Bryan Jaeger

Louis Varland has been one of the top relievers in MLB, if not the best, especially in the American League. He’s thrown 46 innings prior to the Blue Jays' game on July 3, posting a 0.98 ERA, a 1.46 FIP, and a 36.2 percent strikeout rate. Since taking over the closer role from a struggling Jeff Hoffman, Varland is a perfect 17-for-17 in save opportunities. These outstanding statistics mean he should be the go-to reliever if the American League has a lead in the ninth inning of the All-Star Game on July 14. It's hard to believe he won't be on the roster when the team is announced later today. If Varland can pull off earning a save, that’d put him in rare company. The only Toronto Blue Jay to have a save in an All-Star Game is J.A. Happ. He earned the feat in the 2018 Midsummer Classic, pitching a scoreless 10th inning to secure an 8-6 AL victory. Ironically, it was his only save in a 15-year career, as he was a starting pitcher. Happ came to the Blue Jays at the 2012 trade deadline from the Houston Astros. He then spent parts of the 2013-2014 and 2016-2018 seasons with the team. He was traded to the Seattle Mariners in the offseason before the 2015 season, and the Blue Jays re-signed the lefty the next winter. They traded him again at the 2018 trade deadline, this time to the New York Yankees. During Happ’s two stints with the Blue Jays, he compiled a 59-32 record, a 3.88 ERA, and 655 strikeouts. In 2016, he finished sixth in the Cy Young Award voting after going 20-4 with a 3.18 ERA and 163 strikeouts. The 2018 All-Star Game was Happ’s only All-Star appearance in his career. Since saves became an official statistic in 1969, 43 pitchers have earned a save in an All-Star game. Five players have done it multiple times: Mariano Rivera (4), Dennis Eckersley (3), Emmanuel Clase (2), Bruce Sutter (2), and Mel Harder (2). This would be Varland’s first All-Star appearance, but the AL Reliever of the Month for March/April is poised to make a huge contribution. You can watch this year’s Midsummer Classic at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on July 14 at 8:00 pm ET. View full article

