Minor League Baseball

Toronto Blue Jays Top Pitching Prospect Ricky Tiedemann Eying Late 2025 Return

Ricky Tiedemann underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024, and the Toronto Blue Jays' top pitching prospect is unlikely to return to game action until the tail end of the 2025 season.

Sam Connon

Bradenton, Florida, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Tiedemann (70) walks to the dugout before the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at LECOM Park.
Bradenton, Florida, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Tiedemann (70) walks to the dugout before the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at LECOM Park. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
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Ricky Tiedmann may not be suiting up for the Toronto Blue Jays as they start Grapefuit League action this weekend, but he is still preparing for the season down in Dunedin, Florida.

MLB.com's Keegan Matheson ran into Tiedemann at spring training Friday morning. Per Matheson, the 22-year-old pitcher is "doing well" rehabbing from the Tommy John surgery he underwent last summer.

Tiedemann is targeting a return to game action before the end of 2025.

Tiedemann was ranked as the top left-handed pitching prospect in baseball entering the 2024 campaign. He then made just eight starts on the season – four of which were in Triple-A and four of which were on rehab assignments – going 0-1 with a 5.19 ERA, 1.673 WHIP and 14.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

The southpaw went under the knife in late July, cutting his season short.

Baseball America still has Tiedemann pegged as a top 100 prospect in its 2025 preseason rankings, but he fell off the lists that MLB Pipeline, Baseball Prospectus and The Athletic released.

Tiedemann was the Blue Jays' third-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft. He went 5-4 with a 2.17 ERA, 0.864 WHIP and 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings between Single-A, High-A and Double-A in 2022, then posted an 0-5 record, 3.68 ERA, 1.227 WHIP and 16.8 strikeouts per nine innings across Rookie Ball, Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A in 2023. In the 2023 Arizona Fall League, Tiedemann went 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA, 1.111 WHIP and 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

Toronto rounded out its big league rotation by signing Max Scherzer last month, and they have a potential sixth starter available out of the bullpen in Cuban righty Yariel Rodríguez if need be. Barring injury, the Blue Jays likely won't need to rush Tiedemann to the majors in 2025, meaning they can give him a softer landing back in Triple-A when he is cleared to return.

Come 2026, Scherzer and Chris Bassitt will be free agents, opening the door for Tiedemann to slide into the rotation 20 months post-operation.

Related MiLB Stories

  • JAYS LAND YARBROUGH: Toronto picked up Ryan Yarbrough on a minor league deal, taking a flier on the former Rays and Dodgers left-handed swingman. CLICK HERE
  • MACKO UNDERGOES SURGERY: One of the Blue Jays' top prospects, pitcher Adam Macko, underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and will miss some time. CLICK HERE
  • MARLINS' GO SIDELINED: Woo-Suk Go was poised to compete for a spot in Miami's bullpen during spring training, but he will miss the next few weeks with a fractured finger. CLICK HERE

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and other "On SI'' baseball sites. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for “UCLA on SI’’ and won awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for “New England Patriots on SI’’ and was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Follow Sam on Twitter @SamConnon.

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