The hunt begins to discover this season’s versions of Mason Fluharty and Braydon Fisher.

That reliever duo became two of the brightest development stories within the Toronto Blue Jays’ pipeline last season. Even more impressive was that neither hurler appeared to be on the organization’s radar this time last year. In fact, they weren’t even on the 40-man roster heading into camp last spring, with both attending as non-roster invitees.

Several months later, both Fluharty and Fisher morphed into critical pieces inside the Blue Jays’ bullpen, forcing their way up the coaching staff’s trust-o-meter and earning key roles among a unit that came within two outs of securing the franchise’s first World Series title in 32 years.

This time around, they won’t be sneaking up on anyone. However, they’ll still need to compete for roster spots this spring, given the considerable bullpen surplus that resides between the major-league and Triple-A depth charts.

In all likelihood, that depth will be tested throughout this season as injuries and underperformances begin to arise. It happens every year for all 30 clubs. Relievers carry the most volatility of any position in baseball, and that’s why you can never have enough of them at your disposal.

Toronto’s bullpen enters this spring much deeper than it was a year ago. But even with the likes of closer Jeff Hoffman, Louis Varland, Yimi García, Tyler Rogers, Brendon Little, Tommy Nance, Fluharty and Fisher, it likely won’t be enough to survive the gruelling conditions of a 162-game schedule.

Thus, among the key items on this spring’s to-do list will be locating potential down-the-roster arms that could impact the big-league ‘pen later this season. Whether it’s a list of one, two or 10 (in this article’s case) possible candidates, Fluharty and Fisher’s success stories are proof that no stone should be left unturned.

If you followed Toronto’s off-season closely, you’ll probably remember that Lee was acquired from the Detroit Tigers a few days before reports of the Rogers signing began surfacing. But that’s not the only thing they both have in common. They also feature unconventional, but similar deliveries — Rogers posted last season’s lowest average release point (1.33 feet) in the majors, while Lee’s ranked third-lowest among right-handed pitchers (3.75 feet).

The 27-year-old, who’s already on the 40-man roster and logged 37.1 innings as a rookie with the Tigers last year, will likely begin this season as Triple-A depth. He could have an outside shot at breaking camp with the Blue Jays, though he’ll likely have a better chance of being the first reliever recalled from Buffalo.

Jennings, a fourth-round selection by Toronto in 2022, enters this spring having stacked multiple compelling performances atop each other over the past two seasons. He started making waves after finishing the 2024 campaign with a sub-one ERA and 27 per cent strikeout rate at Double-A, and he followed that up by punching out nearly one-third of his batters faced at Triple-A last season.

Controlling the strike zone more consistently will determine whether Jennings — whose four-pitch arsenal is headlined by his mid-90s sinker and high swing-and-miss slider (48.4 per cent whiff rate in ’25) — sticks at the major-league level. There’s a pathway to becoming a medium-to-high-leverage reliever, though.

The last few years have been extremely tough for Cooke, who missed all last season due to Tommy John surgery. The year prior, he spent nearly a month on the development list while battling himself on the mound, looking unrecognizable at times after issuing almost as many walks (28) as strikeouts (30) at Triple-A.

Three years ago, however, Cooke was arguably one of the best reliever prospects inside the Blue Jays’ system. Now healthy, the hard-throwing, 26-year-old righty — whose slider was primarily responsible for his 40.6 per cent strikeout rate in 2023 — will be a name worth remembering this season.

It’s been a rapid ascent for Garkow since joining the Blue Jays organization from Indy Ball less than two years ago. The 28-year-old righty conquered the Double-A circuit last season, impressing with a 1.22 ERA and 2.18 FIP across 37 innings, along with his 26.4 per cent strikeout-minus-walk rate (K-BB%). If his stuff holds against Triple-A hitters, particularly his plus changeup, he may soon be knocking on Toronto’s door.

The Blue Jays’ brass felt highly enough of Kuhn to select him during the minor-league portion of last November’s Rule 5 draft, and the 27-year-old righty will likely earn an opportunity at Triple-A this year after repeating Double-A in four consecutive seasons.

Kuhn’s low delivery and release point are the drivers behind his intriguing reliever profile. He doesn’t throw hard but induces ground balls over half the time with his sinker’s effectiveness, and he’s also shown flashes of producing above-average strikeout rates at the lower levels.

Now on his fourth team in two years, perhaps Kuhn can bring it all together in just his second Triple-A appearance — his first came in 2021, but only lasted one inning.

Tommy John surgery has cost Brock two seasons’ worth of development, after the 26-year-old missed all of ’25 and threw only 11.1 innings during his injury-shortened ’24 campaign between the Florida Complex League, Single-A and Double-A. While he’s yet to appear at Triple-A, the 100-m.p.h. flamethrower, who also features a devastating slider, could rise quickly if he stays healthy and trims his walk totals.

Coleman is another fascinating development story. He originally went to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 16th round in 2023, but chose not to sign and opted to return to LSU for his senior year. Then, following his ’24 collegiate season, the left-hander signed as an undrafted free agent with the Blue Jays before turning heads during his first professional season last year.

In 54 innings between Single-A and High-A, Coleman punched out close to 40 per cent of the batters he faced, earning the 24-year-old southpaw an eye-popping 27.8 per cent K-BB%. Of the 43 qualified pitchers in Toronto’s system to compile at least 50 innings pitched, only Trey Yesavage’s 30.6 per cent clip finished higher.

Coleman is mostly a sinker-slider lefty, but also possesses a four-seamer and an improving changeup for left-on-right matchups. As someone who hasn’t pitched above Vancouver, he still has plenty of developing ahead of him. Given the shortage of lefty reliever depth beyond Fluharty, though, he’s certainly a second-half promotion candidate worth following.

After spending the entire ’24 campaign at Single-A Dunedin, Rojas climbed multiple levels last season, first posting a sub-two ERA and FIP along with a remarkable 31.9 per cent K-BB% in 19 High-A appearances, before finishing his strong campaign with a 0.64 ERA over 11 Double-A outings.

The 23-year-old’s strikeout (21.6 per cent) and walk rates (9.8 per cent) both travelled in opposite directions down the stretch with the Fisher Cats, albeit while the young right-hander didn’t allow any home runs and had opponents hit just .111 against him in that span. Plus, with a starter’s-esque arsenal, there’s plenty of potential worth betting on here.

If Rojas doesn’t become an option for the Blue Jays this season, he likely will in 2027.

Once a promising starting pitching prospect, Gallagher fully converted to the bullpen in ’25, making all but one of his 38 appearances as a reliever between High-A and Double-A. And after producing an 18.2 per cent K-BB% across 75.2 innings, chances are his days as a starter are probably over.

Having said that, the 25-year-old righty — an 11th-round selection by the Blue Jays almost four years ago — provided multiple innings of relief for both the Canadians and Fisher Cats, working as deep as 3.2 frames last season. As Toronto searches for its Paxton Schultz replacement, Gallagher could be an option to occupy that innings-eater role.

On the surface, Larkin probably doesn’t stand out on paper, especially as a ninth-round selection from 2021. Digging deeper, though, you’ll find there’s a lot to like. He only allowed two home runs over 50 innings at Double-A last season, for example. And the 26-year-old righty was brilliant throughout the second half, pitching to a 2.37 FIP and 15.5 per cent K-BB% over his final 16 appearances — including zero home runs allowed.