Bounce Back Candidate: Toronto Blue Jays reliever Yimi Garcia

Blue Jays reliever Yimi Garcia had his season end when he had to have surgery to clean up scar tissue in his throwing elbow last August.

He finished the season with a 3.86 ERA and 1.190 WHIP across his 21 innings pitched and was one of the Jays' best arms in their bullpen before going down with the injury.

He didn't allow a single earned run through his first 14 outings into the season and finished the year with a 3.85 FIP, allowing just nine earned runs across three total outings.

Garcia, when healthy, is the kind of high- leverage strikeout pitcher the Blue Jays desperately need in their bullpen.

He still has the pitches to be a dominant reliever. Garcia still averaged 96 mph on his fastball last season and struck out batters 27.8% of the time.

He punched out 79 batters in 66 innings in 2023 and 49 in 39 innings in 2024 before being shipped to the Seattle Mariners at the trade deadline.

Garcia signed with Toronto ahead of the 2025 campaign on a two-year, $15-million deal.

It's his second stint with the club after spending 2.5 seasons with the team between 2022-24.

This being a contract year also helps motivate Garcia to stay healthy and perform well in his age 36 season.

A healthy uncle Yimi can and will be a huge asset out of the bullpen in 2026.