Blue Jays lose bullpen depth piece to the Nationals through waivers

The Toronto Blue Jays have had a constant influx of relievers to help stabilize their bullpen and provide depth throughout their 2026 MLB season. But for one pitcher, their stay with the Blue Jays ended up being more short-lived than expected.

This past weekend, the Washington Nationalsclaimed veteran Matt Waldron off of waivers from the Jays, as per Sportsnet, to bolster their pitching depth. Toronto had previously designated him for assignment earlier in the week to make room for a bullpen reinforcement arm in Brendan Cellucci.

Matt Waldron didn’t have a lasting impression with the Blue Jays as he moves on to Washington

The Blue Jays have had mixed success with reclamation projects for relievers this season. That includes the likes of Joe Mantiply and Paul Sewald. However, the experiment with Waldron came to an end rather early as the 29-year-old appeared in only four games with Toronto. The knuckleballer certainly didn’t have his pitches dancing as he struggled to a dismal 10.38 ERA, 2.08 WHIP, along with giving up five earned runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.

At a time in which the Blue Jays need to make every game count, they can’t afford to have any bullpen piece in which they can’t trust to get outs.

Waldron appeared to be a solid back end of the rotation piece when he first joined the majors in 2023, debuting with the San Diego Padres. He posted back-to-back sub-5.00 ERA seasons while averaging over seven strikeouts per nine innings between 2023 and 2024. However, Waldron spent the bulk of the 2025 season down in the minors in San Diego’s organization and struggled this year in 10 appearances with the Padres as well. In 2026 year, the knuckleballer has compiled a 7.54 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, with 31 strikeouts in 37 innings pitched.

With the knuckleball pitcher currently being a dying breed in MLB, Waldron will aim to keep the rare pitch in its existence in his new opportunity with the Nationals.

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