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Blue Jays Notes: Rotation, Yesavage, Outfield

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The Blue Jays could get Max Scherzer back as soon as next week, writes Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. The future Hall of Famer tossed 74 pitches and punched out eight hitters — including a rehabbing Wilyer Abreu — in a rehab start against the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate this week. The Jays will need to see how Scherzer’s ailing thumb responds, but he’s built up and feels his stuff is where it needs to be. If Saturday’s scheduled bullpen session between starts goes well, Scherzer could return to the Jays next Tuesday.

A healthy Scherzer would be a welcome boon at an opportune time. Toronto recently lost Bowden Francis to the injured list. Kevin Gausman has allowed 17 runs over his past 20 innings. Chris Bassitt has allowed at least three runs in four of his past five starts, pitching to a 5.59 ERA in that span.

Scherzer, 40, lasted only three innings in his Jays debut early this season and pitched only 43 1/3 innings with Texas in 2024. There are genuine concerns about his health, both in terms of his thumb being able to hold up over the course of a full big league start and in terms of how it’ll recover between outings when he’s taking the ball every fifth day. At least with regard to his two rehab starts — 56 pitches and 74 pitches — he’s been holding up well enough during those games themselves. It might be a bit before the Jays let him unleash 100 pitches, but even if his pitch count is closely monitored, Scherzer should stabilize a rotation that’s cycled through a hodgepodge of fifth starter options this year.

The occupant of that fifth and final spot in the rotation, even with Scherzer back in the fold, is up in the air. Lefty Eric Lauer, who signed a minor league deal over the winter, has been excellent pitching in a variety of roles. Matheson notes that Lauer is angling for that fifth spot, quoting the lefty as follows: “I’m a starter and I want to be a starter. The fifth spot is kind of up in the air. I go out there and try to take that fifth spot every time.”

Lauer has indeed made a strong case. He’s pitched in 10 games for Toronto, four of them starts, and picked up 35 1/3 innings with a 2.29 earned run average. He’s fanned 26.1% of his opponents against an 8% walk rate. His ability to sustain that strikeout rate is a bit questionable, given below-average swinging-strike and chase rates of 9.8% and 24.6%, respectively, but this is far and away Lauer’s best work since his 2021-22 peak with the Brewers.

That said, another low-cost pickup has made a similarly strong case. Right-hander Spencer Turnbull, signed to a $2MM deal after the season was underway, has pitched 4 1/3 innings and held opponents to one run. He’s allowed seven hits, walked two and only fanned a pair, but Turnbull can add to his case when he starts tonight’s game against the White Sox.

Mitch Bannon of The Athletic adds that manager John Schneider called the fifth starter’s spot a “healthy competition” between Lauer and Turnbull. For now, both are in the picture. If there are any setbacks with Scherzer, perhaps that’ll remain the case. But if Scherzer returns next week, the Jays will have more healthy rotation arms than spots available — hardly a bad thing. If they get to that enviable spot, the Blue Jays could consider a variety of options. Turnbull could serve as a piggyback option behind either Lauer or Scherzer. They could go with a six-man rotation. They could alternate Turnbull/Lauer in that fifth spot depending on their opponent.

Further down the road, Toronto is hopeful that 2024 first-rounder Trey Yesavage can push to join the starting staff. That’s not likely in 2025, as he was only just promoted to Double-A and has already thrown nearly two-thirds as many innings this year as he did in his junior season at East Carolina University. However, Bannon writes in a separate piece that the hard-throwing Yesavage could emerge as a candidate to join the major league club down the stretch if the Jays are in contention — perhaps in the bullpen.

Schneider tells Bannon that Yesavage “has definitely opened some eyes here” and that “the stuff is real.” Blue Jays scout Coulson Barbiche adds that even when he was watching Yesavage pitch in college, he seemed “darn near ready-made” for the major leagues.

The 6’4″, 225-pound Yesavage has breezed through minor league lineups in his first full pro season, logging a 2.67 ERA with a mammoth 42.5% strikeout rate and an almost comical 21.1% swinging-strike rate. His 11.5% walk rate needs to come down, but Yesavage is already at his third minor league level of the season. The Jays may not have been all that aggressive with his original assignment to Low-A, but they’re promoting him aggressively now; Yesavage spent only four starts in High-A before being bumped to Double-A, where he’s now made two starts.

