The Toronto Blue Jays will start Paolo Espino on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays, pushing back José Berríos‘ spring debut to Thursday against the Philadelphia Phillies, according to manager John Schneider.
Kevin Gausman is expected to jump into rotation sometime in the next turn.
Espino joined the Blue Jays on a minor-league deal this past off-season.
The 36-year-old pitcher has a career 5.01 ERA over 257 MLB innings with the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals.
Espino struggled in his brief stint with the Nationals in 2023, finishing the season with a 24.75 ERA over four innings pitched.
Schneider also said that top prospect Ricky Tiedemann played catch yesterday and will do so again today after suffering inflammation in his left leg. Tiedemann was unable to pitch his turn in the rotation in the opening of spring training.
