Player Bio
| HT/WT: 6-4, 200 lbs |
| Birthplace: Binghamton, NY |
| Age: 35 |
| Experience: 6 |
| Bats/Throws: R, R |
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Probable Pitchers
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- G. Cole NYY
- 7-7, 3.19 ERA, 1.07 WHIP
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- G. Rodriguez LAA
- 4-5, 6.03 ERA, 1.52 WHIP
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0:42Highlights: Yankees at Angels (8/31)
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1:18Yankees Offense Erupts in Dominant Win Over Red Sox
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1:02Highlights: Red Sox at Yankees (8/30)
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0:46Highlights: Red Sox at Yankees - Game 1 (8/29)
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1:52George Lombard Jr.'s Fielding Struggles
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1:23Handicapping the AL Races: AL East
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0:48Mariners Call Up Top Pitching Prospect Kade Anderson
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0:55What a Healthy Jacob deGrom Means for Rangers Playoff Push
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0:58AL Wild Card race feels like NCAA Tournament: 'Some teams don't belong in the playoffs'
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1:57Ketel Marte Placed on Restricted List
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0:57MLB Futures: NL 1st Round Bye
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1:18MLB Futures: AL 1st Round Bye
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1:20Can the Brewers Challenge the Dodgers?
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1:49Who Goes Further in October: Braves or Phillies?
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0:58Are the Yankees Legitimate Contenders?
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1:13Snyder's Power Rankings (08/17): Padres Climb Closer To Top 5
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1:36Tommy John's Impact on Baseball
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1:43Ben Rice Lifts Yankees Past Blue Jays in Extras
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1:26Breaking: Tommy John, Namesake of Revolutionary Surgery, Dies at 83
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1:45Dodgers Drop to No. 5 in Snyder's Power Rankings
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2026 Pitching
| STATS |
W
Wins
|
L
Losses
|
ERA
Earned Run Average
|
SO
Strikeouts
|
BB
Base on Balls (Walk)
|
WHIP
Walks and Hits Allowed Per Inning
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Season | 0 | 1 | 6.95 | 15 | 12 | 1.95 |
Top Justin Topa News
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Justin Topa: Reaches free agency
Topa became a free agent Monday after declining an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Topa made it through waivers unclaimed after being removed from the Yankees' 40-man roster, and he's opted to look for a new gig elsewhere. The right-handed reliever yielded one unearned run in three innings over two appearances with the Yankees, and he's posted a 6.95 ERA in 25 major-league outings in 2026.
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Yankees' Justin Topa: Jettisoned from 40-man
The Yankees designated Topa for assignment Saturday.
Topa gave up one unearned run in two innings during his lone appearance with the Yankees, and he'll now cede his spot on the active roster to Max Fried (elbow), who returned from the injured list Saturday. Topa is likely to clear waivers after posting a 7.29 ERA and 1.95 WHIP in 21 major-league innings this season.
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Yankees' Justin Topa: Officially added to roster
The Yankees selected Topa's contract from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday.
Topa will get a look with the big club after logging a 1.80 ERA and 2:1 K:BB over five innings during his time with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The righty reliever held an 8.05 ERA and 12:11 K:BB across 19 frames earlier this season with the Twins.
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Yankees' Justin Topa: Joining Yankees bullpen
The Yankees plan to call up Topa from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre prior to Tuesday's game against the Astros, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.
Topa was signed to a minor-league contract earlier this month and has turned in 1.80 ERA and 2:1 K:BB over five innings during his time with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The right-handed reliever logged an 8.05 ERA and 12:11 K:BB across 19 frames earlier this season with the Twins.
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Yankees' Justin Topa: Inks minors deal with Yankees
The Yankees signed Topa to a minor-league contract Friday, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.
Topa has been assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 35-year-old right-hander pitched in 23 games out of the Twins' bullpen this season, posting an ugly 8.05 ERA, 2.00 WHIP and 12:11 K:BB across 19 innings before being released in late May.
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Justin Topa: Cut loose by Royals
The Royals released Topa on Sunday.
Topa allowed just one earned run with a 9:5 K:BB over 12.2 innings with Triple-A after inking a minor-league deal with the Royals in July, so he might have exercised an opt-out clause in his contract. The veteran reliever logged an 8.05 ERA and 12:11 K:BB over 19 innings earlier this season with the Twins and is now on the lookout for a new organization.
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Royals' Justin Topa: Latches on with Royals
Topa signed a minor-league contract with the Royals on Tuesday.
Topa was cut loose by Toronto on Sunday despite allowing just three earned runs in eight innings with its Triple-A affiliate. He'll now get another opportunity to carve out a role for himself with the Royals, and he may have an easier path back to the big leagues given Kansas City's 5.22 bullpen ERA.
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Justin Topa: Let go by Toronto
The Blue Jays released Topa on Sunday, Aaron Gleeman of AaronGleeman.com reports.
