The Blue Jays announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Tommy Nance. In a corresponding move, fellow righty Ryan Burr was placed directly onto the 60-day injured list with a right rotator cuff strain, which opened both an active roster and a 40-man roster spot for Nance.
Nance, 34, had a decent run late last year with the Jays. The club had planned to compete in 2024 but fell out of the race and ended up as a deadline seller. Nance was added to the roster in August, as the club was playing out the string on a lost season. He posted a 4.09 earned run average in 22 innings. His 20.4% strikeout rate and 9.7% walk rate were both a bit shy of average but he had a strong 52.4% ground ball rate.
The Jays kept him on their 40-man through the winter but he didn’t break camp with the club. Since he is out of options, he was designated for assignment and outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo. Since then, he has tossed 31 1/3 innings for the Bisons with a 4.60 ERA, though it seems like there’s a lot of bad luck in that figure. His 31.3% strikeout rate, 5.2% walk rate and 58% ground ball rate are all well above average. He’s seemingly been held back by a .363 batting average on balls in play and 55% strand rate, which are both to the unfortunate side. His 2.63 FIP suggests his ERA might be too high by almost two full runs.
The Jays will slot Nance into the bullpen to see if his numbers can regress towards the mean at the big league level. As mentioned, he is out of options and can’t be easily sent back down to Buffalo. If he holds onto a roster spot through the end of the year, he can be retained beyond this season. The Jays are leading the American League East and will presumably pursue relievers ahead of the deadline.
As for Burr, it’s an ominous development. He started the year on the IL due to shoulder inflammation. He worked his way back to health and was only reinstated off the IL five days ago. He appeared in two big league games but departed the second outing, which was on Wednesday, with an apparent injury. With the Jays immediately placing him on the 60-day IL today, it suggests they don’t expect him back until September even in a best-case scenario.
Like Nance, he got some run with the Jays last year. He tossed 32 2/3 innings with a 4.13 ERA, 33.6% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate. Perhaps a .329 BABIP hurt him, as his 3.07 FIP and 2.65 SIERA suggested he deserved better. Unfortunately, he hasn’t had a chance to build off that performance in 2025. He has already spent most the 2025 season on the IL and that will continue for a few more months at least.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Ryan Burr had one heck of a season.
Weird they decided to go with him and not Dillon Tate. He’s had a great season in Buffalo while Nance got hit pretty good down there
Nance has averages of 2 walks and 12.1 K’s per 9 innings.
Tate has 5.1 walks and 9.6 K’s per 9 innings.
That could be what they’re looking at.
Didn’t see the BB/9 for Tate. Not a big deal just found it interesting
Also worth noting Tate was already up at the end of April/start of May. He went 5 1/3 innings across 5 appearances and didn’t look great (10 BB’s/11 K’s per nine and a 5 ERA).
Small sample, but added to his minor league numbers, it kinda paints a picture.
Plus they won’t care if they have to DFA him to make room for someone else.