Article: Toronto Blue Jays 2025 Reliever of the Year

[Jesse Burrill]

The 2024 Blue Jays were in shambles. Injuries and underperformance hindered the team, ultimately leading to just 74 wins and a fifth-place finish in the AL East. The main culprit was a bullpen that, as a group, pitched to a 4.82 ERA and a -2.1 fWAR, the latter being the worst in franchise history.

Flash forward to 2025, and the Blue Jays find themselves atop the American League, enjoying a postseason bye after a 20-win turnaround from the year prior. One of the main reasons the Blue Jays were able to celebrate a division title this season is because of how much better the bullpen has been. Here’s a list of some of the top contributors, including the arm we've crowned as the Blue Jays' Reliever of the Year.

Honorable Mentions
Seranthony Domínguez: 3.00 ERA, 21.0 IP, 24 appearances, 12 BB, 25 K, 0.2 fWAR
On performance alone, Domínguez should probably appear higher on this list, but seeing how he pitched less than half the season with the Blue Jays, he ends up here. Domínguez started his Blue Jays career with a bang, striking out two Orioles batters after being teammates with them earlier in the day. Following some struggles early in August, Domínguez locked in, and from August 10 through the end of the season, he allowed just two earned runs in 19 appearances, while recording more strikeouts (19) than baserunners allowed (17). Domínguez has firmly set himself up to be in the back-end of the bullpen for the postseason, and the Blue Jays are going to rely on him heavily.

Yariel Rodríguez: 2.88 ERA, 72.0 IP, 65 appearances, 32 BB, 65 K, 0.2 fWAR
Rodríguez pitched so well out of the bullpen this season that it's hard to remember that the Blue Jays stretched him out to be a starter this spring. His emergence was key for the Blue Jays, particularly early in the season, highlighted by a fantastic month of May in which he threw 17.0 innings, allowing just one earned run, walking three, and striking out 18. The only thing keeping him from a higher place on this list was his consistency, for as good as he was, he had his share of blow-ups. Here are his ERAs by month:

• Mar/Apr - 5.68
• May - 0.53
• June - 2.45
• July - 2.13
• August - 7.71
• Sept/Oct - 2.47

One note in Rodríguez's favour is that he led the Blue Jays in “Situational Wins” (Win Probability Added/Leverage Index) and ranked eighth among all relievers.

In a Blue Jays bullpen that had its fair share of question marks, Rodríguez was a bright spot, and he looked so good that it seems like the days of him stretching out to be a starter are over.

Eric Lauer: 1.76 ERA, 30.2 IP, 13 appearances, 8 BB, 28 Ks, 0.6 fWAR (numbers as a reliever only)
This one might be cheating a bit, as Lauer made 15 starts and spent a large chunk of the season in the rotation, but what he did out of the bullpen can't be ignored. After allowing two runs in his first appearance of the season, he made five appearances out of the bullpen in which he did not allow an earned run, including appearances of 4.2, 3.1, 4.0, and 2.1 IP before he formally joined the rotation in June.

The Blue Jays moved Lauer back into the bullpen in September, and his success continued. He threw 12 innings, allowing just four earned runs. It's also worth noting that the Blue Jays went 22-6 in games Lauer appeared in this year, with 10 of those wins coming in games he pitched as a reliever. Lauer’s journey from pitching in Korea to joining the Blue Jays on a minor league deal to playing a key role for the division champions has truly been remarkable.

Tommy Nance: 1.99 ERA, 31.2 IP, 30 appearances, 7 BB, 32 K, 0.8 fWAR
Speaking of small deals that turned into big successes for the Blue Jays, Nance burst on the scene with a productive 2025 season after being acquired in a minor trade with the Padres the year prior. His 0.8 fWAR in relief was the third-highest on the team, despite his only throwing the seventh-most innings out of the bullpen this year. His 1.87 FIP was also the best out of the bullpen, and astonishingly, he did not allow a single home run all season. The only thing keeping him this far down on this list is that he didn't end up joining the team until mid-July. His spot on the playoff roster may be in question, but he certainly has pitched well enough to deserve to be on the roster and to be a key contributor going forward.

3. Jeff Hoffman 4.37 ERA, 68 IP, 71 appearances, 27 BB, 84 K, -0.4 fWAR
Hoffman was one of the biggest offseason additions the Blue Jays made, and his first season in Toronto had some mixed results. It started out fantastically for Hoffman, whose first 14 appearances saw him pitch to a 1.10 ERA, with seven saves and three multi-inning high-leverage relief appearances in there as well. Then, after a West Coast trip to Anaheim in which he allowed three earned runs in back-to-back appearances, a cycle of some inconsistencies began for the All-Star closer. Here are his ERAs by month:

• Mar/Apr - 1.17
• May - 13.50
• June - 1.80
• July - 4.50
• August - 6.00
• Sept/Oct - 0.84

The home run ball was an issue for Hoffman, as the 15 he gave up were the most among relievers in the American League, and having a closer with a home run problem can be incredibly stressful at times. But overall, Hoffman did his job; he was meant to get saves and close out games, and he did that 33 times this season, fourth most in baseball. On just pure performance, some of these other relievers pass him on this list, but when Hoffman was on, he was dominant, and pairing that with his saves total is enough to put him third on this list.

2. Braydon Fisher: 1.85 ERA, 48.2 IP, 51 appearances, 18 BB, 61 K, 1.0 fWAR
It was hard to decide how the top of this list was going to shake out, but Fisher gets the nod here at number two. His season was nothing short of phenomenal. The rookie right-hander looked locked in right from the start. In 21 of his first 22 appearances, he held opponents scoreless, and did all of that with 33 strikeouts to just five walks.

Fisher's signature highlight came in the last week of the season, when he was pitching in Tampa against the Rays, and in both the 10th and 11th innings, he was able to prevent any runs from scoring, and he recorded three straight strikeouts to end the game.

Fisher was second on the team in Win Probability Added out of the bullpen, and his 22.3% K-BB% led all Blue Jays relievers. There’s no question he had a very impressive season, but he didn’t make his debut until the middle of May, and that's what ultimately held him back from the top spot.

1) Brendon Little:  3.03 ERA, 68.1 IP, 79 appearances, 45 BB, 91 K, 1.3 fWAR
Taking the whole season into account, there was no reliever the Blue Jays relied on more than Little. His 79 appearances were not only the most on the team, but also the most in the American League. His first half of the season was particularly terrific, as he struck out 34.8% of batters, all while inducing a team-high 55.9% groundball rate, meaning when hitters took a hack against Little, they usually put the ball on the ground or swung right through it.

The two main reasons Little ends up first on this list are that, aside from Hoffman, Little’s average leverage index (min. 30 IP) was highest on the team, showing that the Blue Jays trusted Little when the stakes were at their highest. He also ended up with a team-high 30 holds, which was top five in MLB.

The walks were too frequent, which often led to a stressful viewing experience for fans and the Blue Jays coaching staff alike. Still, the overall numbers don’t lie, and Little was truly one of the best relievers of the 2025 season. The Blue Jays don't get to the top of the AL East if not for their sophomore left-hander putting together consistently good performances throughout the year.

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[Mike LeSage]

Love that Lauer appears on both the Starter and Reliever of the Year lists. What a gem!

[Leo Morgenstern]

50 minutes ago, Mike LeSage said:

Love that Lauer appears on both the Starter and Reliever of the Year lists. What a gem!

I love it too. I feel like his overall numbers don't do his season justice. But when you look at his performance as a starter and a reliever separately, it's clear how valuable he's been.