The Yankees have a bullpen problem, and Jonathan Loaisiga is the kind of familiar fix that makes too much sense to ignore.
New York leaned heavily on Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn and David Bednar during the 2026 season, and that top-heavy setup is only more pressing now with Blackburn and Bednar headed for free agency. Re-signing Bednar remains a priority, but the Yankees are also surveying the market for outside help. Loaisiga, who spent the 2026 season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, is one of the names in play.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that the Yankees are among Loaisiga’s suitors, along with the Mets and Blue Jays.
Yankees, Mets and Blue Jays are among many teams in on ex-Yankee reliever Jonathan Loaisiga, who had a big year in Arizona (2.42 ERA, 1.03 WHIP)
A reunion with a former player is never a sure thing, but this one fits. Loaisiga is all upside if the health holds, and that has always been the catch.
The concern has never been whether he can pitch. It has been whether he can stay on the mound.
After his breakout 2021 season in the Bronx, Loaisiga spent the next four years fighting injuries, including Tommy John surgery in 2024. The Yankees eventually decided the risk outweighed the reward and declined his club option.
When he is right, though, he looks like exactly the kind of late-inning weapon contenders want. He handles right-handed hitters, keeps the ball on the ground, and brings a sinker that can flirt with triple digits. In 2021, he logged 70.2 innings over 57 appearances and posted a 2.17 ERA and 2.58 FIP with 69 strikeouts.
Jonathan Loáisiga, 100mph 🔥🍝 pic.twitter.com/c8gClwYDjB
Arizona took the gamble last season, and Loaisiga rewarded them with his best workload in years. He appeared in 67 games, the most of his career, and threw 67.0 innings with a 2.42 ERA and 2.88 FIP. His strikeout total dipped to 48, but he made up for it by limiting damage: just 13 walks, three home runs and a 55.8% ground ball rate.
2026 was the first season since 2021 in which he was consistently available, and the results were strong enough to remind everyone why he was such an appealing arm in the first place.
The Yankees, Mets, and Blue Jays are among many teams in on Jonathan Loáisiga, per @JonHeyman.2025 with NYY: 4.25 ERA, 1.48 WHIP in 29.2 IP2026 with ARI: 2.42 ERA, 1.03 WHIP in 67 IP, 13 BB67 innings was his most since 2021, after four straight seasons under 50. pic.twitter.com/xANi17IJpa
There is one wrinkle New York has to weigh: the strikeouts. The Yankees’ bullpen could use more power, and after trading Camilo Doval at the 2026 deadline, Bednar was the only reliever on the staff who averaged more than 96 mph with his fastball, not counting Angel Chivilli, who pitched only 15 games.
Loaisiga helps in that department. His sinker sits in the upper 90s and can reach 100 mph, and his average fastball velocity of 97.8 mph ranked in the 93rd percentile among qualified pitchers on Baseball Savant. Only Cam Schlittler and Chivilli ranked higher among Yankees pitchers, both at the 94th percentile.
That kind of heat would fit neatly alongside a bullpen built around more off-speed and breaking stuff.
Still, Loaisiga should be viewed as part of the solution, not the whole answer. The Yankees should still bring back Bednar and push hard for Adrian Morejon, another hard-throwing sinkerballer who brings a much higher strikeout rate. A group of Bednar, Morejon, Loaisiga and Brent Headrick would give New York a dangerous late-inning mix.
For the Yankees, the appeal is simple: they already know what Loaisiga can do when he’s healthy, and his velocity and ground-ball profile are exactly the kind of traits that play in the back end of a bullpen.
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