June was a disappointing month for the Toronto Blue Jays. They went 11-15 with a -28 run differential, finishing by losing seven of their last eight games. They now find themselves 11 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East and sit three games back of the third Wild Card spot. After a World Series runner-up finish last season, expectations were high heading into the 2026 campaign. However, they've had too many injuries and poor performances. Before the losing streak, I thought the Blue Jays would be buyers, since they were in the third Wild Card spot, but their standings position now has me thinking they will be sellers instead. They could take a page out of the Cleveland Guardians' 2025 playbook when they traded away players with expiring contracts, including Shane Bieber and Paul Sewald. The team went 34-20 throughout the rest of the season to win the AL Central. Obviously, playing in a weaker division helped Cleveland win games, but the Blue Jays could trade players over 30 in the last year of their contracts, including George Springer, Kevin Gausman, and Shane Bieber. Gausman and Springer each have an eight-team no-trade clause. Daulton Varsho (29) is also on an expiring contract and doesn't have a no-trade clause. All four players will be looking for big contracts in the offseason, so this would be the Blue Jays' way to make room for their promising prospects and save money. Fans will be watching the team closely over the next month. Though June didn't display the best performances from the Blue Jays, there were some bright spots on the pitching staff. I'm going to break down their top three pitchers and a few honorable mentions from the month. Simeon Woods Richardson would have made the list; he pitched 10 scoreless innings with a 1.10 WHIP, despite a 5:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. However, he was DFA'd on June 27 to make room for Adam Macko, though he cleared waivers and reported to Triple-A Buffalo. Top Blue Jays Pitchers of June Honorable Mentions Dylan Cease - June Stats: 21.1 IP, 14 H, 7 ER, 36 K, 14 BB, 2.95 ERA, 1.31 WHIP Dylan Cease has been the best starting pitcher for the Blue Jays all season. In June, he allowed two or fewer earned runs over three of his four starts, but he allowed four or five walks in three of his outings as well. The walks raise his pitch count, so he was not able to go deep into games consistently, pitching six full innings only once in June. Ranking in the 99th percentile for strikeout percentage this season (36.7 percent) doesn't help the pitch count either. The Blue Jays need Cease to keep pitching at an outstanding level, as he's their clear ace amid Gausman's struggles in June. Spencer Miles - June Stats: 14.2 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 16 K, 4 BB, 1.84 ERA, 0.82 WHIP Spencer Miles has taken on the Eric Lauer role as a long reliever, occasionally starting a game or following an opener when needed. He's had a very solid rookie season and has shown he's much more comfortable coming out of the 'pen than starting a game. Role IP ERA Strikeouts Walks FIP Starter 6 9.00 4 3 5.44 Reliever 48 2.06 51 14 2.67 Selecting Miles as a Rule 5 draft pick from the San Francisco Giants in the offseason has proven to be a brilliant move by the Blue Jays' front office. He's 25, but prior to the draft, he'd only thrown 14 2/3 innings of professional ball, none above the Single-A level. Despite the lack of experience, he's been a reliable long reliever in 2026, and depending on how the trade deadline plays out, he could be used more as a starter in the second half of the season. No. 3: Jeff Hoffman June Stats: 12 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 15 K, 4 BB, 0.75 ERA, 0.83 WHIP What a turnaround month June was for Jeff Hoffman. Before the month started, his ERA was an abysmal 6.31, but his 12 stellar outings in June have dropped his ERA to 4.54. He only allowed two runs (one earned) in his June outings. This is a massive accomplishment, given the early parts of the season when fans were nervous whenever they saw Hoffman enter a game. Hopefully, this is the version of Hoffman the Blue Jays get for the rest of the season. No. 2: Tyler Rogers June Stats: 13 IP, 15 H, 1 ER, 4 K, 4 BB, 0.69 ERA, 1.46 WHIP Tyler Rogers has been electric pitching in the late innings to protect leads for Louis Varland. He had seven holds in the month, but did blow a save opportunity on June 24, his third blown save on the season. Despite the blown saves, Rogers has been a reliable late-inning stud this season and over his eight MLB campaigns. This season, Rogers ranks in the 98th percentile or better in average exit velocity (84 mph), barrel percentage (0.8 percent), hard-hit rate (26.3 percent), and groundball rate (64.7 percent). His -61 degree arm angle continues to baffle hitters, and there are no signs of that stopping. No. 1: Louis Varland June Stats: 15 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 22 K, 4 BB, 2.40 ERA, 0.80 WHIP There's no questioning that Varland has been the best pitcher on the Blue Jays' roster throughout the entire season. Ever since taking over the closer role from Hoffman, Varland has been a perfect 17-for-17 in save opportunities. Though he allowed four earned runs in June, none of them came during save situations. In the three games where he allowed an earned run, he entered in the ninth inning of a tie game, resulting in a 1-2 record. His first earned run of the month came on June 9, which broke an 18-game scoreless streak for the Blue Jays closer. Varland is one of the best relievers in all of MLB, if not the best, especially in the American League. He's a lock to make the All-Star Game with his spectacular first-half performance. It'll be his first All-Star Game appearance, which is well earned, as this is his third month in a row as Jays Centre's top Pitcher of the Month. View full article

Yeah, hindsight, it looks good for the Blue Jays, but at the time, there were mixed reactions to trading a top 5 prospect for a player that we didn't know how he'd recover from TJS, Plus, it was unexpected for Bieber to accept his player option.

I have a bad feeling we'll see a situation like last year when the Blue Jays traded Khal Stephen for Shane Bieber, regarding King, if the Blue Jays are aggressive buyers. I'd assume Parker and Nimmala are untouchable.

I like that Beeter is a groundball pitcher, ranking in the 99th percentile (60.7%), and he's holding batters to a .169 batting average. Also, when runners get on base, he has a 80% left-on-base rate. Looking at his arsenal, his 4-seam fastball is where he's getting in trouble, but hitters are batting .102 off of his slider, and have a 34.8% whiff rate. He throws these pitches at rates of 54% and 46%, respectively. Yeah, he's not the prettiest target to acquire, but is under team control through 2031 and has some appealing stuff. Plus, he's been throwing late in games in high-leverage situations. So he'd have a less stressful workload pitching in the middle innings for the Blue Jays.

