Blue Jays: An early guess at how the 26-man roster will look

The bullpen

Last but not least is the bullpen, and it’s likely the group that’s the hardest to predict. Regardless, I’m still going to give it the ol’ college try here.

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1- Kirby Yates
2- Rafael Dolis
3- Jordan Romano
4- Ryan Borucki
5- Tyler Chatwood
6- David Phelps
7- Ross Stripling
8- Francisco Liriano

On paper, that actually looks pretty good to me. You’ve got a trio of hard-throwing, late-inning arms in Yates, Dolis, and Romano, all capable of closing out games. Borucki has transitioned well to the bullpen and is a nice southpaw weapon, and Phelps could be a solid addition for the middle innings. You have some length with Chatwood and Stripling, who could both start as well, and Liriano might be able to do that and bring a second left-handed arm to the ‘pen.

There will be other candidates like A.J. Cole, Joel Payamps, Tim Mayza, and more, and as I said, I suspect that they’ll keep shopping too. They’re in a strong position at the moment, provided the majority of their arms can stay healthy. And if they can, Atkins may have quietly put together a pretty strong bullpen.

The Blue Jays still have to produce on the field, but looking over my projected 26-man line is pretty encouraging for the most part. At worst, this is the strongest starting position they’ve been in since 2016, and that’s a very exciting thing to think about.