Better know your Blue Jays 40-man: Ryan Borucki

Ryan Borucki was #6 on our top prospect list before the 2018 season. He was called up, mid-season, and joined the rotation. He made 17 starts, had a 3.87 ERA, and the future looked bright.

Since then, there have been bone spurs, a flexor strain, time in the minors and a move to the bullpen.

This past season he made 24 relief appearances for the Blue Jays had a 4.94 ERA with 11 walks and 21 strikeouts in 23.2 innings. Batters hit .214/.309/.429 against him. And, of course, there was a lot of time missed with the flexor strain mentioned above.

PECOTA sees him playing in 28 games (making 2 starts, I don’t see that happening unless it is in the opener role), throwing 48.1 innings pitched, with a 4.75 ERA.

Ryan’s velocity has jumped up since joining the bullpen. His fastball averaged 91.8 in 2018. Last year it averaged 95.4.

He turns 28 at the end of March. Sometimes when pitchers don’t throw a lot of innings in their 20s, they do well in their 30s. But that’s sometimes. It seems that this is an important season for Ryan. If he’s going to continue to be with the Jays, you’d think he’s going to have to cement his spot with the team. He has the talent, he just needs to stay healthy.