The Toronto Blue Jays are reportedly bringing back Yariel Rodriguez. The 29-year-old right-hander is said to be en route to joining the team in Toronto. The news was first reported by Francys Romero and later echoed by Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith.
Sources: The Toronto Blue Jays are calling right-hander Yariel RodrÃguez back up to MLB.
— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) May 10, 2026
It’s still unclear when he will be officially activated, but he is expected to join the team tomorrow.
Rodriguez posted a 2.63 ERA in Triple-A Buffalo, with 25 SO over 13.2 innings.
While the native of Cuba is expected to be with the team at some point today (May 11) ahead of their series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays at Rogers Centre, it is unclear of when exactly Rodriguez will join the team, or what the coresponding move will be. Right now the Blue Jays do have a 40-man roster spot open, and can easily add him to that list - but they would still need to clear a spot on the active roster in order for Rodriguez to get into a major league game.
Rodriguez's good start in Buffalo has put him back on the radar for the Blue Jays' big league roster
It's been a tumultous couple of months for Rodriguez. After signing with the Toronto Blue Jays for $32-million over five years in 2023, he looked like he had what it took to be a part of a major league pitching staff. Rodriguez was labeled as a guy that could be stretch out to being a full-time starter but the Blue Jays found he was having much more success as a reliever, until his wasn't.
In 2025, Rodriguez had an incredible first half. In 39 games, he held opponents to a .176 batting average and .594 OPS, generating 46 strikeouts with 16 walks and 28 hits in 180 total plate appearances. He had a 2.47 ERA and 0.930 WHIP in 47.1 innings pitched. Then Rodriguez struggled after the All-Star break, with his ERA jumping up to 4.21 in 25.2 innings pitched. His SO9 rate dropped from 8.7 to 7.0 and his WHIP jumped to 1.558.
As the Blue Jays added some depth to their bullpen at the deadline, Rodriguez's playing time and role lessened and he was only used for 2.2 innings in the first two rounds of the playoffs, before being taken off the roster ahead of the World Series. Rodriguez was then Designated For Assignment in the offseason, but he cleared waivers and remained in Toronto's system. He was also given an invite to Spring Training and the results were not great.
However, he pitched six innings with Cuba at the 2026 World Baseball Classic and managed ten strikeouts over those six innings, while giving up only one earned run. Rodriguez must have used that as motivation because he has since been pitching much better with Triple-A Buffalo.
Through 13.2 innings, he has racked up 25 strikeouts and owns a 2.63 ERA in 11 games, including one start. While he's walked nine batters, and he's given up four earned runs, his whiff, zone-contact and barrel percentages are all ranked in the 100th percentile at the Triple-A level. Batters are whiffing at 51.5% of his pitches, while his zone-contact percentage is sitting at 67.2% and nobody has barreled up a ball against him.
It would be crazy to think he can get those kinds of results at the MLB level, but somewhere in between his last go-around, and what he's done in Triple-A would be a huge help to the Blue Jays current pitching staff.