Zach Thompson

Thompson threw a career-high 121.2 innings in 2022 after being traded from Miami to Pittsburgh in the offseason. His results were volatile, which was predictable given his contact-heavy profile -- he has only an 18.2 percent strikeout rate across 196.2 career innings. Despite managing to hold opponents to a reasonable 6.4 percent barrel rate while inducing a 45.3 percent groundball rate, Thompson served up 1.4 HR/9. Though he stuck in the rotation most of the season, Thompson was forced to the bullpen by mid-August and piggybacked with as assortment of young arms in the organization. Pittsburgh opted to move on from Thompson and sent him to Toronto, and the change in scenery is unlikely to help his chances of seeing regular starts. The righty could make some spot starts, but his likely role with the Blue Jays, assuming he's up with the big club, is likely to be that of a long reliever.