Blue Jays Release Josh Fleming, Justin Topa
The Blue Jays have released lefty Josh Fleming and right-hander Justin Topa from their respective minor league deals, according to their minor league transactions logs. Both were pitching for Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo.
Fleming ended 2025 in the Mariners organization and signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays in February. The team selected him for a three-inning relief appearance on April 6th, then designated him for assignment the next day. Fleming elected free agency in lieu of an outright assignment, though he rejoined on a new minor league pact a few days later. He did not make it back to the big leagues prior to being released yesterday.
Fleming’s numbers at Triple-A have been solid, as he’s pitched to a 3.08 ERA in 64 1/3 innings over 13 appearances (12 starts). He’s never been one to strike hitters out, but he continued to show above-average control and ground ball stuff. Fleming has only walked 4.1% of opposing hitters this year, not counting his lone appearance in the Majors. Meanwhile, Fleming’s 50.5% ground ball rate is technically a career low in the upper minors, but it’s still an excellent mark.
Someone will take a chance on Fleming for that ground ball stuff, if only on a minor league deal. His last meaningful sample in the Majors came in 2024, when he threw 31 1/3 innings with a 4.02 ERA for the Pirates. Fleming only struck out 12.3% of opponents and did not show the same control that he has in the minors, although he still induced grounders at a well-above-average 54.3% rate. Overall, Fleming has a 4.86 ERA in 257 2/3 big league innings, so teams will continue to view him as a Quad-A reliever, barring an improbable late-career breakout.
Of the two relievers, Topa has had more recent success in the Majors. The righty had a decent 3.90 ERA in 60 innings for the Twins last year and allowed just two home runs all season. Topa’s 18.3% strikeout rate was below average, but he compensated by walking just 6.7% of opponents and inducing grounders at a 47.7% clip. Unfortunately, he followed that up with a dreadful 8.05 ERA in 19 innings earlier this season before Minnesota designated him for assignment in May.
That led Topa to sign a minor league deal with Toronto on May 30th. In the last month and change, he’s thrown eight innings for Triple-A Buffalo with a 3.38 ERA and only four strikeouts. That’s hardly a meaningful sample, though like Fleming, Topa has been below-average from a strikeout perspective throughout his career.
Topa is 35 years old and has an extensive injury history, including left patellar tendinitis in 2024 and two Tommy John surgeries early in his career. That said, he was moderately effective last year and highly effective as recently as 2023, when he had a 2.61 ERA in 69 innings for the Mariners. Despite his age, Topa will garner interest as a depth piece, perhaps more so than Fleming.
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Blue Jays Release Matt Bowman
TODAY: The Blue Jays have released Bowman, according to Bowman’s MLB.com profile page.
JULY 3: Right-hander Matt Bowman has triggered an opt-out in his minor league deal with the Blue Jays, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The Jays have until Saturday to decide whether to add Bowman to their roster or release him.
Bowman, 35, signed with the Jays in late May after opting out of his previous deal with the Twins. He has been with Triple-A Buffalo for the past few weeks and has allowed 10 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings. A 10.38 ERA is obviously not good but there’s a lot of bad luck in that tiny sample. His .360 batting average on balls in play and 25.9% strand rate are both to the unfortunate side, particularly the latter number. Meanwhile, his 23.7% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 53.8% ground ball rate are all solid figures.
It’s possible the Jays could look past the ERA and focus more on the respectable underlying numbers. Even if they do, it might be tough to squeeze him onto the big league roster. The Jays are currently running a four-man rotation and a nine-man bullpen, in a sense. Spencer Miles and Patrick Corbin appear to be piggybacking the fifth rotation spot. Neither can be sent down since Miles is a Rule 5 guy and Corbin is a veteran with years of experience and can’t be optioned without his consent.
That leaves seven other spots for more traditional relievers. Louis Varland, Tyler Rogers, Jeff Hoffman, Mason Fluharty and Braydon Fisher are in leverage roles. Tommy Nance is out of options and putting up decent numbers. Adam Macko can be optioned but he gives the club a second lefty alongside Fluharty. Letting go of Bowman would cost the Jays some bullpen depth but they have Chase Lee and Brendon Little on optional assignment.
If Bowman ends up released, he could look for a club with a more wide open bullpen. In his career, he has thrown 240 2/3 big league innings with a 4.38 ERA, 18.7% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 52.3% ground ball rate. He started this year with the Twins on a minor league deal and tossed 21 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 1.69 ERA, 28.1% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 54.5% ground ball rate. As mentioned, he opted out of that pact and then landed with the Jays. He is sitting in the low-90s with his four-seamer and sinker while also throwing a cutter, splitter and slider.
