Toronto Blue Jays trade away reliever in early-season pitcher swap

The Toronto Blue Jays are making an early season switch-up to their relief pitching depth.

Today, the team announced that they’ve traded right-handed pitcher Nick Robertson (not to be confused with the Toronto Maple Leafs forward of the same name) to the Houston Astros in exchange for right-handed pitcher Edinson Batista.

Robertson has spent time with four different MLB franchises over the last two seasons, appearing in 27 games across his time with the Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals. He has put up a 5.30 earned run average across 35.2 career innings pitched but was previously designated for assignment by the Jays ahead of last week’s Opening Day and has yet to play this season.

Meanwhile, the trade allows for the franchise to get a bit younger at the relief position. Batista is a 22-year-old Dominican reliever who has been in the Astros’ minor league system since 2019, originally signing as an international free agent.

He has spent the last two seasons at the High-A level for the Asheville Tourists, meaning he’ll most likely start his time in the Toronto organization with the Vancouver Canadians. He pitched 115.0 innings in 2024, making 16 starts while coming out of the bullpen 10 times, putting up a 5.01 ERA.

While Robertson has a similarly named player in Toronto, there’s a bit of a fun connection to a Blue Jays legend too for the player the team is getting back. While his last name is one letter off of Blue Jays legendary slugger Jose Bautista, Batista’s middle name is actually Jose, as per his MILB.com profile.

While we can’t imagine him launching too many home runs to the upper deck of the Rogers Centre anytime soon, his jersey might end up getting a few extra sales due to the connection if he ends up cracking the major league roster one day.

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