Former Blue Jays draft pick gets key outs for White Sox in series finale

The Toronto Blue Jays needed a rally. After taking a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh on Sunday against Chicago, the White Sox retaliated right back, scoring three of their own in the top of the eighth at Rogers Centre. The home side, now down 4-2, have made a habit out of coming from behind and winning games late, and they hade the right guys at the plate to get the job done in the bottom of the eighth with former Blue Jays reliever Brandon Eisert on the mound. However, Eisert did his job and stuffed out any momentum the Blue Jays looked at building in that inning.

Former Blue Jays draft pick gets key outs for White Sox in series finale

The lefty Eisert was originally drafted in the 18th round of the 2019 MLB draft by the Blue Jays and it took him until 2024 to get to the big leagues. He climbed through the lower levels of the minor leagues rather quickly, going from A-ball to Double-A in the summer of 2021. He would then get the call up to Triple-A Buffalo where he would spend the majority of the next three seasons, throwing over 180 innings, with 220 strikeouts and pitching to a 3.84 ERA.

At 26-years-old, he looked like he could start turning into a valuable asset for Toronto who was in need of a lefty out of the bullpen. Eisert got called up to Toronto on three separate occasions in 2024 and allowed three earned runs in 6.2 IP over three games. These brief outings didn’t impress the Blue Jays brass enough and he was purchased by the Tampa Bay Rays in January of 2025, only to be selected off waivers by the White Sox the very next month.

Eisert is having a decent season with Chicago, putting up good strikeout numbers with 38 K’s in 31.2 IP, a 10.8 K/9 ratio. He’s also been more effective against right handed hitters, keeping them to a .240 batting average against, racking up 25 strikeouts.

Despite those numbers, the Blue Jays had noted lefty mashers Ernie Clement and Myles Straw due up, on either side of Andrés Giménez. But all the Blue Jays hitters could do was ground out in three straight at-bats against Eisert to keep the two run lead in tact and force Toronto to start the bottom of the ninth inning with their number nine hitter leading off, although the Blue Jays used George Springer to pinch hit.

It was the cherry on top of a frustrating afternoon for the Blue Jays who went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and to see a former Toronto draft pick come in and get three key outs to secure the win for the visitors.