Toronto Blue Jays trade left-handed reliever to Cleveland Guardians
Photo credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images
The Toronto Blue Jays have traded left-handed reliever Justin Bruihl to the Cleveland Guardians.
The Blue Jays announced that they have traded Justin Bruihl to the Guards in exchande for cash considerations on Wednesday.
OFFICIAL: We've traded LHP Justin Bruihl to the Guardians in exchange for cash considerations.
The Jays had designated the Bruihl for assignment earlier this week.
Bruihl, 29 in June, signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays ahead of the 2025 campaign.
He eventually earned a roster spot and had a decent season, in some ways. His 5.27 earned run average in the majors doesn't look nice, but that came in a small sample of 13 2/3 innings.
He also had a strong 27.7% strikeout rate and 46.2% ground ball rate in that time. His 10.8% walk rate was a bit high but he was really held back by a .459 batting average on balls in play.
ERA estimators such as his 4.16 FIP and 3.42 SIERA were far more optimistic.
His minor league numbers look more like those latter metrics than his big league ERA.
He tossed 42 innings for Triple-A Buffalo with a 3.43 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate, 9.1% walk rate and 58.4% ground ball rate.
Bruihl will be a reclamation project for the Guardians
Justin Bruihl will be another Carl Willis experiment for the #Guardians. Across five major league seasons, he's played 94 games, taken home a 2-2 record, and put up a 4.72 ERA and WHIP of 1.37.
Bruihl doesn't throw especially hard. His two-seamer averaged just 90.2 miles per hour this year.
He also mixed in a cutter at 87.5 mph and a 78.4 mph slider. He nonetheless managed to punch guys out and avoid hard contact.
The Blue Jays sent him between Triple-A and the majors this year but he was enough of a factor to be on their ALDS roster against a lefty-heavy Yankee lineup.
He wasn't carried on the roster for subsequent rounds.
Despite some intriguing numbers this year, he got squeezed off Toronto's roster this week.
He exhausted his final option in 2025 and will be out of options going forward.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 17 | 52 ANSWERS Toronto Blue Jays trade left-handed reliever to Cleveland Guardians Was this a good trade for the Toronto Blue Jays? | ||
| Yes | 37 | 71.2 % |
| No | 3 | 5.8 % |
| Too early to tell | 12 | 23.1 % |
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