CLEVELAND — Looking for more pitching depth, the Toronto Blue Jays are acquiring right-hander Robinson Pina from the Miami Marlins for Colby Martin, an intriguing righty selected in the 16th round last year and recently promoted to high-A Vancouver, according to an industry source.
Pina, designated for assignment Saturday by the Marlins after making his big-league debut the previous day, will join triple-A Buffalo and provide another bulk/relief option for a team that’s already used 25 pitchers, not including position player Michael Stefanic.
The 26-year-old throws a slider and splitter alongside his fastball and sinker, which sit 93-94 m.p.h. At triple-A Jacksonville before his promotion to Miami, he logged 57 innings across 13 outings, 11 starts, with a 3.47 ERA, 1.194 WHIP and 54 strikeouts and over eight minor-league seasons in the Angels, Phillies and Marlins systems, he’s made 116 starts in 174 games, with a 4.03 ERA and 792 strikeouts in 667.2 innings.
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Watch Max Scherzer return on Sportsnet
Max Scherzer makes his long-awaited return to the mound as the Blue Jays take on the Guardians. Watch live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ at 6:40 p.m. ET / 3:40 p.m. PT.
Martin, 24, a two-way player at Shenandoah before converting to the mound last year at Southeastern ahead of his draft season, struck out 29 in 22.1 innings over 20 games at low-A Dunedin, allowing only six hits but also walking 14 before getting pushed to Vancouver.
He made one scoreless appearance with the Canadians before the deal.
REVENGE GAME
The fingerprints of former Guardians players were all over the Blue Jays’ 10-6 victory Tuesday night, with two hits, a walk, an RBI, three runs scored and a tremendous defensive play from Ernie Clement front and centre.
“I love coming back here,” said the utilityman who was selected in the fourth round of the 2017 draft by Cleveland, where he debuted in 2021 and was cut loose in September ’22. “This city is special to me and there are a lot of people over there still with the organization who had a big hand in helping me throughout my career. So, first off, it’s just great to be back and seeing everybody and seeing the success that organization is having is awesome. But with that being said, it’s awesome to kick their ass and get that first one out of the way.”
Clement’s RBI double in the first opened the scoring, he walked and scored in the fifth, singled and scored in the eighth and made a brilliant bare-hand pick on an Angel Martinez bunt in the fourth to get an important out.
While Tuesday wasn’t his first time back in Cleveland since leaving the Guardians, it was for Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw.
Gimenez made a brilliant defensive play to end the second inning (more on that below) and opened the eighth with a single that helped set the stage for George Springer’s put-away grand slam later in the inning while Straw made five catches in centre field, had a hit and could have had another on a liner to right in the fourth that brought home a run but was scored an error on Jonathan Rodriguez.
Gimenez said coming to Progressive Field and heading to the visitors’ clubhouse for the first time felt “weird,” and he experienced a range of emotions.
“I spent four years here, so it feels pretty good, got a couple of friends, some family here,” said Gimenez, who was acquired by Cleveland from the Mets as part of the Jan. 21 trade that sent Francisco Lindor to New York. “When I got traded here, I was 21 years old, no kids, I was fighting for a spot on the big-big-league roster. Four years later, I’m completely different.”
Gimenez was acquired with reliever Nick Sandlin at the winter meetings for Spencer Horwitz and outfield prospect Nick Mitchell, and the Blue Jays later picked up Straw and international bonus pool room from Cleveland, as well.
Straw, playing for a third straight game after spraining his right ankle last week trying to make a leaping catch at the wall, said he’s “pretty amazed how much it’s felt better over the last couple of days” and “just taping it up through the games helps a lot.”
Back to being a productive big-league player, he returned to Cleveland after being demoted to the minor-leagues last season, despite being in the middle of a $25-million, five-year contract extension.
“Last year was tough,” he said. “I feel like there’s still more in the tank to give to this team this year. Definitely not content with it. I feel like a lot of us are not content with our season so far.”
Driving his turnaround, Straw said, is renewed “confidence. It’s tough to play with confidence down in triple-A after having some time in the big-leagues. But being with these hitting coaches every day, I feel like that’s all they do, is pump confidence into the guys. You can have a great swing and negative thoughts and it’s going to take you down. When you’re feeling good that’s usually when you play your best ball.”
GIMENEZ GEM
If you missed it, Andres Gimenez made this play on Johnathan Rodriguez to end the second inning:
“I didn’t think he had a chance,” said Ernie Clement. “That’s an unbelievable play. But he’s the best defender in the game. There’s nothing easy about that play. It’s pretty amazing.”
Eric Lauer would have been looking at runners at first and second with two out for Austin Hedges if not for Gimenez’s theft.
“That play was unbelievable,” said Lauer. “I thought there was no way anybody was getting that.”
HAPPY HOMECOMING
Eric Lauer is in his seventh big-league season, but Tuesday’s outing against the Cleveland Guardians marked just the second time the Blue Jays left-hander pitched at Progressive Field against the team he grew up cheering for, which made the evening “really special.”
He had a cheering section of 50-60 family and friends at Progressive Field, where the native of nearby Elyria, Ohio, first fell in love with baseball. His first start in Cleveland came Sept. 12, 2021, when he led Milwaukee to an 11-1 win during which he allowed one run in 5.1 innings, which is what he did for the Blue Jays in a 10-6 win.
“When you get the chance to go back and actually perform at home, it’s a really fun thing,” he said. “I loved watching CC (Sabathia). I liked Cliff Lee a lot. Actually, my early mechanics were kind of modelled after him a little bit. I love Jim Thome. My first-grade teacher was Jim Thome’s cousin, and I was just fascinated by that. I was like, ‘You know Jim Thome?’ He was just one of the all-time greats. The list can keep going. I loved watching baseball and I loved the Indians (as the Guardians were then known) as a kid. It was a fun time.”
