Rodriguez DFA’d, Nance Activated

toronto/" />Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Tommy Nance against the Arizona Diamondbacks

The Toronto Blue Jays have designated Yariel Rodriguiez for assignment to make room on the roster for the addition of Tommy Nance:

Rodriguez was initially DFA’d in December. He cleared waivers and was assigned to the AAA Buffalo Bisons. Things went pretty well for him there, as he revamped his pitch mix to lean more heavily on his splitter and struck out 25 batters in 13.2 innings with a 2.63 ERA. That performance earned him a recall to Toronto last month. Things haven’t gone as well at the big league level. Rodriguez has posted a 7.71 ERA across 10 appearances, striking out just 6 of 45 batters faced against a dozen hits and seven walks. He’ll most likely clear waivers again, as he’s still owed the remainder of a $5 million salary this season and $6 million in 2027, with a player option for $6.3 million in 2028 that’s all but certain to be picked up. Most likely, he’ll go back to Buffalo to continue to serve as depth and hope he can finally figure out how to apply his stuff effectively against big league hitters.

Nance returns after missing nearly a month with forearm discomfort. The team leaned heavily on the 35 year old righty early in the season, to the tune of 20 appearances and 21 innings in their first 45 games. He was delivering, with a 3.86 ERA and peripheral stats that suggested he deserved significantly better than that, but the heavy usage evidently took a toll. It doesn’t appear to have been a major issue, though, as he was back on a mound within a couple of weeks and now returns to Toronto after just one rehab outing in Buffalo. He’ll bring sorely needed support to a bullpen that’s had to come up with a league leading 62 innings over the past two weeks.

Hopefully that’s just the beginning of the cavalry arriving, as Dylan Cease and Max Scherzer seem likely to rejoin the club this week. The Jays have fared better than could reasonably have been expected since Cease’s injury forced them to work with what amounts to a three man rotation, going 7-6 over the two week span, but “Kevin and Trey and pray for off days” can only work for so long.

Welcome back Tommy, and happy trails probably not for the last time Yariel.