Blue Jays Select Austin Voth, Joe Mantiply
The Blue Jays have selected the contracts of right-hander Austin Voth and left-hander Joe Mantiply. Right-hander Lazaro Estrada and left-hander Brendon Little were optioned to the minors to make room for the pair on the active roster, while right-hander Cody Ponce and outfielder Anthony Santander were moved to the 60-day injured list.
Voth, 34, spent the early days of his career as a starting pitcher and swing man for the Nationals but last pitched in the majors as a member of the Mariners’ bullpen back in 2024. He spent last season overseas pitching for Nippon Professional Baseball’s Chiba Lotte Marines, and posted a respectable 3.96 ERA in 125 innings of work across 22 starts. Prior to that, he had spent the previous few seasons in Seattle and Baltimore. He posted a solid 3.68 ERA with a 4.23 FIP in his 178 2/3 combined innings with the two clubs while working as a long relief arm. He struck out 22.1% of his opponents while walking 7.7%. He’s made just one appearance so far for Triple-A Buffalo after signing with the Jays on a minor league deal, but now he’ll be called upon to help eat innings in the team’s bullpen.
Mantiply, meanwhile, steps into Little’s role as a lefty middle relief arm for the Jays. Toronto’s late-inning mix is dominated by right-handers, with Louis Varland, Tyler Rogers, and Jeff Hoffman serving as the club’s three highest leverage arms. That leaves the Jays to carry a pair of lefty middle relief arms to play matchups with throughout the game. Those spots went to Mason Fluharty and Little to open the year, but Little’s disastrous start to the year (24.55 ERA in five appearances) led the club to make a change. Mantiply has parts of eight MLB seasons on his resume, most of which came as a member of the Diamondbacks. From 2021 to ’24, the lefty was a key piece of the Arizona relief corps and posted a 3.63 ERA with a 2.96 FIP across 236 outings. His age-34 season last year saw him struggle badly in his limited work, however, as he surrendered five home runs in just 9 2/3 innings of work. He’ll now look to put that rough year behind him and reclaim a key spot in a major league bullpen with Toronto.
As for Ponce and Santander, it’s hardly a shock to see them transferred to the 60-day IL. Ponce recently suffered an ACL sprain that’s expected to leave him sidelined for quite a while even if he doesn’t wind up requiring surgery. As for Santander, the switch-hitter underwent shoulder surgery that came with a five-to-six month recovery timeline back in February. Even as the veteran is now two months into that recovery window, he figures to remain out of commission for at least another 90 days. That’s well past the late-May date where his minimum stint would run out, so the move is purely procedural for him. Ponce can now be activated on May 30 at the earliest, but he too seems likely to be sidelined for quite a bit longer than that at this point.
Dodgers Place Mookie Betts On Injured List With Oblique Strain
The Dodgers announced this morning that they’ve placed veteran star Mookie Betts on the 10-day injured list. Jack Harris of the California Post relays that, according to manager Dave Roberts, Betts has suffered an oblique strain. Utility man Hyeseong Kim was recalled from the minors in a corresponding move. Maddie Lee of the LA Times first reported that the club was likely to recall Kim earlier this morning, though she noted that they intended to check in with Betts about the status of his back before doing so.
It’s hard to know how long Betts will be sidelined until the Dodgers give a more firm timeline, but oblique strains are notoriously finicky for position players due to the rotational nature of hitting. Even the most minor of oblique strains can require weeks on the shelf thanks to the risk of re-injury, so it’s entirely possible that the Dodgers will be without their star shortstop until sometime in May. A more significant oblique strain could take significantly longer, and a rehab assignment would further push Betts’s timeline back. The good news, however, is that The Athletic’s Katie Woo writes that Roberts didn’t put an immediate timeline on the veteran’s recovery window but that the team is hopeful he could be back before the standard 4-6 week recovery timeline.
Regardless of how long it takes for Betts to return, it goes without saying that losing him is a real blow. The 33-year-old is coming off a down 2025 season where he posted a wRC+ of just 104, but he’s managed to make himself into a solid defensive shortstop and certainly has the ability needed to return to form offensively this year if his health permits it. The loss of Betts’s bat is something the club can paper over in the short-term thanks to the other stars in the lineup and a strong early-season performance from Andy Pages, but it’s going to be harder to stomach his absence from a defensive perspective.
