Ricky Tiedemann will make his long-awaited major league debut after years of injury setbacks.
The Toronto Blue Jays are still in the thick of the playoff hunt despite what's been a disappointing season to this point.
Entering Saturday, the Blue Jays were in fourth place in the American League East with a 60-64 record (15.5 games out of first place in the division) but are just one game out of the final wild card spot in the AL.
Over the last week, Toronto has earned much-needed wins against division rivals to help its standing in the playoff hunt.
It took three-of-four in a series against the Boston Red Sox from Monday-through-Thursday and took the first of a three-game series against the New York Yankees on Friday.
To help the Blue Jays keep their momentum rolling, they fortified the bullpen by acquiring veteran right-handed reliever Paul Sewald off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier this week.
Toronto bolstered its bullpen further by adding one of its most promising, albeit hindered, pitching prospects to the major league roster.
On Saturday, ahead of the second game of the series against the Yankees, the Blue Jays recalled left-handed pitcher Ricky Tiedemann from the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. He'll wear No. 33.
Right-handed pitcher Chase Lee was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.
At one point, Tiedemann was both a top 100 prospect and the top prospect in Toronto's farm system. He began his professional career strongly.
In his first year of minor league ball in 2022, the 23-year-old reached as high as Double-A and posted a 2.17 ERA with 117 strikeouts in 78.2 innings pitched across 18 total starts.
Since that point, Tiedemann has failed to register more than 15 starts in a single season due to a variety of injuries.
From 2024-present, Tiedemann recorded just 24.1 innings of work across 15 outings (10 starts) due to arm and neck injuries. He missed most of 2024 and all of 2025 due to recovering from Tommy John surgery.
This year, the former third-round draft pick was extended a non-roster invite to spring training by the Blue Jays and seemed to have gotten back on track to a potential major league promotion in the near future.
Instead, Tiedemann dealt with arm soreness that delayed the start of his season. When he was ready to go, he went on a rehab assignment with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays and Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays. He also came down with neck soreness that prolonged his rehab assignment.
Tiedemann has made three appearances with the Bisons this season and has posted a 12.00 ERA. He fanned four hitters in three innings of work.
