Toronto Blue Jays Pitchers of the Month - March/April 2026

The Toronto Blue Jays' pitching staff has been a tale of two extremes. There have been some outstanding performances by the guys in this article, but then there have been absolute snoozefests like Brendon Little and his 24.55 ERA. All the injuries the staff has endured haven't helped matters. 

Trey Yesavage, José Berríos, Shane Bieber, Yimi García, and Bowden Francis all started the season on the injury list. However, Yesavage made his first start of the season on April 28, and Berríos is making rehab starts with a return to the Blue Jays in sight. Unfortunately, more pitchers have joined the injury list. Cody Ponce suffered an ACL injury in his first start this season, and, more recently, Max Scherzer was added to the injury list with forearm tendinitis and ankle inflammation. 

Eric Lauer has been filling in as a member of the starting rotation, but he's struggled with a 6.00 ERA, a 1.52 WHIP, and a 20:13 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 27 innings. The Blue Jays were so desperate for arms that they signed Patrick Corbin in free agency, a name no Blue Jays fan thought they'd see on the team. His first start was rough, allowing four earned runs to the Minnesota Twins, but he has settled down since then, allowing only four earned runs over three starts.

However, that's enough doom and gloom. These were the bright spots on the Blue Jays' pitching staff in March and April. 

Honourable Mentions

Braydon Fisher - 17 IP, 1.59 ERA, 16 K, 6 BB, 4 holds, 3.25 FIP
In his second MLB season, Braydon Fisher has been thrust into high-leverage situations at times, converting four holds in 13 relief appearances. His latest high-leverage situation was on April 29 against the Boston Red Sox. He replaced Lauer in the fifth inning of a 5-1 game with the bases loaded and one out. The first batter up was Willson Contreras, who already had homered in the game, but Fisher got Contreras to line into a double play.

His four holds are one short of last year's total, when he made 51 relief appearances. The one issue Fisher has had is allowing free passes. He has a 2.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which is fewer than his 3.26 ratio last season. However, Fisher has proven to be able to get out of innings with runners on base.

Kevin Gausman - 40.2 IP, 3.10 ERA, 40 K, 8 BB, 3.35 FIP
Kevin Gausman has been a prototypical ace, delivering dominant performances to start the season. He has thrown six innings or more in four of his seven starts and was able to keep his pitch count under 92 in each of those four games. In three of those, he didn't walk a batter, which supported his low pitch count. 

The ace accumulated 21 strikeouts through his first two starts, but that was against the Athletics and Chicago White Sox. Over his next five starts, he totaled 19 strikeouts, though he faced some tougher competition: the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Arizona Diamondbacks.

March/April Pitchers of the Month

#3 - Tyler Rogers - 15.1 IP, 0.59 ERA, 8 K, 4 BB, 7 holds, 2.87 FIP
The submariner, Tyler Rogers, has been electric since signing with Toronto in free agency, allowing only one earned run this season. His deceptive arm motion usually leads to a high strikeout-to-walk rate, but this season, his 6.8 percent K-BB% is a career low over his eight MLB seasons. Though the sample is small, this is just the second time that rate has been below 12.5 percent. 

Rogers was a candidate to close games once Jeff Hoffman was removed from the role, but Louis Varland has seemingly been cemented into the closer role. This setup allows Rogers to continue thriving, entering the game in the eighth inning and helping to hold the lead.

#2 - Dylan Cease - 31.1 IP, 2.87 ERA, 49 K, 17 BB, 1.82 FIP
Dylan Cease has been worth every penny the Blue Jays gave him in the offseason. He ranks fourth in strikeouts among all MLB starting pitchers, but he's the only one to have thrown 12 strikeouts in a game twice. In fact, there's only been one other pitcher to strike out 12 batters in a game, the Brewers' Kyle Harrison. 

Allowing walks has always been a struggle for Cease, and this season is no different. He's given up two or more free passes in all six of his starts. With the high walk and strikeout totals, the righty builds up a high pitch count, which means he has only pitched six innings once. However, he's thrown more than 165 innings in five straight seasons, so he should continue to provide a Blue Jays team that's bleeding from injuries with a stable top-of-the-rotation arm. 

#1 - Louis Varland - 16 IP, 0.56 ERA, 26 K, 4 BB, 3 holds, 4 saves, 0.62 FIP
The MVP of the bullpen has been Louis Varland. He has been thrust into games in high-leverage, mid-inning situations and has been outstanding. It's not his first time being used in high-leverage situations, as he had 17 holds for the Minnesota Twins over 49 innings before being traded to the Blue Jays at last season's trade deadline.

Though it's come in a small sample, his 43.3 strikeout percentage is a career high over his five MLB seasons. His success has made him the man to take over the ninth inning after Hoffman's struggles got him removed from the closer role. Varland has converted all four of his save chances while allowing only one run and striking out seven in those outings. He has a firm grasp on the role and doesn't look like he'll relinquish his duties anytime soon.