It’s already been quite a year for many of the Toronto Blue Jays’ exes, including Ryan Yarbrough.

Back in spring training, Yarbrough was seemingly poised to break camp as a multi-inning reliever — a role he excelled in after arriving via trade midseason in 2024 — for the Blue Jays’ bullpen, or so we thought. Instead, the 33-year-old was granted his release shortly after triggering the opt-out clause in his contract, making him a free agent.

The decision to part ways with Yarbrough was surprising for many reasons, the first of which was that he had pitched so well in his first stint last season — earning a 2.01 ERA with 26 strikeouts across 12 relief appearances — that bringing him back for another go-around seemed like a no-brainer.

There was also the uncertainty with Max Scherzer, whose spring build-up was impacted multiple times by a lingering thumb injury — limiting him to just one start this season — that’s followed him since 2023. Given the organization’s starting pitching depth, or lack thereof at the major-league level, it would’ve made plenty of sense to stash Yarbrough down in the ‘pen as a break-in-case-of-emergency length option.

But Toronto’s brass ultimately decided there wouldn’t be enough room to carry the veteran southpaw, believing he’d share a similar bulk-type role to Yariel Rodríguez, who’s now pitching in high-leverage situations and has become one of the more trustworthy relievers in recent weeks for manager John Schneider.

There’s no question the Blue Jays misjudged this situation at the time. They felt there wasn’t a spot on the 26-man roster for Yarbrough heading into the 2025 campaign. But now, after completing one-third of the schedule, with Scherzer still working his way back from injury and the team having already cycled through several arms in the fifth starter’s spot, they probably wish they could have a do-over.

Between the likes of Easton Lucas (four starts), Eric Lauer (two starts), José Ureña (two starts), Scherzer (one start), and Rodríguez (one opener start), that group has combined for minus-0.8 fWAR across 34.2 total innings. Meanwhile, Yarbrough — inking a one-year, $2-million contract with the New York Yankees — has landed on his feet following a rocky start, posting a 2.14 ERA with 34 strikeouts over his previous 10 outings. Overall, he’s been worth 0.2 fWAR in 35.1 innings.

Most recently, the 6-foot-5 lefty has transitioned to a starting role for the Yankees, making his first of four starts on May 3 in place of Clarke Schmidt, who was scratched due to injury. And he’s kept his starter’s job ever since.

Yarbrough’s first start with the Bronx Bombers wasn’t anything special. He walked three over four innings but only allowed a run on one hit while striking out a pair. His next time out was more of the same, tossing five innings of two-run ball on six hits and a walk with two punchouts. The last two, though, have been nothing short of dominant.

It’s been a massive swing-and-miss display lately, as Yarbrough has racked up 15 combined strikeouts in 11 innings, allowing one run in each start and only one total free pass.

It is worth pointing out that Yarbrough’s four starts have come against some of the weaker-hitting lineups in the majors, facing the Tampa Bay Rays, Athletics, Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels. At the same time, he isn’t the same pitcher he was during his lone stint with the Blue Jays last year.

Since joining the Yankees, pitching coach Matt Blake has gone to work with the now-converted starter, making a few tweaks to his pitch usage, essentially shelving his four-seamer for more cutters.

With Toronto, Yarbrough’s cutter was essentially an afterthought, as he only threw 10 during the final two months of the ’24 campaign. This season, however, it’s become his second-most-used pitch versus righties, throwing it a third of the time. He’s also upped the usage of his changeup in those matchups, becoming more of a cutter-changeup pitcher while mixing in his sinker, sweeper and four-seamer.

The reason behind that is his changeup — responsible for seven of the 15 strikeouts over his last two starts — has morphed into a much more effective weapon, adding four inches on average of induced vertical break, per Baseball Savant. And the results have been extremely encouraging thus far, as opponents are hitting just .148 against it with a .259 SLG and .230 xwOBA in 28 plate appearances, swinging and missing nearly half the time.

For context, Yarbrough’s changeup posted a .246 OPP AVG, .333 SLG and .274 xwOBA across 60 plate appearances split between the Blue Jays and Dodgers last season, earning a subpar 22.7-per-cent whiff rate.

There will come a time when the Yankees no longer need Yarbrough as a starter, with reigning AL Rookie of the Year winner Luis Gil (strained lat) likely headed out on a rehab assignment at some point next month. Upon his eventual return, the plan will likely involve moving the lefty hurler back to his more traditional, multi-inning role in the ‘pen.

As the Blue Jays — who’ll host the Yankees in Toronto for a four-game series starting on June 30 — watch from afar, you can’t help but wonder how their search for a viable fifth starter may have been impacted had they held onto Yarbrough rather than pushing him into the arms of one of their AL East rivals.