In the past, Miguel Rojas has been tapped to handle shortstop for the Dodgers when Betts has been injured. That still appears to be the case for now, as Rojas is slated to fill in at shortstop during today’s game against lefty Foster Griffin. With that said, Rojas has played the position with less and less frequency over the past few years and is now 37 years old. If the Dodgers find that he’s lost a step defensively at the position, perhaps Kim could be another option given his experience at shortstop for the club last year. MLB.com’s Sonja Chen reports that Kim and Rojas are expected to share shortstop, with prospect Alex Freeland continuing to mostly handle second base. Freeland has more than 3000 innings of experience at the position in the minors but has yet to play the position in the majors.
As for Kim, the 27-year-old has hit a robust .346/.438/.385 in six games at Triple-A since the Dodgers’ surprising decision to option him to the minors for the start of the season, and his 95 wRC+ in 71 games for L.A. last year was more than acceptable for a utility player. Given that the Dodgers have shown a preference for playing both Rojas and Santiago Espinal against primarily left-handed pitching, that paves the way for Kim to get frequent reps against right-handed pitching while Betts is on the shelf as the team’s shortstop next to Freeland at second base. Against lefties, Rojas at shortstop and Espinal at second base seems to be the likely lineup of choice, though the Dodgers could also consider giving Max Muncy a breather to get Freeland (or Kim) in the lineup against a southpaw or two. While Freeland has been protected from lefties to this point in his young MLB career, he is a switch-hitter whose development could benefit from taking extra reps on his weaker side at the big league level.
Cubs To Promote Riley Martin
April 5: Martin’s recall and Horton’s placement on the IL are now official. In addition, the Cubs have recalled right-hander Ethan Roberts to the majors as the club’s 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the Guardians.
April 4: The Cubs will promote left-hander Riley Martin from Triple-A Iowa to their active roster before today’s game with the Guardians, according to Bleacher Nation’s Jacob Zanolla. Martin is likely the corresponding move for Cade Horton‘s forthcoming placement on the 15-day injured list, and no other transaction is needed since Martin is already on Chicago’s 40-man roster.
The 28-year-old Martin will be making his Major League debut whenever he is first used in a game. The southpaw was a sixth-round pick for the Cubs in the 2021 draft, and he has pitched at the Triple-A level in each of the last four seasons. Working almost exclusively as a reliever, Martin has a 3.88 ERA and an impressive 30.67% strikeout rate over 139 1/3 innings in Iowa, but with an inflated 15.57% walk rate. Left-handed Triple-A batters contributed most of that damage, as Martin had significant reverse splits in both 2024 and 2025.
Baseball America ranked Martin 20th on its list of the top 30 Cubs prospects, while MLB Pipeline has the southpaw 28th on their top-30 ranking. He relies almost entirely on a plus curveball that, as per Pipeline’s scouting report, “can be devastating at times and also lose some shape and miss the zone by wide margins at others.” In general, Pipeline’s evaluation feels Martin “trades control for deception” in deploying an upright delivery to maximize the break on his pitches.
Chicago placed Martin on the 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, and the lefty will now take the next step into the big leagues for the first time. Martin has often worked multiple innings out of the pen, giving the Cubs some extra length as they figure out how to manage Horton’s absence. Swingman Colin Rea could be the top candidate for rotation work, Ben Brown is another candidate already on the active roster, or the Cubs might use both pitchers and other arms for a bullpen game or two until Rea is fully stretched out for a starting role.
Tigers Place Justin Verlander On 15-Day Injured List
5:10PM: Verlander and manager A.J. Hinch told the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters that the injury is fairly minor, and the IL placement is precautionary in nature. The Tigers don’t have another off-day until April 13, leaving Verlander without the benefit of any extra rest in between starts to fully get over his hip problem. “It’s just difficult because I feel like it’s close to being able to just work through it,” Verlander said. “But the timing is bad, the weather is bad and the schedule is bad. Everything worked against it, unfortunately.”
12:09PM: The Tigers announced that Justin Verlander has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to April 1) due to inflammation in his left hip. Right-hander Keider Montero was called up from Triple-A Toledo to take Verlander’s spot on the 26-man roster.
The IL stint adds to a tough first week in Verlander’s return to Detroit. The right-hander’s first start of the season saw Verlander last just 3 2/3 innings on Monday, and he gave up six hits and two homers to the Diamondbacks en route to being charged with five earned runs. Verlander was slated to start against the Cardinals on Sunday, which would’ve marked his first home appearance in a Tigers uniform since August 2017.
