Soriano makes his Blue Jays debut on Friday. Here's what to expect

The newly acquired José Soriano was one of the best players moved at the 2026 Trade Deadline and he’ll make his Blue Jays debut on Friday against the Phillies.

Soriano developed into a quality starting pitcher over the last two seasons with the Angels, before he was traded to Toronto in a deal headlined by MLB Pipeline’s No. 43 prospect and the Blue Jays' 2023 first round pick Arjun Nimmala.

Over the last two seasons, Soriano has a 3.85 ERA with 279 strikeouts across 292 innings. That included his historic start to this season, when Soriano had a 0.24 ERA through his first six starts.

With Soriano set to make his Blue Jays debut, here’s a preview of what Toronto fans should expect from the talented right-hander.

High-octane stuff

When watching Soriano, the first thing that’s immediately apparent is he possesses as good of stuff as any starting pitcher in baseball.

It’s a pair of mid-to-upper 90’s fastballs (four-seamer and sinker), a wipeout mid-80s curveball and another pair of secondaries (splitter and slider) that hover around 90 mph.

“He’s been incredible,” said Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins. “Since his injuries and transitioning from the ’pen to a starter, his stuff is electric.”

Soriano averages 96.7 mph on his fastballs, a top-20 mark among the 190 starters who have thrown at least 200 four-seamers and/or sinkers. The sinker is his bread-and-butter pitch to generate grounders, something he does at an elite rate -- his 52.3 percent ground-ball rate is a top-five mark among qualified starters.

When the right-hander wants to generate whiffs, Soriano has a trio of excellent secondary pitches in his arsenal. His curveball, Soriano’s most-utilized pitch behind the sinker, is a truly elite offering in every sense.

It’s hard (85.3 mph) and has excellent side-to-side movement (12.3 inches of horizontal break), giving him the ingredients to generate whiffs in boatloads. A whopping 46.1% of swings against his curveball result in swings and misses, while the pitch has generated 49 strikeouts.

His splitter and slider aren’t too shabby, either. Soriano has a 39% whiff rate and 30 strikeouts on his splitter, while his oft-used slider has a 31.6% whiff rate.

More upside left in the tank

Soriano, who is under club control through the 2028 season, has long been viewed as someone with untapped upside. The Blue Jays certainly seem to agree with that sentiment.

Soriano walked 10.8% of the batters he faced last season and has done so in 11.2% of plate appearances this season, placing him in the 17th percentile of qualifying pitchers.

“There’s nothing glaring, but I think the one thing is just harnessing his stuff in the zone. It’s trying to limit the walks and trying not to be on the edges as much,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider.

“When you’re acquiring a guy like that, you look at everything, including the catcher’s setup and the catcher’s framing, pitch usage, all of that stuff. There’s certain guys you look at and see that there’s definitely an arsenal tweak, but I don’t think there’s one with him. I think it’s just about getting in the zone more consistently and letting his stuff play.”

Soriano’s made his profile work even with the hit-or-miss command because he generates plenty of whiffs and grounders. But imagine him being able to land pitches in the zone more often? Toronto thinks it can assist in this area.

"He’s competitive and throws the ball over [the plate] at a good enough rate. Our pitching group led by Pete Walker is getting better every day and they’ve had success in this area,” Atkins said.

While the Blue Jays, who are 54-62, made plenty of moves at the Deadline to signal that they’re looking ahead to the 2027 season, Soriano is a vital player to monitor down the stretch heading into next year. With recent success stories in their pitching development program, Soriano could be the next great Blue Jays pitcher to burst onto the scene.