Hearing José Rodriguez will join the Jays in Texas 👀
Report: José Rodríguez set to join Blue Jays in Arlington
Photo credit: © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Sep 18, 2026, 07:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 18, 2026, 05:36 EDT
The Toronto Blue Jays’ carousel of relief pitchers has continued.
According to Gate 14’s Avery Chenier, José Rodríguez is set to join the team in Arlington ahead of the series against the Texas Rangers.
The Blue Jays acquired Rodríguez from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Sebastian Rodriguez on September 1st. A corresponding move will need to be made as J. Rodríguez isn’t on the team’s 40-man roster.
Rodríguez, 25, has been pitching professionally since 2021. Before the trade, the hard-throwing righty authored a 3.38 ERA and 3.84 FIP in 29.1 innings of work with the Dodgers’ Triple-A team. He’s appeared in just three games with the Buffalo Bisons, surrendering four runs (three earned) over three and one-third innings of work.
The right-handed pitcher’s scouting report is pretty simple: he features a high-velocity fastball, but it’s the secondary pitches (slider and changeup) that really stick out. Rodríguez’ biggest flaw is maintaining command, as he has a season BB% of 14%, which is pretty much the story of his career.
Diving a bit deeper into the underlying numbers, Rodríguez’ fastball has averaged 96.6 mph this season, a pitch he throws 27.4% of the time. His best pitch is by far his changeup, which has an incredible 69.5 whiff %. The slider isn’t too shabby either, sitting in the mid-80s and earning a 39.6 whiff percentage.
It’s worth noting that if the Blue Jays miraculously end up making the postseason, Rodríguez will be ineligible to pitch as he wasn’t in the organization by the end of August. A player must be on the 40-man roster by August 31st, but if there is an injury, a team can petition to the Commissioner’s Office to make them eligible. That was the case for Trey Yesavage last season, who was added to the 40-man roster in mid-September.
The Blue Jays’ playoff hopes are dwindling, but hopefully Rodríguez can help the team stay in the race until the end of the season. At worst, this is an audition for next season.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, DFOEdmonton, and DFOCalgary. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.