{"id":926688,"date":"2026-10-09T15:48:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T15:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/926688\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T15:48:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T15:48:21","slug":"toronto-blue-jays-quietly-announce-signing-of-young-pitcher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/926688\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Blue Jays Quietly Announce Signing of Young Pitcher"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Toronto\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – JULY 12: Manager John Schneider #14 of the Toronto Blue Jays looks on before the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on July 12, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Toronto Blue Jays aren\u2019t in the postseason, but that hasn\u2019t stopped them from making moves.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Toronto officially signed a young pitcher to a minor-league contract.<\/p>\n

Toronto Blue Jays Quietly Sign Young Pitcher During MLB Playoffs\"TorontoGettyTORONTO, CANADA \u2013 JANUARY 6: Kazuma Okamoto<\/a> (not pictured) #7 of the Toronto Blue Jays is introduced during a press conference alongside Ross Atkins, General Manager of the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on January 6, 2026 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Cole Burston\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays signed 18-year-old pitcher Windel Encarnacion to a minor-league deal, according to MiLB.com\u2019s transactions log<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Encarnacion throws and bats right-handed.<\/p>\n

\"WorldGettyLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA \u2013 OCTOBER 29: A detailed view of Toronto Blue Jays hats and gloves before the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> in game five of the 2025 World Series at Dodger Stadium on October 29, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Luke Hales\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Encarnacion was born on Aug. 4, 2008, in San Juan De La Maguana, Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n

He is listed at six feet tall. He weighs 149 pounds.<\/p>\n

Looking at the Toronto Blue Jays Right Now\"CincinnatiGettyTORONTO, CANADA \u2013 SEPTEMBER 27: Max Scherzer<\/a> #31 and George Springer<\/a> #4 and of the Toronto Blue Jays hug after Scherzer was taken out of the game against the Cincinnati Reds<\/a> during the eighth inning in their MLB game at Rogers Centre on September 27, 2026 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> ended the regular season with a 79-83 record.<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays appeared out of the postseason race in early August. The club traded key players Kevin Gausman<\/a> and Daulton Varsho<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"TorontoGettyBALTIMORE, MARYLAND \u2013 SEPTEMBER 23: George Springer #4 of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrates with Kazuma Okamoto #7 after scoring in the sixth inning during game one of a double header against the Baltimore Orioles<\/a> at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 23, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

However, the team fought back and remained in the postseason race until the last week of the season.<\/p>\n

It was nonetheless an extremely disappointing season for the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n

\"CincinnatiGettyTORONTO, CANADA \u2013 SEPTEMBER 25: Louis Varland<\/a> #77 and Brandon Valenzuela<\/a> #59 of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrate defeating the Cincinnati Reds in their MLB game at the Rogers Centre on September 25, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

In 2025, the Blue Jays were two outs away from winning the World Series before Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas<\/a> tied Game 7 of the World Series with a ninth-inning home run.<\/p>\n

A major reason for the Blue Jays\u2019 regression is the poor play of Vladimir Guerrero<\/a> Jr., who had a sub-.600 OPS in 2026.<\/p>\n

\"TorontoGettySACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA \u2013 SEPTEMBER 08: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #27 of the Toronto Blue Jays reacts after he hit a single against the Athletics during the eighth inning at Sutter Health Park on September 08, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\nGuerrero is currently in the middle of a $500 million contract.
\nIf the Blue Jays get the best version of Guerrero next year, they will be in much better shape to make a postseason run.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tJackson Kruse<\/a> Jackson Kruse covers Major League Baseball for Heavy Sports. He is also the site expert for FanSided’s Minnesota Twins site, Puckett’s Pond, and writes for Nolan Writin’, FanSided’s Texas Rangers site. Jackson earned a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media from Texas State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Before joining Heavy Sports and FanSided, he served as sports editor of The University Star, Texas State University’s student-run newspaper. More about Jackson Kruse<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty PHOENIX, ARIZONA – JULY 12: Manager John Schneider #14 of the Toronto Blue Jays looks on before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":926689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-926688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=926688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/926689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=926688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=926688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=926688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}