Relievers and the concept of volatility are virtually inseparable. The Blue Jays’ bullpens have been at the mercy of this random volatility for a few years, but have become a stronger unit, starting in 2025.

The 2026 iteration of the Blue Jays’ bullpen has managed to weather the storm well enough, despite being overexposed due to a slew of starting pitching injuries. While the Blue Jays have experimented with different relief pitchers this season, these five relievers emerged as the most trustworthy high-leverage relievers.

Braydon Fisher has played multiple roles for the Blue Jays even before hitting the All-Star break. He’s started games, come out in the middle to eat innings and also taken late-inning roles in a few high-leverage situations. He’s been the definition of a chameleon.

In 35.1 innings, Fisher owns a 2.55 ERA, 3.39 FIP and 0.96 WHIP. In comparison, he pitched a total of 50.1 innings in 2025 and recorded a 2.70 ERA, 3.02 FIP and 1.02 WHIP. Barring any disastrous outings, Fisher has pitched well in almost any and every situation. His contribution shouldn’t go unnoticed, given how he stepped up to fill the gaps left by injured starters.

If there’s anything to keep an eye out for, it would be Fisher’s strikeout rate. The 25-year-old has a 27.6% strikeout rate, which is lower than his 2025 season (30.7%). Should he reach the 30% range, then he will unlock another level as a versatile reliever.

Much like Fisher, Mason Fluharty has quietly pitched a significant bulk of innings for the Blue Jays.

In 25 innings pitched, the 24-year-old has a 3.96 ERA, 2.75 FIP and 1.40 WHIP. None of these numbers jumps out on paper, but his performances have translated into unspoken reliability, despite some shaky outings.

Fluharty’s 31.2% strikeout rate has been one of the stronger showings among low to medium-leverage relievers in the Blue Jays’ pen. Along with a robust strikeout rate, the left-hander has also successfully stranded many baserunners with a 75.3% left-on-base rate. He’s also suppressed his home run rate relatively well so far.

Overall, the Delaware native has filled the role of a middle reliever perfectly for the Blue Jays. He has also been an excellent opener, alongside Fisher, when Toronto needed to be creative with its pitching depth.

Tyler Rogers has been exactly what he was advertised as: a groundball specialist.

Two and a half months into the season, Rogers has a whopping 68.9 groundball rate percentage and hasn’t surrendered a home run yet.

Since the 2025 Blue Jays pitching staff largely failed to prevent home runs, a reliever with Rogers’ arsenal is a welcome addition. The 35-year-old has a 2.10 ERA, 2.91 FIP and 1.03 as of June 7. His strikeout rate may be at 15.1%, but that’s the tradeoff with such a high groundball rate.

In any case, Rogers has come in to manage the seventh and eighth innings mostly, proving that he is still able to get the job done without striking batters out.

Say no more. Louis Varland surpassed Mason Miller as the best closer in baseball. As of June 7, Varland pitched 34.2 innings and recorded a 34.1% strikeout rate. He now has a 0.26 ERA, 1.29 FIP and 0.95 WHIP, which propelled him to record the highest WAR among MLB relievers (1.6 WAR). Another drastic change the Minnesota native made was increasing his groundball rate from 46.8% (2025) to 60.8% (2026). His left-on-base rate is also at his career-high with an 81.8 percent.

When the Blue Jays traded for the 28-year-old, they knew they were signing up for a middle-to-late inning reliever. What they didn’t expect was the right-hander blossoming into one of the most reliable high-leverage arms around the league. Again, there’s no precise way to tell how sustainable Varland’s current performance is, but he has practically taken over as the de facto closer.

Manager John Schneider once mentioned that there will be a committee taking turns in the closer role. But the cat’s officially out of the bag now: Varland alone is the committee.

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