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Blue Jays Move Patrick Corbin To Bullpen
Blue Jays manager John Schneider announced to reporters today that left-hander Patrick Corbin is being moved to the bullpen. He was originally slated to start tomorrow’s game. That will now be started by Spencer Miles or an opener, depending on how things go tonight. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet was among those to relay the news.
Corbin, 36, is a veteran soft-tosser at this point in his career. In the most recent offseason, he lingered unsigned until after the 2026 campaign had begun. The Jays scooped him up in early April. They had begun the season with Trey Yesavage, José Berríos and Shane Bieber on the injured list. Cody Ponce then hit the IL after he sprained the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in his first start of the season.
Though he signed late, Corbin had stretched out on his own and quickly jumped onto the big league roster. He initially provided a great help to the Jays. In addition to the aforementioned injuries, the Jays also saw Dylan Cease and Max Scherzer hit the IL. They also moved on from Eric Lauer after he struggled and complained about his role, trading him to the Dodgers. While all that was going on, Corbin posted a 3.65 earned run average over ten starts in April and May.
Since the calendar has flipped to June, things have changed. Corbin has an 8.69 ERA over his five starts this month. The Toronto rotation has also gotten healthier over the course of the season and now has Kevin Gausman, Cease, Yesavage and Bieber in four spots.
That still leaves one opening but the Jays may be able to improvise that for a bit. As mentioned, they will likely do some kind of bullpen game tomorrow with Miles and/or Corbin in bulk roles. They then have off-days on July 2nd and 9th, then the All-Star Break begins on July 13th. Perhaps they will be able to get through that stretch of play with four proper starters, while Corbin and Miles provide length on occasion. Miles has worked as a traditional reliever and a bulk guy this year with a 3.00 ERA, 24.3% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 54.3% ground ball rate in 51 innings.
After the Break, the Jays play 13 in a row, so they may have a stronger desire for a proper fifth starter at that time. Perhaps Scherzer will be able to come off the IL by then. They also have guys like Jake Bloss, Simeon Woods Richardson, Chad Dallas and Lazaro Estrada in Triple-A and could call upon one of them.
Beyond that stretch, the August 3rd trade deadline looms over the horizon. General manager Ross Atkins has mentioned starting pitching as a potential target, though the Jays will have to stay in the race between now and then. A recent six-game losing streak dropped them down in a crowded American League playoff race.
Thankfully for the Jays, lots of other clubs are struggling, so their 40-45 record is good enough to be within 2.5 games of a playoff spot at the moment. If they fall further back, they could pivot to seller position, though the club will obviously be hoping they hang in there or gain ground in the coming weeks.
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Blue Jays Outright Simeon Woods Richardson
Right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson passed through waivers unclaimed after his recent DFA, per Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. He’s been assigned outright to Triple-A Buffalo. Woods Richardson lacks the prior outright assignment or service time needed to reject an outright in favor of free agency, so he’ll remain with the organization as a depth piece.
The Jays acquired Woods Richardson early this month in a cash swap with the Twins, who’d designated the right-hander for assignment. He pitched 10 shutout innings across three appearances with the Jays. That might make the subsequent DFA surprising, but Woods Richardson also yielded four hits and seven walks against only five strikeouts in those 10 scoreless frames. His 6.2% swinging-strike rate and 17% opponents’ chase rate were down from his already-low marks in 47 2/3 innings with Minnesota. The Jays seemingly didn’t buy into his ability to continue with his success, and it seems the rest of the league felt similarly.
Woods Richardson, 25, was a well-regarded prospect at one point. The Mets selected him in the second round, 48th overall, back in 2018. He was a key piece in a pair of notable trades, first going from New York to Toronto (alongside Anthony Kay) in exchange for Marcus Stroman and then going from Toronto to Minnesota (alongside Austin Martin) in exchange for José Berríos.
Though he’s had some success in the majors, Woods Richardson never really developed into the mid-rotation arm some thought he could a few years back. He posted decent fourth/fifth starter results in Minnesota from 2024-25, combining for 245 innings with a 4.11 ERA. Woods Richardson fanned 21.5% of his opponents against a 9% walk rate in that time, but he was too prone to homers and struggled when facing opponents a second and third time through the order.
