Blue Jays cuts of former Twins, Pirates pitchers may signal their strategy at MLB Draft

The Toronto Blue Jays have parted ways with Josh Fleming and Justin Topa according to MLB Trade Rumours. Both pitchers were on minor league deals and playing for the Toronto's Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo.

By cutting Fleming and Topa the Blue Jays may have an eye toward moving some of their younger pitching prospects up the ladder, especially with the upcoming MLB draft, set to take place on July 11-12 as part of MLB All-Star week. This season they have gotten some strong performances out of players in their lower minor levels.

Players like Seojun Moon (21 innings pitched, 10.29 K/9 in FCL), Carson Messina (27.1 innings pitched, 11.85 K/9, 3.29 ERA and 3.57 FIP in FCL and A-Ball), Johnny King (61.2 innings pitched, 12.11 K/9, 2.92 ERA in High-A), and Nolan Perry (54.2 innings pitched, 13.99 K/9, 2.47 ERA in A-Ball, High-A, and AA) have all shown promise this year within Toronto's system.

Perry, having climbed three levels already is unlikely to make another jump before the end of the year (although Trey Yesavage did climb five levels a year ago), but the other guys could be right on his heels by moving up another rung themselves.

The Blue Jays are also expected to go heavy on the pitching side at this year's MLB Draft. Several MLB Mock Drafts have the Blue Jays targeting a player like Logan Reddemann out of UCLA or Jack Radel out of Notre Dame with their first pick. After going slightly position player heavy last year, they could follow that up by sticking with the hurlers.

By adding more pitchers to the organization, the Blue Jays would be looking to give some of those guys some innings on the mound in their system before the summer is over, and that creates the spin off effect of cutting other guys loose.

Fleming and Topa weren't primed for a long run with the Blue Jays

Fleming did have a brief stint with the Blue Jays this year, appearing in a three-inning relief role on April 6. The Blue Jays designated him for assignment the next day, and he returned to the Blue Jays a few days later, signing a new minor league deal.

Topa began this season with the Minnesota Twins, but posted an 8.05 ERA in 19 innings and was then DFA'd by the AL Central club in May. The Blue Jays signed him to a minor league deal on May 30. The 35-year-old right hander pitched in eight games for Buffalo with a 3.38 ERA with four strikeouts in eight innings.

It's an unfortunate drop off for Topa who had two very effective seasons in 2023 and 2025, both before and after dealing with left patellar tendinitis in 2024, which limited him to three games that year. In those three seasons combined, Topa pitched to a 2.1 bWAR with a 3.15 ERA in 132 games, including one start, with the Seattle Mariners and the Twins. He allowed just six home runs over 131.1 innings pitched. While he wasn't a particularly high strikeout pitcher (112 K's) he also limited walks, pitching to a 3.07 FIP, 1.26 WHIP and 2.5 BB/9.

The left-hander Fleming has struggled over his last few appearances at the major league level. His three innings with the Blue Jays this year was his first taste of MLB action since pitching in 25 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2024. He pitched in 31.1 innings that season and accumulated a 4.02 ERA with 17 strikeouts and a1.53 WHIP.

However, he's put up solid numbers with the Bison's this year, posting a 3.08 ERA in 64.1 innings in 13 appearances (12 starts). He's also posted a 1.5 BB/9 rate and 1.21 WHIP. He still doesn't strikeout a ton of hitters (51 K's) but does get a lot of hitters to pound hits into the ground, posting a 64.3% ground ball percentage.

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