While there isn’t yet any indication that the hip problem is particularly serious, it does add to the lengthy list of injuries that have piled up for Verlander in recent years, which isn’t surprising given how the righty is now in his age-43 season. After missing almost all of the 2020-21 seasons due to Tommy John surgery, Verlander has been placed on the IL five times in the last four seasons. He missed about five weeks in 2023 due to a teres major strain and a month of the 2025 season due to pectoral soreness, and the 2024 campaign saw Verlander limited to 90 1/3 innings because of shoulder inflammation and then a lingering neck injury.
Verlander has still logged 579 2/3 innings from 2022-25 — a very respectable total for any pitcher, let alone a hurler of Verlander’s age. After winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2022, Verlander’s only truly rough year was his injury-plagued 2024 season, as he still posted a 3.85 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate, and 7.9% walk rate over 152 innings for the Giants last year.
It was enough for Detroit to sign Verlander to a one-year, $13MM free agent contract in February, in a move that made sense for both nostalgic and practical reasons. Reese Olson‘s shoulder surgery ended his 2026 season before it even began, opening the door for Verlander to slot into the back end of the Tigers’ rotation.
Montero will now fill that role for the time being, and the righty has been a serviceable swingman over his two MLB seasons, delivering a 4.57 ERA over 189 innings. Montero has performed better as a starter (4.05 ERA in 144 1/3 IP) than as a reliever (6.25 ERA in 44 2/3 IP), and replicating that kind of rotation performance would be a great help for the Tigers in holding the fort until Verlander is back.
While the Tigers have a solid amount of rotation depth, that depth has already been tested between Olson’s surgery, Troy Melton‘s season-opening stint on the 60-day IL, Sawyer Gipson-Long is on the 15-day IL with an oblique strain, and now Verlander’s absence. Melton and Jackson Jobe (who had a Tommy John surgery last June) are expected back before season’s end, and perhaps most importantly, the top four in Detroit’s rotation — Tarik Skubal, Framber Valdez, Casey Mize, and Jack Flaherty — are all still healthy.
Red Sox Place Johan Oviedo On Injured List, Recall Tyler Uberstine For MLB Debut
TODAY: Oviedo will visit Dr. Keith Meister on Tuesday, Cora told Christopher Smith and other reporters. Meister performed Oviedo’s previous Tommy John surgery.
APRIL 3: The Red Sox announced a slate of roster moves Friday morning, including an ominous 15-day IL placement for right-hander Johan Oviedo, who’s been diagnosed with a right elbow strain. Right-hander Tyler Uberstine has been recalled from Triple-A Worcester and will be making his major league debut whenever he first gets into a game. Boston also placed righty Garrett Whitlock on the paternity list, where he can spend a maximum of three days. Right-hander Zack Kelly has been recalled in a corresponding move.
Oviedo, 28, came to Boston in the offseason trade that sent touted outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia to Pittsburgh. He was terrific through four spring starts (11 1/3 innings, two runs on eight hits and six walks with 14 strikeouts) before being tagged for six runs in his final spring tune-up. Oviedo’s official Red Sox debut was ugly, however; the Astros tagged him for four runs on six hits (including a pair of homers) and a walk in 3 2/3 innings of long relief.
More alarming than the bottom-line results was the pronounced decline in Oviedo’s velocity. He’s averaged better than 95 mph on his four-seamer in his big league career and sat 94.4 mph this spring as he built up for the season. His fastball averaged 93 mph flat in that outing against Houston. Oviedo’s velocity on all of his pitches was down across the board. Manager Alex Cora said after the game that the team was confident Oviedo was healthy (link via MassLive’s Christopher Smith).
“We had a conversation with him today and there’s a few things that the pitching department has noticed,” Cora said at the time, seemingly implying that the issue was mechanical rather than physical. Clearly, the team’s thinking has changed. Cora said this morning that Oviedo has undergone both x-rays and an MRI (via Ari Alexander of 7News). The MRI results are being compared to prior MRIs.
The Sox have yet to provide further updates on Oviedo. That the injury is termed a “strain” (indicating it pertains to a muscle or tendon) rather than a “sprain” (pertaining to a ligament) is perhaps a reason for some cautious optimism, though flexor tendon strains frequently require lengthy absences in their own right. Until the team provides further updates, all that’s known is that Oviedo will be shelved for at least the next 12 days. (IL stints can be backdated up to three days, so long as the player has not appeared in a game in that time; Oviedo last pitched on March 30.) It bears mentioning that Oviedo missed the entire 2024 season and much of the 2025 campaign due to Tommy John surgery performed in December of 2023.
