Blue Jays sign former Orioles pitcher as fifth starter question lingers

The Toronto Blue Jays have added to their pitching depth by bringing in a former Baltimore Orioles reliever. According to the New York Post's Jon Heyman, the Blue Jays have signed pitcher Matt Bowman to a minor-league contract.

With Bowman being a relief pitcher, he is not being brought in to solve the Blue Jays' ongoing fifth starter question. He will instead provide the Blue Jays with another depth pitcher in their system who has a good amount of major league experience.

Bowman has not pitched at the major league level yet this season, but did pitch for Triple-A St. Paul in 2026 before being released. In 14 games with Triple-A St. Paul, the 6-foot righty had a 1-1 record, a 1.69 ERA, and 25 strikeouts. With this, the Chevy Chase, Maryland native had a strong start to the campaign in Triple-A and will now be looking to build on it after earning this minor league deal from the Blue Jays.

Bowman appeared in 20 games this past season with the Orioles, where he had an 0-1 record, a 6.20 ERA, and 18 strikeouts. This is after he had a 1-0 record, a 4.40 ERA, and 24 strikeouts in 25 appearances split between the Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners, and Orioles during the 2024 season.

Bowman has made 231 career major league appearances over seven seasons, where he has an 8-14 record, a 4.38 ERA, and 194 strikeouts. Now, he will be looking for the opportunity to build on these career stats after signing this minor-league contract with the Blue Jays. However, he will first need to impress to earn a spot on the Blue Jays' major league roster.

Blue Jays should not be done making moves after signing Bowman

While bringing in a veteran pitcher like Bowman could benefit the Blue Jays if he gets called up to the majors, it is clear that Toronto should not be done making moves yet. With the Blue Jays dealing with significant injury trouble and currently sporting a 27-29 record, they should be aiming to make some legitimate upgrades to their group.

The Blue Jays' top need is to improve their starting rotation. Bringing in another star starter would be huge for the Blue Jays, but it would also not hurt for them to bolster the bottom half of their rotation. It will be interesting to see what moves the Blue Jays make from here after bringing in Bowman.

There could be further moves already being planned in Toronto. They had to shuffle around some bodies in the bullpen, sending Tanner Andrews back down the Triple-A Buffalo and calling up Austin Voth. Voth was in the bullpen on Wednesday for the Blue Jays' game against the Marlins, but there will likely be a futher move made ahead of Thursday night's game (May 28) against the Baltimore Orioles.

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