The Blue Jays added a different kind of arm on Wednesday, claiming right-hander Matt Waldron off waivers from the Padres and making room by transferring lefty Patrick Corbin from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.
Waldron is set to go straight onto Toronto’s active roster because he’s out of minor league options. He turns 30 next month, and while he has worked both as a starter and a long reliever, the bullpen role looks like the likelier fit for now.
Toronto has already shuffled plenty of pieces around the deadline, trading Kevin Gausman and placing Trey Yesavage on the injured list earlier in the day, while also adding José Soriano and Jameson Taillon. At the moment, the rotation lines up with Soriano, Dylan Cease, Shane Bieber, Max Scherzer and Taillon.
What makes Waldron stand out is simple: he’s the only active knuckleballer in the game. Roughly 29% of his pitches this season have been knucklers, and nearly 36% of his major league pitches overall have come with that same fluttering grip.
The results have been mixed. In 2023-24, Waldron put together 188 innings with a 4.79 ERA, striking out 20.6% of hitters while walking 6.5% and producing a 39.2% ground-ball rate.
That’s useful back-end production more than anything flashy, but it was enough to make him a viable fifth-starter type. Since then, though, things have gone the wrong way.
Dating back to last year, Waldron has been hit hard for a 7.23 ERA. He has still thrown strikes, with an 8.1% walk rate, but the strikeouts have dipped to 18% and the home runs have piled up.
His minor league numbers last season weren’t much cleaner, either. He logged 90 1/3 innings with a 6.48 ERA, a .368 batting average on balls in play and a 61.7% strand rate that left him carrying too many baserunners home.
Beyond the knuckleball, Waldron also mixes in a four-seamer, sinker, cutter and slider. His four-seamer and two-seamer sit at 90-91 mph, the cutter comes in around 87, and the slider sits near 80. It’s a broad mix, though the cutter has been the pitch that’s drawn the best grades in the majors, despite being the least-used offering in his career.
Toronto can technically control Waldron for four more years after this season, but that’s a long-term detail for another day. Right now, the Blue Jays just need innings, and Waldron gives them another arm for the bullpen with at least some possibility of stepping into the rotation if Bieber or Scherzer need more time on the injured list. Both have already missed most of the season.
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The right-hander is already moving on to his next stop, with a Cubs debut set for Friday against the Kansas City Royals, yet his words suggested Toronto will not be just another stop on the itinerary. For Blue Jays fans, it leaves the deal feeling a little less final than most, with the emotional part of the story still hanging in the air. [Read more 🡒]