Blue Jays promote Klein, Stephan and Bateman to Triple-A Buffalo
Brett Bateman’s .312 average and .851 OPS make him the key Buffalo promotion, while Dasan Hill was pushed to High-A Vancouver after Toronto’s deadline shuffle.
The Blue Jays pushed right-handers John Klein and Stephan and center fielder Brett Bateman to Triple-A Buffalo, the affiliate that sits one step from Toronto and usually marks the final stop before the majors. The move landed in the middle of the club’s deadline reshuffle, after Toronto completed six trades in a hectic 24 hours before the Aug. 3, 6 p.m. ET deadline and then sent other prospects, including Dasan Hill, to High-A Vancouver.
For Toronto’s next wave of help, Bateman is the name that stands out. His MiLB page shows a .312 batting average, .851 OPS, three homers, 33 RBI and 20 stolen bases in 285 at-bats, production that gives Buffalo a true table-setter with speed and enough bat-to-ball skill to matter if the Blue Jays need a center field option later in the year. Sportsnet had already identified Bateman and Ty Southisene as part of the return in the Kevin Gausman trade, which makes his climb to Buffalo one of the few deadline-related moves with a direct line to Toronto.
Klein’s promotion matters too, but mostly as a pitching depth play. MLB.com lists him as a right-hander born April 22, 2002, in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, and Baseball-Reference lists him at 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds. That profile gives Buffalo another upper-level arm, while Stephan joined him in the same jump without the same immediate offensive footprint Bateman brings.
The clearest sign of how Toronto sorted its system after the deadline is Hill’s move in the other direction, to Vancouver. MLB.com lists Hill among the Blue Jays’ top prospects after the deadline, and Baseball America noted that the 2024 Twins second-round pick made his pro debut in 2025 and posted a 3.19 ERA with 62 innings, a 31.1 percent strikeout rate and a 15 percent walk rate. That is still a prospect on the rise, but it is a level removed from the Buffalo group and a reminder that not every post-deadline move points to a quick Toronto callup.
Buffalo, New York, home of the Bisons, is still the place where Toronto’s closest big-league options should surface first. Bateman now looks like the most realistic next name to watch if the Blue Jays need a bat, while Klein and Stephan deepen the pitching mix behind him.
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