Billy McKinney has been optioned to the Blue Jays’ taxi squad, clearing the way to for Chase Anderson to join the active roster, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.
Anderson starts today’s game against the Red Sox, who are struggling themselves to fill out the starting rotation. The Jays rotation ranks 25th in fWAR for the season with a total of just 0.2 fWAR. Their big offseason acquisition Hyun Jin Ryu has been mediocre early on, though he’s within the realm of acceptable outcomes for just a three-start sample (5.14 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 3.69 xFIP). Top prospect Nate Pearson has had an encouraging couple of starts. The back end of the rotation has struggled, however, where Tanner Roark (5.63 ERA/6.62 FIP) and Matt Shoemaker (5.91 ERA/6.93 FIP) have yet to hit their stride.
Anderson, 32, debuted in 2014 as a 26-year-old for the Diamondbacks. He spent two seasons in Arizona’s rotation before taking turns as part of the Brewers starting five for the last four. Though he’s never logged more than 158 innings in a given season, he’s been remarkably consistent, making between 25 and 30 starts per season for somewhere between 139 and 158 innings in each of the last five seasons. The right-hander carries a career 53-40 record with a 3.94 ERA/4.54 FIP. That’s steady production for Anderson, who has flown relatively under the radar as a back-end rotation piece.
The Blue Jays scooped him up from Milwaukee this past September for minor league first baseman Chad Spanberger. At the time of the deal, the Blue Jays had a completely uncertain rotation situation for 2020, though they continued to add all winter. The full amount for Anderson’s deal was set for $8.5MM this season before the shutdown, with a team option at $9.5MM for 2021, making him a relatively affordable arm if he can continue to put forth the consistent workload he has thus far in his career. The Jays hold a $500K buyout option for next season.
For McKinney, he’ll return to Toronto’s taxi squad for now, though this move represents just some of the roster management that’s becoming standard this season. McKinney has been a semi-regular fourth outfielder for the Blue Jays since being acquired from the Yankees with Brandon Drury for J.A. Happ. He’s appeared in just one game thus far this season as a pinch-runner.
Did McKinney also pitch for a while (in the minors)?
no
FYI – Cardinals should get an L for not being able to show up. Automatic wins for the Pirates and Cubs.
If they can prove that they were being irresponsible and actually went to a casino, I 100% agree. That would make players around the league think twice before doing stupid things and being the sole reason their team is forfeiting games.
Should be easy, I assume the casino has cameras.
Please no, I want the first overall pick.
Montoya should be managing the taxi squad and whoever the hell Guillermo Martinez is should be fired immediately. Might as well fire Dave Hudgens too, he’s a cheater and now that he can’t cheat he’s useless.
Shaw batting 3-hole. Another reason to pink slip Montoyo.
What is the issue with that decision?
Trying Biggio at leadoff seems worth a try based on watching his at bats.
Going L-R-L-R to start the lineup is also a worthy strategy accepted throughout baseball history.
Shaw has basically a zero sample size with the Jays but had some good cuts the night before. Signed on with the potential to be a middle of the order type bat.
Not setting the lineup based on 2019 stats so what is the issue with choosing Shaw in the middle?
Panik or Tellez wouldn’t be strong options either.
Team should provide the manager with better left handed hitting options more than anything.
Leading off with a lefty when the lineup lacks in lefty options is tricky.
But a lineup full of #7-9 hitters is the real tricky part.
Sunday vs Eovaldi, very similar lineup.
Top 4 I’d go with Biggio, Bichette, Shaw, Hernandez again.
Then Guerrero, Panik, Grichuk, McGuire, Drury.
Tellez baserunning and Gurriel swinging out of his shoes lately would both get a breather in my books. The judge judys would be calling for my head though.
And that lineup looks nasty.
Gurriel back in. Drury out. Tellez in. Panik out.
Not quite Yanks, Twins, Astros level offense just yet. Need better RH and LH options, to be frank without being too thomas…
Agreed. Plus he only had one bad season. Lots of guys have bounced back from worse. It’s also not like there’s many better alternatives anyways.
This issue is Travis Shaw is done being a good hitter. In his prime he wasn’t good enough to hit 3-hole. R-L-R-L, who cares? You enjoy Vlad hitting 6-hole with Shaw at 3? If so, you’re part of the problem. Add JD and Terry to that list.
