Yariel Rodriguez will start the season in Triple-A, and after making a few starts, he could sign with the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays’ Opening Day pitching rotation is starting to take shape like a puzzle.
Francys Romero revealed on Tuesday afternoon that Yariel Rodríguez, the pitcher for the Blue Jays, will start two or three games for Triple-A Buffalo instead of being on the team’s roster when they break camp and travel to Tampa Bay.
This last off-season, Rodríguez was Toronto’s biggest acquisition, agreeing to a $32 million, five-year contract. However, this Sportsnet piece from the Associated Press states that Rodriguez could earn up to $47.5 million as a starter and $37.5 million as a reliever.
Before the Spring Training this year, Rodríguez hadn’t pitched since the 2023 World Baseball Classic, in which he pitched 7.1 innings with a 2.45 ERA, 10 walks, and 6 strikeouts. In Nippon Professional Baseball, Rodríguez pitched for three seasons before that, finishing with a 3.03 ERA in 175.1 innings pitched, 25.4 K%, and 10.4 BB%. He pitched 54.2 innings with a 1.48 ERA in his final season in Japan.
Despite having back spasms, the 27-year-old made his eagerly anticipated debut near the end of Spring Training. Rodríguez concluded on March 17 with a record of 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, and a 4.50 ERA. He finished with a line of 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, and 1 K in his next start. In total, Rodríguez concluded Spring Training with a 1.80 ERA, 6.94 FIP, and an even 16.7 BB% and K% in 5 innings pitched.
Rodríguez’s fastball reached a maximum velocity of 96.5 mph and an average of 94.3 mph in the first game against the Minnesota Twins, per Baseball Savant data. Additionally, he had a 25 whiff rate in that game, with one swing and miss from the slider, one from the fastball on five swings, and one swing and miss from the splitter on the one swing he received.
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