<p>The bullpen may have been the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/">Toronto Blue Jays</a>&#8216; undoing in 2024, but they were a godsend by comparison this year. They were almost a full earned run better this year compared to last. Toronto&#8217;s relievers struggled mightily in the second half, but they kept this team afloat in September and were a major reason they hung on to win the American League East.</p>
<p></p>
<p>But now comes the arduous task of compiling a playoff roster and deciding which of these guys in the trenches — who helped you slog through the regular season — will now sit on the sidelines in the playoffs. With slots for only 13 pitchers for every postseason series, some pitchers will be left on the outside looking in.</p>
<p>However, the Blue Jays have plenty of options about whom to carry, whether it is their traditional high-leverage arms, a total wild card, to a few relievers who may be on the bubble. This is how I&#8217;d expect the bullpen to look for the Blue Jays in the playoffs (for the ALDS to start).</p>
<h2>The locks: Jeff Hoffman, Seranthony Dominguez, Brendon Little, Braydon Fisher, Mason Fluharty, Louis Varland</h2>
<p>This collective group had the biggest innings for the Blue Jays in the regular season, and John Schneider will also lean on them heavily in the postseason.<strong> Jeff Hoffman</strong> didn&#8217;t look it at times, but he finished the month of September strong with a 0.84 ERA in 11 appearances.</p>
<p>The biggest red flag for Hoffman was that his strikeout rate was a season-low 17.8% in September, by far his lowest of the year. That could have been a workload issue, as Hoffman reached a career-high 71 appearances in 2025, so that likely took a toll on his arm down the stretch.</p>
<p>Hopefully, these five days of rest will help Hoffman regain some of his velocity that tailed off during the last month of the season.</p>
<p><strong>Seranthony Dominguez</strong> isn&#8217;t the official setup man for the Blue Jays, but if there&#8217;s a pocket of right-handers coming up, you can bet Dominguez will be the guy to face them in the playoffs. Righties mustered a .132/.269/.182 slash line against Dominguez this season, so he&#8217;s the closest thing to a righty specialist the Blue Jays have.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="und" dir="ltr">Seranthony Domínguez&#39;s 2Ks in the 8th <a href="https://t.co/nPm89LKmTm">pic.twitter.com/nPm89LKmTm</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) <a href="https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1950644221452636649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>He wasn&#8217;t easy to watch some nights, but <strong>Brendon Little</strong> bounced back in September and finished his sophomore season even better in 2025. Once the book was out on his knuckle curve, he worked a cutter back into his repertoire and neutralized both right-handers and left-handers equally.</p>
<p>If a tough left-handed hitter is coming up in a late-game situation for the Blue Jays, you can bet<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-brendon-little-went-from-being-involved-in-small-trade-to-one-best-left-handed-relievers-in-baseball"> Little</a> is probably going to get the ball in that instance.</p>
<p>Like many others on this list, <strong>Louis Varland</strong>&#8216;s first and second halves were like night and day, sporting a 1.81 ERA in the first half and a 4.82 ERA in the second half. Varland didn&#8217;t look sharp in August, but he battled back and posted a strong September, one of his last appearances being as the opener for the bullpen game on September 25 against the Rays.</p>
<p>Despite his ability to touch 100 MPH, Varland tends to get knocked around a lot, so don&#8217;t expect him to be brought into situations where there are runners on base. With a clean inning, he has a little bit of wiggle room, but asking him to strand runners is a tough task.</p>
<p>And now we&#8217;re down to the<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nation-internal-award-roundup-mvp-best-starter-and-reliever-and-rookie-of-the-year"> rookies</a>, <strong>Braydon Fisher</strong> and <strong>Mason Fluharty</strong>. It says a lot that both guys weren&#8217;t just entrusted in big spots during the regular season; they <em>thrived</em>. Fluharty&#8217;s 1.1 innings of shutout relief in the division-clinching game and Fisher&#8217;s scoreless appearance helped seal the deal for the Blue Jays, like they did many games before.</p>
<p>With the way Fluharty has been missing bats as of late, I imagine he might be the first guy out of the bullpen in postseason games once the starting pitcher has been removed. His delivery is such a stark contrast from anything on the Blue Jays&#8217; pitching staff that it gives Fluharty an edge when opposing hitters have seen the same delivery for two or three ABs.</p>
<p>Although the Blue Jays demoted Fisher to Triple-A in late August, it wasn&#8217;t performance-based based and he was merely a victim of the numbers game. Fisher stormed back in early September and closed off a campaign that was arguably the best by a Blue Jays reliever in 2025.</p>
