DUNEDIN, Fla. — At least one spot has opened in the Blue Jays’ bullpen following the news that right-handers Erik Swanson and Ryan Burr are behind schedule with a little less than three weeks remaining before opening day.
Swanson (forearm) is awaiting the results of an MRI while Burr (shoulder fatigue) is also behind schedule. Neither pitcher is throwing right now, making it unlikely either is ready for opening day.
Under those circumstances, there’s an “open competition” for at least one job, according to manager John Schneider.
“We’ll see,” he said. “There are a lot of candidates. There are some guys that were on the team last year like Zach Pop (and) Tommy Nance. Those guys kind of jump at you.”
Both Pop and Nance are on the 40-man roster and out of options, meaning they’d have to clear waivers before being sent to triple-A. That likely gives them an advantage all things being equal, but Schneider also mentioned non-roster right-handers Kevin Gowdy and Braydon Fisher as well as Josh Walker, a left-hander who does have a 40-man spot.
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At this point, the Blue Jays’ bullpen projects something like this:
Jeff Hoffman, RHP
Yimi Garcia, RHP
Chad Green, RHP
Nick Sandlin, RHP
Yariel Rodriguez, RHP
Brendon Little, LHP
Ryan Yarbrough, LHP
Open spot TBD
That’s assuming the Blue Jays select the contract of Yarbrough, who signed a minor-league deal late last month but has yet to be re-added to the 40-man roster. With free agents like David Robertson still available and lots of waiver activity likely in the days leading up to the season opener, it’s possible the Blue Jays add from outside the organization, but Schneider isn’t counting on extra help at this stage.
“For me, you deal with what you’ve got here,” Schneider said. “I know there’s always opportunities to make the roster better, and I think Ross (Atkins) and the guys do a great job with that. This time of year it seems things always pop up a bit around every camp, so we’re always looking to see how we can get better if need be.”
Along those lines, free agent starter Kyle Gibson seems to make sense for the Orioles or Yankees, who are both dealing with significant injuries on their pitching staffs. Among the injured Orioles: Andrew Kittredge, who signed in Baltimore after the O’s backed away from a potential deal with Hoffman due to concerns over his shoulder.
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FIRST IMPRESSIONS
A few days ago, Blue Jays shortstop prospect Arjun Nimmala made a strong impression not only by hitting a home run but with his work behind the scenes and on defence.
Before Saturday’s game against the Tigers, the topic of first impressions came up again with manager A.J. Hinch. With top prospects like starter Jackson Jobe and outfield prospect Max Clark in camp, the Tigers are watching for some of the same details that caught the Blue Jays’ attention with Nimmala.
“There are so many things within the game instinctually,” Hinch said. “Your habits, your pre-pitch (approach), your understanding of your responsibility when the ball is not hit to you on defence. Interaction in the dugout. Maturity is what we’re looking for from the day that we meet them through every experience. So the box score’s part of it. Obviously, guys who put up gaudy numbers get a lot of attention and rightfully so, but that’s just a fraction of what I look at when I see the maturity of the player and him understanding the position.”
For example, when Clark played the outfield in a recent game, Hinch was locked in on how the 20-year-old prospect carried himself.
“I was obsessed with what he was doing in the outfield on every pitch,” Hinch said. “Way more than I cared about the sac fly (Clark hit). That’s cool. He’s going to get a ton of at bats, but the more that he learns about the intricacies of the sport, the more he understands (his) responsibility.”
BLUE JAYS NOTES
Chris Bassitt doesn’t mind if people overlook the Blue Jays going into this season: “There’s been a lot of talk kind of writing us off, but that can be a good thing and I think it is a good thing for us” … Bowden Francis won’t have any sort of workload restrictions this season after a 2024 campaign in which he threw 103.2 innings … Rodriguez continues to throw harder than he did last year, averaging 94.8 m.p.h. in his Friday start compared to 93.8 m.p.h. last year.
