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Blue Jays 40-man Roster Review: The 2024 season is Mitch White’s last chance with Toronto
Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Blue Jays 40-man Roster Review: The 2024 season is Mitch White’s last chance with Toronto

Originally posted on Bluejaysnation  |  By Brennan Delaney  |  Last updated 1/11/24

To say Mitch White’s Blue Jays career has been tumultuous would be an understatement.

The Blue Jays traded for the 29-year-old at the 2022 trade deadline, giving up a top 100 prospect in Nick Frasso, along with Moises Brito. To balance out the trade, the Jays also received prospect Alex De Jesus, who had a nice season which saw him hit for the cycle, before an injury ended his 2023.

White though, oh man. His first half-season in the organization was hit or miss depending on the statistics you look at. In 43 innings pitched, White had a 7.74 ERA (bad), but a 3.76 FIP (solid) for a 0.6 fWAR. He only had a 15.3 K% and an average 7.9 BB%, but he only gave up three homers as a Blue Jay that year, hence the low FIP.

The right-handed pitcher’s 2023 season started off rocky, as he missed all of spring training and a large part of the early season with an elbow and shoulder injury. White’s rehab with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons also went poorly, as he had an 8.61 ERA and 6.08 FIP in 23 innings pitched before the call up to the big leagues.

He started the season off surprisingly well in the big leagues, posting a 3.38 ERA and a 3.13 FIP in 8 innings pitched, along with a 27.8 K% and a 5.6 BB%, before it quickly went off the rails Over his next four appearances, White gave up seven earned runs in just 4.2 innings pitched for a 13.50 ERA and a 7.97 FIP, giving him a 7.11 ERA and a 4.91 FIP in 12.2 innings in the big leagues.

Unfortunately for the Jays, it was time to cut bait and they designated the 29-year-old for assignment, with White somehow not being picked up. The results were bad, but there’s still some potential in his arm.

Upon returning to Triple-A Buffalo, White had a 3 ERA and a 4.32 FIP in 36 innings pitched, along with a pretty good 30.3 K% and a rather high 10.5 BB%. From August 18 to the end of the season, White pitched 33.1 innings and had a 1.89 ERA and a 3.21 FIP, along with a 31.4 K% and 10.2 BB%.

In turn, the Blue Jays re-added him to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. With no option years remaining, White will need to make an impact and make the team for the 2024 season. If he doesn’t, the Blue Jays will have to designate him for assignment once again unless he’s injured, and it seems unlikely to clear waivers during the early part of the season.

Let’s hope that White can be the swing-man the Jays thought they were acquiring at the 2022 deadline.

This article first appeared on Bluejaysnation and was syndicated with permission.

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