{"id":115121,"date":"2026-03-04T23:00:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T04:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=115121"},"modified":"2026-03-04T23:00:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T04:00:32","slug":"blue-jays-add-reliever-joe-mantiply-minor-league-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/03\/04\/blue-jays-add-reliever-joe-mantiply-minor-league-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays Add Journeyman Reliever as Spring Training Rolls On"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On Tuesday night, the Toronto Blue Jays and left-handed reliever <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mantijo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Mantiply<\/a> agreed to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training\u2019s big-league camp, the team announced Tuesday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_54769\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-54769\" style=\"width: 629px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2022\/04\/Joe-Mantiply-20220422-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Joe Mantiply\" width=\"629\" height=\"419\" class=\" wp-image-54769\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2022\/04\/Joe-Mantiply-20220422-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2022\/04\/Joe-Mantiply-20220422.jpg 594w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 629px) 100vw, 629px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-54769\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; APRIL 21: Joe Mantiply #35 of the Arizona Diamondbacks pitches against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on April 21, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Blue Jays Sign Joe Mantiply to Minor League Deal<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">OFFICIAL: We\u2019ve signed LHP Joe Mantiply to a Minor League deal with an invite to <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SpringTraining?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#SpringTraining<\/a>. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bKWOnA6Hej\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/bKWOnA6Hej<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BlueJays\/status\/2028998968173002858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 4, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><b>A Look into Mantiply\u2019s Career<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mantiply&#8217;s big-league career covers parts of eight seasons, posting a record of 11-13, an ERA of 4.54, and a WHIP of 1.347. Most of this came in Arizona with the Diamondbacks, where he made 250 of his 256 appearances.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last season, Mantiply appeared in 10 games, pitching to a 0-1 record, an ERA of 15.83, a WHIP of 3.000, and opposing hitters hit .481 against the left-hander. He allowed 26 hits in only 9 2\/3 innings, struggling to pitch to his form showcased from 2021-2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mantiply\u2019s best season came in 2022, when he went 2-5, with a 2.85 ERA, 1.083 WHIP, and 61 strikeouts in 60 innings. He made the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2022\/07\/11\/joe-mantiply-all-star\/\" target=\"_self\">All-Star team<\/a> for the first (and so far only) time in his career.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>How Does Mantiply Fit with Toronto?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mantiply will likely start the season at Triple-A Buffalo, with Toronto already having <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/littlbr02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brendon Little<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/fluhama01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mason Fluharty<\/a>, and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lauerer01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eric Lauer<\/a> as left-handed relief options in camp. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/01\/13\/closer-look-four-blue-jays-prospects-heading-into-2026-season\/\" target=\"_self\">Pitching prospect<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=tiedem000tar\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ricky Tiedemann<\/a> is already experiencing elbow soreness in his return from Tommy John surgery, leaving a question mark on his role when the regular season begins. Toronto already optioned <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=macko-000ada\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adam Macko<\/a>, who will pitch for Team Canada at the World Baseball Classic, to minor league camp.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As many Blue Jays fans remember, Little had a very tough 2025 postseason. In six appearances, he went 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA and a WHIP of 3.000, allowing two home runs in only four innings pitched. If Little struggles out of the gate, he could become an early candidate to be designated for assignment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fluharty is coming off a rookie year where the left-hander went 5-2 with an ERA of 4.44 and a WHIP of 1.139. Fluharty, like Little, struggled during the postseason, pitching to an ERA of 5.68, a WHIP of 1.895, and allowing an opponent\u2019s batting average of .321. With options remaining, Fluharty could see time in Buffalo if he struggles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lauer appears likely to bounce between the bullpen and rotation, so his roster spot is one of the more assured things in camp. Last season, Lauer shone, pitching to a 9-2 record, 3.18 ERA, and 1.108 WHIP.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The addition of Mantiply gives the Blue Jays more assurance should any of their left-handers get hurt or struggle. Last season, the Blue Jays&#8217; bullpen opened with <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lovelri01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Richard Lovelady<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/barneja01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jacob Barnes<\/a>, underscoring the importance of depth over a 162-game season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Norm Hall\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Tuesday night, the Toronto Blue Jays and left-handed reliever Joe Mantiply agreed to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training\u2019s big-league camp, the team announced Tuesday.\u00a0 Blue Jays Sign Joe Mantiply to Minor League Deal OFFICIAL: We\u2019ve signed LHP Joe Mantiply to a Minor League deal with an invite to #SpringTraining. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5720,"featured_media":55661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1071,35],"tags":[1366,1311,4484,5152,29116,5821],"class_list":["post-115121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bluejays","category-mlb","category-news","tag-brendon-little","tag-eric-lauer","tag-jacob-barnes","tag-joe-mantiply","tag-mason-fluharty","tag-ricky-tiedemann"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5720"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115121"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115146,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115121\/revisions\/115146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}