The Rangers have obtained Jimmy Robbins, a minor league left-handed pitcher, from the Blue Jays, as announced by their top affiliate in Round Rock. Robbins wasn’t listed on the Toronto 40-man roster, so he won’t take up a spot with Texas. In exchange, the Jays received cash, according to MLB.com’s transaction tracker.
Robbins, standing at 6’3″, is yet to make it to the majors. He was drafted by the Jays in the 20th round of the 2019 draft from a Florida junior college. Despite not being ranked among the top 30 prospects in the Jays’ organization by Baseball America, Eric Longenhangen and Tess Taruskin of FanGraphs mentioned him as an honorable mention in their 2023 assessment of the Toronto farm system. They commended his slider and labeled him as a potential situational left-handed reliever.
Although primarily a starting pitcher throughout his career, Robbins is likely to transition to relief due to control issues. Last year in Double-A, he started 18 out of 22 games but walked nearly 14% of the batters he faced, resulting in a mediocre 4.67 ERA over 86 2/3 innings. Robbins has had brief stints in big league Spring Training over the past two years as a non-roster invitee, pitching in four relief outings and allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings. He has also appeared twice out of the bullpen in Triple-A this season, pitching 2 1/3 innings and conceding two runs.
Robbins will be assigned to Triple-A by Texas, where he might feature as either a starter or a multi-inning reliever. The Rangers are promoting Jack Leiter from the Round Rock rotation for his Major League Baseball debut tomorrow. However, the team’s depth in left-handed relief suffered a setback when Brock Burke sustained a self-inflicted hand fracture over the weekend.
