The Blue Jays announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Tommy Nance. In a corresponding move, fellow righty Ryan Burr was placed directly onto the 60-day injured list with a right rotator cuff strain, which opened both an active roster and a 40-man roster spot.
Nance, 34, had a decent run late last year with the Jays. The club had planned to compete in 2024 but fell out of the race and ended up as a deadline seller. Nance was added to the roster in August, as the club was playing out the string on a lost season. He posted a 4.09 earned run average in 22 innings. His 20.4% strikeout rate and 9.7% walk rate were both a bit shy of average but he had a strong 52.4% ground ball rate.
The Jays kept him on their 40-man through the winter but he didn’t break camp with the club. Since he is out of options, he was designated for assignment and outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo. Since then, he has tossed 31 1/3 innings for the Bisons with a 4.60 ERA, though it seems like there’s a lot of bad luck in that figure. His 31.3% strikeout rate, 5.2% walk rate and 58% ground ball rate are all well above average. He’s seemingly been held back by a .363 batting average on balls in play and 55% strand rate, which are both to the unfortunate side. His 2.63 FIP suggests his ERA might be too high by almost two full runs.
The Jays will slot Nance into the bullpen to see if his numbers can regress at the big league level. As mentioned, he is out of options and can’t be easily sent back down to Buffalo. If he holds onto a roster spot through the end of the year, he can be retained beyond this season.
More to come.