Good questions on the pitching side of the roster are circulating at the moment, but there’s also some uncertainty with the team’s mix of position players — specifically in the outfield. The Jays have Daulton Varsho and Anthony Santander on the injured list at the moment, but there’s still a surplus of outfield talent on the roster — particularly with Nathan Lukes returning from the concussion list today.

Shi Davidi of Sportsnet looks at what could be a looming logjam. Varsho is one of the game’s premier defenders and will man center field once healthy. Santander and George Springer will share one corner spot and the DH spot. Addison Barger is in the midst of a breakout and has logged plenty of time in right field, but he can play third base regularly once the rest of the group is healthy. Prospects Alan Roden and Jonatan Clase are also in the mix, as are Lukes, Will Robertson, Myles Straw and Davis Schneider.

It’s highly doubtful the Jays would move one of the more established veterans or Barger, given how well he’s hitting, but Davidi wonders whether the Blue Jays might be deep enough in outfielders to deal from that hefty supply as they look to improve for the stretch run.

Poll: Can The Blue Jays Keep This Up?

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Entering the 2025 season, the narrative surrounding the Blue Jays had centered primarily around the future of star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for quite some time. Questions regarding Guerrero’s future arguably overshadowed questions regarding the state of the team as a whole coming off an 88-loss season in 2024 that saw the team finish dead last in the AL East. The Jays finally locked up their homegrown star in early April, but the following month saw the team fail to do much on the field that inspired confidence in their status as potential contenders. On May 7, the Jays had a lackluster 16-20 record and would need to leapfrog six teams in order to get into playoff position. Six weeks later, they’ve done all of that and more. Toronto currently boasts a robust 40-33 record that places them in the second of three AL Wild Card spots and just two games back of the Yankees for the AL East crown.

Going 24-13 over their past 37 games is certainly impressive, but it begs the question: which version of the Blue Jays is the real one? Looking at the season as a whole, Toronto is a somewhat middling club. Their team wRC+ of 106 ranks 12th in the majors, which is solid but hardly spectacular. The same can be said of their bullpen, which ranks 11th in ERA and 9th in FIP this year with identical 3.60 figures in both stats. While both of those numbers are more or less in line with what one would expect from a Wild Card contender, the starting pitching is a different story. The Jays’ rotation has been a disaster this year with a 4.61 ERA (26th in the majors) and 4.72 FIP (27th). That bottom-five rotation in the sport has left the Jays with a negative run differential, as they’ve been outscored by their opponents 319-315 even after this recent stretch of strong play.

A closer look at the team’s performance over the past six weeks offers a hint at what’s changed. While the Toronto offense has been only slightly better than average on the season as a whole, Blue Jays hitters have been among the sport’s very best from May 8 onward. In that time, they’ve slashed .270/.339/.443 as a team with a 121 wRC+, second to only the Dodgers in MLB. In other words, the team’s average slash line during their recent hot streak has roughly mirrored Gunnar Henderson’s overall offensive production this year. Guerrero is a big part of this, as he’s begun to heat up after a slow start to the year with a 152 wRC+ over the past six weeks. Bo Bichette (131 wRC+) and Alejandro Kirk (145 wRC+) have played closer to the star-level expectations they had fostered in previous seasons than 2024’s down years during that same time frame, as well. Not all of that success is entirely sustainable—no one should expect Addison Barger to replicate his 167 wRC+ from the past six weeks long term—but the extreme outlier performances have been balanced by injuries to plays like Daulton Varsho and slumps for players like George Springer (98 wRC+ since May 8).

Some things have remained consistent about the Blue Jays throughout the entire season, however. Even as they’ve found success in recent weeks, the starting pitching has remained brutal. The rotation’s ERA is actually worse over the past six weeks than it has been for the season overall, with a 4.78 ERA that comes in ahead of only the Orioles, Rockies, and Athletics. Decent mid-rotation performances from Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt, and Kevin Gausman haven’t been enough to outweigh the struggles of Bowden Francis and the absence of Max Scherzer. Francis was recently placed on the injured list himself and Scherzer is working his way back to the big league roster on a rehab assignment at present, but even a strong return from Scherzer ahead of his 41st birthday would leave the Jays at least one starter short without much top-of-the-rotation impact.

