The Blue Jays and Orioles are executing a bit of business between games of their doubleheader today, as Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet report that Toronto is set to acquire right-hander Seranthony Dominguez and cash from Baltimore. The Jays are sending minor league righty Juaron Watts-Brown to the Orioles in return.
Dominguez, 30, is earning $8MM in his final season of club control. He’s spent the past year in Baltimore after coming over from the Phillies at the 2024 trade deadline. The 6’1″, 225-pound righty has been among the Orioles’ top setup options this season, pitching 41 2/3 innings of 3.24 ERA ball with an excellent 30.9% strikeout rate but also a troubling 13.7% walk rate. Command has been a problem for the hard-throwing Dominguez at times in the past, but never quite to this extent.
Even with the glut of free passes, Dominguez has still enjoyed a strong year. This year’s strikeout rate is the second-highest of his career (second to only his rookie season), as is his 14.3% swinging-strike rate. He’s sitting 97.7 mph with his four-seamer and 97.9 mph with his sinker, per Statcast, pairing those blistering primary offerings with a pair of newly implemented secondary weapons: a splitter averaging 87.4 mph and a more seldom-used curveball that’s sitting 83.7 mph.
Dominguez has picked up 13 holds and a pair of saves. He’s been charged with three blown saves on the season. Outside of closer Felix Bautista, no reliever in the Baltimore bullpen has been used more frequently in high-leverage situations. He’s no stranger to protecting late leads, either, evidenced by the 40 saves and 71 holds he’s tallied in 298 major league appearances dating back to his 2018 debut in Philadelphia.
More to come.