The Toronto Blue Jays are taking a shot on a pair of injured pitchers with minor-league deals.
Righty reliever Nic Enright has signed a two-year minor-league deal with the Blue Jays but will spend the 2026 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, ESPN's Alden Gonzalez reported Tuesday.
Additionally, right-hander Josh Winckowski is joining Toronto on a two-year MiLB deal, according to MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams. Adams reported that Winckowski hopes to pitch in late 2026 and that the plan is to build him up as a starter once he recovers from internal brace surgery.
Enright, 28, had a solid 2025 season with the Cleveland Guardians after beating a case of Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. He pitched to a 2.03 ERA and 1.161 WHIP in 27 appearances before undergoing Tommy John surgery in early October.
He's expected to return to the mound in 2027 should his recovery go according to plan.
The Richmond, Va., native was selected by the Guardians in the 20th round of the 2019 Draft and made his major-league debut in 2025.
Enright was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma in 2022 and underwent immunotherapy treatment in 2023, into the start of 2024. While undergoing treatment, he continued to pitch, earning a 4.97 ERA in 34 appearances across three minor-league levels in 2023.
He improved to a 1.06 ERA in 16 triple-A appearances in 2024, parlaying his success into his breakout 2025 campaign to earn his MLB call-up.
Winckowski, meanwhile, threw just 11.2 innings for the Boston Red Sox in 2025 before needing to undergo his season-ending surgery.
The 27-year-old landed with the Red Sox from the New York Mets in a three-team trade in 2021. Winckowski was originally drafted by the Blue Jays in the 15th round of the 2016 draft and was shipped to New York as part of the package that brought Steven Matz north of the border earlier in ‘21.
Winckowski debuted in 2022 for Boston, but his largest impact came in 2023, when he posted a 2.88 ERA and struck out 82 hitters in 84.1 innings for the Red Sox.
While he has spent most of his career in the bullpen, 21 of the six-foot-four hurler’s 121 appearances have been starts — the last of which came in 2024.
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