<p>Fisher isn&#8217;t a power pitcher and instead relies on his breaking ball and off-speed pitches, so Schneider will need to be a little more intentional about where and how he deploys Fisher out of the bullpen. He was especially tough on left-handed hitters this year, so that&#8217;s another toy in the Blue Jays&#8217; toy chest.</p>
<h2>The wildcard: Trey Yesavage</h2>
<p>It&#8217;s wild that a 22-year-old who started his season in Single-A has already elevated himself into the conversation of a playoff roster, yet here we are with young phenom Trey Yesavage. Had the Blue Jays not clinched the AL East, he would likely start a potential game in the AL Wild Card series, but that&#8217;s a moot point now.</p>
<p>In a scenario where Bassitt is back in the rotation, that may bump <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-trey-yesavage-jonah-tong-finish-candidates-top-pitch-minor-leagues">Yesavage</a> to the bullpen, which wouldn&#8217;t be a bad thing. In fact, that might be the best spot for him. Keeping him in the Blue Jays&#8217; back pocket as either a piggyback or bulk guy out of the bullpen would do wonders for the Blue Jays.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Trey Yesavage told me he’ll definitely be “fired up” and ready for his first start at Rogers Centre:</p>
<p>“I’m going to have the entire country of Canada behind me. I think I’ll be unstoppable, if that’s the case.” <a href="https://t.co/4koxlLtRax">pic.twitter.com/4koxlLtRax</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) <a href="https://twitter.com/thehazelmae/status/1971989518665572454?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Yesavage pitched in relief and started this season in the minors, so he&#8217;s no stranger to flipping back and forth. I think if the Jays roll the dice and give Max Scherzer a chance to start, that takes Yesavage out of the rotation. Instead, he could be a nuclear weapon for Toronto in relief.</p>
<h2>The &#8220;probably&#8221; guys: Yariel Rodriguez, Eric Lauer</h2>
<p>Maybe the Blue Jays have been careful about how they use <strong>Yariel Rodriguez</strong> is his first full year back as a relief pitcher, but isn&#8217;t it odd how few and far between his appearances have been as of late? He pitched in only two games last week during a critical stretch for the Blue Jays.</p>
<p>Especially in a short series like an ALDS, the Blue Jays need all hands on deck, and if <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/yariel-rodriguez-is-finding-sucess-in-high-leverage-situations-for-the-blue-jays">Rodriguez</a> is a guy who can only make two or three appearances, might his spot be saved for someone who can take the ball instead?</p>
<p><strong>Eric Lauer</strong> carved out a role as a reliable starting pitcher earlier this season, but his last handful of appearances may have tipped the Blue Jays&#8217; hand as to how they plan to utilize Lauer in the playoffs. He was electric in that bullpen day game last Thursday against the Red Sox, then secured the final out of the clinching game against the Rays on Sunday.</p>
<p>Not that things are lining up for the Blue Jays to have a bullpen day in the playoffs, but if they do, Lauer would be integral to an outing like that. Lauer is effective against lefties and righties, so he can toss multiple innings of relief or a short stint, which makes him the Swiss Army knife of Toronto&#8217;s bullpen.</p>
<h2>On the bubble: Tommy Nance, Justin Bruihl, Paxton Schultz, Dillon Tate</h2>
<p>Ideally, in the postseason, a team shouldn&#8217;t need a mop-up guy on the roster to soak up multiple innings, but occasionally, pitchers like <strong>Tommy Nance</strong> are good insurance policies to carry around just in case. His role on the playoff roster may hinge on what happens with Chris Bassitt, who figures to return to the roster for the ALDS series.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Big Game Tommy Nance.</p>
<p>What a statement. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueJays</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Thomas Hall (@Hall_Thomas_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Hall_Thomas_/status/1972047842597654932?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>With Lauer likely already occupying the multi-inning reliever role, Nance might be a little redundant in a bullpen that already has somebody in that role. If there are four starting pitchers joining the ALDS roster, that leaves room for only nine relievers on the roster.</p>
<p>The same goes for <strong>Justin Bruihl</strong>, <strong>Paxton Schultz</strong> and <strong>Dillon Tate</strong>. Aside from Bruihl, who is mostly just a lefty-specialist, every other player in this subset can throw multiple innings in relief. It may be matchup dependent, so who the Blue Jays pick out of this quartet may be determined by which opponent they&#8217;re facing, but it&#8217;s splitting hairs.</p>
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The bullpen may have been the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/">Toronto Blue Jays</a>' undoing in 2024, but they were a godsend by comparison this year. They were almost a full earned run better this year compared to last. Toronto's relievers struggled mightily in the second half, but they kept this team afloat in September and were a major reason they hung on to win the American League East.



