The veteran left-hander may have found the right home in Toronto, even though he hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2023.
Last season Michael Plassmeyer spent the year buried in the Texas Rangers’ minor league system. The Toronto Blue Jays could set him free.
Lost amid the major signings to the pitching staff the past couple of weeks was the Blue Jays signing the 29-year-old left-hander to a minor league deal on Dec. 6. The deal likely comes with an invitation to Major League spring training.
Plassmeyer had a similar path with the Rangers in 2025 and even though he put up solid numbers at Triple-A Round Rock, it didn’t lead to an MLB call-up. The Rangers were relatively set in their starting rotation. The Blue Jays look the same way going into 2026.
But, Plassmeyer could be Toronto’s “in case of emergency break glass” option in 2026, either as a swing starter or reliever — assuming he proves during spring training that he can be that option, likely on stand-by at Triple-A Buffalo.
Michael Plassmeyer’s Recent Work
Plassmeyer’s work at Round Rock was solid in 2025. The ERA was higher than the Rangers would have liked — 4.34 — but he went 9-4 in 28 games, with 16 starts. He struck out 99 and walked 34 in 105.2 innings. Batters hit .257 against him, which was a significant improvement over the .327 batting average he allowed in 2024 in the minor leagues.
His performance picked up late in the season, as he earned Pacific Coast League pitcher of week honors during the season’s final month. In that week he threw six shutout innings with seven strikeouts as he helped the Express win a 3-2 game over the Salt Lake Bees. He allowed two hits, didn’t walk a hitter and threw 78 pitches, with 60 of them strikes. It was his longest scoreless appearance since 2022, when he was pitching for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.
Philadelphia is the only franchise to give him a shot in the Majors, as the Phillies selected his contract in 2022 and let him pitch two games in relief. He made one start in 2023 and for his brief MLB career he is 0-2 with a 9.82 ERA, with 11 strikeouts and three walks in 11 innings. It isn’t a great body of work, which is why Plassmeyer feels like the type of pitcher the Blue Jays might turn to if their starting rotation gets battered again, as it did in the first half of last season.
The Blue Jays have worked wonders with pitchers that need a little refinement, notably Eric Lauer. If Toronto can work the same magic with Plassmeyer, it could help him win a job with the Blue Jays — or elsewhere.
