The Toronto Blue Jays signed a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher out of the Dominican Republic.
Toronto had a disappointing season as the Blue Jays failed to make the playoffs a year after reaching the World Series. With that, the Blue Jays should look to be aggressive this offseason to bolster their roster.
Toronto, meanwhile, is also looking to add some more prospects to their system with the International Signing Period almost closed.
Toronto Blue Jays Sign Julio Chivilli
The Blue Jays signed an intriguing right-handed pitcher out of the Dominican Republic to add to their prospect pool.
On Saturday, X user @NWints30, who is great at tracking international free agent signings, reported that Toronto signed right-handed pitcher Julio Chivilli from the Dominican Republic.
“Will add on top of this they signed righty Julio Chivilli out of the DR – has hit 96 MPH, one late signing to watch out for,” he wrote on X.
Chivilli spent last season with the Miguelon Baseball Academy. There isn’t much known about him, other than the fact he is a flamethrower who reaches 96 MPH, but what other pitches he throws is unclear.
He did pitch at the WBSC Americas Beisbol Panam U-18 tournament earlier this year, where he struggled. Chivilli had a 7.88 ERA in 5.1 innings over 4 games. He allowed 6 earned runs in 4 games, yet four of the earned runs came in the final game.
Along with Chivilli, Nolan also reported the Blue Jays signed left-handed pitcher Cheng-Hao Wu out of Taiwan. Wu signed for $200k and hits 93 mph with his fastball and also throws a sinker, slider, and changeup, which is something to build on.
Toronto Turning Page to 2027
The Blue Jays had a disappointing season, and Toronto is looking to turn the page to 2027.
Toronto is expected to be aggressive this offseason after the 2026 season didn’t go as planned, due to injuries and the bats struggling.
“It was a strange year, a tough year,” said team president Mark Shapiro. “One that tested a lot of my personal philosophies of controlling what I can control, which led to testing my patience and having some dark, tough nights.”
Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins, meanwhile, does think Toronto will learn from this season.
“Baseball just punches you in the face — even when you’re really good — pretty regularly,” Atkins said. “So I don’t think our players came in with some level of complacency and needed any humility. But they’re going to learn just like they learned from winning.”
The Blue Jays are expected to add some pitching and some impact bats.
Toronto Blue Jays Sign Hard-Throwing Dominican Pitcher Amid Quiet Offseason