On the other hand, the Jays have generally managed to make up for their abysmal starting pitching with a defensive unit that has been consistently excellent. No team in baseball has come close to Toronto’s defensive prowess this season according to Fangraphs’ defense metric, which gives the Blue Jays a 20.3 figure that’s good for more than double the second-place Braves (8.3). According to Statcast’s Fielding Run Value, Kirk and Ernie Clement have both been elite defensively, as has the center field tandem of Myles Straw and Varsho. Andres Gimenez has also been excellent at the keystone, and even Guerrero has looked solid at first base. While Bichette’s defense leaves much to be desired at shortstop and Springer shouldn’t play the field at this point in his career, it’s a strong defensive unit that has managed to buoy the Jays through their pitching woes. It wouldn’t be a shock if they managed to continue fielding well enough to overcome their weak pitching, at least until closer to the trade deadline when they’ll presumably look to make some external additions.

Where do MLBTR readers stand on the Blue Jays’ chances of sustaining the success they’ve found in recent weeks? Will they be able to hold onto a Wild Card spot and get back into the postseason, or are they destined to fade down the stretch? Have your say in the poll below:

Blue Jays Designate Erik Swanson For Assignment, Place Bowden Francis On IL

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The Blue Jays announced today that right-hander Paxton Schultz has been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo. Left-hander Justin Bruihl was also selected to the roster. In corresponding moves, the club placed right-hander Bowden Francis on the 15-day injured list due to a right shoulder impingement and designated right-hander Erik Swanson for assignment.

Swanson, 31, was acquired from the Mariners ahead of the 2023 season as part of the trade that sent outfielder Teoscar Hernández to Seattle. Swanson’s first season with the Jays was excellent, as he posted a 2.97 earned run average over 66 2/3 innings. He struck out 28.6% of opponents while only giving out walks at an 8% clip. He became a key cog in the bullpen, earning four saves and 29 holds.

That version of Swanson hasn’t appeared much since then. His 2024 got out to a scary start when his son Toby was hospitalized after being struck by a car during spring training. Fortunately, Toby was released from hospital within two weeks, but Swanson also faced some more traditional baseball challenges at that time. He was dealing with some forearm inflammation and started the season on the 15-day IL. After being reinstated, he struggled enough to get optioned to the minors, having a 9.22 ERA through the end of May.

He did finish 2024 on a high note, as he was recalled at the end of June and posted a 2.81 ERA the rest of the way, but his 2025 has started similarly to last year. He started the season on the IL due to a right median nerve entrapment and has struggled since being reinstated. He has tossed 5 1/3 innings with nine earned runs allowed, surrendering five walks while striking out just three opponents.

That’s obviously a tiny sample size but the Jays presumably don’t have faith in Swanson getting back on track. His fastball velocity is down by a mile per hour relative to last year, 92.9 compared to 93.9 in 2024. His splitter has fallen even farther, from 84.9 mph to 83.3 mph. On his rehab assignment before being activated, he allowed six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Swanson now has over five years of major league service time, meaning he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent, so the Jays can’t give him a break in Triple-A like they did last year. Instead, they’ve bumped him off the 40-man completely. Surpassing five years of service also means he can reject an outright assignment while retaining this year’s salary commitments. He and the Jays avoided arbitration in the offseason by agreeing to a $3MM salary.

DFA limbo can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Jays can take up to five days to explore trade interest. Based on his salary and his recent performance, there’s not likely to be a ton of interest unless they want to eat some of the money to facilitate a deal. If Swanson clears waivers and elects free agency, the Jays will remain on the hook for that money. Any other club would then be able to sign him and pay him just the prorated portion of the league minimum salary, with that amount subtracted from what the Jays are paying.

The loss of Francis to the IL is a notable development for the Jays, even though there’s little information about his expected injury absence, as it opens a hole in their rotation. Francis hasn’t been good this year, with a 6.05 ERA in 14 starts, but he has continued to get starts largely due to a lack of better options.

The Jays have a solid veteran trio in Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt but those three have been joined by a struggling Francis and a patchwork of swingmen. Guys like Eric Lauer, Easton Lucas, Jose Urena, Spencer Turnbull and Schultz have been making spot starts or multi-inning relief appearances.

That’s due to Max Scherzer landing on the injured list after just one start due to right thumb inflammation. He tossed 4 1/3 innings on a rehab start on Friday and could perhaps rejoin the big league club after one more.

Starting tonight, the Jays play six straight and have one off-day before a 16-game stretch, making for 22 games in 23 days. Heading into that with only three true starters is obviously less than ideal. Perhaps Scherzer and/or Francis could return to the roster before that’s all done, but the Jays will be cobbling things together for now. Lauer and Turnbull are still on the roster and Schultz has now joined them, giving them three potential bulk guys. Lucas and Adam Macko are on the 40-man roster and on optional assignment, so they may end up getting recalled in the coming weeks as well. Urena recently elected free agency after a stint with the Dodgers, so perhaps the Jays will give him another call.

