The Toronto Blue Jays rotated through numerous arms last season in the bullpen. Injuries sent some players to the sidelines, such as Yimi Garcia, Tommy Nance, and Joe Mantiply, while others, like Jeff Hoffman, Yariel Rodriguez, and Brendon Little, struggled to find any consistency on the mound, making way for a few others to get a shot from the internal rankings.

Tack on the revolving door of bullpen games and numerous players riding the options bus to Buffalo to bring in fresh arms (we salute you, CJ Van Eyk and Chad Dallas), and there’s a reason why the Jays used 35+ arms last season. The bullpen wasn’t the focal point of where things went wrong for the Jays last season, especially if you consider how taxed that group was come September, but it’s interesting to see how the group will take shape next year with a few ‘could be a starter, could be a reliever’ types in the mix.

At the 2026 trade deadline, the Jays went back to an old friend in the Minnesota Twins for relief help. Sending reliever Jeff Hoffman to the AL Central squad, the Jays acquired a package of players in return: LHP Dasan Hill, INF Dameury Pena, and RHP John Klein. 

Of the group, Klein had the most upside for contributing on the big league squad in short order.

He started the 2026 season in Triple-A St. Paul and landed with the club for seven games the season before. With the Saints this past campaign, Klein wasn’t finding much success.

Across 24 outings, 14 of which came in relief, he allowed 42 earned runs through 64 innings with 63 hits (8.9 H/9) and 34 walks (4.8 BB/9) and an elevated 2.0 HR/9 rate. The strikeout material was working, with the southpaw tossing a 10.4 K/9, but he was struggling with the long-ball and the command issues.

Post-trade, Klein went down to Buffalo, spending a majority of the season in Triple-A before a quick cup of coffee with the big league club to cap off the season. It wasn’t his first foray in the Major Leagues – he appeared in three games for the Twins in May – but it was a glimpse of what to expect from the right-hander for the Jays faithful. Facing the Cincinnati Reds, he allowed two hits, two walks, two runs (both unearned) while striking out five on 66 pitches.

Klein is an interesting player. He works with a five-pitch mix, relying on his four-seamer for almost half of his pitches while mixing in a changeup, curveball, cutter, and sweeper. The fastball sits in the mid-90s but features plus spin, which benefits the strikeout rates for the right-hander. He doesn’t overpower hitters, but can find different ways to strike you out while also flirting with command issues and opposing home runs.

It will also be interesting to see what the Jays choose to do with Klein next season.

Across five seasons in the minors, he’s made 100 appearances – 67 of which came as a starter. Over the past couple of seasons, he has slowly started to become more of a bullpen arm compared to a starter, but he can still give the manager multiple innings with ease if needed. After the trade deadline, he made five starts for the Bisons, but allowed 19 earned runs through 22.1 innings. The Jays don’t necessarily need starting depth with guys like Jake Bloss, Ricky Tiedemann, Cody Ponce, and Spencer Arrighetti entering the new season looking for a rotation spot, but as the 2026 season showed the Blue Jays front office, you can never have enough depth.

He will have to reel in the command issues, but the high strikeout numbers and ability to pitch multiple innings are making the case for a spot in the bullpen more attractive, especially if the Jays give Spencer Miles a shot at starting.

Klein will enter Spring Training looking for a spot on the big league roster; the bigger question will be what that spot looks like.

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