Toronto Blue Jays designate left-handed reliever for assignment

The Blue Jays announced on Monday evening that they designated southpaw Justin Bruihl for assignment.

Bruihl, 29 in June, signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays last offseason.

He was added to the big league roster in June and spent the rest of the season getting repeatedly shuttled between Toronto and Triple-A Buffalo.

Bruihl made 15 appearances out of Toronto's bullpen in 2025, collecting a 5.27 ERA and 18:7 K:BB across 13.2 frames.

He also tossed 42 Triple-A innings on the year, with a much better 3.43 ERA despite somewhat comparable rate stats.

He certainly got more grounders in the minors, a 58.4% clip, but his 27.8% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate were both very close to what he did in the majors.

His .274 BABIP was much closer to par, which helped the ERA even out to a more acceptable level.

The 28-year-old southpaw was also on Toronto's post-season roster for its American League Division Series win over the New York Yankees, allowing two runs in just 0.1 of an inning's work.

Though there were some things to like about Bruihl's 2025 campaign, he exhausted his final option season.

That means he will be out of options going forward and will find it tougher to hold a roster spot.

That's especially true for a team like the Blue Jays, who have been aggressively adding to the roster as they look to compete again in 2026.

The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Blue Jays could take five days to field trade interest.

If Bruihl lands somewhere else, he has between one and two years of service time. That means he hasn't yet qualified for arbitration and can potentially be controlled for five full seasons.