Uberstine, 26, was added to the Red Sox’ 40-man roster this past November. He pitched 120 2/3 innings of 3.58 ERA ball between Double-A and Triple-A last season, striking out 26.9% of his opponents against an 8% walk rate. He’s worked in a variety of roles during his climb through the minors, pitching as a starter, as part of a piggyback tandem, in long relief and in short relief.
Back in February, the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey took a look at Uberstine’s remarkable journey to simply end up in pro ball. Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes did the same last August. Uberstine was barely used on his high school team, was turned away from both the club team and actual D-I team at USC as a sophomore, and wound up transferring to Northwestern simply hoping to land a spot on the fringe of the roster, as he’d missed being part of a team during his early time in college. Uberstine posted a 5.90 ERA in his final season at Northwestern and was the Red Sox’ 19th-round pick in 2021, signing for a $97K bonus. Fans of any club will want to check out those pieces from Healey and Pontes for a look at the determination that led to this morning’s promotion for Uberstine.
Blue Jays Acquire Tyler Fitzgerald
The Blue Jays and Giants have each announced that utilityman Tyler Fitzgerald has been traded to the Jays in exchange for cash considerations. Fitzgerald has been optioned to the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate. Toronto has an open spot on its 40-man roster, so no corresponding move was necessary.
San Francisco designated Fitzgerald for assignment earlier this week, and today’s deal officially ends a tenure that began when the Giants made Fitzgerald a fourth-round pick in the 2019 draft. He made his MLB debut in the form of 10 games in 2023, and seemingly had a breakout in 2024 when he hit .280/.334/.497 over 341 plate appearances. Fitzgerald also hit 15 homers and stole 17 bases in 21 attempts, and he finished the season with a 132 wRC+ and 3.0 fWAR.
Perhaps the key statistic, however, was Fitzgerald’s .380 BABIP. Reality may have sunk in last season, as Fitzgerald’s BABIP fell to a more standard .299, and his offensive production cratered. Fitzgerald hit .217/.278/.327 over 243 PA in 2025, translating to a 72 wRC+. The Giants used Fitzgerald as their regular starting second baseman in the early part of the season, but he was optioned to Triple-A in June, and played in only 15 MLB games after June 29 after being repeatedly called up and sent back down to the minors.
A left rib fracture sent Fitzgerald to the 10-day injured list for a little over two weeks at the start of May, which ended up being the demarcation line of his season. Fitzgerald was hitting a respectable .284/.341/.432 in 90 PA before the IL trip, so he was never the same after his rib issue.
The Giants’ offseason signing of Luis Arraez to play second base assured that Fitzgerald would be a bench option at best in San Francisco this season. The team started him at Triple-A to begin the season, and then decided to move on entirely via the DFA route.
The big majority of Fitzgerald’s MLB playing time has come at shortstop, but he has seen time at every position on the diamond except catcher. This versatility makes him a useful depth option for a Blue Jays club that doesn’t really have a true backup infielder on their current 26-man roster. Toronto has a set everyday infield of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ernie Clement, Andres Gimenez, and Kazuma Okamoto. Davis Schneider and Addison Barger can respectively play second or third base when they’re not in the outfield, and Clement can be a backup shortstop if Schneider is at second base.
After the out-of-options Leo Jimenez was traded to the Marlins, Rafael Lantigua and prospect Josh Kasevich (both at Triple-A Buffalo) became Toronto’s top utility infield options, though neither player is on the 40-man roster. Fitzgerald’s addition gives the Jays a player they can move back and forth between Triple-A and the bigs, as Fitzgerald has one more minor league option year remaining.
Rockies Claim Sammy Peralta From Brewers
The Rockies have claimed left-hander Sammy Peralta off the Brewers’ waiver wire, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Colorado has officially announced the move, and shifted right-hander McCade Brown to the 60-day injured list to create space for Peralta on the 40-man roster. Peralta has been optioned to the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate.
The Brew Crew designated Peralta for assignment earlier this week to open up a 40-man roster spot for the newly-acquired Luis Matos. Peralta’s tenure with the Brewers will end after two Triple-A appearances and zero big league games, as Milwaukee just claimed Peralta off waivers from the Angels last October.
Appearing in each of the last three MLB seasons, Peralta’s resume in the Show consists of 30 appearances and 45 2/3 innings with the White Sox and Angels from 2023-25. He has a 5.12 ERA, 17.3% strikeout rate, and 11.2% walk rate, and Peralta has averaged only 89.3mph on his fastball during his brief time in the majors.