Despite all the rotation challenges, the Jays currently hold a Wild Card spot and figure to be in the market for starting pitching ahead of the deadline. That was true before Francis landed on the IL but it presumably only exacerbates the need.

Also providing the bullpen with a fresh arm is Bruihl. The 27-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Jays in March and has been pitching in Triple-A since then, with a 3.81 ERA in 28 1/3 innings. His 10% walk rate is a bit high but he has struck out 30% of opponents while getting grounders on 61.5% of balls in play.

He also has some major league experience under his belt, though without that kind of strikeout stuff. He logged 76 innings between the Dodgers, Rockies and Pirates over the past few years with a 4.62 ERA and a 15.9% strikeout rate. He still has an option remaining so the Jays could send him back to Buffalo fairly easily if they want to cycle some more fresh arms through the roster.

Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images

Ron Taylor Passes Away

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Former MLB reliever and physician Ron Taylor has passed away, according to an announcement from the Mets. He was 87.

A Toronto native, Taylor began his career in the Cleveland organization in 1956. He reached the big leagues six years later and had a memorable debut at Fenway Park. Tabbed as the starting pitcher — one of just 17 starts he’d make in his career — Taylor began with 11 scoreless innings. Boston’s Bill Monbouquette matched him zero for zero, though, working through 12 scoreless frames. Taylor’s remarkable first outing came to a disappointing end, as he surrendered a walk-off grand slam to Carroll Hardy in the twelfth.

That was one of eight appearances that Taylor would make in his rookie season. After the year, Cleveland swapped him to the Cardinals for first baseman Fred Whitfield. Taylor had a strong first year in St. Louis, turning in a 2.84 ERA across 133 1/3 innings in a long relief role. He’d add another 4 2/3 scoreless frames against the Yankees in the World Series. Almost all of those came in Game 4, when he fired four scoreless without allowing a hit to save a 4-3 victory. That evened the series at two games apiece, and the Cards would go on to win in seven behind Bob Gibson.

Taylor struggled over the next couple seasons, leading St. Louis to deal him to the Astros midway through the ’65 campaign. He didn’t pitch particularly well during his year and a half in Houston. The Astros sold his contract to the Mets going into 1967. Taylor turned things around in Queens, working to a sub-3.00 ERA in each of his first three seasons.

He tossed 76 innings of 2.72 ERA ball with 13 saves for the ’69 Miracle Mets team that won 100 games and knocked off the Braves and Orioles en route to the first championship in franchise history. Taylor made four appearances in the postseason, striking out seven across 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He recorded one save apiece in the NLCS and World Series, getting Brooks Robinson to ground out with two runners on in a 2-1 ballgame to lock down Game 2 of the Fall Classic.

Taylor pitched a few more seasons in New York and finished his playing days with a very brief stint for the Padres in 1972. He remained in the game after the end of his playing career, but he didn’t follow the coaching or scouting paths of most former players. Taylor went to medical school immediately after retiring and was later hired as the team physician for the Blue Jays, a role he’d hold for a few decades. He added two more World Series rings in that capacity when Toronto went back-to-back in the early 1990s.

During a playing career that spanned parts of 11 seasons, Taylor posted a 3.93 ERA in exactly 800 regular season innings. He recorded 464 strikeouts and collected 74 saves. His postseason résumé was brief but impactful, as he didn’t allow a run in 10 1/3 frames while getting the save in three of his six playoff appearances. He played a key role in winning a pair of championships and was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. MLBTR sends our condolences to Taylor’s family, friends, loved ones and former teammates and colleagues throughout the game.

Blue Jays Select Will Robertson, Place Nathan Lukes On Injured List

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June 11: The Jays will place Lukes on the 7-day concussion list as the corresponding move to bring Robertson to the majors, manager John Schneider announced today (via MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson).

June 10: The Blue Jays are promoting outfielder Will Robertson to the majors, according to a report from Trevor Hahn of News Tribune Sports. Toronto has space on their 40-man roster, so the only corresponding move needed to bring Robertson into the fold will be one to clear room on the active roster.

