Blue Jays Relief Pitcher Has Been Team's Most Surprising Rookie This Season
In this story:
The Toronto Blue Jays have received a lot of major contributions from players up and down their roster during the 2025 MLB regular season, leading to a lot of success on the field.
Alas, a lot of that production has been in the form of established Big Leaguers getting back on track. Think shortstop Bo Bichette showing that 2024 was a blip on the radar because of injuries. Or outfielder George Springer looking like the prime version of himself during his tenure with the Houston Astros or Year 1 with the Blue Jays.
On the mound, starting pitcher Chris Bassitt has turned the clock back a bit. Max Scherzer has been looking better and better now that he is healthy and finding a groove. The team is hoping Shane Bieber can do the same when he makes his Major League return on Friday.
This isn’t an old roster by any means, but finding contributions from players early in their Big League career is far and few between. The emergence of Addison Barger has been a pleasant surprise after 69 games and 225 plate appearances in 2024 that weren’t impactful. Toronto’s lineup has only one regular, Springer, who is at least 30 years old, depending on how Myles Straw is categorized, who is 30 on the nose.
It's just a lineup loaded with players who are not yet in their prime but with extensive MLB experience. The pitching staff, however, skews toward the veteran side. Bowden Francis was the only regular starting pitcher now in his 30s. Out of the bullpen, the team has several older players as well.
Braydon Fisher Has Been Blue Jays Best Rookie
Which makes the performance of Braydon Fisher all the more important. The Blue Jays don’t have many rookies who are providing an impact to their winning ways in 2025, but he certainly is. A fourth-round pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2018 MLB draft, his debut season in the MLB has been as good as anyone could have hoped.
He just turned 25 years old in July. Throughout the year, he has become a more and more reliable arm for John Schneider out of the bullpen. Acquired in exchange for Cavan Biggio last year from the Dodgers, an under-the-radar move no one paid much mind to at the time as turned into an important addition for Toronto.
It should be no surprise that he was mentioned as the team’s best rookie by Chad Jennings of The Athletic (subsciption required) in 2025. Fisher has been productive, making 40 appearances, which is sixth most on the team. He has a 3.05 ERA across 38.1 innings.
His strikeout numbers are impressive with 49 overall, coming out to 11.5 per nine innings. He is one of several high-strikeout members of the bullpen, which will play well in October. A 0.8 bWAR, 139 ERA+ and 2.67 FIP have also been produced by the young righty this season.
Along with Mason Fluharty and Yariel Rodriguez, Fisher provides the Blue Jays with an impressive young trio to build their bullpen around for years to come.