Peralta drastically cut back on his fastball in 2025 and also cut back on his changeup usage, instead incorporating a sinker a third of the time and boosting his slider up to a 49% usage rate, without any real change in results. While his ERA jumped from 4.80 in 2024 with the Sox to 7.59 with the Angels in 2025, Peralta’s underlying metrics didn’t change much, so his change in pitch repertoire didn’t have any impact on his performance either under the hood or in terms of bottom-line results.
Peralta routinely pitches multiple innings in relief, making him a useful depth option for the Rockies’ bullpen. Brennan Bernardino is also the only left-hander in Colorado’s current relief mix, which could give Peralta some extra opportunity to stick with the team if and when he is eventually called up from Triple-A.
Brown started the season on Colorado’s 15-day IL due to shoulder inflammation, and the move to the 60-day IL ensures that his 2026 debut won’t come until at least the last week of May. 2025 marked Brown’s first taste of the big leagues, as he posted a 7.36 ERA over 25 2/3 innings and seven starts for the Rockies.
Blue Jays Place Alejandro Kirk On 10-Day Injured List, Recall Brandon Valenzuela
The Blue Jays are placing catcher Alejandro Kirk on the 10-day injured list with a left thumb fracture, according to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. Catching prospect Brandon Valenzuela is being recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move, per Hazel Mae of MLB International. Keegan Matheson of MLB.com was first to report that Valenzuela is in the Blue Jays’ clubhouse this morning.
Kirk exited last night’s game against the White Sox in the tenth inning after taking an Austin Hays foul tip off his thumb. Tyler Heineman took over behind the plate, and Kirk was promptly sent for X-rays. Although the results weren’t known until this morning, some kind of IL placement was expected for Kirk. In the end, the X-rays revealed the fracture as well as a dislocation, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Kirk will meet with a specialist on Monday to determine whether surgery is necessary. Based on similar injuries, the Jays can expect to lose Kirk for at least six to eight weeks if he undergoes surgery.
Any extended absence would be a blow to the Jays as they look to make another deep postseason run. The team is currently 4-3 and in second place in the AL East, although they’ve been outscored by their opponents 33-31. In addition, Kirk is arguably the team’s second-most valuable player behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. After below-average offensive seasons in 2023-24, he rebounded last year to post a 116 wRC+ along with career highs in home runs (15) and runs batted in (76). The 116 wRC+ was more in line with his 110 career wRC+ and makes him well above average for a catcher. Indeed, Kirk’s 4.7 fWAR was second only to AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh at that position.
As good as his offense is, Kirk is also an otherworldly defender. He was worth 9 Defensive Runs Saved in 2025, which tied for third among qualified catchers behind the Giants’ Patrick Bailey and the Red Sox’ Carlos Narváez. According to Statcast, he graded out in the 100th percentile in blocks above average (21) and in the 98th percentile for framing. While his caught stealing and pop time are closer to average, those are very minor points in what is otherwise an outstanding defensive profile. Altogether, Kirk was the second most-valuable defensive catcher in the majors last year, based on Statcast’s Fielding Run Value metric.
Further updates will come after Monday’s visit with the specialist. Obviously, the club will hope that surgery is not needed and that Kirk’s absence will be kept to a minimum. In the meantime, Toronto will rely on Heineman and Valenzuela behind the plate.
Heineman is purely a backup at this stage of his career, but the club may give him the lion’s share of starts in the short term. His offense last year was surprisingly strong, with Heineman posting a 120 wRC+ in 174 plate appearances. That was far off from his career norms and partly the product of good luck, as evidenced by his .342 batting average on balls in play. On the other hand, Heineman accrued 10 DRS behind the plate, and he ranked in the 80th percentile or better for blocks, caught stealing, and framing. Thus, even if his offense regresses, his defense should help him out as a temporary starting catcher.
As for Valenzuela, the 25-year-old was acquired in a trade with the Padres last July and is one of Toronto’s top 30 prospects according to MLB.com. The team added him to the 40-man roster in November. Manager John Schneider said yesterday that Valenzuela would be called up if Kirk needed to miss time. That has now come to pass, and Valenzuela will get his first taste of the big leagues.
