3 Blue Jays relievers who’ve moved up the trust tree, 2 who’ve already moved down

Yariel Rodríguez moving down 

Following a decent MLB debut with the Jays in 2024, Rodríguez entered the offseason seemingly as the No. 5 starter in the Jays' rotation.

That changed in January, however, as the Blue Jays signed Max Scherzer to occupy one of the spots in the rotation, which led to Rodríguez losing his roster spot to Bowden Francis.

That decision was likely also made because of his horrendous spring training where he compiled a gaudy 9.31 ERA with 10 earned runs in just 9 2/3 innings. As a result, the 28-year-old right-hander ended up starting the 2025 year in the Jays’ bullpen. 

He hasn't done much better in the bullpen, as he's put up a less-than-stellar 9.00 ERA with three walks and four strikeouts in four innings of work. He also has yet to have an outing where he stopped a runner from reaching base.

He's still the de-facto swingman so he'll see some game action, but he needs to be better going forward.

Moving Up: Nick Sandlin

When the Jays made the big splash of acquiring Gold Glove winner Andrés Giménez in the offseason, everyone appeared to zero in on the promising young infielder, leaving Sandlin as the forgotten piece in the puzzle.

It doesn't look like anyone is going to forget about Sandlin any time soon.

The 28-year-old right-hander with a funky sidearm delievery has dazzled so far with the Jays.

Following a solid training camp in which he posted a 1-0 record with four holds and 3.18 ERA in 5 2/3 innings, Sandlin has gotten off to a strong start to the season.

Through four innings, he's held the opposition to just one run on two hits, along with four walks and five strikeouts.

The Jays have had some success with sidearmers in their bullpen like Adam Cimber and Mark Eichhorn, and it seems like they appear to have struck gold again in Sandlin.