The 2024 season wasn’t a great one for Zach Pop.
This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual 40-man Roster Review, where we look at the players on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster. We’ll look at how the player performed in 2024, his season projections for the 2025 season, and any storylines heading into this coming season. In this article, we’ll look at Zach Pop.
Pop was selected in the seventh round by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The reliever made his big league debut for the Miami Marlins in 2021 and was traded to the Blue Jays before the 2022 trade deadline with Edward Duran and Anthony Bass for former top prospect Jordan Groshans. Pop succeeded with the Jays early, posting a 1.89 ERA and a 3.11 FIP in 19 innings pitched after the trade.
He also got off to a good start in 2023, posting a 1.08 ERA and a 3.26 FIP in his first 8.1 innings. From Mar. 30 until Apr. 29, he had a 3.97 ERA and a 3.43 FIP, but he struggled over his final three outings, giving up five earned runs in 2.1 innings pitched. He was injured in his May 4 outing and didn’t pitch for the Jays again in 2023.
That led to last season, where he had a 5.59 ERA and a 5.53 FIP in 48.1 innings pitched, with a 15.8 K% and a 9.1 BB%. A positive sign is Pop remained relatively healthy and his ground ball percentage increased but it wasn’t a good year for the Brampton, Ontario native.
Pop is projected to have a better season in 2024. Fangraphs’ Steamer has him posting a 4.09 ERA and a 4.17 FIP in 53 innings pitched with an 18.8 BB%. His best projection comes from OOPSY, which has him posting a 3.88 ERA and a 4.05 FIP in 53 innings pitched, while ATC is on the opposite side of things, projecting him to have a 4.46 ERA and a 4.49 FIP in 43 innings pitched.
The Blue Jays elected to tender Pop and agreed to a one-year, $900,000 deal. However, Pop is out of options meaning he’ll need to make the 26-man roster out of Spring Training or be designated for assignment. If he pitches anything like he did in 2024, he won’t be on the Blue Jays roster for much longer.
As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.