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Blue Jays 2026 40-man Roster Review: Braydon Fisher stepped up to become an important piece of the bullpen
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Photo credit: © Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jan 10, 2026, 07:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 10, 2026, 06:29 EST
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Entering the 2025 season, it had been a long time since the Toronto Blue Jays had an out-of-nowhere reliever.
This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual 40-man roster review ahead of the new season. If you missed the most recent article, we looked at George Springer. In this article, we’ll look at Braydon Fisher.
The 25-year-old right-handed pitcher was selected in the fourth round of the 2018 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Over his first four professional seasons, Fisher didn’t really stand out, but had a strong 2023 season with the Dodgers’ Double-A team, posting a 2.77 ERA and 4.56 FIP in 65 innings pitched.
On Jun. 7, the Blue Jays designated Cavan Biggio for assignment, but were able to trade him to the Dodgers for Fisher. After the trade, Fisher posted a 2.76 ERA and 2.83 FIP in 16.1 innings pitched in Double-A, but struggled in Triple-A, posting an ERA above 6, just like he did for the Dodgers’ Triple-A team.
Fisher had a strong showing in Spring Training, striking out Aaron Judge in his final game. While he didn’t earn a spot out of Spring Training, he impressed, and after posting a 2.38 ERA in his first 11.1 innings pitched, the Jays recalled Fisher.
He quickly became an important reliever in the Blue Jays bullpen. From his big league debut on May 11 until Canada Day, Fisher gave up just five earned runs over 23.2 innings pitched. All five of those runs came in his only start, a game where he pitched an inning and a third. So Fisher pitched 22.1 innings of relief before giving up his first run. He also had a 37.1 K% and 5.6 BB% in this span, one of the best K-BB% during this stretch.
He finally gave up an earned run in relief against the Yankees on Jul. 3, then gave up two more on Jul. 20. There was a stretch in mid-August where he gave up four earned runs in two and one-third innings pitched, resulting in Fisher being sent down to the minor leagues for a reset. Upon rejoining the team in September, he threw 11.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs.
The league eventually figured out Fisher, as his K% dropped to 25.7% from Jul. 3 onward, while his ERA ballooned to 12.4%. Still, that didn’t matter as Fisher finished the 2025 season with a 2.70 ERA and 3.02 FIP in 50 innings pitched. Excluding the start, Fisher’s ERA out of the bullpen was 1.85, sixth-best in the league for relievers with 45 or more innings pitched. Only Aroldis Chapman, Edwin Díaz, Abner Uribe, Andrés Muñoz, and Randy Rodríguez had lower ERAs in relief.
Fisher didn’t perform nearly as well in the playoffs, giving up five earned runs in seven innings of work, striking out 31.3% of the batters he faced while posting a 12.5 BB%. However, he mainly pitched in garbage time. Two runs came in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series when the Jays were already down 7-3. Another two runs came in Game 1 of the World Series, as Shohei Ohtani hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh to make it 11-4 Blue Jays.
Fisher didn’t get many leverage opportunities in the postseason, but he figures to be an important piece of the Jays bullpen in 2026. Fangraphs’ Steamer projects he’ll post a 4.05 ERA and 4.08 FIP in 52 innings pitched, with a 25.1 K% and 9.9 BB%. The two other projection models believe he’ll pitch better, with a higher K% and BB%.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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