The Blue Jays wasted no time replacing Kevin Gausman. One day after shipping Gausman to the Cubs and closing the book on an era, Toronto landed a new arm for the rotation, acquiring right-hander José Soriano from the Angels in a three-prospect package.
Going back to Anaheim are SS Arjun Nimmala, Toronto’s No. 2 prospect, along with OF Eddie Micheletti and RHP Angel Rivero.
Soriano gives Toronto a pitcher with real upside and plenty of control. He’s 27, under team control through 2028, and not the kind of deadline arm that disappears after a few months.
The biggest question has always been the same one: can he keep the ball in the strike zone? When he does, the stuff plays loud.
His season has already shown both sides of that coin. Soriano opened with a blistering first month, putting up a 0.84 ERA over his first seven starts through the end of April. Then the walk issues and the regression hit, as he posted a 5.14 ERA across his next 13 outings before reaching the break with a 3.49 ERA in 20 starts.
The second half has looked more like the early version. Soriano opened by carving up the Cardinals for seven strong innings, then followed that with five innings of one-run ball - zero earned runs - against the Giants on July 26. The Angels then pulled him from what would have been his final pre-Deadline start against the Brewers on Saturday, pointing to trade uncertainty.
What makes Soriano so intriguing is the arsenal. He brings a 96.5 mph power sinker, a 92 mph splitter and an 85 mph knuckle curveball, and he’s leaned more heavily on a 98 mph four-seamer than he has in the past.
That change has helped him miss more bats up in the zone, while his sinker-heavy profile still keeps him among the small group of starters with a ground-ball rate above 50 percent. Last year, that number sat at an eye-popping 65.3 percent.
This is only Soriano’s third season as a starter. He was an effective reliever as a rookie in '23, when he posted a 3.64 ERA in 42 innings, and he’s steadily stretched out since then. He logged a season-high 169 innings last year and is on track to pass that total this season.
Soriano’s path here has not been a straight line. He underwent Tommy John surgery in February 2020 as a Minor Leaguer, was taken by the Pirates with the No. 1 overall pick in the Rule 5 Draft, and then was returned to the Angels in November 2021 after another operation on his right elbow. He made a full recovery, and for the Angels, that turnaround ended up being a blessing.
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