But now comes the arduous task of compiling a playoff roster and deciding which of these guys in the trenches — who helped you slog through the regular season — will now sit on the sidelines in the playoffs. With slots for only 13 pitchers for every postseason series, some pitchers will be left on the outside looking in.

However, the Blue Jays have plenty of options about whom to carry, whether it is their traditional high-leverage arms, a total wild card, to a few relievers who may be on the bubble. This is how I'd expect the bullpen to look for the Blue Jays in the playoffs (for the ALDS to start).
<h2>The locks: Jeff Hoffman, Seranthony Dominguez, Brendon Little, Braydon Fisher, Mason Fluharty, Louis Varland</h2>
This collective group had the biggest innings for the Blue Jays in the regular season, and John Schneider will also lean on them heavily in the postseason.<strong> Jeff Hoffman</strong> didn't look it at times, but he finished the month of September strong with a 0.84 ERA in 11 appearances.

The biggest red flag for Hoffman was that his strikeout rate was a season-low 17.8% in September, by far his lowest of the year. That could have been a workload issue, as Hoffman reached a career-high 71 appearances in 2025, so that likely took a toll on his arm down the stretch.

Hopefully, these five days of rest will help Hoffman regain some of his velocity that tailed off during the last month of the season.

<strong>Seranthony Dominguez</strong> isn't the official setup man for the Blue Jays, but if there's a pocket of right-handers coming up, you can bet Dominguez will be the guy to face them in the playoffs. Righties mustered a .132/.269/.182 slash line against Dominguez this season, so he's the closest thing to a righty specialist the Blue Jays have.

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1950644221452636649

He wasn't easy to watch some nights, but <strong>Brendon Little</strong> bounced back in September and finished his sophomore season even better in 2025. Once the book was out on his knuckle curve, he worked a cutter back into his repertoire and neutralized both right-handers and left-handers equally.

If a tough left-handed hitter is coming up in a late-game situation for the Blue Jays, you can bet<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-brendon-little-went-from-being-involved-in-small-trade-to-one-best-left-handed-relievers-in-baseball"> Little</a> is probably going to get the ball in that instance.

Like many others on this list, <strong>Louis Varland</strong>'s first and second halves were like night and day, sporting a 1.81 ERA in the first half and a 4.82 ERA in the second half. Varland didn't look sharp in August, but he battled back and posted a strong September, one of his last appearances being as the opener for the bullpen game on September 25 against the Rays.

Despite his ability to touch 100 MPH, Varland tends to get knocked around a lot, so don't expect him to be brought into situations where there are runners on base. With a clean inning, he has a little bit of wiggle room, but asking him to strand runners is a tough task.

And now we're down to the<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nation-internal-award-roundup-mvp-best-starter-and-reliever-and-rookie-of-the-year"> rookies</a>, <strong>Braydon Fisher</strong> and <strong>Mason Fluharty</strong>. It says a lot that both guys weren't just entrusted in big spots during the regular season; they <em>thrived</em>. Fluharty's 1.1 innings of shutout relief in the division-clinching game and Fisher's scoreless appearance helped seal the deal for the Blue Jays, like they did many games before.

With the way Fluharty has been missing bats as of late, I imagine he might be the first guy out of the bullpen in postseason games once the starting pitcher has been removed. His delivery is such a stark contrast from anything on the Blue Jays' pitching staff that it gives Fluharty an edge when opposing hitters have seen the same delivery for two or three ABs.

Although the Blue Jays demoted Fisher to Triple-A in late August, it wasn't performance-based based and he was merely a victim of the numbers game. Fisher stormed back in early September and closed off a campaign that was arguably the best by a Blue Jays reliever in 2025.

