The Toronto Blue Jays finally made a major splash on the free agent market this offseason by signing 26 year old Cuban right-hander Yariel Rodriguez to a four year, $32M contract. Rodriguez had been plying his trade in NBP before he abruptly walked out on the Chunichi Dragons and announced his defection from Cuba to seek an MLB deal. As a result, he did not pitch in 2023 save for his stint on Team Cuba during the WBC, where he was rather impressive. There remains uncertainty as to what his role will be once in Toronto but he has NPB experience as both a starter and a reliever, so he could give the team much needed length out of the pen and some extra starter depth in case of injuries.
Stuff is the Cuban’s calling card and it was at its very best in a dominant 2022 season with Chunichi Dragons where he pitched to a 1.15 ERA and 0.915 WHIP. He brings swing and miss which is needed in a Blue Jays bullpen. His slider is his most elite weapon as it has devastating movement and crucially, he commands it well. In his dominant 2022 season, he got it across for strikes roughly 75% of the time. His fastball is fairly competitive also. In an October 2023 tryout, it was averaging at slightly over 96 MPH with 2586 RPM. The slider averaged just shy of 85 MPH with over 2900 RPM.
He has also picked up a splitter in Japan as this pitch is very popular among NPB pitchers, including stars like Yamamoto and Senga that have come over the US. This pitch will be key if he intends to become a full-fledged starter stateside. Generally, a starting pitcher requires at a minimum three MLB level pitches to make it. Rodriguez currently has two, which would make it difficult for him to truly thrive as a starter. That said, given the quality of that slider, he could become a very valuable high leverage bullpen weapon that can provide high leverage innings, and length as needed.
In the end, the main value that Rodriguez provides to the Blue Jays is options. At 26, he is young enough to develop further in his game, be it as a reliever or as a starter and he is also seasoned enough as a professional to know what is needed to succeed at the highest level. My preference would be to see him as a high leverage arm but if the Jays are giving him an $8M AAV contract, they most likely will attempt to mold him into a starter first. It could work very well provided that the splitter comes along nicely, giving him that third pitch to mix especially the second and third times through the order. Don’t expect him to be an ace or even a big innings eater if he does start but as long as he can consistently give five or six good innings a start, he is doing what a number four or five starter should do. The Jays have Gausman, Bassitt and Berrios to serve as a quality front three. In the bullpen, Rodriguez would serve as a capable lieutenant to Jordan Romano alongside Yimi Garcia, Chad Green, Tim Mayza et al. You can never have enough quality bullpen arms, especially if they bring high K rates. Whatever the Jays choose to do, hopefully Rodriguez makes for a sneaky good addition to an already solid team.
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