Former Pirates lefty added to Blue Jays bullpen ahead of showdown with the Dodgers

The Toronto Blue Jays are hoping to bring someone onto the ship that can stop the leak. The Blue Jays have lost four in a row and head into their biggest early season test with the Los Angeles Dodgers on tap for a game tonight (Apr. 6) against the LA Dodgers.

After getting swept by the White Sox in Chicago, the Blue Jays have revamped their bullpen again, this time bringing in another lefty in favour of a journeyman right hander whose time with the Blue Jays was extremely short. The Blue Jays announced on Monday afternoon that they had called up former Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Josh Fleming, and designated right-hander Austin Voth for assignment.

Fleming in, Voth out as Blue Jays revamp bullpen before their series with the Dodgers

Fleming, was one of several depth adds for the Blue Jays this offseason. They added a number of arms who had some big league experience on minor league deals and it's a strategy that is already paying off in the early part of the season as they continue to deal with some injuries and poor performances. Fleming was last in the big leagues in 2024, pitching in 25 games for the Pirates, including three starts. He tossed 31.1 innings, allowing a .301 BABIP and walking 14 hitters while striking out 17.

Between 2020-2023, Fleming was a somewhat regular name for the Tampa Bay Rays. He appeared in 80 games, including 25 starts, but accumulated a -1.2 bWAR, with a 4.88 ERA in 223.1 innings pitched. He had a hard time limiting contact, with batters hitting .280 against him with a .776 OPS, although he didn't give up a lot of hard contact. His hard hit percentage against was only 39.5% and the average exit velocity was 88.1 - perfectly league average numbers in those metrics.

Fleming spent all of 2025 in the Seattle Mariners system pitching in 47 games at Triple-A Tacoma, including three starts, where he had a 4.70 strike out rate and 3.09 walk per nine rate. With his ability to both start and be used in the bullpen, the Blue Jays invited him to Spring Training and he saw his strikeout numbers go up, with a 7.88 K/9 rate in eight innings pitched. But he also gave up nine hits, with a 54.5% hard hit rate and 94.8 average exit velocity.

The 30-year-old has appeared in one game with Triple-A Buffalo so far this year, and in 3.2 innings pitched he struck out three batters and allowed one run on three hits. With Brendan Little getting sent down recently, the Blue Jays could use a lefty that can actually get guys out. Fleming joins Mason Fluharty and another new comer, Joe Mantiply as the southpaw options in manager John Schneiders bullpen.

As for Voth, the former Seattle Mariner was signed by the Blue Jays on Mar. 25 and was called up by Toronto just this past weekend. He pitched in 2.2 innings in Sunday's 3-0 loss to the White Sox, and allowed one run on three hits, while getting one strikeout. If Voth clears waivers, he'll end up back in Triple-A Buffalo.