TORONTO — Solely a 12 months in the past, Tyler Fitzgerald had by no means set foot in Rogers Centre and by no means entered Canada, interval. He’d by no means been something however a promising power-speed risk on the upward trajectory of his profession.
He’d by no means battled accidents. By no means been designated for task. By no means spent 5 days in limbo, ready to be taught the place he and his 27-weeks-pregnant spouse, Sadie, had been going subsequent.
“Loads can occur in a brief period of time on this recreation,” Fitzgerald mentioned Tuesday, sitting within the Toronto Blue Jays dugout. “It’s been a bizarre final 12 months. However I’ve realized quite a bit from it. And I’m simply glad to be right here.”
On Saturday, the Blue Jays traded money concerns to the San Francisco Giants for Fitzgerald, a right-handed infielder who exploded with a second-half rookie breakout in 2024 — he put up three fWAR in solely 96 video games — earlier than a depressing 2025 led to his DFA final week. The 28-year-old has a minor-league choice remaining and was initially ticketed for triple-A Buffalo to rediscover his swing whereas offering roster depth.
However then Addison Barger jammed each of his ankles stretching out for a groundball on Sunday. And on Monday, Fitzgerald had a locker within the Blue Jays clubhouse. Tuesday, he was formally recalled as Barger hit the IL. And now it’s as much as him to benefit from no matter probability he will get.
That can start in a bench position over the following week, getting into video games late as a pinch-runner — Fitzgerald immediately turns into Toronto’s quickest participant — and defensive substitute at second, brief, and even the outfield corners.
Toronto’s preliminary hope is that Barger’s IL stint will likely be minimal and that he might return inside two weeks if he responds nicely to therapy. However because the membership has proven over the calamitous final a number of days, better alternatives are by no means distant.
“I really feel like this can be a recent begin for me,” Fitzgerald mentioned. “I really feel like I am proper the place God needed me. I am the place I am accepted. The blokes listed below are unbelievable. The followers listed below are among the greatest on this planet. The love I’ve felt since I have been right here these two days is one thing I might by no means even ask for.
After making his MLB debut with solely two weeks remaining in a disappointing 2023 Giants season, Fitzgerald broke camp with the workforce in 2024 and, following a pair activates the choice carousel, pressured his manner into on a regular basis obligation by the all-star break. Over San Francisco’s ultimate 70 video games that 12 months, he hit .282/.336/.529 with 14 homers and a 140 wRC+.
A .371 BABIP (Batting Common on Balls In Play) over that span advised fortune was on his aspect. But it surely’s powerful to faux a .248 ISO, significantly when taking part in residence video games at Oracle Park, which yearly ranks among the many backside 5 offensive environments. And the 122 wRC+ he posted as a minor-leaguer in 2023 — Fitzgerald OPS’ed .876 with 22 homers and 32 steals over 121 video games largely at triple-A — was robust supporting proof of his breakout being actual.
That’s why the Giants opened 2025 with Fitzgerald as their on a regular basis second baseman. He shortly overcame a sluggish begin and completed his first 4 weeks hitting .301/.354/.466. However that’s when Joc Pederson chopped a groundball to a drawn-in Fitzgerald’s left:
“Landed proper on the baseball — broke a rib up close to my coronary heart space,” he mentioned. “We thought it was only a bone bruise. I performed the following three video games with it. However after (every recreation) I got here in, and it felt worse and worse. And eventually, I used to be like, ‘This isn’t regular. I can’t even end my swing.’”
An MRI revealed a small crack — the primary damaged bone of Fitzgerald’s life. He sat out for 2 weeks to let irritation subside earlier than returning to video games and attempting to play by the residual discomfort, which went the best way you may anticipate. Fitzgerald struggled to a .186/.245/.227 line over his subsequent 110 plate appearances earlier than he was optioned to triple-A in late June.
The demotion was temporary as Fitzgerald was recalled lower than two weeks later. However whereas figuring out previous to his first recreation again, he aggravated a bulging disc in his again. Fellow infielders Matt Chapman, Casey Schmidt, and Christian Koss had been already on the injured record, so Fitzgerald insisted on taking part in by it. However his outcomes suffered once more and he was shortly despatched again to the minors.
He spent the remainder of his season biking by countless swing changes, looking for a motion sample that felt fluid and didn’t put extra pressure on his a number of midsection points. In the meantime, his again damage most when operating, which is a part of the explanation why Fitzgerald’s 2025 stolen-base whole was his lowest since his first full skilled season in 2021.
Fitzgerald doesn’t use any of his accidents as excuses, thoughts you. He selected to play by them and accepts the outcomes. But it surely does assist clarify how a man in his mid-20’s with One hundredth-percentile dash pace and an above-average barrel price skilled such a steep decline in his general manufacturing from one season to the following.
“I simply might by no means actually discover my rhythm within the field,” he says. “It’s the primary time in my profession that I’ve had accidents throughout the 12 months. It’s one thing that you simply be taught quite a bit from. The largest factor going ahead is simply believing in myself and never going again down that rabbit gap of swing adjustments. I used to be attempting new stuff daily, attempting to get again to how I felt earlier than I broke my rib.”
That’s been his focus to date with Toronto hitting coaches — recreating the swing that facilitated Fitzgerald’s success as a rookie. They’ve labored to restrict motion together with his entrance aspect, correcting a bent to open up too shortly, which was stopping him from staying by the baseball.
That’s necessary for Fitzgerald as a result of he will get his greatest outcomes when driving pitches to left area. A part of what labored for him in 2024 was making 27.5 per cent of his contact within the air to the pull aspect, a top-20 mark throughout MLB. For those who’re a Blue Jays fan, you’ve seen an identical strategy from Danny Jansen.
The distinction with Fitzgerald is he additionally possesses an elite run device — his 2024 dash pace ranked prime 5 throughout MLB — which helps him nonetheless attain base even when making non-ideal contact (his bunting recreation’s a weapon, too). Since 2024, he’s hit .341 on groundballs. That’s MLB’s sixth-highest mark and has him sandwiched between Yordan Alvarez and Aaron Decide, two guys who hit the ball so onerous that grounders usually sneak by infields.
Fitzgerald doesn’t have wherever close to that form of uncooked energy. However his strategy has let him put extra balls over left-field fences than you’d anticipate. The trade-off is that whiffs and strikeouts have lengthy been a problem. And difficulties adjusting when the league responded to him by minimizing fastballs and pitching away have contributed to his struggles.
For his half, Fitzgerald says he’s arrived in Toronto able to be taught — not solely from new coaches and teammates, however from his personal turbulent 12 months. A 12 months in the past, he was an on a regular basis participant coming off a three-win season. Then baseball occurred and all of it obtained away from him. Now, a recent begin.
“It is loopy, the timing on this recreation. I used to be beginning to really feel good, hitting fairly nicely. Then I broke my rib, and I simply couldn’t discover my swing once more,” he mentioned. “And now I’m right here. However I am ecstatic to come back to a corporation like this. I really feel like I am proper the place I must be.”