Biggio? Hey, he could use a few games hitting 9-hole except the Jays need two bats they don’t have. But if they want him to work through his slump hitting leadoff that is fine. Why? Because they are building toward contention. YET….that blows the Shaw narrative since he’s not part of the future and he’s hitting 3-hole when he shouldn’t.
So which is it? Having a placeholder who’s a AAAA player who can’t run or hit that high in the order is idiotic. Meanwhile he showed why when he was tossed at home on a bad throw. Yes let’s have hitters protecting him in-hopes a triple can drive him in.
Biggio
Bichette
Gurriel
Guerrero
Hernandez
Tellez
Grichuk
Shaw
Jansen
There are your alternatives.
Shaw has a great career slash line in Fenway and the starter was Zack Godley.
Tellez hits well at Fenway. He wasn’t gifted with a 3-spot. Do you ever think before typing Terry?
Aww cranky bill, Travis Shaw has shown more flashes of being a good hitter in his career than the rest of his teammates combined.
Saying he’s done hitting in such a definitive way is absolute lunacy.
Way too early to tell. You may be right, but it is impossible to say so with basically no sample size to work with.
Heck yeah I put Vlad 6th.
Less times to the plate until you lose weight.
But I had him 5th so maybe learn to count, read, or just stop trying to twist comments to fit your own cranky narrative.
Rotating lefties and righties in the lineup.
Who cares? The history of baseball and the majority of minds in the game.
Just because you don’t care, doesn’t disqualify something.
Biggio has had good at bats. Call it a slump but he still sees pitches more than most of his teammates. Best of a whole bunch of weak leadoff options in this group.
Shaw doesn’t need to be a piece of the Jays future. There could be an attempt to boost a fringe player’s trade value at play here. Imagine that? Using a fringe player as a trade chip?
A lot of BS to unpack here.
What was Shaw’s stat line last year? Exactly.
Vlad hit 6th this year thanks to Montoyo. I do not care where you think he should be as my 6-hole point was made to show the discrepancy between him and Shaw. You know who else needs to lose weight? Shaw.
If you do not care about results then why care about the lefty-righty scenario? If you care about the matchups then you’d stop fighting me on the Shaw 3-hole idea. It’s stupidity, and that’s on the organization and the staff. Hope they wrote names properly today.
You didn’t understand the Biggio point. I’d say your reading is a problem.
Shaw is a weaker trade chip than Galvis was last year. What did the Jays get for Galvis last year? Nothing? Yes, nothing. Just because Shaw hits 3-hole doesn’t make him a better trade chip. Shaw hasn’t earned it nor deserves to hit 3rd if he were a Buffalo Bison.
Stop excusing this crap. You’re ready to send a message to Vlad for his weight but not Montoyo for his lack of attention to detail or poor decision making? Absurd.
Sorry cranky willie, some of my comments were made with tongue in cheek.
Enjoy some Jays, lighten up a bit, and you might pick up a sense of humour.
One year does not make a player.
And that year wasn’t even a proper full year sample size.
Bring a better argument regarding Shaw and I might respond in full seriousness.
I’m fully expecting him to come closer to the 2015-2018 results which will make him a trade chip regardless where he is positioned in the lineup.
Did you literally start watching yesterday? Vlad has hit 6th twice now.
Vlad batted 3rd, 4th, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 4th, 4th, 5th, 5th, 5th, 5th, then 6th and 6th again today.
The team needs to give the manager better LH and RH hitting options. I’ve acknowledged this.
Why continue to try throwing Charlie under the bus?
I’m still waiting to hear who these better managerial and coaching options are.
And where these better lineup options are coming from?
Rendon wasn’t going to sign in Toronto for all the money. Neither was Cole. They persuaded a strong FA to come to Toronto and that is a nice start. Trying to get the talent in a similar fashion to how the Astros have built their rotation is the key, Verlander, Cole or Greinke were not FA signings.
Galvis wasn’t a valued trade chip.
If Shaw doesn’t find past form, he isn’t a valued trade chip either.
What is your point about Galvis?
Shaw has some flexibility on D and has been a difference maker with the bat in the past. Way more of a potential chip than Galvis was last summer. If Shaw doesn’t find his stroke, he becomes a Galvis or Smoak type.
You are very correct if you assume that his 2019 is the true version of Shaw. I just see nothing in your comments that can prove to me that Shaw is stuck in a 2019 time loop.
My reading comprehension is weak so please dumb these things down for me.
