Ex-Toronto Blue Jays pitcher has been blossoming with Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays management would never admit it publicly, but they would undoubtedly love a do-over with Ryan Yarbrough.
The Jays acquired Yarbrough at last season’s trade deadline in a deal that saw Kevin Kiermaier head to the LA Dodgers. The 33-year-old, who has primarily been a reliever throughout his career, put up an impressive 2.01 ERA through 31.1 innings with the Blue Jays to close out the 2024 season.
Yarbrough chose to exercise the opt-out clause in his minor-league contract after the 2024 season, which meant the Jays had to either add him to their 40-man roster or grant him free agency. They went with the latter, and it’s backfired.
Yarbrough wound up signing a one-year, $2 million deal with the New York Yankees, and it’s a contract that has been an absolute bargain thus far.
The veteran left-hander began the 2025 season in the Yankees’ bullpen. After a shaky start, he completely turned things around, and due to an injury to Clarke Schmidt, he has become a part of the starting rotation.
Yarbrough has started four games this season, all of which have come in the month of May. He’s pitched a combined 20 innings during those four starts, giving up just five earned runs while racking up 19 strikeouts. His past two starts in particular have been extremely impressive, as he’s recorded 15 strikeouts while giving up just two earned runs.
When the decision was made to part ways with Yarbrough, the Blue Jays already had their starting rotation set in Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Bowden Francis, and Max Scherzer.
Despite health concerns regarding Scherzer, the Blue Jays still opted to pass on Yarbrough. That’s turned out to be a mistake, as Scherzer has pitched just three innings this season. On top of that, Francis has struggled immensely and would likely be out of the rotation if there were any sort of depth to replace him.
While hindsight certainly plays a part in this argument, it appears that letting Yarbrough walk was yet another mistake by the Blue Jays’ management regime, which has made plenty of them over the years.