DUNEDIN, Fla. — Officially, the Blue Jays haven’t made any decisions. And fair enough — with a little more than two weeks remaining before opening day, they don’t necessarily gain much by publicly announcing every detail of their pitching plans.
But regardless of what they’re saying, the calendar offers some pretty big hints at how they’ll begin the season. Look closely enough, and the answers may be there for anyone to see. For instance: Jose Berrios, who pitched 3.1 innings of one-run baseball against the Yankees Tuesday afternoon, now lines up to be available for an opening day assignment against the Tampa Bay Rays.
His next spring start would likely be on regular rest Sunday, followed by a final Grapefruit League assignment March 22 or 23. From there, he’d line up perfectly for the first game of the season on March 28. Let’s call it a real possibility for Berrios, who was pleased with how his new cutter felt on the way to striking out three hitters and topping out at 95.3 mph on the radar gun.
“I’ve been feeling so good and strong,” Berrios said after the 63-pitch outing. “Now we can start into competing mode. Pitching for winning and strikeouts. We’ve already built up my pitches, so now I feel (fully) comfortable.”
Following Berrios, Chris Bassitt’s on schedule to be available for Game 2 of the regular season, while Yusei Kikuchi would pitch the third game if he stays on a five-day cycle.
Again, it’s all subject to change as the Blue Jays know better than most by this point in spring, but on paper that’s at minimum a viable option and may well be the team’s working plan. Beyond that, it’s clear Alek Manoah won’t have time to open the season at full strength, but there’s an outside chance Kevin Gausman could be.
At the Blue Jays’ Player Development Complex Tuesday morning, Gausman (shoulder) threw a side session that appeared to go well. His next step could be a spring game or a live batting practice, leaving open the possibility that he could begin the season at the back of the team’s rotation and start game four or five.
However, any further setbacks would force the Blue Jays to find someone other than Gausman to round out the rotation to start the year. Complicating matters, it appears highly unlikely Manoah (shoulder) will be stretched out to five innings by then. He’s still throwing off flat ground but with no immediate plans in place to ramp up, the Blue Jays aren’t in a position to pencil him into the rotation.
More likely he’ll still be building up, prompting the Blue Jays to look elsewhere.
“We’ll see,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “We’ll know more in the next few days to see exactly what that timeline is.”
The leading candidate to backfill the Blue Jays’ rotation appears to be right-hander Bowden Francis, with right-handers Mitch White, Paolo Espino and Wes Parsons mentioned as other candidates for a starting job.
One pitcher who’s not in that group is Yariel Rodriguez, the Cuban right-hander who dealt with back soreness earlier this spring. He threw a two-inning live batting practice session to a group of hitters including Danny Jansen, Daniel Vogelbach and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Tuesday morning, with many of the team’s top decision makers in attendance.
Rodriguez showed off a fastball with a lot of life along with a slider and curve, mixing some hesitation and deception into his delivery to keep hitters off-balance. Next up could be Rodriguez’s spring training debut, but it appears there won’t be enough time for him to open the season at the MLB level.
This year, the 27-year-old can be optioned to the minors, creating valuable flexibility for the team and a chance for him to build deliberately toward his MLB debut.
If it’s just one rotation that opens up for the Blue Jays and Francis takes it, that would leave a bullpen spot open for White, who’s out of options and throwing 98 mph. But for argument’s sake, let’s say both Gausman and Manoah need to miss at least one turn in the rotation. In that case, White might be needed in the starting rotation, which would leave one bullpen spot unaccounted for.
As things stand, right-handers Jordan Romano, Yimi Garcia, Chad Green, Erik Swanson and Trevor Richards appear to be locks for the bullpen along with left-handers Tim Mayza and Genesis Cabrera. That’s seven spots, but teams can carry eight relievers, meaning there’s opportunity for one more.
Since Rodriguez doesn’t appear to be a bullpen candidate just yet, Zach Pop, Nate Pearson and recently claimed left-hander Brendon Little may have a pathway to an opening-day roster spot.
While acknowledging that lots can change in the weeks leading up to opening day, Schneider recently said, “I think you’d narrow it down to that group that’s really getting after it for that spot.”
