21-year-old can maintain his more disciplined approach, his star will quickly rise. … Corner infielder Damiano Palmegiani, who played for Canada at the recent World Baseball Classic, is off to a solid start at .279/.387/.475. The bulk of his reps in the field have come at third base. … Reliever Connor Cooke, promoted from Vancouver at the same time as Chad Dallas, has struck out 19 batters in 10.1 innings over eight games, allowing five runs.
High-A Vancouver Canadians
Devereaux Harrison struck out eight over six hitless innings and reliever Matt Svanson closed out a seven-inning no-hitter Saturday in a 2-0 win over Everett in the second game of a doubleheader. A ninth-round pick last year, the 22-year-old has struck out 18 and allowed only three runs on seven walks and nine hits in 20 innings over four starts since joining the rotation. … Outfielder Garrett Spain, a 15th-round pick in 2021, had a 14-game hit streak stopped Saturday but batted .444/.455/.907 during the run. That pushed his season numbers up to .337/.371/.643 in 29 games. … A rival evaluator raved about the defence of shortstop Josh Kasevich, saying “the little things he does are really special.” The 22-year-old’s glove has been described as essentially major-league ready but his bat is still developing. Through 43 games, he’s hitting .299/.378/.320, three doubles his only extra-base hits.
Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Brandon Barriera, the 23rd-overall pick last year, is working his way back from some forearm tightness and barring setbacks, is expected to resume throwing bullpens at the end of this week. He threw only 43 pitches before leaving a May 25 outing against Fort Myers. … Lefty Kendry Rojas continues to pitch well, with 45 strikeouts, 12 walks and a 2.97 ERA in 39.1 innings over nine outings. The 20-year-old threw a season-high 87 pitches in five shutout innings May 26, when he walked none and struck out eight against Fort Myers. … Outfielder Jaden Rudd, who impressed with Great Britain at the World Baseball Classic, has an eye-popping .396 on-base percentage, to go with a .237 average and .358 slug, thanks to his 31 walks in 188 plate appearances. All of the 20-year-old’s numbers have jumped from his FCL debut a year ago.
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