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Blue Jays: Looking at which relief prospects have the potential for a Braydon Fisher-type season in 2026
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Photo credit: © Nathan Ray Seebeck - Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Dec 31, 2025, 09:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 31, 2025, 03:54 EST
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There were many reasons why the Toronto Blue Jays nearly won the World Series.
Unlike the 2024 season, where nearly everything went wrong, a whole lot went right in 2025. For the first time in a while, a young relief pitcher came out of nowhere and contributed significantly, as Braydon Fisher was involved in a minor trade in 2024 to an important piece of the bullpen last season. Moreover, Mason Fluharty had some massive moments for the team in 2025.
The Blue Jays bullpen is all but set in stone heading into the 2026 season with maybe one or two spots available. However, injuries can always happen and having healthy competition is never a bad thing.
In this article, we’ll take a look at a handful of relievers in the Blue Jays system who could make an impact like Fisher and Fluharty did in 2025.
Drafted in the round after Fisher in 2022 was T.J. Brock. The flamethrowing right-handed pitcher has missed most of the last two seasons, last season due to Tommy John surgery, but he could be set for a rapid ascent up the Blue Jays’ minor league ladder once he returns. Not only does Brock throw hard, but he also has a plus-plus slider and could easily become a high-leverage reliever.
The last time Brock was fully healthy was in 2023, his first full professional season. He had stellar results in High-A, but struggled in Double-A, posting a 6.68 ERA and 4.30 FIP in 32.1 innings pitched. While he had a high K% of 37.3% that season, Brock had a 9.9 BB% in 2023. If he can stay healthy and lower the walk rate, the Jays will have a homegrown high-leverage reliever.
Sticking with the 2022 draft, Ryan Jennings and Pat Gallagher are two other relievers to keep an eye on next season. Jennings, drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 draft, posted a 4.25 ERA and 5.50 FIP in 36 innings pitched with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons last season, on top of great results with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. With the Bisons, he had a 30.2 K%, but a 16.2 BB%.
Gallagher is a little further back, splitting his 2025 season between High-A and Double-A, mainly in a bulk relief role. Overall, he had a 1.90 ERA and 2.665 FIP in 75.2 innings pitched, with a 27.3 K% and 9.1 BB%. The 11th-rounder in the 2022 draft had a sub-3.00 ERA and FIP with the Fisher Cats.
Selected in the draft before Brock, Fluharty, Gallagher, and Jennings was Connor Cooke. Like Brock, Cooke missed all of last season due to Tommy John surgery, but looked great in 2023, as he had a 4.06 ERA and 2.71 FIP in 44.1 innings pitched between High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A. He didn’t have as good of a 2024 season, authoring a 4.55 ERA and 5.56 FIP in 31.2 innings pitched.
Cooke is a big strikeout arm, finishing the 2023 season with a 40.6 K%, but that dropped to 20.3% in 2024 along with an 18.9 BB%. The 26-year-old features a mid-90s fastball, along with a slider with plenty of spin, as well as a changeup.
Take a guess which pitchers finished in the top three for strikeout percentage in the Jays system last season (min: 50 innings pitched). Trey Yesavage is an easy guess,  so too is Johnny King. Ranking third was 28-year-old Nate Garkow.
Signed in 2024 as a minor-league free agent, Garkow has put up good results in affiliate ball, finishing with a 1.88 ERA and 2.74 FIP in 24 innings pitched in 2024. He had a tough start to his season in High-A, but finished the year in Double-A where he had a 1.22 ERA and 2.18 FIP in 37 innings pitched over 29 games. Overall, he finished with a 38.7 K%, with an elevated 14 BB%.
What’s more surprising is that Garkow doesn’t throw hard, averaging in the upper-80s and lower 90s. His bread and butter is his changeup, one of the better in the Blue Jays’ system. Of course, he’s doing this against much younger batters, so we’ll see how he does once reaching Triple-A.
Immediately following Garkow on that list is Javen Coleman, an undrafted free agent. The left-handed pitcher made his professional debut in 2025, splitting his time between Single-A and High-A. While he didn’t have results with the Dunedin Blue Jays (4.45 ERA and 3.65 FIP in 28.1 innings pitched), the 24-year-old dominated High-A, posting a 1.40 ERA and 1.15 FIP in 25.2 innings pitched.
Altogether, Coleman finished the 2025 season with a 3 ERA and 2.46 FIP in 54 innings pitched between the two levels, striking out 38.1% of batters and finishing with a 10.3 BB%.
There are some other names to keep an eye on as well, such as Kai Peterson, Yondrei Rojas, and Bo Bonds, but they’re all a little bit further away than the other players listed. That said, the Jays have a ton of interesting relief pitching prospects in the upper-minors.
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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