Blue Jays 40-man Roster Review: Angel Bastardo will miss a large part of the 2025 due to Tommy John surgery

It’s been a while since the Blue Jays picked someone in the Rule 5 draft.

This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual 40-man Roster Review, where we look at the players on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster. We’ll look at how the player performed in 2024, his season projections for the 2025 season, and any storylines heading into this coming season. In this article, we’ll look at Angel Bastardo.

In December, the Blue Jays selected Angel Bastardo in the Rule 5 draft from the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox signed the 22-year-old in the 2018 International Free Agency period and made his professional debut in 2019 in rookie ball, posting a 3.71 ERA and a 3.32 FIP in 51 innings pitched.

After the pandemic shutdown in the 2020 minor league season, Bastardo pitched with the Florida Complex League team in 2021, with a 6.67 ERA and a 3.58 FIP in 29.2 innings pitched. In Single-A the following season, Bastardo had a 4.50 ERA and a 4.16 FIP in 22 starts or 82 innings pitched.

Bastardo started the 2023 season in High-A, pitching 103.1 innings pitched with a 4.62 ERA and a 3.82 FIP, with a 31.8 K% and a 10.5 BB%. The right-handed pitcher also got limited action in Double-A, where he had a 5.06 ERA and a 6.34 FIP in 16 innings pitched.

That’s where Bastardo started his 2024 season, as he had a 5.36 ERA and a 4.28 FIP in 45.1 innings pitched with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. Moreover, the 22-year-old had a 26.6 K% and a 10.6 BB%, Unfortunately, he underwent Tommy John in June and will be out for a lengthy period of the 2025 season.

However, how does Bastardo fare in projection models for the 2025 season? Well, Fangraphs’ Steamer has him posting a 3.98 ERA and a 4.11 FIP in 24 innings pitched (all in relief), with a 22.2 K% and a 9.4 BB%. That’s similar to his ATC projections, as that model has him posting a 4.01 ERA and a 4.12 FIP in 17 innings pitched, with a 22.2 K% and a 9.4 BB%. The model OOPSY is a little harder on him, as it has him authoring a 4.65 ERA and a 4.77 FIP in 24 innings pitched, with a 19 K% and an 11.6 BB%.

Usually, Rule 5 rules are pretty straightforward. A player selected has to stay on the 26-man roster throughout the season and cannot be optioned, or his original team can purchase his contract back for $50,000. However, the fact Bastardo is going to be on the 60-day Injured List, thus off the 40-man roster, complicates things. In total, he’ll need to be on the big league roster for 90 days combined to end the 2025 season and when he returns for the 2026 season. After, the Jays can option him like any player with options.