Blue Jays announce bullpen coach Matt Buschmann is leaving the organization

The Toronto Blue Jays have announced that bullpen coach Matt Buschmann is leaving his position on the club and will be "pursuing other opportunities".

Following up that announcement, the team said that the big league coaching staff will be formally announced in the coming weeks.

To many, the actual role of a bullpen coach is an unknown part of today's game. Their role is very similiar to that of a traditional pitching coach's in that they work closely with the staff before and after games.

During games, the main purpose of a bullpen coach is to monitor relief pitchers' warmups while offering advice on pitch selection or tweaks to their pitching mechanics. Bullpen coaches do not get as much publicity and praise as standard pitching coaches do, but their roles are equally as important.

Buschmann, 38, is actually a former player as well. He debuted back in 2016 as a 32-year-old for the Arizona Diamondbacks. His first, and ultimately only, stint in the majors saw him make three relief appearances across 4.1 innings. He allowed one run and struck out three batters.

The road to the big leagues was a long and winding one for Buschmann, who had made over 300 appearances in the minors (239 starts) before earning his first promotion to The Show. He had been a quietly reliable starting pitcher in the minor league systems of the Padres, Rays, Athletics, Reds, Orioles and Diamondbacks.

At the tail end of his playing career, Buschmann signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays and was assigned to Triple-A Buffalo. However, he never actually appeared in a game for the organization that he went on to serve as a coach for.

In 2018, Buschmann was brought aboard the Blue Jays to serve as the director of pitching development as well as the bullpen coach. Notably, he also has the unique distinction of being the person to catch Aaron Judge's record-breaking 62nd home run ball.

While his next steps are currently unknown, we certainly wish Buschmann the best of luck in future endeavors and thank him for his time on the Blue Jays.