A depth add for Buffalo could instead be an unseen Blue Jays bullpen weapon in 2026

The Toronto Blue Jays have orchestrated some major moves this offseason to bolster their roster ahead of the 2026 MLB season. But at the same time, the Blue Jays have also made some smart minor signings to add depth not only to their Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons roster, but to the entire organization as a whole.

However, one of those supposedly depth pieces for Buffalo has now put himself in the conversation of being a potential unseen bullpen weapon for the Blue Jays heading into the regular season. That invaluable player signing is none other than right-handed pitcher Connor Seabold.

Nobody expected Connor Seabold to be in the mix for an Opening Day bullpen spot

After signing a minor-league contract with Toronto in late January this year, that included an invite to Spring Training, Seabold has taken full advantage of that opportunity with his new club. Taking a look at the numbers alone, it probably doesn’t tell the whole story as the 30-year-old right-hander currently sports an unsightly 7.20 ERA and 1.80 WHIP in five spring appearances for the Blue Jays.

But what has caught the attention of everyone has been his new found pitch velocity and strikeout ability that he has put on full display with Toronto, as first identified by Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling. For someone that had been averaging in the low 90s with his fastball for much of his MLB career, Seabold has been touching 96 mph regularly now with the Blue Jays. In doing so, as Zwelling has pointed out, he has produced MLB’s second-highest whiff rate at 46.8% this spring.

In total, 12 of the 15 total outs that Seabold has recorded in preseason for Toronto has come courtesy of the strikeout. But in also a boom-or-bust scenario, he has also been touched for four earned runs on five hits along with four walks over five innings of work. Nevertheless, the Blue Jays haven’t had such a wild strikeout artist in their system since Nate Pearson left town.

For Seabold, he had been struggling to find his niche in the major leagues since making his MLB debut with the Boston Red Sox in 2021. In 40 career games that had included 19 starts, he had compiled a less-than-stellar 1-11 record, 7.79 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, giving up 103 earned runs with 44 walks and 96 strikeouts in 119 innings pitched. Perhaps by reinventing himself now as a potential flamethrowing and shutdown reliever, Seabold can finally establish himself as a true big leaguer going forward.

As for the Blue Jays, if they end up adding such a weapon into their bullpen mix, it gives them a much-needed element that has been predominantly missing in their relief corps in recent years. Coupled together with the perplexing arm angle of Tyler Rogers along with the diversity of the rest of the returning Blue Jays relievers, all of a sudden the Toronto bullpen could be a position of strength entering the 2026 MLB season. More importantly, Seabold’s professional baseball career could finally take off.