Yeah, Detmers will likely cost a good bit, but Atkins has shown he likes controllable pitchers. However, Detmers is a good option in the rotation or bullpen. I also like Clayton Beeter of the Washington Nationals and Riley O'Brien of the St. Louis Cardinals for bullpen help, if they become available.

All stats are prior to the June 24 game. With the trade deadline a month away, the Toronto Blue Jays find themselves 8.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East, but have a game lead for the last Wild Card spot. The Blue Jays' unexpectedly slow start isn’t only performance-based; injuries in the first half of the season have also decimated them. The starting rotation has seen José Berríos and Bowden Francis undergo Tommy John surgery, Cody Ponce tear his ACL in his first start, and Max Scherzer has already made two injury list stints this season, but has been abysmal in his six starts. Luckily, Shane Bieber made his season debut on June 23; however, the depth is depleted. That makes starting pitching a must-need to target at the trade deadline. Ross Atkins has already stated in a recent media interview that “he likes the current group, but has interest in more because you can never have enough starters." The good thing about how the standings look now is that it may be a seller's market. Many division leaders already have a sizeable lead, and though the Wild Card looks congested, teams likely won’t want to be buyers chasing a Wild Card spot with so many teams vying. The Blue Jays don’t need a Tarik Skubal-type front-end starter; they need a back-end inning eater that can be productive. They’ve shown in the past a preference for targeting controllable pitchers, which makes the Los Angeles Angels’ Reid Detmers a name to watch. He turns 27 a few weeks before the trade deadline and is under team control through the 2028 season. Another trade-deadline need is a power bat. Anthony Santander needed left shoulder labral surgery late in the offseason, which will keep him out until possibly late September or October. Though he struggled, hitting only six home runs over an injury-plagued 2025 season, the Blue Jays were hoping he’d be healthy and would show a glimpse of his 2024 form. That season, Santander hit 44 home runs with the Baltimore Orioles. Not having Santander isn’t the only issue for the Blue Jays, who rank 22nd in home runs. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is going through a massive power drought with only four long balls through 318 plate appearances. His barrel percentage (6.9 percent) is a career low, and his 42.9 percent hard-hit rate is his lowest since Vladdy’s 2019 rookie season. Kazuma Okamoto is the only Blue Jay to have more than nine homers. His 17 is nine more than the second-best total from George Springer. There are five players with seven home runs, but everyone else has fewer than five. Addressing the power deficiency would greatly help a team that also ranks 22nd in runs per game (4.14). ESPN insider Jeff Passan has linked Toronto to a few different sluggers, who would add an instant boost. He has predicted a connection to CJ Abrams, who is under team control through the 2028 season; Willson Contreras, who is signed through the 2027 season with a club option for 2028; and Christian Walker, who is under contract through the 2027 season. Abrams and Contreras would be the ideal power threats to target because their team control exceeds 2027 when there’s a threat of a lockout, depending on how the Collective Bargaining Agreement is handled during the offseason. One thing is for sure: the Blue Jays need improvements at the trade deadline if they want to make another deep postseason run. View full article

