The Toronto Blue Jays have an abundance of starting pitching after another busy offseason, so it was always going to be difficult to project a starter’s workload from top prospect Ricky Tiedemann this season.
However, the left-hander was shut down in February with elbow soreness in his throwing arm, and the latest update on his health lends all the more credence to the idea that a future as a starting pitcher is not in the prospect nor the team’s best interest.
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Ranked the #32 prospect in 2023 and the #29 prospect entering 2024 (h/t MLB Pipeline), the last two seasons have not gone smoothly for the Long Beach, California native. Tiedemann only threw 18 innings in 2024, pitching to a 5.19 ERA before needing Tommy John surgery in July of that season. He proceeded to miss the rest of 2024 and the entirety of the 2025 season, dropping him off of top 100 prospect lists and moving him down to the #5 slot in the 2026 MLB Pipeline Blue Jays prospect rankings.
The Blue Jays have been operating under plans to treat him as a starting pitcher this season, but a recent update from Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling states that Tiedemann has not thrown since being shut down ten days ago despite the lack of structural damage seen on a recent MRI.
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Given his colorful injury history over recent years, it remains confusing that the Jays are treating Tiedemann like a starter when he would be much better suited as a reliever. It’s a common adage in baseball: every great reliever was once a failing starting pitcher. There’s humility in recognizing that despite Tiedemann’s high-octane fastball, his arm is simply unable to hold up under a starter’s workload.
In addition, starting pitching is one area in which the Blue Jays are flush with options. With the emergence of Trey Yesavage and an offseason full of additions, Tiedemann falls eighth in line on the starter depth chart in the most optimistic of interpretations.
Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider (14)
© Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images© Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
(© Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images)
Furthermore, the bullpen is the one area in which the 2025 American League champions have notice gaps in. The 2025 Jays lacked a true shutdown reliever and ultimately paid the price for that in Game 7 of the World Series, and the 2026 pen remains largely the same aside from the addition of Tyler Rogers.
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By cutting his workload in half, the Jays could get considerably more value out of Tiedemann as a shutdown left-handed reliever than they would stashing him in the minor leagues as a starter. Any team would try to use Tiedemann as a starter, but the time has come for a change in direction.
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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Mar 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the MLB section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.