Woods Richardson entered the 2026 season out of minor league options, which put him in a strong position to hold a rotation spot in Minnesota. He indeed broke camp with a starting gig and had a pair of strong outings to begin his season. After holding opponents to three runs in his first 11 2/3 frames of the season, Woods Richardson was bludgeoned for 38 runs with more walks (12.2%) than strikeouts (11%) over his next eight appearances. Even a Twins club that’s been hit hard by the injury bug felt it hat to cut bait, and a similarly beleaguered Blue Jays staff didn’t feel compelled to find a way to keep him on the roster.
That will wind up working out to the Jays’ benefit, at least for now. Woods Richardson heads to Buffalo, where he can try to get back on track in a lower-pressure, more developmental setting. If he can right the ship, he’ll be an option for Toronto’s rotation in the event that the Jays’ injury woes continue. Toronto could also try to look at Woods Richardson in a relief role down in Buffalo, which would potentially create an even broader path back to the majors.
Blue Jays Shut Addison Barger Down Due To Stress Reaction In Back
Blue Jays outfielder Addison Barger has been sidelined since early May due to an elbow injury, and it now seems he’ll be out even longer. Manager John Schneider tells the team’s beat that Barger has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in his back and will be shut down entirely for a couple weeks (via Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith).
Barger had been building toward a potential return to the Jays recently but began experiencing discomfort in his back while swinging. It’s not yet clear how much longer he can now be expected to miss, but Barger is a clear candidate for a move to the 60-day IL. He’s already missed 50 days and isn’t going to be back particularly soon, so the Jays can use this latest injury as a means of opening up a 40-man roster spot the next time the need arises.
It’s yet another health setback for the Jays in a season that’s seen far too many of them. Toronto has been hit particularly hard on the pitching side of things, with José Berríos (Tommy John surgery) out for the season and Cody Ponce (ACL tear) almost certainly done for the year as well. Shane Bieber missed the first half of the season and hasn’t been sharp in two starts since his recent activation. Max Scherzer has been on the IL multiple times. Trey Yesavage missed time to begin the season, too, and the Jays have endured absences from catcher Alejandro Kirk, center fielder Daulton Varsho and designated hitter George Springer. Outfielder Jesús Sánchez just landed on the injured list this weekend.
Barger’s absence has been a factor in a generally disappointing season for last year’s American League champs. The Blue Jays have hovered around .500 for much of the season, though an ongoing six-game losing streak has dropped them to 39-45. Barger ripped 21 home runs for them in only 502 plate appearances last season and did so while posting a sound overall .243/.301/.454 batting line. He was a thorn in the side of right-handers, in particular, belting 20 homers in 413 trips to the plate while holding the platoon advantage.
Barger’s increased absence and the Sanchez injury mean that young Yohendrick Piñango will get more run in left field. Varsho has center locked down, and right field belongs to Nathan Lukes more often than not these days. He’s hitting .310/.357/.439 in 170 plate appearances, and the 24-year-old Piñango has been solid in 143 trips to the plate: .276/.322/.440. Still, a healthy Barger would give the Jays a stronger bench mix, another option at third base and a generally strong bat against right-handed opponents. They’ll have to wait even longer on that luxury now, and his extended absence further strains an outfield group that no longer seems well equipped to handle another injury.
Athletics Acquire Hayden Juenger, Designate Brett Harris For Assignment
The A’s have struck a deal with the Blue Jays for right-hander Hayden Juenger, both teams announced. Catcher Owen Carapellotti is heading back to Toronto. Juenger was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays earlier this week when righty Shane Bieber returned. The Athletics DFAed infielder Brett Harris to clear a 40-man spot for Juenger.
The 25-year-old Juenger had his contract selected by Toronto at the end of May. He allowed three earned runs over two innings in his brief time with the big-league club. Juenger earned his first taste of the majors after delivering a strong 2.59 ERA across 21 appearances at Triple-A this year. The righty posted a 27.2% strikeout rate and trimmed his troubling walk rate to 8.7%, one of the best marks of his career.
Juenger didn’t attract any suitors during the Rule 5 draft this winter. He now finds a new home without the requirement of being kept on the MLB roster. The A’s stepped in and executed a trade instead of rolling the dice on the waiver wire process. They parted with a low-level minor league backstop to secure Juenger’s services.
