Zach Pop's 2022 success can't be enough for him to keep a job in the big leagues

Brampton's very own right-handed reliever Zach Pop possesses what many would consider a powerful pitch mix: a hard sinker with plenty of movement and a slider with good arm-side run. Plus in 2024, he added a cutter to this mix to bolster his arsenal to attack hitters with. On paper, Pop would garner eyes across the league for his services, but instead he's barely even worth a roster spot in a bullpen that has struggled all year long.

At the 2022 MLB trade deadline, Toronto made a move to bolster their bullpen by acquiring right-handers Zach Pop and Anthony Bass from the Miami Marlins for infield prospect Jordan Groshans. Pop had posted a 3.60 ERA over 20 innings in the first half of the season for the Marlins and would improve this to a 1.89 ERA over 19 more innings with the Jays. Down the stretch in 2022 as Toronto was surging towards a playoff appearance, Pop fit in nicely with the rest of the Jays' pitching staff and pitched important late-game innings towards the end of the season.

In his career-best 2022 season, the righty posted an incredible 2.5% walk rate and ranked among the league's best in groundball rate (57.1%) and chase rate (39.3%). It appeared at this point that Pop would have a long-term presence in his hometown team's bullpen to lock down games, but since that season everything's gone downhill for the Brampton native.

His walk rate saw a massive spike the following year, offering free bases to over 10% of his batters faced while his ERA ballooned to a 6.58 mark over a limited 13.2 innings pitched. He also sported an untoward 5.79 ERA across 31 games for Toronto's Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, which certainly emitted signs of concern. One bad year might not be the best indication of a reliever's ability, however, as year-to-year regression and surges are becoming more common amongst bullpen arms in today's game. It makes sense why Toronto decided to stick with the Canadian in their pen, but 2024 spelled out a different story.

Pop's appearances in 2024 have become tough to watch for Jays fans and they're hard to get through without a wince or two. Once again seeing his ERA sit around 6.00, this time over 40 innings of work, and an incredible regression in strikeout rate, Pop has certainly been one of the worst relievers in baseball this year. Despite still possessing a strong pitch arsenal, Pop has just been unable to generate swings and misses. Baseball Savant currently ranks him in the 6th percentile for league-wide strikeout rate at just 15.6% with a whiff rate of just 22.5%, ranking in the 29th percentile. In a 2024 season where good innings have been hard to come by out of Toronto's middle-inning guys, Pop just hasn't been able to step up in the ways the Jays have needed him to.

What's more is that Pop hasn't even been pitching in necessarily tough situations, as Fangraphs notes his average leverage index at just 0.75, where 1.00 is league average. Pop just isn't clicking at the MLB level right now and there are many things the Jays could be doing instead of letting John Schneider throw Pop out there every few games.

There are multiple options currently pitching for Triple-A Buffalo that could benefit from taking Pop's spot on the MLB roster for the time being.

Right-hander Hagen Danner just came back from a rehab stint following a term on the 60-day IL and could resume his 2.81 ERA season across 25.2 innings with the Bisons and could be a part of Toronto's bullpen in the near future considering he's only 25 years of age.

But the most likely pitcher to take Pop's spot if a move is made? His name is Hayden Juenger and he's sported a 4.01 ERA in 45 games at the Triple-A level and has uniquely reversed splits against left-handed hitters. Baseball Savant notes that he's only allowed a .156 batting average against and a 0.89 WHIP across 29.1 innings worth of at-bats against left-handers, giving the Jays another good option against lefties.

At the end of the day, the poor performance we've seen from Zach Pop over the last two years isn't necessarily indicative of his full potential, and he's likely going to be back as a mainstay in a bullpen somewhere in the MLB soon no matter what. He's got stuff that definitely will play against major league hitters, it's just a matter of working out whatever kinks he's got going on. Either way, Toronto needs to fill his roster spot with someone who will give them a better chance to hold leads and win games and it's got to happen soon.