Robertson, 27, was Toronto’s fourth-round pick back in 2019. After getting a taste of pro ball in Low-A during his draft year, Robertson’s career was delayed slightly by the canceled minor league season in 2020 and when he returned in 2021 he struggled somewhat across 56 games at the High-A level with a wRC+ of just 94 as he hit .235/.310/.385. He once again put up relatively middling numbers the following year, this time slashing .215/.291/.401 (89 wRC+) across 90 games in his first taste of the Double-A level. Overall, Robertson’s approach came with a hefty dose of strikeouts and somewhat limited power that made it difficult for him to put up even average results early in his professional career.

Things began to change during a repeat of the Double-A level in 2023, however. That year, Robertson hit .245/.323/.488 with a wRC+ of 118. He pushed his walk rate up to 9.7%, the best it had been since his draft year, cut his strikeout rate by two points, and slugged 19 homers in 103 games. That sort of strong performance is to be expected of a 25-year-old making his second trip through Double-A, but it was still enough to get him promoted to Triple-A Buffalo for the first time in his career. While Robertson’s increased walk rate and power remained from the year prior, his strikeout rate jumped to 31.3% in 2024 as he struggled against Triple-A pitching an ultimately slashed just .226/.319/.429 with a wRC+ of 95.

Robertson’s 2024 performance may have seemed to indicate he didn’t have much of path to the big leagues, but he’s changed that narrative with a brilliant season in 2025 so far. In 51 games for the club’s Buffalo affiliate, Robertson has crushed the ball to the tune of a .288/.410/.582 slash line. He has 12 home runs in just 188 plate appearances, he’s walking a whopping 17.0% of the time, and he’s striking out less than he has since 2019 with a 23.9% clip. Taken together, it leaves him with a 159 wRC+ that’s good for fourth in the International League this year. Robertson isn’t considered much of a prospect, as he isn’t even ranked on MLB.com’s Top 30 Blue Jays prospects list. Regardless of a player’s prospect status, however, Robertson’s numbers are the type that will get you attention from the big league club.

That’s especially true for a Blue Jays club that is running a bit thin on outfield depth after losing both Anthony Santander and Daulton Varsho to the injured list. Alan Roden, Myles Straw, Jonatan Clase, Addison Barger, and Nathan Lukes have been mixing and matching in the outfield for the Jays in recent weeks alongside veteran right fielder George Springer, and Ben Nicholson Smith of Sportsnet was among those to relay this afternoon that Lukes had been scratched from today’s lineup due to neck discomfort. Perhaps Robertson’s call-up is a sign that Lukes’ neck issue is serious enough to require a stint on the injured list, though it’s also possible Robertson’s phenomenal play to this point in the year has simply forced the issue in the eyes of Blue Jays brass.

Blue Jays Notes: Scherzer, Varsho, Francis

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Blue Jays fans received an encouraging update on the status of right-hander Max Scherzer’s rehab from the thumb injury that has sidelined him on and off for over a year. As relayed by Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet, Scherzer threw fifty pitches as part of a three-inning simulated game today. Manager John Schneider told reporters (including Zwelling) that Scherzer came out of the outing feeling good after having thrown all of his pitches, and that the next step for the right-hander is to throw a side session in a few days, as he would between starts if he were healthy and pitching in the rotation.

It’s a major step forward for Scherzer, who has made just one start this year after signing a one-year deal with Toronto during the offseason. MLB.com suggests that a rehab assignment could be the next step for Scherzer if he comes out of his side session looking good, and that could put him on schedule to make his return to the Jays before the end of the month. A healthy and effective Scherzer would provide a massive boost to a Toronto rotation that has been among the league’s weakest this year, and could help the Jays stay in the AL Wild Card conversation after their recent impressive stretch of play put them in a three-way tie with the Twins and Rays for the league’s three Wild Card spots. In the meantime, the Jays appear poised to continue relying on veterans Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt to hold things down at the front of the rotation, with Jose Berrios, Bowden Francis, and recently-added Spencer Turnbull bringing up the rear.

Speaking of Francis, the right-hander has had a rough go of it this year with a 5.84 ERA and 6.47 FIP across 12 starts. Those ugly numbers have led to some questions about whether or not he’ll remain in the rotation going forward, but Shi Davidi of Sportsnet writes that Schneider has dismissed the possibility of making a change when it comes to Francis, whether that be a demotion to the minors, a move to the bullpen, or even the use of an Opener in front of the 29-year-old.

“…we need him. That’s the bottom line,” Schneider said of Francis, as relayed by Davidi. “We need him to help contribute and be the pitcher that he can be. So you keep working to make adjustments. The stuff is where it should be. It’s just the mix and the location you’ve got to tighten up a little bit, that’s all.”

