The Blue Jays needed pitching depth with the trade deadline bearing down, and instead of dialing another team they went to their own farm system. Toronto selected right-hander CJ Van Eyk's contract from Triple-A Buffalo ahead of Saturday's game against the Padres, officially putting him on the 40-man roster and setting up his MLB debut.
MLB Trade Rumors flagged the transaction as it hit the wire.
This isn't some fresh-faced prospect getting rushed up. Van Eyk is 27 years old and has been in the organization since Toronto took him in the second round of the 2020 draft out of Florida State, where he racked up strikeouts as a two-way weapon for the Seminoles. The path from there to now has been anything but smooth.
Van Eyk's career hit a wall when he needed Tommy John surgery after the 2021 season at High-A Vancouver, wiping out development time at an age when he should've been climbing fast. He's been rebuilding since 2023, and the underlying numbers still show the rust — a 3.79 ERA over 78 1/3 innings at Buffalo this year, with a modest 17.1% strikeout rate against a 7.6% walk rate. Neither Baseball America nor MLB Pipeline has him ranked among Toronto's top 30 prospects.
So why now? The Jays are dealing with pitching injuries and still don't have a settled fifth starter, and Van Eyk profiles as an innings-eater who can soak up length out of the bullpen while Toronto figures out the rotation. Chad Dallas got optioned back to Buffalo to open the roster spot, a straightforward swap that says more about organizational need than about Van Eyk suddenly breaking out.
None of that changes what this call-up means for the guy himself. Getting drafted is one thing; actually pitching in the majors after a Tommy John detour is a different kind of win, and it's the kind of story that tends to matter more to the player than to the standings. Whether he sticks as a long man or gets a real look in the rotation mix probably depends on how Toronto's other arms hold up as the deadline stretch plays out.