The Toronto Blue Jays are seeing massive success from two of their trade acquisitions at last season's deadline. Louis Varland was acquired from the Minnesota Twins along with Ty France in exchange for Alan Roden and prospect Kendry Rojas. In a smaller-scale trade, the Blue Jays acquired Brandon Valenzuela from the San Diego Padres for Will Wagner. Although it's early in the season, Toronto looks like the clear winner of both deals, given how its acquisitions are performing. Varland has been one of the best relievers, if not the best, in the American League throughout the first 10 weeks of the season. Through 34 2/3 innings (as of June 8), he has an out-of-this-world 0.28 ERA, a 34.1 percent strikeout rate, and a 1.29 FIP. All three statistics would be career-best numbers if this were the end of the season. Due to his success, he has been called upon to replace Jeff Hoffman to close out games, and Varland has been exceptional. He's converted all 11 of his save opportunities. What's even more impressive is that the righty has pitched in 18 straight outings without allowing an earned run. His Baseball Savant profile is entirely red, with him ranking in the 90th percentile or higher across 10 statistics. Varland doesn't become a free agent until the 2031 season, which makes him a valuable long-term asset, and he is quickly making a case as one of the Blue Jays' greatest trade deadline acquisitions in team history. Obviously, some regression will come; he can't be this perfect all season long. Or can he? When Valenzuela was acquired last season, he was thought to be a defensive-minded catcher. In 2023, he had an .828 OPS after 156 High-A plate appearances. That was the last time he had an OPS above .715 at any professional level, and he's never had an ISO above .180 until this year. This season, he's slashing .252/.338/.471 with seven home runs, 17 runs, 16 runs driven in, a .809 OPS, and a .218 ISO. When Alejandro Kirk went on the injured list in early April, Valenzuela was called up to back up Tyler Heineman. However, Heineman's struggles at the plate led the Blue Jays to split the backstop role between Heineman and Valenzuela. Lately, though, Valenzuela has gotten the majority of starts each week due to his offensive success. With Kirk starting a rehab assignment, the Blue Jays will have to make a difficult choice about who to send down if all goes well. Do you keep Valenzuela, a rookie who is performing better offensively, or Heineman, a veteran who is just as strong defensively? Both catchers rank in the top four among MLB catchers in Fielding Run Value. Valenzuela ranks third with a +7 value, and Heineman ranks fourth with a +6 value. The tough decision about who to keep on the 26-man roster stems from Heineman no longer having any options available. So, he would have to be designated for assignment, and with his strong defensive skills, he's nearly guaranteed to be selected off waivers. It might be smart to keep Heineman on the 26-man roster, while Valenzuela gets regular at-bats in Triple-A rather than making a start or two each week in the big leagues. Keeping Heineman also strengthens the team's catching depth in case of an injury towards the end of the season. Kirk isn't expected to need many at-bats during his rehab stint, so a return could come this weekend in a series against the division rival New York Yankees. I would expect Heineman to stay and back up Kirk, but luckily, I'm not the one who makes these tough decisions. Stats updated prior to games on June 9. View full article

Braydon Fisher has been one of the better relievers for the Blue Jays over the last two seasons. Last year, he posted a 2.70 ERA and had a 30.7 percent strikeout rate over 50 1/3 innings. He was a reliable option late in games for manager John Schneider, with a 21.3 percent strikeout-to-walk rate and held batters to a .178 batting average. This season, Fisher has been just as outstanding, posting a 2.62 ERA and holding hitters to a .174 average. His strikeout rate is slightly down, but it's still an impressive 27.1 percent. A possible reason for the decline is that he isn't getting as much horizontal break on his pitches. The righty has even changed how he throws his cutter, causing it to break arm-side rather than glove-side Horizontal Break (in inches) Pitch 2025 2026 Curveball 5.0 gloveside 2.9 gloveside Cutter 2.0 gloveside 0.8 armside Slider 2.2 gloveside 1.0 gloveside 4-Seam Fastball 4.9 armside 4.6 armside Chart Data is from Baseball Savant I'm not sure what's causing the decline in movement other than a possible change in grip or release point, but Fisher is still finding ways to get outs. He's been more successful getting groundballs this season (47.5 percent) compared to 36.4 percent last season. This vast difference is a drastic improvement, but it's because he's getting batters to hit the top of the ball at a 37.5 percent rate, which is above the MLB average (32.3 percent). There is cause for concern, though, with Fisher already pitching in 32 games (one behind Mason Fluharty) and on pace for 82 games. Being overworked is a massive concern for young pitchers, but the Blue Jays want to utilize their best relief arms. We saw the issue of being overworked last season with Brendon Little. He was the only reliable southpaw in the bullpen for most of the season after Eric Lauer moved to the starting rotation and prospects Fluharty and Justin Bruihl struggled. Last season, Little threw in 79 games, 30 more than in 2024, and pitched in 68 1/3 innings. His ERA rose from 2.03 in the first half of the season to 4.88 in the second half, and the strikeout rate dropped from 44.8 percent to 24.1 percent over 20 fewer innings. The decline could be due to decreased velocity from overuse or insufficient offseason preparation for the increased workload. When you pitch in that many games, it means you are getting up in the bullpen to warm up and then pitching in the game. This usage puts significant strain on a pitcher's arm, and there are a few instances of pitching back-to-back games. Fisher and Fluharty are both at risk of repeating Little's last season's collapse. The risk stems from the bullpen being heavily relied on right now, with the starting rotation bitten by the injury bug. José Berríos, Shane Bieber, Dylan Cease, Bowden Francis, Cody Ponce, and Max Scherzer are all on the injury list. However, Cease and Scherzer have completed a rehab start and may be returning to Toronto soon. Bieber will make a rehab start with Triple-A Buffalo on June 6, but he's been out all season and will need a few more starts before returning to the big leagues. Ponce, Francis, and Berríos are out for the season. Yimi Garcia has also begun a rehab stint in Single-A Dunedin and is eyeing a return to Toronto later this month. One thing is certain: the Blue Jays need to find a way, quick, to relieve the workload on their young relievers. That may be making a move before the trade deadline. View full article