Carapellotti signed with the A’s as an undrafted free agent this past July. The 23-year-old has shown impressive power in a small sample at Single-A, popping eight home runs in 20 games. Carapellotti played four years of college ball at Georgetown. He hit .298 with 14 home runs for the Hoyas during the 2025 campaign.
Harris has been up and down with the A’s in each of the last three seasons. He appeared in just five games this year, primarily as a defensive replacement. Harris has a 77 wRC+ across 213 MLB plate appearances. He’s played both corner infield spots plus second base in the big leagues, though most of his reps have come at third. Harris put together a strong defensive showing in 2025, accruing 5 Defensive Runs Saved in 27 appearances at the hot corner.
The A’s have five days to find a trade partner for Harris or put him on outright waivers. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so Harris’ status will be clarified within a week.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images
Blue Jays Place Jesús Sánchez On IL
The Blue Jays have placed outfielder Jesús Sánchez on the 10-day injured list with a right ankle sprain, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports. To take his roster spot, Toronto recalled outfielder Yohendrick Piñango from Triple-A Buffalo.
Sánchez suffered the injury when he crashed into the wall in left field while making a catch in the Blue Jays’ loss to the Rangers on Friday. He left the game in the seventh inning as a result. X-rays came back negative for a fracture, per Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling, but the injury is serious enough to require at least a 10-day stint on the shelf.
Sánchez, whom Toronto acquired from Houston for outfielder Joey Loperfido in the offseason, has gotten into 73 games, started 58 and logged significant time in both outfield corners. Despite a career-low 4.3 percent walk rate, the 28-year-old has slashed a solid .274/.316/.437 (107 wRC+) with seven home runs in 234 plate appearances. He has drawn just three free passes in 52 trips to the plate this month, which helps explain his subpar .643 June OPS. But Statcast is bullish on Sánchez, whose expected stats (.277 xBA, .457 xSLG and .335 xwOBA) suggest he has deserved better results than he has gotten. Defensively, though, Sánchez has earned poor grades. Despite boasting 74th-percentile arm strength, he has accounted for minus-7 Fielding Run Value, minus-6 Defensive Runs Saved and minus-6 Outs Above Average.
With Sánchez on the shelf, Toronto is starting Piñango in left and Nathan Lukes in right against Texas on Saturday. Those two have logged a matching 113 wRC+ over a combined 298 plate appearances this year. They are likely to get the lion’s share of playing time alongside center fielder Daulton Varsho in Sánchez’s absence. Myles Straw is also in the fold, while Addison Barger is working back from his own IL stint. Barger, who has played just eight games this season, has been down since May 10 with right elbow inflammation. Toronto’s injury tracker at MLB.com indicates he may return by mid-July. Sánchez could also make it back by then if this is just a mild ankle sprain.
Blue Jays Select Sean Keys, Option Davis Schneider
JUNE 27: The Blue Jays have selected Keys’ contract, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports. To clear room on their 26-man roster, they optioned Schneider to Triple-A Buffalo. This is the second time this year the Jays have optioned Schneider, who has slumped to a .153/.282/.296 line with three homers in 118 trips to the plate. Schneider entered the season with two years and 29 days of service time. Depending on how long Schneider is down, it could jeopardize his chances of reaching three years’ service time, becoming eligible for arbitration in the offseason, and remaining on track to hit free agency after 2029.
JUNE 26: The Blue Jays are calling up infielder Sean Keys, reports Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. The Jays will need to make corresponding moves to add Keys to both the 40-man and active rosters. He probably won’t be officially added until Saturday, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.
Keys, 23, was a fourth-round pick in the 2024 draft. He got into 22 Single-A games after that draft selection, making 98 plate appearances. His 21.4% strikeout rate was around average while he drew walks at a strong 13.3% clip. He slashed .293/.378/.451 for a 134 wRC+. He spent 2025 at the High-A level with more strong results. He hit 19 home runs and drew walks at a 16.3% clip. Despite a low .250 batting average on balls in play, he slashed .217/.365/.408 for a 119 wRC+.
He has been even better here in 2025. He started at Double-A and got promoted to Triple-A earlier this month. Between those two stops, he already has 21 homers on the year. His 23.1% strikeout rate is fine and his 13.6% walk rate quite strong. He has a combined .284/.409/.619 line and 164 wRC+ on the year. Baseball America lists him as the club’s #14 prospect, with his bat receiving much more praise than his speed or his glovework.
