Prospect Landen Maroudis discusses being drafted by the Blue Jays, visiting Toronto, and his first ever baseball card

This included a quick trip to Toronto to visit the Rogers Centre for a weekend alongside first-round pick Arjun Nimmala, “I loved it up there (Toronto), I was blown away. We got to see them play the Diamondbacks and the fanbase was electric. The city itself is amazing and that whole weekend was great, especially getting to talk with some of the players was a great experience.”

Following the draft, the Toronto Blue Jays had Maroudis and the rest of the 2023 draft class down in Dunedin to take part in a training camp and continue getting work down at the player development complex.

After throwing 50+ innings with the Warriors this year, the Jays did not assign Maroudis to affiliate ball and instead had him continue working down at the complex, a move that the team has done with other top pitching draft picks recently including Carter, Ricky Tiedemann, and Brandon Barriera following their respective draft years.

“I was on cloud nine those first couple of weeks and after the hype of the draft wore off, I got into the complex and got straight to work.”

Armed with a fastball that can hit the mid-90s and solid offspeed offerings in a plus changeup and curveball/slurve that keep hitters off balance with his 6 foot 3 frame driving towards home plate. While the aspirations of suiting up as a two-way player are in the past now that he is with the Blue Jays, the Florida product’s athleticism and command on the mound have seen him climb the organization’s top prospect rankings early, ranking at #8 on MLB Pipeline heading into the 2024 season.

With the offseason in full swing, Maroudis is chomping at the bit to get into some game action next season and show the Jays organization what he can do on the mound.

“I was itching to get out there and play last year but had to stay patient and trust the process,” Maroudis said. “I am eager to get out there but to get in that work at the facility was good and I think working alongside others will help ease me into pro ball. I am looking to put on a bit of weight this offseason and add some velocity to my fastball, as well as develop a fourth pitch in a harder slider that is a bit different than my current curveball. I think that will help close the gap between my fastball and current curveball.”