The Blue Jays have agreed to a significant league contract with right-hander José Ureña, experiences Jon Heyman of the New York Put up. This signing comes on the heels of the information that Toronto has additionally agreed to phrases with right-hander Spencer Turnbull.
Ureña, 33, signed a minor league contract with the Mets in February. Whereas he didn’t make the Opening Day roster out of camp, he made three begins at Triple-A Syracuse and earned a promotion when the Mets wanted an additional arm in late April. Nevertheless, he struggled badly in his one look, giving up 5 earned runs in three innings, and the Mets DFA’d him two days later. The Blue Jays, desperately in want of pitching depth, pounced shortly, signing the righty lower than two days after he elected free company. In contrast to Turnbull, who has not pitched in a sport since a lone minor league rehab look final September, Ureña must be able to contribute to the key league workforce immediately.
Now in his eleventh massive league season, Ureña has been one of many league’s extra prolific swingmen all through his profession. Since his debut in 2015, he’s one in every of simply two pitchers with no less than 150 begins and 75 reduction appearances. With a profession 4.80 ERA and 4.92 SIERA, he has by no means been rather more than an innings eater, however an innings eater is actually one thing the Blue Jays might use proper now.
Toronto entered the 2025 season with a rotation of Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer, and Bowden Francis. Yariel Rodríguez, who began 21 video games in his rookie season, moved to the bullpen. Because of this, when Scherzer hit the IL with an injured thumb after his first begin of the season, the Blue Jays had been left with little or no rotation depth. Easton Lucas crumbled after two sturdy begins. Equally, long-man Paxton Schultz hit a wall in his second massive league look after turning heads with a dominant debut. Eric Lauer was strong in his first look for the Jays, however he’s hardly a dependable long-term reply. High prospect Jake Bloss, who struggled in three massive league begins with Houston final season, has additionally struggled at Triple-A. Thus, basic supervisor Ross Atkins made it clear on Friday that he was wanting so as to add rotation depth in free company. He shortly made good on his phrase this morning, signing each Ureña and Turnbull to main league offers. Turnbull has the a lot larger ceiling of the 2, however Ureña is a extra quick answer. There’s a good likelihood he’ll make no less than a few begins, however he also can supply reduction to a bullpen that has been biking by means of arms all season.