Mason Fluharty is having a roller coaster season so far. In March and April, he had a 7.36 ERA, a 1.73 WHIP, and a 16:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio while allowing batters to hit .286 over 11 innings. Since then, the lefty has been one of the best pitchers in the majors. Fluharty is sporting an astounding 0.69 ERA and 15:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 13 innings in May and the first few days of June. With his dominance lately, the Blue Jays have started taking an interesting approach with the lefty. That approach lets him see only three or four batters, then the team takes him out of the game regardless of whether he has finished a full inning. Of his 17 appearances since May 1, Fluharty has faced three or fewer batters in 11 of them, and in eight of those 11 appearances, he didn't complete a full inning. In 2020, MLB implemented a rule requiring relievers to face at least three batters or complete an inning before they could be replaced. So, Fluharty facing the bare minimum and then being replaced without completing an inning is the equivalent of being a LOOGY during the years before the rule change. LOOGY means "left-handed one-out guy," and it refers to the time in baseball when teams had lefty specialists who would come into the game to face a left-handed batter and then be replaced after the at-bat. Currently, Fluharty is on pace to throw 62 innings, but that would be over 85 games. He pitched 63.2 innings last year between Triple-A Buffalo and the majors and 67 innings for Buffalo the year before. Yet, that was over 66 games in 2025 and only 56 games in 2024. Even though the lefty is on pace to throw fewer innings than in either of those seasons, pitching him in 85 games, more than half of the season, would be risking an injury. Fluharty ranks first in MLB in games pitched (33), while teammate Brayden Fisher is tied for second (32). Pitching in that many games means they're warming up in the bullpen and entering the game, which puts a lot of strain on a pitcher's arm, even if it's only for three batters. It also means there will be a few times when Fluharty will be used on back-to-back days. This workload isn't sustainable over an entire season. The Blue Jays don't want to put their young reliever in danger of getting hurt, but they also can't afford to leave him sitting in the 'pen if the team wants to compete in the AL East. Fluharty ranks in the 92nd percentile or higher in expected ERA (2.16), expected batting average (.173), average exit velocity (85.7 mph), strikeout rate (29.8 percent), and hard-hit rate (32.3 percent), making him a valuable asset late in games. Another contributing factor to the increased workload on the bullpen's best arms is the starting rotation's injuries. José Berríos, Dylan Cease, Shane Bieber, Bowden Francis, Cody Ponce, and Max Scherzer are all on the injury list, which has forced Spencer Miles to move to a starting role. However, he hasn't thrown more than 4 1/3 innings in a game, meaning the bullpen is needed to cover the rest of the innings. Things get worse for manager John Schneider because he then has to follow up with a second bullpen game, since there are no viable starters available. The Blue Jays put a Band-Aid on the situation by trading for the recently DFA'd Simeon Woods Richardson for cash considerations. He has a 7.74 ERA over 47 2/3 innings and an abysmal 26:25 strikeout-to-walk ratio, making him a stopgap until real fixes arrive. The real fixes to the workload dilemma may be on their way. Scherzer and Cease are nearing the end of their rehab assignments with Triple-A Buffalo. Cease made a start on June 4, Scherzer will get a start on June 5, and Bieber, who has been out all season, will get the start on June 6 for the Bisons. Reliever Yimi García made a rehab appearance for Single-A Dunedin on June 3. Reinforcements can't come quickly enough to protect the young stars in the Blue Jays bullpen from being overworked and to keep them pitching well towards the end of the season. View full article