Fisher isn't a power pitcher and instead relies on his breaking ball and off-speed pitches, so Schneider will need to be a little more intentional about where and how he deploys Fisher out of the bullpen. He was especially tough on left-handed hitters this year, so that's another toy in the Blue Jays' toy chest.
<h2>The wildcard: Trey Yesavage</h2>
It's wild that a 22-year-old who started his season in Single-A has already elevated himself into the conversation of a playoff roster, yet here we are with young phenom Trey Yesavage. Had the Blue Jays not clinched the AL East, he would likely start a potential game in the AL Wild Card series, but that's a moot point now.

In a scenario where Bassitt is back in the rotation, that may bump <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-trey-yesavage-jonah-tong-finish-candidates-top-pitch-minor-leagues">Yesavage</a> to the bullpen, which wouldn't be a bad thing. In fact, that might be the best spot for him. Keeping him in the Blue Jays' back pocket as either a piggyback or bulk guy out of the bullpen would do wonders for the Blue Jays.

https://twitter.com/thehazelmae/status/1971989518665572454

Yesavage pitched in relief and started this season in the minors, so he's no stranger to flipping back and forth. I think if the Jays roll the dice and give Max Scherzer a chance to start, that takes Yesavage out of the rotation. Instead, he could be a nuclear weapon for Toronto in relief.
<h2>The "probably" guys: Yariel Rodriguez, Eric Lauer</h2>
Maybe the Blue Jays have been careful about how they use <strong>Yariel Rodriguez</strong> is his first full year back as a relief pitcher, but isn't it odd how few and far between his appearances have been as of late? He pitched in only two games last week during a critical stretch for the Blue Jays.

Especially in a short series like an ALDS, the Blue Jays need all hands on deck, and if <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/yariel-rodriguez-is-finding-sucess-in-high-leverage-situations-for-the-blue-jays">Rodriguez</a> is a guy who can only make two or three appearances, might his spot be saved for someone who can take the ball instead?

<strong>Eric Lauer</strong> carved out a role as a reliable starting pitcher earlier this season, but his last handful of appearances may have tipped the Blue Jays' hand as to how they plan to utilize Lauer in the playoffs. He was electric in that bullpen day game last Thursday against the Red Sox, then secured the final out of the clinching game against the Rays on Sunday.

Not that things are lining up for the Blue Jays to have a bullpen day in the playoffs, but if they do, Lauer would be integral to an outing like that. Lauer is effective against lefties and righties, so he can toss multiple innings of relief or a short stint, which makes him the Swiss Army knife of Toronto's bullpen.
<h2>On the bubble: Tommy Nance, Justin Bruihl, Paxton Schultz, Dillon Tate</h2>
Ideally, in the postseason, a team shouldn't need a mop-up guy on the roster to soak up multiple innings, but occasionally, pitchers like <strong>Tommy Nance</strong> are good insurance policies to carry around just in case. His role on the playoff roster may hinge on what happens with Chris Bassitt, who figures to return to the roster for the ALDS series.

https://twitter.com/Hall_Thomas_/status/1972047842597654932

With Lauer likely already occupying the multi-inning reliever role, Nance might be a little redundant in a bullpen that already has somebody in that role. If there are four starting pitchers joining the ALDS roster, that leaves room for only nine relievers on the roster.

The same goes for <strong>Justin Bruihl</strong>, <strong>Paxton Schultz</strong> and <strong>Dillon Tate</strong>. Aside from Bruihl, who is mostly just a lefty-specialist, every other player in this subset can throw multiple innings in relief. It may be matchup dependent, so who the Blue Jays pick out of this quartet may be determined by which opponent they're facing, but it's splitting hairs.

<hr />

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<h2><strong>PRESENTED BY 6IX INNING STRETCH PODCAST</strong></h2>
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Love baseball? Don’t miss The 6ix Inning Stretch — the brand new podcast from The Nation Network, presented by Betway. Hosted by Toronto sports reporter Lindsay Dunn and 3-time MLB All-Star Whit Merrifield, this weekly show delivers insider stories, unfiltered Jays talk, player interviews, and expert analysis from around the majors. New episodes drop every Wednesday — listen on your favourite podcast platform or watch on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@bluejaysnationdotcom" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/@bluejaysnationdotcom&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1752618160475000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0OzeJ9qt2a5kxzVjmdwaEg">Bluejaysnation YouTube channel.</a>

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