4:10pm: The Jays have now made it official, announcing that they have claimed Robertson and optioned him to Triple-A Buffalo. Infielder Will Wagner was placed on the 60-day injured list with left knee inflammation to open a 40-man roster spot. That also created an active roster spot for shortstop Bo Bichette, who has been reinstated from the 10-day IL, as expected. The Jays also placed outfielder Daulton Varsho on the 10-day IL with a right shoulder strain, retroactive to September 14, and recalled Steward Berroa in a corresponding move.
2:00pm: The Blue Jays have claimed right-hander Nick Robertson off waivers from the Angels, reports MLBTR’s Steve Adams on X. The Halos had designated him for assignment a couple of days ago. The Jays have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to make the claim official.
Robertson, 26, has a bit of major league experience with poor baseline results though more encouraging peripherals. He has pitched for the Dodgers, Red Sox and Cardinals over the past two seasons, with a 5.45 earned run average in 34 2/3 innings. His .386 batting average on balls in play and 65.1% strand rate are both on the unlucky side, while his 25.3% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate are both solid figures. His 4.12 FIP and 3.49 SIERA suggest he may be capable of posting better results than he has managed so far.
It’s a somewhat similar story in the minor leagues. From 2021 to the present, he has tossed 203 innings on the farm with a 4.39 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate, .326 BABIP, 66.6% strand rate and 4.01 FIP.
Despite the runs crossing the board, teams have clearly been intrigued by the encouraging strikeout to walk ratios. The Red Sox acquired him from the Dodgers in last summer’s trade that sent Enrique Hernández to Los Angeles. Just a few months later, the Cardinals acquired him from the Sox as part of the December 2023 deal that sent Tyler O’Neill to Boston.
Robertson only got limited big league action with the Cards this year, tossing 12 1/3 innings. He struck out 26.9% of batters faced and only walked 3.8% of them, but gave up three homers in that limited time. That and a .364 BABIP led to an 85.9% strand rate and 4.38 ERA in that time. In the minors, he tossed 21 2/3 innings but had control problems, an oddity for him, posting an uncharacteristic 15.7% walk rate.
The Cards put him on waivers just over a month ago, with the Angels putting in a claim. He was sent to Triple-A Salt Lake and tossed 13 innings there, striking out 25.8% of batters faced with a 12.1% walk rate, improved control from his previous Triple-A stint but still a bit worse than average. A .438 BABIP and 58.6% strand rate were once again culprits in a small sample, leading to a 6.92 ERA but 4.30 FIP. The Angels put him back on waivers just over a month after claiming him with the Jays now swooping in, bringing Robertson to the same city as his hockey namesake.
Perhaps the Jays feel the results will even out in time or maybe they have a plan to limit the damage that hitters are doing against Robertson. They don’t need to commit a major league roster spot to him, as he will still have another option season remaining after this one. For now, they can get a close-up look at him and see if they can find a way to translate those strong peripherals into better results. If things work out, he has less than a year of service time and can be cheaply retained well into the future.
The Toronto bullpen was undone by injuries and underperformance earlier in the year, with the club then subtracting from the group by trading Yimi García, Trevor Richards and Nate Pearson prior to the deadline. To compensate for the many absences from trades and injuries, they have been taking fliers on all sorts of relievers, having acquired Ryan Burr, Tommy Nance, José Cuas, Joel Kuhnel, Luis Frías, Yerry Rodríguez, Easton Lucas, Dillon Tate, Emmanuel Ramírez, Brett de Geus and now Robertson in waiver claims or small trades. Some of those guys have since lost their roster spots but the club is clearly willing to turn over any stone as they attempt to find paydirt.
Is this the guy who spends his life crying about the 2017 Astros? Oh never mind, that’s David Robertson.
@Rocker49
Nothing wrong with cheating in baseball. It’s part of baseball culture since it started.
Id argue complaining about cheaters is a fundamental part of that culture.
@Tabata’s Adopted Son
Fair enough. You go ahead and complain about my cheating. Sounds fair?
What a deal Robertson was involved in taking him from LAD to Boston.. Him and Justin Hagenman for kiki Hernandez. None of the 3 worth 10c other than the dumping of Hernandez remaining salary last year.
Give it up atkins, crawl in a hole and go away ….
The Jays have nothing in quality depth and are grasping at straws. Robertson has decent stuff but like Zach Pop, Robertson sometimes doesn”t know where the ball is going when it leaves his hand.
All these claims are a sign of desparation in the BlueJays executive ranks. This situation was accurately called in spring training.
It would help if the BlueJays scouting department could actually properly scout pitchers both at the amateur and professional level. Tony Lacava and James Click need to be fired. Atkins needs to be moved to the head of analytics and Shapiro needs to have all baseball decision making removed from his portfolio, business only,
It’s time to hire Jeter and let him rebuild the organization..
Hope you don’t mean Jeter, as in Derek with the wonderfuly.. awful job he did in Miami as living proof of how he can bungle a FO and awful deals is capable of doing.
let him return to NY and show them 1st if he’s so brilliant.. Oh wait.. That’s a place has yet to offer him a job with any responsibility following his playing days. Maybe NY is smart in that regard?
jimmer quit the inhalation of solvents would ya’?
if this was Jeter the SS (in his prime), sure have at er’. Jeter the executive leaves a lot to be desired. I am curious though as to what your justification/rationale for your incessant chest pumping for Jeter the executive is. Feel free to cite factual examples and not wayward gut feelings please.
I was pissed they DFAd Serven yesterday or the day before. At this point the Jays should be focused on auditioning youngsters, resting vets who have injuries and trying to get the highest draft pick possible without hurting anyones development.Bowden Francis seemed like a long relief pitcher this year. Serven starts catching him then he becomes un-hitable while flirting with multiple no hitters into the 7th inning and beyond including 2 he took into the 9th. How do you as a GM or President say let’s DFA that Catcher for a guy that might get us 2 or 3 extra hits the rest of the year?
No Murphy that makes no sense jimmer and his scouts eyez say Jeter is the way to go!
If you put your ear to Atkins door, you can hear the Calliope music easier. To free up a spot on the 40 man, my guess is they DFA Pitching MacHine.
Looks like a decent flyer..
They have had some success in the low rent district. Brendan Little has been good, Ryan Burr okay. Tommy Nance good as well.
Never know with relief pitchers. And someone could teach him a cutter or splitter and he turns into a reliable back end option.
If he is bad they get a higher draft pick. Either way, its good.
@Ducey
The Angels are a worse team than the Jays. They didn’t think he was a decent flyer.
Jays bullpen is a mess.
A mess with no direction, and a rotating door of cast-offs from other teams
Now Toronto has two Nick Robertson
Can you ever really have enough nick Robertsons though? I daresay you cannot lol!
Two Nick Robertson’s doing the job of one player. That sounds about right! Ahahaha!
I haven’t laughed this hard since I witnessed Dave Winfield flatline a seagull in Canada! Ahahaha!
Claimed him from the Maple Leafs?
I appreciate the NHL reference (GO Blackhawks).
– Carl Winslow
Geez….forget the old guys…bring in the AAA and even AA pitchers. Couldn’t be worse than what they are fielding now. There’s only a few games left, and it’s not like there’s a difference between 4th or 5th place. Save some cash.
I’m not saying that I am sceptical but Robertson got DFAed by the Angels. that’s when you start thinking about learing Japanese or Korean.