That vote of confidence in Francis as a starter seems likely to keep him in the rotation for at least the time being, but it’s possible that could change if he doesn’t turn things around in the near future. After all, Scherzer is on the mend and could be back in action later this month as previously mentioned. Turnbull was added to the roster today and could take the ball later this week for his first big league start of the year, and southpaw Eric Lauer has arguably pitched well enough in a long relief role to merit at least some consideration for a starting job as well.

Turning to the lineup, the Jays have missed both the bat and the glove of center fielder Daulton Varsho since he was placed on the injured list with a hamstring strain last week. It was a frustrating turn of events for the center fielder, who had already missed the first month of the season while rehabbing the rotator cuff surgery he underwent back in September. In the month Varsho was available, however, he provided a 108 wRC+ and swatted eight homers while offering his characteristically excellent defense in center field. The good news is that Zwelling reports Varsho was among the hitters to face Scherzer during his simulated game today, and even hit a home run off the future Hall of Famer.

That Varsho is healthy enough to face live pitching and participate in a simulated game is a good sign, but it should be noted that the news doesn’t necessarily mean he’s especially close to a return. Given the fact that Varsho’s calling card is his defense, it seems fair to expect the Blue Jays to keep him on the shelf until he’s ready to return not just to the lineup, but also to the field. With lower half injuries like the one Varsho is dealing with, it’s not uncommon for players to be ready to hit before they’re ready to field, and MLB.com notes that the Blue Jays have not yet even provided a firm timeline for his return to action.

Blue Jays Recall Spencer Turnbull For Season Debut

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The Blue Jays announced this afternoon that they’ve recalled right-hander Spencer Turnbull from Triple-A Buffalo. In a corresponding move, right-hander Paxton Schultz was optioned to Triple-A.

Turnbull, 32, signed with Toronto on a one-year deal last month. The right-hander was added to the 40-man roster at the time of the signing but agreed to be optioned to the minor leagues at the time of his signing so he could build up his arm after missing all of Spring Training due to being unsigned. He made his fifth rehab appearance on Friday, when he threw 80 pitches across 4 2/3 innings of five-run ball against the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate. Despite those shaky results, it represented Turnbull’s longest appearance both in terms of pitch count and batters faced.

That may have been close enough to a full big league start that the Jays were comfortable adding him back to the roster, but it’s worth noting that Turnbull’s optional assignment could only last a maximum of 35 days. That window would have expired tomorrow, meaning that Turnbull’s addition to the roster was imminent unless he suffered an injury or agreed to a longer stay in the minors. Despite his shaky rehab outings, the addition of Turnbull into the fold should hopefully provide a stabilizing force for a Jays pitching staff in serious need of reinforcements.

The righty had an up-and-down career over five years with the Tigers where he at times flashed the ability to be a quality mid-rotation arm but was too often held back by injuries. He enjoyed his healthiest season in years with the Phillies last year, and while he did ultimately miss the second half of the season with a lat strain he made 17 appearances (including seven starts) where he pitched to an impressive 2.65 ERA with a 3.85 FIP and 3.67 SIERA aross 54 1/3 innings of work. He struck out a career-high 26.1% of opponents while walking a fairly manageable 9.0%, and despite the season-ending injury re-entered free agency with a fairly strong argument for a solid contract.

While he ultimately lingered on the open market long enough to get snapped up by the Blue Jays on what was effectively a $1MM guarantee, the talent Turnbull flashed last year would go a long way to shoring up a beleaguered pitching staff in Toronto. They’ve been operating with a four-man rotation of late, and it seems fairly likely that Turnbull will now join that mix at least until an injured pitcher like Max Scherzer or Alek Manoah is ready to step back into a rotation role with the team. With no starter in line for their game against the Cardinals on June 11, it would be no surprise if the right-hander ends up taking the ball that day.

With that being said, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet suggested the possibility that Turnbull could either begin his time with the Jays in the bullpen or perhaps piggyback with southpaw Eric Lauer, who has been pitching in a long relief role for Toronto this season. Turnbull’s no stranger to a swing role after his work in Philadelphia last year; he started his first six appearances with the Phillies before moving to the bullpen last May and being utilized in a flexible role that saw him make both single-inning relief appearances lasting less than 20 pitchers and multi-inning appearances that pushed 60 pitches. Whether the Blue Jays ultimately decide to start Turnbull or use him in the bullpen at first, that flexibility is sure to come in handy during his time with the club.

