Devereaux Harrison came to Braydon Fisher’s rescue after they became teammates in June 2024. Harrison was in his first season with the Blue Jays’ Double A affiliate in Manchester, N.H., and was among the first players to greet Fisher when Fisher joined the Blue Jays in a trade with the Dodgers.
Fisher was fortunate in that his blue glove and cleats would work as well with the Blue Jays as they did with the Dodgers. The socks he brought from the Dodgers’ Triple A affiliate in Oklahoma City would not work, however, because the LA insignias would not suit the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
Harrison happened to have a spare pair of Fisher Cats socks, so the 2019 Vacaville High graduate loaned them to a player he had just met. Fisher returned them once he received all his Fisher Cats gear, which he returned in July after being promoted to the Blue Jays’ Triple A team in Buffalo, N.Y.
His time in Buffalo ended when he joined the Blue Jays on May 7 and made his major-league debut four days later. Harrison is now in Buffalo for his first assignment in Triple A after being promoted July 4. The two pitchers may cross paths again and Fisher would love to welcome Harrison to Toronto.
The trade for Fisher has turned out far better for the Blue Jays than the Dodgers, who got infielder Cavan Biggio in the deal. The Dodgers released Hall of Famer Cralg Biggo’s son last Aug. 8 and he signed with the Giants two weeks later. And two weeks after that, Biggio was traded to the Braves.
Biggio started this season with the Royals, but he is now trying to prove his worth with the Triple A Omaha (Neb.) Storm Chasers, who have the worst record in the International League West Division at 36-56. The 24-year-old Fisher and the Blue Jays are leading the American League East at 55-41.
Fisher will not be going anywhere anytime soon after becoming a reliable reliever for the Blue Jays. The right-hander has appeared in 27 of 54 games and pitched 28.1 innings since being promoted. Fisher is 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA, but take away his only start on May 31 and his ERA would be .666.
The A’s took Fisher deep twice in the first two innings with Tyler Soderstrom hitting a three-run shot in the first and Denzel Clarke adding a two-run blast in the second. The Blue Jays tied the score at 5-all in the third to save Fisher from a loss and took the lead in the fifth on their way to an 8-7 win.
The Blue Jays swept the three-game series at home and then beat the A’s again in Sacramento on Friday. The A’s rewarded the fans who withstood the heat by winning 4-3 Saturday and 6-3 Sunday. Fisher got the last two outs in the fifth Sunday after Nick Kurtz homered for the A’s final two runs.
Fisher got the call in the seventh Friday after Max Scherzer allowed two homers in the sixth to cut the Blue Jays’ lead to 7-3. Fisher did little to discourage hopes of an A’s comeback by allowing two singles before getting an out. That was just the fifth time he yielded multiple hits in an relief outing.
Brendon Little replaced Fisher and got two strikeouts to end the threat. The win was the Blue Jays’ third in four games in which Fisher got one out. And each win was by one run.
Fisher has pitched two innings in five games and the Blue Jays lost four of the five. The one win was indicative of the faith the Blue Jays have in Fisher. The Blue Jays beat the Angels 4-3 in 11 innings on July 5 with Fisher earning the win by not allowing a hit in the last two innings. And he was hardly to blame for the four losses because he did not allow a run in any of them.
In those eight innings, Fisher allowed four hits and struck out 10. And to think he was a non-roster invitee to spring training who admits it took time to stop being in awe of players such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who will start at first base for the American League in the All-Star Game on Tuesday.
“The players were not these mythical legends that guys in the minors think they are. There were normal dudes. It was definitely cool,” Fisher said. “Being in camp made getting to the big leagues more attainable. I was ready to make a case to get to the big leagues and I thought I could do it.”
And now that he has made it, Fisher has learned Major League Baseball is a business with a few fringe benefits. The first would be no longer enduring hours of travel by bus as he did in the minors. The second would be a short commute to work since he lives in the hotel inside the Rogers Centre.
That spares Fisher from needing a car. He is not spending freely even though he has earned more than $1 million with his signing bonus as a fourth-round draft pick by the Dodgers in 2018 and his $592,470 salary this season. He realizes he could be sent back to the minors at a moment’s notice.
Fisher is a believer in the baseball cliche of “taking it day by day.” He is constantly talking with the team’s trainers and strength coaches so he can answer the question all relievers face – “Can you get us three outs if we need you to get three outs?” Fisher wants to always answer the call.
His longest break between appearances thus far has been four days in May. The All-Star break will be four days, so Fisher caught a flight to Texas after Sunday’s game and will spend the break with his family. His father Norm is a 1979 Vanden High graduate and many of Norm’s former classmates are following his son’s career.
Some of those classmates live in Vacaville and Fairfield, so Norm gets ticket requests for games in Sacramento and forwards them to his son. The requests started last May when Fisher came to Sacramento for the first time to play the River Cats. Fisher has obliged requests from folks he only knows because of his father.
The same goes for interview requests when Fisher is in the clubhouse before a game or relaxing in a hotel room Saturday morning in Sacramento. He took a break from watching “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones” to answer his cell phone. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Count Dooku were put on hold.
Fisher has been watching all the “Star Wars” movies after trying an episode of “The Mandalorian.” His limited “Star Wars” knowledge made it impossible to understand “the Mandalorian,” so Fisher occupies his down time by following the adventures of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.
If he was still in the minor leagues, long bus rides would provide ample time for Fisher to watch two to three movies per trip. He started watching them earlier this season when he had to travel by bus in the International League. Flights do not offer as much time, but Fisher is not complaining.
“I have more time in my (hotel) bed to watch all the other ones,” said Fisher, who added he did not have time Saturday to watch “Revenge of the Sith” before going to work at Sutter Health Park. “The Force” will hopefully be with Fisher when the Blue Jays return from the break to host the Giants and then battle the Yankees, aka “The Evil Empire.”
