Blue Jays reliever Matt Dermody promoted to AAA amid dominant 2016

The Blue Jays selected Matt Dermody in the 28th round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of Iowa

The Toronto Blue Jays have promoted left-handed reliever Matt Dermody from the double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats up to the triple-A Buffalo Bisons.

Dermody opened the season with Advanced-A Dunedin, where he spent the entirety of his 2015 season, but has enjoyed a breakout year at age 25 (he turned 26 on July 4th).

Dermody’s road to the MLB is a fascinating one as he was drafted three times before joining the Blue Jays in round 28 of the 2013 Draft. Pittsburgh selected him in round 26 (2009), Colorado selected him in Round 29 (2011), and Arizona selected him in round 23 (2012).

Coming off a 2015 in which he allowed a 4.21 ERA and struck out 7.2 batters per nine innings, he’s bounced back with a 1.96 ERA with Dunedin (18.1 IP) and an even stronger 0.92 ERA with New Hampshire (19.2 IP). While the Blue Jays have been relatively conservative with promoting their younger prospects, Dermody is earning the nod for a second time already.

“We challenged him to be an effective left-on-left guy, gain a little deception, tighten up his slider and he was very effective in Dunedin,” Gil Kim, the Blue Jays director of player development told Shi Davidi two weeks ago. “He deserved the challenge of New Hampshire and he’s continued to go out there and throw strikes and be effective.”

Across the two levels he has struck out 9.7 batter per nine and walked just three in 38.0 innings.

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Given the Blue Jays’ instability in the bullpen when it comes to left-handed arms, a continued performance from Dermody could eventually push him into the MLB-level conversation. Brett Cecil is firmly entrenched, but Aaron Loup, Franklin Morales, Chad Girodo, and Pat Venditte have all cycled through the second spot.