Blue Jays Outright Michael Stefanic

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The Blue Jays outrighted Michael Stefanic off their 40-man roster and assigned the infielder to Triple-A Buffalo after Stefanic cleared waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling.  Stefanic had the opportunity to elect free agency since he has been previously outrighted in his career, but he instead chose to remain in Toronto’s organization.

After signing a minor league deal with the Jays back in November, Stefanic had his contract selected to the MLB roster in early May since Toronto wanted more infield depth in the wake of Andres Gimenez’s quad strain.  Stefanic appeared in nine games for the Blue Jays and hit .182/.280/.182 over 25 plate appearances before he was designated for assignment earlier this week, as the Jays needed roster room to accommodate Gimenez’s return from the 10-day injured list.

The 29-year-old Stefanic has hit only .227/.314/.267 across 289 career PA in the majors over the last four seasons, with most of that experience coming with the Angels before his Blue Jays stint this year.  While known more for his defensive versatility than his bat, Stefanic has an eye-opening .344/.436/.468 slash line in 1561 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level.

Since this hot hitting in the minors has yet to translate to much success against MLB pitching, Stefanic may have felt more comfortable staying with the Jays rather than testing a potentially uncertain free agent market.  His removal from the 40-man roster will make a future call-up slightly trickier from a transactional standpoint, plus the Jays could also turn to Will Wagner, Orelvis Martinez, or Leo Jimenez (who are all on the 40-man) in the event of another infield vacancy on the active roster.

Blue Jays Outright Ali Sánchez

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TODAY: Sanchez has re-signed with the Blue Jays on a new minor league contract, as his MLB.com profile page indicates that he did indeed opt for free agency before quickly rejoining the club.  Sanchez has been assigned to Triple-A Buffalo.

JUNE 5: Catcher Ali Sánchez has been sent outright to Triple-A Buffalo, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. He has the right to elect free agency though it’s not currently clear if he will exercise that right.

Sánchez, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Jays in the offseason. He started the year with 28 Triple-A games, hitting five home runs to produce a solid .253/.324/.440 line and 104 wRC+ in those contests.

The Blue Jays have had Alejandro Kirk and Tyler Heineman as their big league catching duo for most of the year, with no other backstops on the 40-man roster. Heineman required a stint on the concussion-related injured list late last month, so Sánchez was called up. He was on the roster for just over a week, getting into five games and receiving 11 plate appearances. He struck out three times and got two hits, one of them being a double. Since he is out of options, he essentially had to be designated for assignment when Heineman was reinstated.

Now that he has cleared waivers, he has the right to elect free agency since he has previously been outrighted in his career. The Jays are probably hoping he will stick around, either by accepting the assignment or signing a new minor league deal after electing free agency. The Jays are once again down to just two catchers on the 40-man roster, so having non-roster depth will be important. They also have Christian Bethancourt at the Triple-A level but he just spent a few weeks on the minor league IL. Phil Clarke is putting up decent numbers for the Bisons but has no major league experience.

Sánchez has generally produced decent offensive numbers in the minors, with a .269/.348/.423 line and 96 wRC+ dating back to the start of 2022. He hasn’t hit well in the majors, with a .176/.217/.222 line, but has only received 121 plate appearances scattered across multiple seasons dating back to 2020. Baseball Prospectus has generally given him strong grades for his Triple-A defense.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Jairaj, Imagn Images

Poll: Which Contender Should Be Most Aggressive On The Rotation Market?

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Trade season is fast approaching, and teams have mostly begun to start sorting themselves between the contenders and pretenders. At almost every trade deadline, there’s one need that teams prioritize filling than any other: starting pitching. There’s no such thing as too many starters, and that’s become even more true in recent years as pitching injuries have skyrocketed. Plenty of teams will want to add an impact arm (or at least some depth) to their rotation this summer, but which need help the most ahead of the stretch run? Here’s a look at some of the league’s top contenders:

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays have fought their way back into the AL Wild Card conversation recently, and they’ve done so despite a bottom-five rotation in baseball by ERA. Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt are both solid veterans who can be trusted to start a playoff game, and Jose Berrios is getting good results despite worrisome peripherals for the second year in a row. After that trio, however, things start to look dire. Bowden Francis has been one of the worst qualified starters in baseball this year,  and the team has no defined fifth starter at all for the moment.

