Intriguing Blue Jays Pitching Prospect Has Plenty to Prove This Season

This Toronto Blue Jays pitcher’s organizational rankings were overcome by Trey Yesavage, but his potential is no less critical to the franchise.

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Ricky Tiedemann. | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

Sometimes an organization like the Toronto Blue Jays drafts a can’t-miss kind of player and it times time for them to hit the target.

It can be talent. It can be injuries. It can be changing positions. But most prospects don’t develop in a linear way, and few shoot the moon quite like right-hander Trey Yesavage did in 2025. He’ll be part of Toronto’s rotation in 2026. But that spot was supposed to belong to Ricky Tiedemann.

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Tiedemann was “that guy” in the organization for three years. Baseball America (subscription required) ranked him as Toronto’s No. 1 prospect for three years after the Blue Jays selected him in the third round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Golden West Junior College in California.

After more than a year on the shelf, he’s gone from can’t-miss to something to prove in 2026.

Ricky Tiedemann’s Blue Jays Future

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Tiedemann. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

For Tiedemann, it was injury. He was Yesavage in 2023, going all the way from the Florida Complex League to Triple-A Buffalo in one season. The only thing that slowed him down was an elbow issue. That came to a boil in 2024, as he suffered an elbow injury that led to Tommy John surgery. It was deep enough into the 2024 season to ensure he wouldn’t pitch in 2025.

For his minor league career, he is 5-10 with 3.02 ERA in 41 games. He’s struck out 226 and walked 68 in 140 innings. Batters have hit just .173 against him and he had a 1.08 WHIP. In other words, he’s been dominant against minor league hitters, even if the win-loss record doesn’t show it.

The reason for the dominance was a three-pitch mix that included a fastball that, before the injury, touched 98 mph and graded at 65 on the 20-80 scouting scale. He can fold in a slider and a change-up to keep hitters off-balance. He also throws from a three-quarters delivery, further throwing off hitters. Toronto needs to see him reclaim the velocity and command of those pitches before a promotion to the Majors is possible. The Blue Jays believe it’s possible — they selected his contract in November to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

The plan is to start Tiedemann as a reliever and then let him build up to a starter’s workload. An opening-day roster spot seems far-fetched. The more likely scenario is that Tiedemann joins the Blue Jays at some point in 2026 in a role similar to Yesavage’s to set him up for 2027, when Toronto really needs him to step up.

Why? That’s when starters Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber before free agents, and José Berríos has a contract opt-out. Keeping all three is unlikely, especially after signing Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce. It will be up to Tiedemann to prove he’s ready to assume one of those spots in 2027.