Toronto Blue Jays Snag Red Sox Pitching Prospect Angel Bastrado in Rule 5 Draft

The Boston Red Sox left Angel Bastardo unprotected after he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024, allowing the Toronto Blue Jays to take a flier on the 22-year-old righty.

Sep 20, 2019; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; A detail view of Boston Red Sox hats and gloves at Tropicana Field. / Kim Klement-Imagn Images

The Toronto Blue Jays selected right-handed pitcher Angel Bastardo in the first round of the Rule 5 Draft on Wednesday, poaching a promising young arm from the Boston Red Sox in the process.

Toronto took Bastardo with the No. 6 pick, making him the fifth pitcher to come off the board. According to MLB Pipeline, Bastardo is now ranked as the No. 29 prospect and No. 14 pitcher in the Blue Jays' farm system.

Bastardo, 22, had been a part of the Red Sox organization since 2019. The Venezuelan righty joined Boston's Dominican Summer League affiliate that season and proceeded to go 3-1 with a 3.71 ERA and 1.000 WHIP in 12 starts.

While Bastardo hasn't been able to replicate that early success post-2020, he was still 9-16 with a 4.66 ERA, 1.376 WHIP and 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings for his career entering 2024. He went 0-5 with a 5.36 ERA, 1.324 WHIP and 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings across 10 starts with Double-A Portland this season, though, before undergoing Tommy John surgery over the summer.

The Red Sox left Bastardo unprotected when 40-man rosters were due to MLB in November, opening the door for the Blue Jays to take a flier on the righty.

Bastardo's injury gives Toronto the flexibility to dance around the Rule 5 Draft requirements, since he can spend most of 2025 on the injured list rather than needing to be rushed onto the active big league roster. All the while, the Blue Jays can get Bastardo integrated into their system as he goes through rehab, setting him up for a softer landing in 2026.

Before he went down, Bastardo boasted a fastball that could approach 97 miles per hour. A changeup, curveball and slider round out his pitch-mix, making Bastardo a candidate to step into the starting rotation once he is back to full strength.

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