Tommy Nance, Once A Quadruple-A Journeyman, Has Become A Reliable Arm In 2025

Tommy Nance has had very little success over his short-lived career; he's had a short stint in MLB every season since 2021, although he missed the entire 2023 season due to having Tommy John surgery. During the seasons he spent in the pros, he never exceeded 45 innings. The righty's MLB career started in 2021 with the Chicago Cubs, where Nance threw 11 1/3 scoreless innings in his first 12 appearances, but he completed the season, giving up 23 earned runs over 17 1/3 innings. Nance was designated for assignment before the 2022 season.

Since then, he has posted ERAs of 4.33 and 4.09 in 2022 with the Miami Marlins and 2024 with the Toronto Blue Jays, respectively. Nance didn't win a spot on the Blue Jays' Opening Day roster this season due to a 5.06 ERA in six spring training appearances, so he was again designated for assignment on March 27th, but cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo. With Buffalo, the 37-year-old posted a 4.88 ERA with a 42:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 31 1/3 innings.

When Ryan Burr suffered a right shoulder rotator cuff strain, placing him on the 60-day injury list, Nance was recalled on July 11th and has unexpectedly been outstanding. Over 13 innings in 12 appearances, Nance has posted a 1.38 ERA, a 13:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio, with batters hitting .130 against him.

In his past two seasons, according to Baseball Savant, Nance has favored his curveball, throwing it at least 37.6 percent of the time amongst his four-pitch arsenal, which includes a sinker, slider, and four-seam fastball. A possible contributor to the righty's success this season is that he has stopped throwing the fastball and is favoring his slider over his curveball and sinker, which was his third-most thrown pitch. He's thrown the slider 42.8 percent of the time, with batters hitting .176 off of it and a 16.2 whiff percentage.

What's surprising is that although Nance's curveball is thrown the least at 27.8 percent, it's been his most effective pitch. Batters are hitting only .056 off of it, and the pitch has a 36.0 whiff percentage. He's been using it as his strikeout pitch with a 29.4 putaway percentage, compared to 17.6 percent from his slider.

The bullpen depth is getting thin, with Yimi García originally on the injury list on July 5th, with a sprained ankle, but is now dealing with ulnar nerve symptoms in his throwing elbow. The Blue Jays hope to get him back by the end of August. Nick Sandlin has been out since July 8th due to right elbow inflammation. He's started playing catch but has no timetable for a return.

After the August 14th win, 40 games are remaining this season. The Blue Jays hold a half-game lead over the Detroit Tigers for the No. 1 seed in the AL, and lead the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees by five and six games in the AL East, respectively. The team needs all hands on deck to finish out the season with hopes for the postseason and the World Series that the team and fans have developed as the season has unfolded. That includes Nance continuing his dominant pitching and being a reliable mid-game reliever.