Jacob Barnes has signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, the team announced Monday. The deal includes an invite to spring training. The journeyman reliever will be looking to continue his 2024 success, when he had an 8-3 record and a 4.36 ERA with 55 strikeouts and a 1.318 WHIP. He also had a K% of 19.9% and a BB% of 7.2%. For his career, the 34-year-old has a 16-20 record, an ERA of 4.68, and 317 strikeouts. His strongest pitch is his cutter. It has been effective in generating swings and misses and weak contact such as ground balls.
OFFICIAL: We’ve signed RHP Jacob Barnes to a Minor League deal with an invite to #SpringTraining. pic.twitter.com/ns840S8oUb
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) February 17, 2025
Blue Jays Sign Jacob Barnes
Barnes also relies on a four-seam-fastball that is effective in producing flyballs, and his slider produces swings and misses like his cutter. As a middle reliever, Barnes provides experience and depth. However, Barnes is limited in the number of pitches he can throw. This is rooted in the fact that he has never thrown more than 34 pitches in a single outing. This is why he is best suited as a middle reliever. But Barnes did record at least six outs nine times this past season.
The Blue Jays will be getting an experienced reliever who has played in the majors for nine years. Barnes earned his way onto the Washington Nationals roster on Opening Day in 2024, and delivered by putting out solid outings all season. In addition, Barnes had a 95.4 fastball velocity and a barrel % of 6.4 last season, per Baseball Savant.
Barnes is a journeyman reliever who has pitched for several teams in his MLB career. Along with the Nationals, he’s also pitched for the Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, and the St. Louis Cardinals. His longest tenure with an organization has been with the Brewers, from the start of his big league career in 2016 until 2019. Barnes will hope to settle into his second stint with the Blue Jays in 2025.
