The Blue Jays could use a different look in their rotation, and Foster Griffin fits that idea neatly. A left-handed starter would give Toronto a contrast in a staff that leans heavily right-handed, and it could matter most in division matchups against the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays.
Those clubs didn’t handle lefties especially well in 2026. Toronto and Tampa Bay were the two worst offenses in the American League against left-handed pitching, posting 85 and 90 wRC+, respectively.
Boston and New York weren’t far behind. The Red Sox had a strange split at Fenway Park, where their 131 wRC+ on the road dropped to 76 at home, along with a slugging decline from .823 to .642.
The Yankees, meanwhile, were more productive against lefties away from Yankee Stadium, putting up a 120 wRC+ and a .790 OPS on the road. Their contact stayed fairly stable, with a .292 BABIP away from home compared with .302 at home, but their slugging fell from .458 to .387.
Griffin is one of the left-handed starters on the market who put together a strong 2026, and his profile is built around command and a deep mix rather than overpowering velocity. He finished the season without issuing a walk to his last 55 left-handed hitters, which made up 28% of his total matchups.
Right-handers had more success against him, hitting 16 of the 23 home runs he allowed and posting a .733 OPS. Lefties, though, were held to a .645 OPS, and his SO/W ratio jumped from 2.89 to 5.70.
That kind of performance helped him log real volume for Washington, even though the Nationals were one of the weaker defensive clubs in the league. They finished 18th with -9 Fielding Run Value and were at -15 in Range. Griffin still worked at least five innings in 27 of his 31 starts, and he reached six innings in 15 of them.
The numbers behind the arsenal are eye-catching. Griffin used seven pitches, and the whole package played off movement and command more than raw speed.
His fastball averaged 89.8 mph, but it still graded in the 95th percentile, and the +16 Run Value on that pitch was the best among left-handed starters currently available in free agency. His offspeed stuff ranked in the 78th percentile as well.
Five of his seven pitches produced a Whiff rate above 20%, and six sat below 25% in Perfect Contact, which speaks to how difficult his mix was to square up.
He also kept the ball from getting hit too hard. Griffin allowed a 37.0 Hard Hit% and a 3.2% home run rate, while walking just 6.2% of batters. Those marks were not far from elite territory when lined up against Tarik Skubal’s standards, with Skubal at 34.8 Hard Hit%, 2.3 HR% and a 4.4 BB% rate.
Griffin’s year also included his first taste of the postseason, and he handled it well. In two starts and one relief appearance, he posted a 3.48 ERA over 10 ⅓ innings with 15 strikeouts and no walks.
He returned to MLB in 2026 after three seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in the NPB, where he posted a 2.57 ERA. That run in Japan helped set up his return to the majors with the Nationals and then his trade to Cleveland at the deadline, finishing the season 15-6 with a 3.60 ERA and a 3.76 xFIP.
For Toronto, a deal in the range of a couple of seasons and $30-32 million could make sense. A one-year pact worth around $14 million, with an option for a second year, would also be a reasonable way to bring him in and see how he looks in his second season back in the majors.
In Other News...
Blue Jays Prospects Get A Big AFL Stage With Plenty At Stake
The Arizona Fall League has become a useful proving ground for the Blue Jays next wave, and this year it is putting three of their prospects on a bigger stage. Pitcher Jake Bloss, catcher Aaron Parker and outfielder Jake Cook have all earned spots in the Fall Stars Game, a nice snapshot of how much Toronto has to monitor as it looks for help beyond the big-league roster. For a club that is always trying to thread the needle between present contention and future depth, performances in a setting like this can carry real weight.
Parker has already made noise in the AFL with a strong season, while Cook has added value with his speed and offense, even leading his team in stolen bases. Bloss remains the name with perhaps the most long-term intrigue, because the organization still sees him as someone who could fit into a rotation picture down the line. The Fall Stars showcase will not settle any of those questions, but it does give Toronto another chance to measure how these prospects handle pressure against some of the best young talent in the game. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Just Added Flexibility To One Quiet Roster Battle
The Blue Jays quietly added another layer to their pitching depth by bringing back right-hander Lazaro Estrada on a minor league contract with a spring training invitation. Toronto also kept five other minor leaguers in the fold and added teenage left-hander Cheng-Hao Wu from Taiwan, a small flurry of moves that helps keep the organization stocked as camp approaches and the club sorts through its options behind the big league staff.
One of the more interesting ripple effects comes with pitcher Bloss, who now qualifies for a fourth option year because of his injury-related service time. It is the kind of roster wrinkle that can matter later in the spring, especially for a team trying to balance development, depth and flexibility without locking itself into decisions too early. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Offseason Could Hinge On Which Atkins Target They Actually Land
Ross Atkins has rarely been shy about shopping at the top of the market, and this offseason figures to be no different for a Blue Jays front office that has long shown a willingness to chase premium talent when it thinks the fit is right. The usual Atkins blueprint includes both marquee free agents and players from the Asian market, which is why Toronto keeps showing up in conversations around a wide range of possible additions. Among the names that make sense on paper are Freddy Peralta, Teruaki Sato, Seiya Suzuki and Kaima Taira, each carrying a different kind of appeal depending on how the roster is shaped over the next few months.
The challenge for Toronto is less about identifying talent than choosing the right lane and then actually landing the player who matches it. Some targets would strengthen the lineup immediately, while others would give the club more flexibility or upside in different ways, but the Jays can only make so many bets with the offseason market likely to move fast. In that sense, the real story is not just who Atkins likes, but which of those player types the Blue Jays are positioned to secure when the bidding starts. [Read more 🡒]