Valenzuela participated in major-league Spring Training this year and performed admirably, batting .304/.370/.478 with a home run and three runs scored in 27 plate appearances. He first reached Triple-A in 2024 with the Padres and returned to that level following his trade to the Blue Jays. Valenzuela was slightly above average at Double-A, though his performance at Triple-A has not been quite as strong. That’s largely due to contact issues. In 105 PA with Toronto’s top affiliate last year, he struck out at a 30.5% clip and graded out 23% worse than average by wRC+. He has shown some improvement early in 2026, cutting his strikeout rate to 17.6%. Still, his offense hasn’t been his strong suit at the top level of the minors.
Rather, Valenzuela’s value comes from his work behind the plate. His MLB.com scouting report gives him well-above-average arm strength and control of the running game. He has a 33.8% caught-stealing rate since the start of 2024, including a 35.7% rate at Triple-A, and he is also noted for his ability to work with a pitching staff. His offense may keep him from being a big-league starting catcher, but his glovework gives him a decent ceiling as a backup. For now, Heineman’s stronger recent offense probably gives him the starting job. Valenzuela has three option years remaining and could easily return to Triple-A when Kirk eventually returns.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Sousa, Imagn Images
White Sox Return Jedixson Paez To Red Sox
White Sox Rule 5 right-hander Jedixson Paez has cleared waivers and been returned to the Red Sox, per Gabrielle Starr of The Boston Herald. Chicago designated Paez for assignment earlier this week, and since Paez cleared waivers without being claimed, the White Sox had to offer him back to the Red Sox for a $50K fee.
Paez had never pitched beyond the high-A level before he made his Major League debut for the Southsiders on March 26. Unfortunately for Paez, his first taste of the Show didn’t go smoothly, as he was charged with three runs in two of his three outings. The end result was an 18.00 ERA over three total innings of work, with two homers and two walks allowed without any strikeouts.
Rebuilding teams like the White Sox often view the R5 as a way of taking fliers on young talent, and Chicago’s addition of Shane Smith in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft is a prime example of how much selections can pay off in a big way. The much more common result, of course, is that players taken from the lower minors like Paez often struggle after the big jump up to facing MLB talent. Since Rule 5 picks must stay on their new team’s active roster for the entire season in order for their rights to be officially secured, the White Sox felt giving Paez more opportunities over the next six months wasn’t going to help his development.
Paez now returns to Boston’s organization, and is likely ticketed for high-A ball or Double-A. The 22-year-old is still an interesting prospect to keep an eye on down the road, as Paez has shown outstanding command while posting a 3.22 ERA over 307 2/3 career minor league innings.
Mets, Luke Jackson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mets and reliever Luke Jackson are in agreement on a minor league deal, per Will Sammon of The Athletic. The right-hander is a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council.
Jackson debuted with the Rangers in 2015 and has played in parts of 10 big-league seasons through 2025. He spent 2017-21 with the Braves but underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2022, causing him to miss that season. He returned with the Giants in 2023 and split the following year between San Francisco and a return trip to Atlanta. He became more of a journeyman in 2025, pitching 51 innings over 52 appearances with the Rangers, Tigers, and Mariners. He had a 4.06 ERA overall but finished strong with a 2.38 ERA in 11 1/3 innings for the Mariners. He also appeared three times for Seattle in the postseason, allowing one earned run in three innings.
The 34-year-old peaked with 18 saves and 1.3 fWAR for the Braves in 2019. He has not been especially dominant in the years since, but he has managed to stick around thanks to his talent for inducing groundballs. Since that 2019 season, Jackson has never posted a groundball rate below 50%. His 51.1% mark since the start of 2023 puts him in the top 20% of qualified relievers. That ability has helped him withstand a decline in velocity as well as a below-average walk rate as he pitches into his mid-30s. His strikeout rate also fell to 17.4% in 2025, although he has rebounded in that area before. Indeed, a look at his stats page shows a pattern of below-average strikeout seasons followed by a few above-average years.
Given his experience, it wouldn’t be a surprise for the Mets to select his contract at some point. With Devin Williams and Luke Weaver handling the late innings, the low and medium-leverage bullpen spots are covered by Huascar Brazobán, Tobias Myers, Richard Lovelady, and Sean Manaea. The latter has been a starter throughout his career and could regain that role in mid-April as the Mets shift to a six-man rotation. That would leave them with one less bullpen spot, so Jackson’s likeliest path to the roster is by replacing one of the other three relievers. Lovelady has been designated for assignment three times since September, including twice by the Mets. He could be the odd man out in a Jackson call-up, given his rough start to the year.
Photo courtesy of John Froschauer, Imagn Images