Ranking the Blue Jays bullpen against other AL contenders

The Toronto Blue Jays made moves to strengthen their bullpen this week, as the MLB trade deadline day became one of the most chaotic in history on Thursday. The Jays acquired right-handed reliever Seranthony Dominguez from the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday (while the two teams were playing each other in a doubleheader, no less), and fortified that trade by adding righty Louis Varland to their bullpen in a deal that also yielded first baseman Ty France from the Minnesota Twins. 

Dominguez and Varland will join a much-improved unit that includes Brendon Little, Yariel Rodriguez, Braydon Fisher, and closer Jeff Hoffman, who will be asked to get high-leverage outs down the stretch. The group will be hopeful of lowering a bullpen ERA that is 16th in the majors, currently at 3.99. No team has more strikeouts from their relievers than the Jays’ 454.

Ranking the Blue Jays bullpen against other AL contenders

The team’s relief corps is stronger than it was last week, and the staff as a whole should also benefit from the addition of starter Shane Bieber once he completes his rehab assignment, but how does it stack up against the rest of the bullpens in the American League East?

New York Yankees

The Yankees were also busy this week, adding a whopping six players to their roster, including three relief pitchers in the trade frenzy over the past several days. The headliner is former Pirates closer David Bednar, who was acquired from Pittsburgh for a trio of prospects. The 30-year-old led the NL in saves in 2023 and was an All-Star in 2022 and ‘23, but struggled last season with a 5.77 ERA and was demoted to Triple-A earlier this year. 

The Bronx Bombers also brought in Jake Bird, another right-handed reliever who had been a bright spot for the Colorado Rockies but who has been hit hard over the last couple of months. New York continued to add to their pitching depth by acquiring Camilo Doval from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for a quartet of prospects. He gives the Yankees another legitimate game-closing option, as he has 15 saves to go along with his 3.09 ERA. The veterans will attempt to improve a bullpen that has a 4.19 ERA, 20th in MLB. All three made their Yankee debuts on Friday and combined to surrender seven earned runs to contribute to one of their most memorable losses in recent history, a 13-12 collapse against the Miami Marlins.  

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox entered the trade deadline with the best bullpen ERA (3.36) in the American League, and they appeared to strengthen that faction by adding former Blue Jay Steven Matz. Matz will join a late-inning group that features Garrett Whitlock, Greg Weissert, Brendan Bernardino, and closer Aroldis Chapman.

The Jays and Red Sox relievers both have allowed an opponent's batting average of .226, tied for second in the AL, and have nearly identical WHIPs of 1.23 and 1.25, respectively. Matz has rebounded from a rough 2024 (5.08 ERA) thanks in large part to being among the league leaders in walk rate (4.0%) and in the 87th percentile with a barrel percentage of 5.3.

Tampa Bay Rays

After trading away ex-Blue Jay fan favorite catcher Danny Jansen and starter Zack Littell, the Rays made a surprise move in trading starting pitcher Taj Bradley to the Minnesota Twins for reliever Griffin Jax. The righthanded flamethrower has some of the best swing-and-miss stuff (36.4% K rate, 98th percentile) in the bigs.

Jax will join a core of relief pitchers led by closer Pete Fairbanks, who’s closing in on his third straight season of 20-plus saves. Tampa Bay has the second-fewest innings pitched by their relievers and has the fourth-highest strikeout rate, a number that’s poised to increase with their new addition. 

Baltimore Orioles

As the division cellar-dwellers, the Orioles were heavy sellers at the deadline, trading eight players, including relief pitchers Dominguez, Andrew Kittredge, and Gregory Soto. The biggest names remaining are Félix Bautista (2.65 ERA, 19 saves), Bryan Baker, and Yennier Cano, who’s having a down year with a 5.40 ERA and a -0.5 bWAR.

Baltimore has the second-highest bullpen ERA in the AL, at 4.86, and that could easily rise with all of the recent defections.  The Blue Jays could boast about having the best bullpen in the division by season’s end, but they’ll need Dominguez and Varland to lift a unit that has been average in terms of run prevention.