sounds like Blue Jays 4th round pick Micah Bucknam will miss the year due to injury
Blue Jays’ prospect Micah Bucknam placed on full-season injured list
Photo credit: © Ron Schloerb/Cape Cod Times / USA TODAY NETWORK
Apr 2, 2026, 14:45 EDT
There’s some bad news in the Toronto Blue Jays’ farm system, as Micah Bucknam was placed on the full-season injured list.
This one snuck under-the-radar a bit, as the move was made on March 26th, but numerous sources reported on the transaction, including Nolan (NWints30 on Twitter), a must follow.
It’s pretty unfortunate news for the New Zealand-born, Canadian-raised right-handed pitcher. The right-handed pitcher was originally drafted by the Blue Jays in the 16th round of the 2021 draft, but elected to go to college. Bucknam took a gap-year before joining Louisiana State University in 2023.
However, Bucknam didn’t see much action there, pitched just 16 innings out of the bullpen in 2023 and 2024, before transferring to Dallas Baptist for the 2025 season. There, he rebuilt his draft stock, throwing 62.1 innings with a 4.62 ERA and 3.67 FIP. Bucknam also struck out 29.4% of the batters he faced with a 9.2 BB%.
That led to the Blue Jays using their fourth-round pick to select the 22-year-old, the second time they called his name. It’s not uncommon for pitchers in the Blue Jays draft to not see any minor league action, think Trey Yesavage in 2024, and the same happened for Bucknam.
Unfortunately, he won’t make his professional debut until at least the 2027 season. Bucknam’s injury is unclear, but the pitcher injury bug has been quite prevalent in the organisation, both at the major league and minor league level. Right now, four of the Blue Jays’ eight starters are on the injured list, while a handful of minor leagues were also placed on the injured list to begin the season.
Top prospect Ricky Tiedemann is among the minor leagues that started the 2026 season on the IL, but he’s joined by Ryan Jennings, and Travis Kuhn on the 7-day injured list. Chay Yeager received Tommy John surgery ahead of Spring Training and is also on the full-season IL.
Additionally, T.J. Brock, Nic Enright, Josh Winckowski, Jake Bloss, Trenton Wallace, Jared Spencer, Ryan Watson, and Connor O’Halloran were all placed on the 60-day IL to begin the season. The Blue Jays signed both Enright and Winckowski knowing they’d miss a large portion of 2026, while they also knew Spencer had undergone shoulder surgery before they drafted him in 2025.
Hopefully, the recovery goes smoothly for Bucknam and the rest of the pitchers.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.