Zach Pop #29

Zachery Michael Pop...Attended Notre Dame Catholic High School in Brampton, Ontario...Also played golf, volleyball, and hockey while at Notre Dame...Was a member of the Canadian Junior National Team before college...Spent three years at the University of Kentucky from 2015-17, going 1-3 with a 4.58 ERA in 74.2 innings...Made two starts as a freshman and six starts as a sophomore...Is the 29th Canadian-born player to take the field for the Blue Jays.

2024

Made a career-high 58 appearances at the MLB level...70% of his strikeouts came on pitches located out of the zone, 6th-highest among qualified relievers...Allowed a .182 SLG versus the bottom of the order this season, tied for third best among AL relievers...Right-handed hitters posted a 35% chase rate against him, 9th highest among AL relievers...Hitters chased 59 of his 120 fastballs thrown in off the plate this season (49%), highest among qualified relievers...Posted a chase rate of 31.4% this season and a groundball rate of 55.5%...Opponents hit .200 against his slider this season with a .240 SLG, a .184 wOBA, a .214 xwOBA and an AVG exit velocity of 82.2 mph...7/28 vs. TEX, earned his first career save after tossing 1.1 shutout innings, becoming the fourth Canadian-born player to record a save for TOR, joining Jordan Romano (105), Paul Quantrill (15) and Paul Spoljaric (four)...Made 11 appearances for the Bisons in 2024, posting a 1.54 ERA (2 ER/11.2 IP) and a .200 OPP AVG to go along with 9H, 5BB, and 12K.

2023

Became the first Canadian-born player to earn the win in a Blue Jays Home Opener on April 11 vs. DET (1.2 IP, 2K)... Placed on the injured list with a right hamstring strain from May 5-July 8... Made 34 appearances between Single-A Dunedin and Triple-A Buffalo, going 1-2 with a 5.05 ERA (20 ER/35.2 IP) and a 1.43 WHIP.

2022

Allowed just four of his 21 inherited runners to score (19.0%)... 28 of his 35 outings were scoreless... Kept a 3.60 ERA (8 ER/20.0 IP) while going 2-0 in 18 games with the Marlins... Went 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA (4 ER/19.0 IP) and a 1.05 WHIP in 17 games for Toronto...Traded to Toronto along with Anthony Bass and a player to be named later in exchange for Jordan Groshans on Aug. 2... Made his Blue Jays debut on Aug. 5 at MIN, allowing two hits over 1.0+ inning...Became the 29th Canadian-born player to suit up for the Blue Jays... Earned his first win as a Blue Jay on Sept. 21 at PHI (2.0, H, 2K), the 8th Canadian pitcher to get a W for Toronto... Picked up his fourth win of the year with 2.0 shutout frames (2K) on Oct. 2 vs. BOS...Along with Jordan Romano, became the first set of Canadian-born Blue Jays to earn the win and the save in the same game... Did not allowed a run in his last eight games of the regular season (10.2 IP, 6H, 2BB, 9K)... Made his postseason debut in Game 1 of the ALWC vs. SEA on Oct. 7 (0.1IP, 2H, K).

2021

Pitched in 50 games for the Marlins in 2021. Finished the season 3-1 with a 2.75 ERA in 54.2 innings. Struck out 40... Made his Major League debut on April 3 against Tampa Bay. Pitched a scoreless, hitless inning... Earned his first Major League win on June 30 at Philadelphia. Pitched 1.0 scoreless inning... Had a scoreless-innings streak of 11.1 frames (9 appearances) from April 17 to May 20.

2020

Zachery Michael Pop was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft and traded to the Marlins for a player to be named later... Did not pitch in 2020 as he recovered from “Tommy John” surgery. 

2019

Pitched for Double-A Bowie in the Orioles organization in 2019. Worked in eight games, going 1-0 with an 0.84 ERA in 10.2 innings before suffering an elbow injury that would require “Tommy John” surgery.

2018

Made 44 appearances and posted a 2-3 record and a 1.53 ERA (11 ER/64.2 IP) with 64 strikeouts across three different levels (Class-A Great Lakes, Class A-Advanced Rancho Cucamonga, and Double-A Bowie)...Allowed one earned run from 4/17-7/11, totaling 40.2 innings pitched and 28 games...Pitched to a 0.33 ERA (1 ER/27.0 IP) in 14 games with Rancho Cucamonga... Went 8-for-10 in save opportunities (7-for-8 with Rancho Cucamonga and 1-for-2 with Bowie)... Held right-handers to a .162 (21-for-130) batting average and left-handers to a .194 (18-for-93) average...Earned his first win with Bowie in the season finale vs. Altoona, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings.

2019

Scouting grades: Fastball: 65 | Slider: 60 | Control: 45 | Overall: 40

Pop was Canada's top high school pitching prospect in 2014, when the Blue Jays drafted him in the 23rd round. He didn't sign and honored his commitment to Kentucky, where he showed one of the most powerful arms in the Southeastern Conference while pitching mostly out of the Wildcats' bullpen. A right forearm strain wiped out the second half of Pop's junior year, but the Dodgers still made him their seventh-round pick in June. He rewarded the organization by reaching Double-A in his first full season, earning a promotion after a dominant first half in the California League, then became Orioles property after they acquired him in a five-player prospect package for Manny Machado in July. He was limited by a balky right elbow in his first Spring Training with the O's but began the season on schedule, only to require Tommy John surgery in early May. 

Pop works in the mid-90s, can reach back for 97, and in the past has been up to 99 mph with a plus-plus sinker that he throws from a lower arm slot. The combination of velocity and late movement gives Pop the ability to generate ground balls at an elite rate -- his 65.8 percent ground-ball rate in 2018 was the sixth-best mark among Minor League hurlers (60 IP min.) -- while also missing a healthy number of bats. His hard slider in the mid- to upper-80s is a plus pitch, albeit one that stands out more for its velocity than its sharpness. Pop's sinker-slider pairing makes him lethal against right-handed hitters, whom he limited to a paltry .162/.243/.200 batting line in '18. 

Pop has the pure stuff needed to carve out a late-inning role in the big leagues, perhaps even as a closer if he can further improve the action on his slider and refine his command.