Don’t be surprised if Blue Jays make bold move with this top prospect in 2026

The Toronto Blue Jays' pitching staff has undergone a serious makeover this offseason. Gone are Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt, and (technically) Alex Manoah; in their stead, Cody Ponce and Dylan Cease have come to reinforce the rotation.

The situation is so crowded that José Berrios might not even have a spot within the pitching corps next season, which would make any further additions difficult to accommodate. And yet, there's a host of young pitchers in the organization just waiting for their chance — think about how Trey Yesavage blossomed as soon as get received his major-league opportunity.

Thus, even in a truncated or long-relief role, it shouldn't shock Blue Jays fans to see Ricky Tiedemann get an extended audition in the big leagues come Opening Day.

Ricky Tiedemann could force his way onto Blue Jays' Opening Day roster in spring training

Depending on who you ask, the Blue Jays' top pitching prospect could be any of a number of young arms. Yesavage probably deserves the distinction after his brilliant postseason run, but he's going to graduate from prospect status in short order. Jake Bloss has the pedigree, but he's still recovering from UCL surgery he underwent in May.

Ricky Tiedemann is more of a dark horse in that discussion, seeing as he hasn't even pitched 150 professional inning since the Blue Jays selected him in the third round of the 2021 MLB Draft. He hasn't pitched at all since July of 2024, when he underwent Tommy John surgery.

However, the team added him to the 40-man roster in November in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, and he's on track to be ready by spring training. The hard-throwing southpaw hasn't been the same since climbing four levels and striking out 44.1% of batters in 2023, but he's got a lethal two-pitch combination (fastball/slider) that could be dynamite out of the bullpen.

Of course, the Blue Jays have prioritized bringing Tiedemann up through the system as a starter, and there's no harm in giving him a chance to get his feet back under him in Triple-A after such a long layoff. Placing him on the 40-man roster was more about protecting him for the future, rather than guaranteeing him an opportunity in the present.

Still, in a rotation picture as crowded as the one the Blue Jays have, there could be incentive to get him some big-league experience now that he'll be using one of his precious few option years. The bullpen could stand to add another high-leverage lefty after Brendon Little, and every bullpen can use Tiedemann's level of velocity.

It may not be all that likely after a 20-month layoff, but if Tiedemann shows up to camp healthy and ready to go, his favorable roster circumstances and raw talent could earn him a leg up in the competition for the last few unclaimed spots on the pitching staff.