{"id":866377,"date":"2026-08-21T16:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T16:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/866377\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T16:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T16:20:12","slug":"mason-fluharty-to-open-against-yankees-making-mlb-leading-68th-appearance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/866377\/","title":{"rendered":"Mason Fluharty to open against Yankees, making MLB-leading 68th appearance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reliever Mason Fluharty will open for the Toronto Blue Jays during Friday\u2019s series opener at Yankee Stadium, per the club\u2019s announcement. <\/p>\n

Fluharty, who\u2019ll be making his MLB-leading and career-high 68th appearance of the season, will look to neutralize a New York lineup capable of deploying several left-handed batters, including Ben Rice, Trent Grisham, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Luis Garc\u00eda Jr. and Spencer Jones, among others.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old, second-year major leaguer has thrived in left-on-left matchups this season, holding opponents to a .154\/.219\/.221 slash line and a 21.7 per cent strikeout-minus-walk rate (K-BB%) thus far. This will mark his fourth opener start in 2026, tying Spencer Miles\u2019 total on the campaign, with both slotting in behind Braydon Fisher\u2019s team-leading eight opener starts.<\/p>\n

Another factor that likely steered the Blue Jays\u2019 brass towards this decision is Fluharty\u2019s recent success versus the Yankees, whose offence has produced just five hits (four singles) and one walk with two strikeouts over their last 26 plate appearances against him.<\/p>\n

Fluharty can cover beyond three outs if needed, which he\u2019s already done seven times earlier this season. He\u2019ll eventually hand the ball to Friday\u2019s bulk arm, who\u2019ll either be Simeon Woods Richardson (0.59 ERA in five appearances with the Blue Jays) or Spencer Arrighetti (foot nerve irritation), who\u2019s expected to be activated from the 15-day injured list prior to first pitch.<\/p>\n

Arrighetti isn\u2019t fully stretched out after spending almost a month on the IL and tossing fewer than four innings in each of his two Triple-A rehab starts since coming over via trade from the Houston Astros. In his most recent outing with Buffalo, he threw 50 pitches (35 strikes) across 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out three.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old starter likely could\u2019ve benefited from one final rehab start before returning, providing the right-hander an opportunity to build up further after missing as much time as he has. But with the Blue Jays in the middle of a razor-thin race for the final AL wild-card spot and needing to win as many games as possible down the stretch, they\u2019re beyond the point of saving bullets for later.<\/p>\n

These are essentially post-season games for Toronto. As such, they\u2019ll need to rely on their best 13 pitchers in the organization, and if Arrighetti is healthy, he\u2019ll be firmly among that mix.<\/p>\n

All season long, Fluharty has been near the top of that list, sporting a 3.71 ERA and 3.66 FIP with a 16.9 per cent K-BB%. That\u2019s allowed him to be a workhorse from late March into the dog days of summer<\/a>, entering Friday\u2019s contest an inning and two-thirds away from matching last season\u2019s innings total (52.2) \u2014 and there\u2019s still another month to go.<\/p>\n

Presuming the Blue Jays remain competitive through the end of September, odds are Fluharty could make anywhere between 12-17 appearances the rest of the way. He\u2019s already appeared in over half of the club\u2019s 129 games this year. At that rate, he could threaten Tyler Rogers\u2019 career-high 81 appearances from a season ago, the most by any major-league reliever.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Rogers, he\u2019s currently at 60 games this season, one back of Fisher. Behind those two sits closer Louis Varland, who\u2019s pitched in 59 contests after logging a career-high 74 in 2025, setting the table for his record-breaking October \u2014 making the most appearances in a single post-season with 15.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a stable of horses at the back end of Toronto\u2019s bullpen, and Fluharty has been leading the race since the stall doors opened.<\/p>\n

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