Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-man: Zach Pop

Zach Pop is a 27-year-old right-handed reliever from Brampton, Ontario. On August 2nd, he was traded to the Jays from the Marlins for Jordan Groshans, Anthony Bass and Edward Duran.

Groshans played in 17 games with the Marlins, hitting .262/.308/.312 in 2022. The Yankees grabbed him off waivers from the Marlins last month and then DFAed him, but he’s still in their system.

Bass....well, the less said about him, the better.

Duran played 41 games split between the FCL and Dunedin, hitting .315/.422/.417. He’s just 19 years old.

Pop got into a few games with the Jays in 2022, with a 1.89 ERA in 17 games. And a few more in 2023, 6.59 ERA in 15 games. He didn’t have a great time in Buffalo last year either, with a 5.05 ERA in 35.2 innings, with 37 hits, 14 walks and 34 strikeouts.

There is an option year left.

Beyond that, his value is remembering how he pitched before last year. He’s pitched 2.2 innings this spring, giving up 2 hits and getting 2 strikeouts.

What does he throw? A sinker (60.5% of the time last year, averaging 96.2 mph) and a slider (39.0% of the time, 85.9 mph).

Before last year, he didn’t get many strikeouts and didn’t give up many walks, but he did get a lot of ground balls. Last year, both in the majors and the minors, he gave up a lot more walks (about 10% between Toronto and Buffalo) and got more strikeouts (about 23% between the two spots), but he got fewer ground balls. He also gave up more home runs than in the past.

We are waist-deep in right-handed relievers, so the best Pop can hope is to show well in Buffalo and wait for an opportunity. Unfortunately, Erik Swanson seems unlikely to be ready to start the season, so there is one opening, but I think Pop needs more than one opening.

A few guys are entering their last option year- a pretty big year. They either break through and become major leaguers, or they get DFAed.

PECOTA doesn’t think he’ll break through. It figures 13 games, 16.3 innings, 2 home runs, 6 walks, and 14 strikeouts with a 4.59 ERA.

ZiPS is less interested in figuring out playing time. It has 49 games, 51.3 innings (why do the systems guess more than an inning an outing when the Jays don’t do that?), 18 walks, 44 strikeouts, and a 4.74 ERA.

Steamer: 34 games, 34 innings (making more sense), 4 homers, 12 walks, 29 strikeouts and a 4.74 ERA.