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Yates, an all-star in 2019, gives the Blue Jays an elite arm in their bullpen they can trust in any situation.
He missed the majority of last season due to an injury to his right elbow. He is a prime candidate for a big bounce-back season in 2021, and Ross Atkins and his management team believe he’s ready to get back to his 2019 form.
In 2019, Yates was one of the best relief pitchers in all of baseball. He had a league-leading 41 saves with an ERA of 1.19. He had 101 strikeouts in 60.2 innings pitched.
His bread-and-butter pitch seems to be the splitter, which he has developed into one of the best in the league.
With Ken Giles a free agent and undergoing Tommy John surgery that will sideline him for the entire 2021 season, Yates allows the Jays to have an elite closer that they can depend on against the best of teams.
Yates might not have the power to blow pitches past batters as Giles has, but his command of the strike zone and poise under pressure makes him just as effective.
Yates went undrafted and played significant time in the minors before finally making it to the MLB. He was a waiver claim by the Padres in 2017, where he then began a quick upwards trajectory to one of the best relief pitchers in all of baseball. Now, he’s the new closer of the Blue Jays.