Spencer Turnbull is coming to help out sooner or later, but relying on a pitcher who last made even 20 appearances back in 2019 to help turn things around is risky. Alek Manoah and Max Scherzer could both contribute at some point in theory, but they’ve similarly dealt with injuries that have made them major question marks in recent years. For Toronto, one could argue that the question is less about whether or not they need another starter, but whether or not they’ll remain firmly enough in contention to justify the expense come July.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs enter play today with the best record in the NL, and with Kyle Tucker set to reach free agency in November, there’s little question they’ll be buyers this summer. A stacked lineup that features few obvious holes makes pitching the most sensible place for them to look for upgrades, and it’s not hard to argue for starting pitching as the best choice when looking for upgrades. Cubs’ starters have combined for a 3.99 ERA this year, good for 19th in baseball. That’s below average in the league overall despite players like Matthew Boyd (3.01 ERA) and Colin Rea (3.59 ERA) pitching better than anyone would’ve assumed preseason.

Justin Steele is out for the season after undergoing surgery on his UCL, and he’s joined on the IL by co-ace Shota Imanaga while the veteran works his way back from a hamstring strain. Imanaga is expected back at some point this month, but with depth options like Javier Assad, Jordan Wicks, and Brandon Birdsell all also on the injured list, Ben Brown (5.72 ERA) struggling badly this season, and top prospect Cade Horton likely operating on an innings limit, it’s hard to imagine the Cubs not doing something to address their rotation this summer.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers, at least on paper, have more rotation arms than they know what to do with. The reality of their situation is much different, however, as the vast majority of those pitchers are presently on the injured list. In conjunction with disappointing performances from players like Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin, and Clayton Kershaw, those injuries have left the Dodgers with a 4.35 rotation ERA and the fifth-weakest starting staff in the NL this year. Their two-game lead on the Padres and three-game lead on the Giants in the NL West aren’t nearly as comfortable as they would surely like, and with a stacked lineup that has few obvious holes, that could make starting pitching the most obvious area for them to upgrade this summer.

On the other hand, it’s possible L.A. could simply rely on internal improvements as players get healthier. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is in the NL Cy Young conversation this year, and Dustin May has looked like a capable arm for the middle-to-back of the rotation. Glasnow, Sasaki, and Blake Snell are all expected back at some point or other this year, and Shohei Ohtani is of course working his way back to the big league mound. For a club that managed to win a World Series with a patchwork rotation just last year, perhaps that’s enough to feel comfortable standing pat this summer. Even so, at least another depth arm or two couldn’t hurt.

Cleveland Guardians

Long renowned for their excellent starting pitching development, the Guardians were one of several playoff teams last year who limped into October with major question marks in the rotation. With a 4.07 ERA and 4.55 FIP out of the rotation this year, they look to be at risk of doing so once again. Luis Ortiz looks like a solid mid-rotation arm, but Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams have both seen their peripherals take a nosedive this year despite solid enough results. Cleveland recently lost Ben Lively for the season to Tommy John surgery as well, creating another hole in their rotation mix.

Perhaps an internal option like right-hander Zak Kent can be a surprise contributor, and Shane Bieber’s eventual return from the injured list could provide a big boost so long as he can shake off the rust from a long layoff. That could make an outfield in need of upgrades a more pressing issue but it’s hard to imagine the rotation not being an area worth upgrading this summer. That’s especially true given that the bullpen that helped carry Cleveland to October last year has looked more “good” than “superhuman” in 2025.

Other Teams In Need

These four aren’t the only teams who could use some pitching help this summer. The Red Sox and Diamondbacks have both struggled to get results from their rotation, but have a deep group of arms in-house already and are far enough out of contention at this point that they may end up selling. That latter point is also true of the Braves, whose pitching situation looks more worrisome than ever after Spencer Strider has struggled in his return from surgery and AJ Smith-Shawver was lost for the year. The Yankees and Twins have pitched extremely well this season, but it would be understandable for either team to look for upgrades given the significant blow losing Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery) and Pablo Lopez (Grade 2 Lat Strain) dealt to each respective rotation. The Cardinals have gotten middling results from their rotation but have a bigger need in the outfield. The outfield also seems likely to be a bigger priority for the Astros, who have gotten great results from Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez but are currently relying on a patchwork at the back of their rotation while players like Cristian Javier and Spencer Arrighetti heal up on the injured list. Like the Astros, the Padres are currently running a top-heavy rotation a handful of question marks.

Which team do you think ought to be the most aggressive in pursuing starting pitching this summer? Have your say in the poll below:

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