Blue Jays Select Josh Fleming, Designate Austin Voth For Assignment

The Blue Jays announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Josh Fleming. Right-hander Austin Voth has been designated for assignment as a corresponding move for both the 40-man and active rosters.

The Jays have been cycling through arms at the back of their roster as a response to the Cody Ponce injury and Eric Lauer having the flu. Lazaro Estrada was initially recalled for Ponce. Lauer was supposed to take the ball on Saturday but got pushed to Sunday because of his illness. The Jays did a bullpen game on Saturday, with Estrada covering four innings. Prior to yesterday’s contest, the Jays optioned Estrada and Brendon Little, calling up Voth and Mantiply for some fresh arms. Lauer did his best to work through his illness but only went two innings, with Voth covering 2 2/3 innings in relief.

Today, the Jays start a tough series against the Dodgers. They have Max Scherzer, Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease slated to start but it’s a tough lineup and the staff has been taxed in recent days. Fleming has been added to potentially cover some length, if need be. Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, he pitched for Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday. He covered 3 2/3 innings, throwing 57 pitches, so he’s relatively stretched out.

He gets back to the majors for the first time in a couple of years. From 2020 to 2024, mostly with the Rays but also with the Pirates, he worked 254 2/3 innings in 25 starts and 55 relief appearances. He allowed 4.77 earned runs per nine. His 14.6% strikeout rate was well below average and he only averaged about 91 miles per hour on his fastball but he had good control of a five-pitch mix. He only walked 7.5% of batters faced and induced grounders on 58.4% of balls in play. He spent 2025 in the minors with the Mariners.

Fleming is out of options, so it may be a short stay on the roster for him. If he is used against the Dodgers, the Jays may want to bump him off for yet another fresh arm. After this series, they have off-days on April 9th and 13th, giving the staff a chance to breathe. They have Patrick Corbin and Trey Yesavage potentially joining the club soon. Corbin just signed a major league deal and was optioned, tossing five innings in his first minor league outing on Saturday. Yesavage is on the injured list and threw 2 2/3 innings in a rehab outing on Friday.

The quick roster churn was how things played out for Voth. He got up to the big leagues for the first time since 2024, having spent last year in Japan. As mentioned, he helped the Jays out by absorbing 2 2/3 innings yesterday, allowing one earned run via three hits and a walk while recording one strikeout.

Unfortunately, the club has to quickly part ways with him. He has at least five years of service time, meaning he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent, so he now heads into DFA limbo. The Jays will trade him or place him on waivers at some point in the next five days. If he clears waivers, he has enough service time to elect free agency. He has a 4.69 ERA in 363 career big league innings and posted a 3.96 ERA in Japan last year.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images