With the 2026 season being a rough go so far for the Blue Jays, there have been some notable issues that have flared up all season, one of which is a taxed starting rotation and bullpen. In turn, the club addressed the issues by bringing in Patrick Corbin on a whim to fill the rotation depth, and also bringing in arms like Joe Matinply and Austin Voth to provide some depth.

Unfortunately, with injuries to the starting rotation and bullpen arms like Brendon Little and Jeff Hoffman having brutal stretches to start the season, there is still plenty of baseball left and some more room for opportunities.

With the Buffalo Bisons’ season also approaching 24 games into their season, we have seen players like Eloy Jimenez make the roster and make their impact felt, making it hard to decide corresponding moves when the likes of Trey Yesavage, Jose Berrios, George Springer, and co. are all hopefully do back in the coming games. Some names in the Bisons are slowly appearing on the Blue Jays’ radar, and it would not be surprising to see some get the chance to pitch in the majors shortly.

It’s still kind of hard to believe that Yariel Rodriguez was removed from the 40-man roster following the 2025 season. Among relievers last season, Rodriguez proved to be incredibly valuable out of the bullpen in 66 games as he recorded a 3.08 ERA and 1.4 WAR across 73 innings of work. He wasn’t without his warts, but he also provided some quality innings that at least felt like he was warranted a spot on the bullpen (and the 40-man) heading into the new year.

The big concern with Rodriguez was how he ended last season, as the second half was a lot less consistent when it came to his command and allowed more walks across the second half of the season. After a tough ALDS and ALCS, where he had a 10.13 ERA across two and two-thirds innings, he was removed from the postseason roster for the World Series. This led to his DFA.

Fast forward to 2026, and the Cuban product has pitched to a 3.86 ERA in seven games in Triple-A, including starting a game as an opener. Across the minor leagues, Rodriguez has the second-highest swinging strike percentage with 21.7% of his pitches generating whiffs in the batter’s box. He’s due $7 million this season, so with names like Tommy Nance starting to struggle, we could see Rodriguez return to the majors should the team want to add a fresh arm to the bullpen as the Blue Jays head into May.

A name that many Blue Jays fans forget, as this transaction fell way under the radar amid the numerous moves the Jays made this season.

Chase Lee was acquired by the Blue Jays back in December for minor league pitcher Johan Simon, providing some reliever depth in Triple-A. Lee is a sidearm pitcher who was mostly used in low-leverage spots with the Detroit Tigers. While a 4.10 ERA in 32 games last season is not exactly appealing, he is a project that the Blue Jays were willing to take a chance on. Lee has a solid fastball/sinker combination and also throws a sweeper, which batters hit at a .356 average against, surrendering five of his seven home runs.

So far with the Bisons, Lee has pitched to a 1.46 ERA across eight games in Buffalo and recorded 10 strikeouts over that span as of writing. In his last outing against the Columbus Clippers, he struck out the side over an inning of work, leading to a 5-3 Bisons win.

With Tyler Rogers being the primary submarine side-arm pitcher in the bullpen, the team may look to try to add another side-arm pitcher who also has two minor league options left. The big difference between Rogers and Lee is that Lee generates strikeouts (36 in 2025), while Rogers focuses more on soft ground ball contact. Plus, his nickname is ‘The Viper’. How can you not love that?

While Joe Matinply and Mason Fluharty are the Blue Jays’ primary left-handed relievers as of now, the team is always looking to add pitching depth. In the context of left-handers, Brandon Little is likely the next name on the depth chart, especially since he’s found his groove since being optioned to Triple-A on April 5th.

However, Michael Plassmeyer comes into play as another depth arm that could be rewarded for his quality of play in the minor leagues. Across seven outings, he owns a 0.93 ERA with seven strikeouts across 9 2/3 innings. While Plassmeyer has only seen a handful of games in the majors and a 9.82 ERA to boot, a lot can happen in a short amount of time.

Plassmeyer himself is not overly flashy; his fastball only reaches 88 MPH, but he also factors in a slow-average slider, as well as a changeup, sinker, and cutter. Despite the small sample size with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022 and 2023, his changeup saw a great whiff rate of about 35% across both seasons, proving he is very reliant on batters chasing his stuff once he hits his spots in the strike zone. While Little leap frogs him slightly with the 2025 he had, Plassmeyer is another low-leverage option should the team want to stay in-house for a left-hander with good swing and miss stuff.

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