Given that impressive run of strong results from the batter’s box, the Jays will call him up to see if he can give their big league lineup a jolt. What remains to be seen is how they will fit him in defensively. Keys has only ever played first or third base in his professional career. Nicholson-Smith reported this week that the Jays had started thinking about getting Keys some corner outfield reps, but that hasn’t happened in any official game capacity yet.
The Jays have Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as their regular first baseman, Kazuma Okamoto at third and George Springer as the regular designated hitter. Guerrero has been having a rough season, relative to his own lofty standards. He only has four home runs. He has missed some time this month with some back tightness, without going on the injured list. Perhaps the presence of Keys will allow him to head to the IL or simply just sit more often.
Okamoto’s first MLB season has seen him strike out a lot but he leads the team with 18 home runs, more than double anyone else on the squad. He will stay in the lineup, though perhaps he could spend more time at first if Guerrero is going to take some time off. Okamoto did play some left field in Japan but made just 26 appearances there after the 2019 season.
Springer hasn’t played the field yet this year but logged over 400 innings in the outfield last year. Manager John Schneider told Matheson earlier this month that the Jays were considering putting Springer in right field from time to time. If Springer were to put on his glove occasionally, that could cut into the playing time of other outfielders. The Jays use Nathan Lukes and Jesús Sánchez mostly against righties, while Myles Straw and Davis Schneider see more time against lefties.
Time will tell how the Jays make the playing time work but it’s understandable that they would look boost their lineup. The team has a collective .249/.311/.391 line and 96 wRC+ this year, putting them in the bottom third of the clubs in the majors. They have a lackluster 39-42 record, though that’s enough for them to be tied for a playoff spot in the weak American League field. Any kind of edge could be a difference-maker in that tight race, so they’ll see if Keys can help them unlock some more offense.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Blue Jays Designate Simeon Woods Richardson For Assignment
The Blue Jays announced that they have recalled left-hander Adam Macko. Righty Simeon Woods Richardson has been designated for assignment as a corresponding move. That drops the club’s 40-man roster count to 39, though they reportedly plan on selecting infielder Sean Keys tomorrow, so that spot may not stay vacant for long.
Woods Richardson, 25, was acquired from the Twins earlier this month after being designated for assignment. That was a bit of a homecoming, as Woods Richardson was once a Blue Jays prospect. Acquired from the Mets in the 2019 Marcus Stroman trade, he was sent to Minnesota in the 2021 José Berríos trade. Though he was once a prospect of note, he struggled to develop into a viable rotation candidate in Minnesota. He exhausted his options and got squeezed into DFA limbo, which led to the trade to Toronto.
The Jays used him in a long relief role. His results were great in a surface-level way, as he tossed ten scoreless innings over three outings. However, he was walking a fine line. He only struck out 13.2% of batters faced in that small sample and gave out walks at an awful 18.4% pace. He kept the runs off the board thanks to a .154 batting average on balls in play and 100% strand rate.
The club has a less of a need for Woods Richardson now, compared to when they made the trade. Dylan Cease and Shane Bieber were both on the IL at the time but have since been activated. Those two are now in the rotation alongside Trey Yesavage, Kevin Gausman and Patrick Corbin, meaning the Jays should be doing fewer bullpen games going forward.
Woods Richardson tossed three innings in relief of Gausman last night, throwing 43 pitches in the process. He wasn’t going to be available for a few days and the Jays now have a fresh bullpen, since Woods Richardson’s coverage meant no one else had to pitch last night, so the Jays have squeezed Woods Richardson off the roster.
He now heads into DFA limbo once again. That can last as long as a week, though the waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Jays can take as long as five days to explore trade interest. It seems likely that he’ll find another opportunity elsewhere. His results this year haven’t been good, as he has a combined 6.40 ERA between the Twins and Jays, but he was a passable back-end starter over the previous two seasons. Over the 2024 and 2025 campaigns, he logged 245 innings with a 4.11 ERA, 21.5% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate.
There are several clubs dealing with mounting rotation injury situations, perhaps most notably the Cubs, but also the Diamondbacks, Royals, Angels, and others. Someone could give him a shot and hope he holds down a spot for a while. It’s also possible a rebuilding club with long-term pitching needs, such as the Rockies or Giants, takes a shot. Woods Richardson is under club control for four seasons after this one, though he’ll obviously have to turn his season around for that to be something worth thinking about.
