This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson’s Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
TORONTO -- Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Most of the Blue Jays’ big offseason additions are spending some quality time together on the IL.
Anthony Santander, Max Scherzer, Andrés Giménez, Yimi García and Nick Sandlin are all injured, and while some of them are closer to returning -- particularly Giménez -- the Blue Jays haven’t found much value in those external moves through the first two months.
Any competitive team needs to find some diamonds in the rough along the way, though, and the surprising twist this season has been the contributions of those players in the bullpen. Brendon Little has emerged as a dominant lefty while Mason Fluharty, Braydon Fisher, Paxton Schultz and Eric Lauer have already been far bigger parts of this bullpen than anyone expected.
This is a theme in Toronto on both sides of the ball. While the Blue Jays need their 2025 additions to get healthy and help build a postseason run, some of this roster has been built with small moves that didn’t seem like much at the time.
LHP Brendon Little
With a 1.40 ERA and a strikeout rate of 13.0 K/9 entering play Saturday, Little is suddenly a force in the bullpen, all of that potential the Blue Jays saw finally coming together. All this from a reliever they picked up in a deal with the Cubs for cash considerations in November 2023.
All of the credit here belongs to Little, who is an example of how development continues at the Major League level. These jumps aren’t reserved for top prospects, and pitching coach Pete Walker plays a key role in harnessing talent like this.
“You can talk about your horizontal break or your spin rate, then you digest that and Pete says, ‘Throw it here and don’t make a mistake with it,’” manager John Schneider explained. “He’s giving them confidence and keeping things pretty simple for them.”
RHP Braydon Fisher
After Cavan Biggio was designated for assignment last year, the Blue Jays flipped him to the Dodgers for a Double-A reliever and kicked in some cash to do it. Back came Fisher, who burst onto the scene with seven scoreless appearances before allowing five runs, including two home runs, in Saturday’s game against the A’s.
“We always have loved his stuff, especially the breaking ball,” Schneider said. “He was kind of like [Mason] Fluharty to me. He was right there, close, probably going to help in some way, and he’s been really damn good. I like his demeanor. I told him [Thursday] night that he was going to start [Friday] and he just said, ‘OK, sweet, can’t wait.’ He’s just been steady and he has really good stuff.”
RHP Paxton Schultz
Remember Derek Fisher? In early 2021, the Blue Jays shipped him to the Brewers for a player to be named. A few months later, that player was named Schultz.
Schultz has already started games for the Blue Jays and pitched well out of the bullpen, yet another example of continued development at the Major League level.
“I think Schultz even more than Fisher, really,” Schneider said. “Seeing Schultz just in a couple of games and watching his games in Triple-A, it’s almost like he’s executing at a higher level here, which is weird ... and which is great.”
3B Ernie Clement
Clement was released by the A’s midway through Spring Training in 2023 and signed a Minor League deal with the Blue Jays on March 14. It was just another camp signing, another body, another infielder who made a lot of contact in an organization already spilling over with them.
The 29-year-old has found a home with the Blue Jays, though, and is crushing left-handed pitching in 2025 to go along with his defense in the infield, which seems to be taking the jump from good to truly great. Entering play Saturday, Clement was tied with Alejandro Kirk for the team lead in WAR (FanGraphs) at 1.5. Not bad for a Minor League deal in the middle of March.
RHP Bowden Francis
Francis still belongs in this group as part of the 2021 deal when he came to the Blue Jays along with Trevor Richards for Rowdy Tellez. There weren’t many at-bats left for Tellez at that point and Richards, alone, proved to be a fine return with a couple of strong, versatile seasons for Toronto.
This trade is a lesson that, when there’s an extra prospect kicked into a trade, there’s a reason. Someone in the front office wanted them, and even though Francis is coming off a rough patch, the deal was a clear win for the Blue Jays.