The Cleveland Guardians added to their bullpen depth on Monday, trading for LHP Justin Bruihl from the Toronto Blue Jays. 

The 28-year-old certainly wasn’t one of the most sought-after pitchers on the trade market, and he has some discousring overall stats, but there are a few areas to like about what Bruihl could bring to Cleveland. 

Bruihl’s Arm Extension

Stop if you’ve heard this before: the Guardians traded for a pitcher with high arm extension. 

Cleveland has helped pitchers with a skillset become productive big-league pitchers in the past, and maybe Bruihl will be the next success story for the Guardians. The left-hander ranked in the 81st percentile in extension during the 2025 season, and his previous big-league seasons have been about the same.

What exactly it is that Cleveland’s pitching staff sees in pitchers with long arm extension isn’t totally clear, but there’s no way to ignore this one stat when looking at the archetype the Guardians have targeted in the past.

Bruihl Has the Potential To Be Stirkeout Arm

For as good as Cleveland’s bullpen has been the last few seasons, they haven’t been a group that strikes out a lot of hitters. Bruihl certainly has the potential to help change that narrative.

Bruihl threw only 13.2 innings during the 2025 season, but he posted a 27.7 percent strikeout rate in those outings. That said, he also has a career strikeout rate of 27 percent at Triple-A, too. 

Bruihl’s Emerging Sinker

Bruihl has started to throw his slider more since making his big-league debut during the 2021 season. There’s also a lot to like about the movement the pitch has.

The left-hander’s sinker accounted for 51 percent of his pitches at the MLB level during the 2025 season. When Bruihl threw it, the sinker had a strike rate of 32.4 percent and a put-away rate of 36.7 percent.

If the Guardians are looking anywhere to build Bruihl up somewhere, they should certainly be starting with sinker.

Bruihl’s team Control

Cleveland certainly likes players who have team control moving forward, and Bruhil certainly does. He may be out of minor league options, but won’t be a free agent for the next five seasons.

If the Guardians are successful in turning Bruihl’s career around, they’ll have an effective pitcher moving forward.