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Blue Jays GM: Starting Pitching Likely A Deadline Priority
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins met with members of the media today, including Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. “It’s probably starting pitching,” Atkins said, when asked about the area of the roster he saw as the biggest opportunity to improve ahead of the trade deadline. “But it’s not as easy as just deciding to do that, because we have five starters that we’re confident in. But you can just never have enough.” He went on to add that the club would ideally find optionable starting pitching but noted that acquiring that type of player would be challenging.
The Toronto rotation has been an issue all year. Once upon a time, it looked as though the Jays had eight viable options for five rotation spots. On paper, they had Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage, Cody Ponce, Shane Bieber, José Berríos, Max Scherzer and Eric Lauer. It quickly became clear that the Jays didn’t expect all eight to be healthy to start the year. Yesavage, Bieber and Berríos all started the season on the injured list, though that still left the Jays with five good options.
Things got worse once the season began. Ponce suffered an ACL sprain in his knee during his first start of the season, prompting the Jays to sign Patrick Corbin. Ponce required surgery and is likely done for the year. Scherzer spent over a month on the IL due to right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation. He came back and made one start before back spasms put him back on the shelf. Cease missed a couple of weeks with a hamstring strain. Lauer struggled enough to get designated for assignment and flipped to the Dodgers.
Around all those issues, Gausman has been the only constant. As others have come and gone, the Jays have had to get creative. Rule 5 pick Spencer Miles was effectively in the rotation for a while, working bulk innings behind openers. Guys like Simeon Woods Richardson, Lázaro Estrada, Austin Voth, Josh Fleming and Chad Dallas have been called upon to provide spot starts or bulk work.
Despite all that injury trouble, the Jays have hung in the race, with some help from a weak American League field. Their 39-40 record isn’t amazing but they nonetheless hold the final A.L. Wild Card spot at the moment.
The rotation group has recently become stable for the first time in months. Yesavage was off the IL before the end of April. Cease and Bieber have now returned from their IL stints. Those three, along with Gausman and Corbin, give the Jays a relatively steady quintet. Miles and Woods Richardson are each in the bullpen. Scherzer could be back in the mix shortly if his back spasms have subsided.
With the group on less shaky ground, it sounds as though Atkins is more concerned about depth than adding a front-of-rotation, playoff-caliber starter. As mentioned, he brought up the idea of getting optionable rotation depth. That is hard to come by, at Atkins admitted, since all clubs want to have contingency plans in place for inevitable injury situations.
That is something the Jays aren’t flush with. Jake Bloss is an option but perhaps not right away. He underwent UCL surgery in May of last year and is still in the process of getting back into a normal starter’s routine. He started making appearances in the Complex League in May, then pitched in Single-A and Double-A. He finally made a Triple-A start last week and made his second today. The first one saw him allow two earned runs over four innings, throwing 65 pitches. Today, he allowed five runs in 3 1/3, throwing 65 pitches again.
Atkins was asked about Bloss this week but didn’t want to put a timeline on him being a factor for the big league club “because there’s two factors there,” Atkins said. “One would be his health and recovery, and the second one would be his development.” Atkins added that the focus for the short term will be Bloss maintaining his health. “It’s not a time to push, it’s a time to ensure that he’s taking the next safe step.”
Beyond Bloss, guys like Dallas, Estrada and Ricky Tiedemann are on the roster. Tiedemann missed most of 2024 and all of 2025 due to Tommy John surgery. He has been waylaid by continued arm troubles here in 2026. He only just started making single-inning appearances in the Complex League this month. Dallas also missed 2025 while recovering from surgery. He hasn’t gone longer than four innings in any outing yet this year, majors or minors. Estrada spent some time on the injured list and has mostly been working stints of two to three innings over the past month.
It’s understandable that the Jays would want someone reliable in Buffalo, waiting for the call. Miles can’t be sent down as a Rule 5 pick. Woods Richardson is out of options. Corbin was a huge help to the club when everyone else was hurt but he has an 8.22 ERA over his past four starts. Scherzer is a big wild card right now, as he has a 10.23 ERA around his injuries this season but was reasonably effective at times last year. Bieber’s first start off the IL wasn’t encouraging, as he allowed four earned runs in 3 2/3 innings with his fastball velocity below where it was last year.
Things change fast and more developments are surely forthcoming between now and the deadline. The Jays will have some time to evaluate how things progress with all the guys in this group. It’s currently unclear which pitchers from other teams will be available, as so few clubs are clearly out of contention. As noted by Atkins, it’s shaping up to be a seller’s market, with so many clubs looking for pitching but so few having some to market.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images