Not sending a message to Vlad for anything. Just makin jokes. He’s doing great for his age and I’m happy to see him in the lineup at any position.
Not sending a message to Charlie for anything. Just seeing him as a babysitter until 2021 when the real splash starts to happen.
Lefty-righty scenario is just common baseball sense. Don’t let the opposing pitcher get comfortable. Simple as that.
Gimme a lineup with no variety and I can pitch my way through.
Major league arms thrive when they can find that comfort zone.
There are micro and macro decisions at play, so every action does not need to fit into an exact pigeonholed narrative.
Absurd enough for you yet? Or does some of this start to sink in?
Sunday there were 3 lefties in a row with Tellez, McGuire and Biggio at leadoff. Yes you can use a pinch hitter but why do this in the first place?
Tonight, Vlad is back in the 6-hole while your boy Shaw hits 3rd. No reason. Add a nice cherry on-top with Joe Panik DH’ing. Panik should DH, well, never.
Is it sinking in for you yet? Or are you a Jays fan that hates winning? I would buy that narrative with the diatribe and flawed logic you continue to believe. Anyway, Montoyo and company will prove me right and you’ll be gone when it’s time to say I warned you.
Not breaking up the lefties in the lineup actually frustrates me way more than it should. But I’m not calling for the manager’s head.
1- Where are the better manager options coming from?
2- Where are the better player options coming from?
Keep in mind that the Angels thought they had the answer to both questions many times over. Things look just as desperate for them.
Your criticisms of the Jays can be applied to a lot of teams around the league. There is lots of good that deserves some focus.
How can it possibly be enjoyable to be a jeerleader?
Try to cheer, it is fun.
I will be pushing this bandwagon by myself at some point in time. Don’t worry!
How did Luke Bard have one year in 2017 where he had an amazing 13.5+ K/9 and then prior to and since then hasn’t even come close to that. He had something like 99 KS in 50 or so innings. Just seems kind of weird that he was so dominant that year and really hasn’t replicated it since.
Oops commented on the wrong post… my bad!
It’s ok. Your comments are better than most Jays fans here. Keep up the good work.
Wild bill: agree with every single thing you say, however issue runs deeper than just Chuck. I have zero faith in Shatkins and I can’t justify why. They seem far too concerned with protecting their assets and justifying their acquisitions than competing right now. Second place is there to be had. Boston is a mess and Tampa is in disarray. Baltimore??? As I said in another post, I am tired of the “tryouts”. I acknowledge they have made quite a few shrewd acquisitions, but……?
Yep. They went after Ryu and Roark, right? Why not go after Rendon then instead of Shaw? No prominent 3B is out there to be had and they’ll probably need another starter and closer.
Also agree, they’ve done some good. They’ve done some awful. Like AA, mixed results.
I don’t understand the hate for coaches in baseball. With all of the stats (that they all blindly follow), I could coach in the majors. If you have good players (or players who are at least playing well) you will win, if you don’t you won’t.
James! James! James!
Heck yeah, this guy gets it.
James…does your MLB manager neglect to write names on a lineup card while he rewards washed-up players like Travis Shaw and punishes performing hitters like Teoscar Hernandez? If so, you’re absolutely right. If not, it’s not too much to ask for a team to finish 8th in the American League when brainless Jays fans have said this team would contend for a Wild Card this year.
Borucki is looking like Pomeranz or Andrew Miller so far this year. Good to see him starting to get high leverage opportunities, but why don’t they ever let him go multiple innings? He’s got 9 k’s through his for 4 innings, just 1 hit surrendered and zero runs. With Borucki, Hatch and Kay all pitching well and having the ability to go multiple innings, maybe we could stop using Yamaguchi in extra innings lmao.
I feel it would be linked with the team shutting him down in spring training 1.0, there has to be a bit of hesitance to fully unleash him yet.
Pitching staff in general has been exciting to watch despite most of the results. Romano, Borucki, Hatch, Kay, Bass all pitching way above the preseason expectations. So far. Small sample. Exciting still.
Yea, you’re probably right about that. Agreed, the majority of the staff has been a pleasure to watch so far. Romano and Borucki have been almost unhittable. Bass, Hatch, Kay and even Cole have all been extremely effective. Between Hatch, Kay and Romano I’ve really liked what we’ve seen from those 3 rookies pitchers and I think they’ll be apart of this staff for a long time.
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