Toronto Blue Jays 2023 Depth Chart: Bullpen

Middle relief options:

The vast majority of the middle relief core from last season will be returning once again, which will certainly be a good thing, as nearly all of them performed well last season.

Yimi García is on hand to serve as something of a hybrid reliever. He can close in a pinch, he can serve as a setup man, he can pitch two innings at a time and can go multiple days in a row if needed. One of the more underrated arms in the pen, he had the best season of his career last year, making 61 appearances and posting a 126 ERA+.

Anthony Bass and Adam Cimber will also be returning. Bass, an 11-year veteran, had a combined 1.54 ERA in 73 games last year split between the Marlins and Blue Jays. Cimber, 32, uses his funky sidearm delivery to his advantage and remains one of the most durable relievers in the league.

Tim Mayza is the only other middle relief option who is guaranteed a spot in the Opening Day bullpen, as he is also the only left-hander available. He has topped 60 appearances three times in five years for the club and will once again be an oft-used option in a variety of different relief roles.

Long relief options:

As of right now, Mitch White is the lone long relief option guaranteed a spot on the Opening Day roster. Acquired at last year's trade deadline, White struggled with the Jays in his first go-round, but may be better served as a sixth starter/long reliever hybrid role until he can find more sustained success at the game's highest level.

On the bubble:

Trevor Richards is penciled into a middle relief role on Roster Resource, but he is not a lock at this point. He made 62 appearances last year but was worth -0.8 bWAR and had a ghastly 73 ERA+.

Nate Pearson, a former top prospect, is likely going to transition to a full-time relief role this year and would be quite the weapon out of the Jays' bullpen. He has had some control issues so far in spring and may be in Triple-A to begin the year but surely will get some time in the bigs down the road.

Zach Pop represents the biggest threat to Richards' spot on the Opening Day roster. He made 17 appearances for the Jays after being brought over with Bass from the Marlins and looked extremely impressive, posting a 1.89 ERA with 11 strikeouts and just two walks in 19 innings.

Minor league depth/non 40-man roster options:

Trent Thornton has simply not done enough at the major league level to warrant any sort of promise of big league time in 2023. The 29-year-old is capable of going multiple innings at a time thanks to his background as a starter, but the fact that he has a minor league option tied to his name means he is going to start the year in the minors.

Hagen Danner is an intriguing name to keep an eye on. The catcher-turned-reliever was added to the 40-man earlier in the offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, so the Jays front office clearly saw enough promise out of him last year in his second full season on the mound.

Jay Jackson, brought aboard on a minor league contract, has been seriously impressive so far in spring. In eight games and 9.1 innings, he has 13 strikeouts and has yet to allow a single earned run. This performance alone will get the attention of decision makers in the Jays' front office.

Paul Fry has an outside shot at cracking the big league roster at some point this year, primarily due to the fact that he is left-handed. The five-year veteran is only a few years removed from being a dominant arm in the Orioles' bullpen, so hopefully he can find some of that magic in Triple-A and be a contributor in The Show in short order.

These four players are the closest to big league time amongst the minor league depth pitchers. Other options include Junior Fernández, Luke Bard, Jackson Rees or Jimmy Burnette.

Chad Green will also factor into this picture at some point in the season, but he is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery and we all know that that puts a huge question mark on things for pitchers.