The Blue Jays released reliever Zach Pop after designating him for assignment last week, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Assuming he clears release waivers, he’ll become a free agent.
Pop lost his 40-man roster spot as part of the Opening Day shuffle. Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling noted in mid-March that Pop had come down with elbow inflammation during Spring Training and would have begun the regular season on the injured list. Injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers, so the DFA meant he’d be released unless the Jays found a trade partner.
The Canadian-born righty joined the Jays at the 2022 deadline in a trade with Miami. He turned in a 1.89 ERA in 17 appearances down the stretch. While he made a strong first impression, Pop has struggled over the last two years. He gave up 11 runs in 13 2/3 innings in 2023 and was tagged for a 5.59 ERA over a career-high 58 appearances last season. Pop got ground-balls at a strong 54.6% clip but only managed a 15.8% strikeout rate. When opponents were able to elevate the ball, they found success. He surrendered nine homers in 48 1/3 frames — a rate of 1.68 longballs per nine innings.
Pop had made seven Spring Training appearances before the elbow issue. He allowed five runs (four earned) across 6 2/3 innings despite eight strikeouts. He wasn’t expected to face a long-term absence, as imaging didn’t reveal any structural issues. He should find interest on a minor league deal once he’s healthy.
With a name like “Zach pop”, you can tell that he likely had parents that were children of the psychedelic 1960’s and 70’s.
He’s Sub Pop now
His dad is Pop Pop.
This has Yankees written all over it. Yhey already have Jazz. They need Pop.
Don’t forget they have a DJ as well!
Jazz is a racist. They suspend him yet? Obviously not. smh
@miltpappas..Can you please go and practice your latest lefty racist propaganda somewhere else?
If he goes to an East or West Coast team they’ll call him Zach Soda
if comes to the south we’ll call Zach Coke…everything down is coke lol
I predict he re signs with the Blue Jays. He was only released for procedural reasons because he was injured. This way he can continue his rehab with the Jays
@Geo
he was terrible with us, I don’t see that happening.
The modern bullpen doesn’t have room for low-K sinkerballers who “let hitters hit it.” Pop’s skill set is being phased out across the league, and his DFA is just another step in MLB’s evolution toward pure power pitching.
Oh ya Pop and his 83 percentile Fastball velocity are being phased out lol
Pop is a sinkerballer for sure. But he throws hard. The problem is his pitches have a ton of movement and he doesn’t have much control. He also doesn’t have any decent secondary pitches to change speeds
Many teams will take a chance on him, if he is healthy
DFA the Lousy GM shapiro and his lackie !!
I’ve been waiting nearly two seasons to hear this. Good.
But the Blue Jays are keeping Zach Snap and Zach Crackle, correct?
Let me guess, he has a brother called Soda and a sister who uses her hyphenated maiden name, married to a guy with a last name of Tarts
Shouldn’t it be Zach Soda since he’s from Canada?
the fact that most of these posts talk about his last name tells you all you need to know about Pop as a pitcher