Topa signed a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays in early June after being let go by the Twins in mid-May. He's pitched to a 3.38 ERA, 1.75 WHIP and 4:3 K:BB across eight innings with Triple-A Buffalo this season, but he'll now hit the open market after being cut by the Blue Jays. Topa will likely look to catch on with a team in needed of right-handed depth out of the bullpen.
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Blue Jays' Justin Topa: Nets minors deal from Blue Jays
The Blue Jays signed Topa to a minor-league contract Saturday.
Topa was released by the Twins on May 23 after posting an 8.05 ERA and 2.00 WHIP across 19 innings. The 35-year-old reliever will look to get back on track at Triple-A Buffalo and earn another chance at the big-league level.
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Justin Topa: Cut by Twins
The Twins released Topa on Saturday, Aaron Gleeman of AaronGleeman.com reports.
The Twins designated Topa for assignment Tuesday, and rather than keeping him in the organization, the team will instead part ways with him entirely now that he's cleared waivers. The 35-year-old righty has struggled considerably this season, posting an 8.05 ERA and 2.00 WHIP across 19 innings with Minnesota. He will likely have to redeem himself on a minor-league contract before another team inserts him into its big-league bullpen.
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Twins' Justin Topa: Designated for assignment
The Twins designated Topa for assignment Tuesday, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.
The transaction clears a spot on the 40-man roster for the addition of Orlando Arcia. Topa is one of eight Twins relievers to notch a save this season, but he's been highly ineffective overall and particularly of late, yielding 12 runs across 5.1 innings in May. Given his $1.225 million salary, Topa is likely to pass through waivers unclaimed.
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Twins' Justin Topa: Hangs on for second save
Topa picked up the save in Sunday's 4-3 win over the Blue Jays despite allowing two runs on four hits in the ninth inning.
It didn't come easy for Topa on Sunday after the right-hander entered with a three-run lead. He gave up four hits in the frame, including a two-run homer to Kazuma Okamoto, though he ultimately coaxed a double play off the bat of Lenyn Sosa to strand the tying and go-ahead runs on base. It's Topa's second save this season and his first since April 7. His ERA sits at 4.70 with a 1.63 WHIP and 9:6 K:BB across 15.1 innings.
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Twins' Justin Topa: Collects first save of 2026
Topa earned the save in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the Tigers, allowing one walk and no hits in a scoreless two-thirds of an inning.
Eric Orze was given the initial save opportunity but was pulled after yielding an RBI double to Kevin McGonigle. With Cole Sands and Taylor Rogers already deployed earlier in the game, the Twins turned to Topa, who proceeded to seal the win for Minnesota after getting two of the next three batters to ground out. Topa is one of three Twins pitchers to record a save this season, but there doesn't appear to be a clear-cut favorite for the closing job in Minnesota as of yet.
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Twins' Justin Topa: Gives up run in season opener
Topa allowed one run on two hits with no walks or strikeouts over one inning in Thursday's 2-1 loss against the Orioles.
Topa was used in the seventh inning in a tied game in his first appearance. While he could be used in late-inning save situations at some point, his first usage of the season wouldn't seem to indicate he's at the top of the mix for save opportunities.
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Twins' Justin Topa: Rough start to spring
Topa gave up four earned runs on four hits, including a home run, with two strikeouts Sunday to increase his spring ERA to 30.38. He's given up nine earned runs in 2.2 innings.
Topa does have a 5:3 K:BB in 2.2 innings, so he's at least striking out batters. It's still early in the spring and Topa as a veteran may be focusing on some aspects of his arsenal. However, this isn't inspiring for his chances to earn saves in the unsettled Twins closer competition.
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Twins' Justin Topa: Avoids arbitration with Twins
The Twins and Topa avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract Friday, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports.
Darren Wolfson of Channel 5 Saint Paul says the deal is worth $1.225 million. Topa had been viewed as a non-tender candidate, but he will stick around and could be a high-leverage reliever again on a Twins team unlikely to make any big offseason bullpen additions. The righty held a 3.90 ERA and 49:18 K:BB over 60 innings in 2025, posting a 46.7 percent groundball rate along the way.
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Twins' Justin Topa: Option declined, but arb eligible
The Twins declined Topa's $2 million option for 2026 on Thursday, Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star Tribune reports.
Topa remains in the organization, as he has another year of team control via arbitration eligibility. The righty reliever collected a 3.90 ERA and 49:18 K:BB over 60 innings out of the Twins' bullpen in 2025, notching four saves along the way. Topa could see high-leverage innings again in 2026 as part of an unsettled Minnesota relief corps.
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Twins' Justin Topa: On IL with oblique injury
The Twins placed Topa on the 15-day injured list Friday due to a left oblique strain.
Topa was removed from Sunday's game with left knee discomfort, but he'll head to the injured list Friday with a different ailment. The 34-year-old has been serving as a high-leverage arm since Jhoan Duran was dealt to the Phillies. He's blown two of his six save chances during that stretch and has allowed seven runs (six earned) across his last nine appearances. Cody Laweryson was brought up from Triple-A St. Paul in a corresponding move. Cole Sands, Kody Funderburk and Michael Tonkin are candidates for save chances.
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