The Blue Jays are dealing with some injury concerns in their bullpen, as Nate Pearson is dealing with a non-COVID illness and Ryan Borucki left yesterday’s game with discomfort in his right hamstring. Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith (Twitter link) and other reporters that Borucki will undergo an MRI. More will be known about Borucki’s situation when the MRI results are in, but for Pearson, his illness has limited him to only two appearances thus far in Grapefruit League action.
In all likelihood, Pearson’s illness will keep him from making Toronto’s Opening Day roster. While this issue seems less serious than the other injuries that have sidelined the righty over the last two years, it represents yet another setback for the former top prospect. As for Borucki, the southpaw has been a pretty solid reliever when healthy, though he missed almost all of the 2019 season due to elbow problems and over two months of last season with a forearm strain. If another IL stint is required for Borucki, Tim Mayza will be the only left-hander in the Jays’ projected bullpen, which could open the door for Anthony Kay, Tayler Saucedo, or Andrew Vasquez to break camp.
More from around the division….
- The Orioles are considering re-signing Matt Harvey, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Harvey struggled to a 6.27 ERA over 127 2/3 innings with Baltimore last season, a performance that didn’t lead to any publicly-known interest in his market this winter. Harvey’s situation is further clouded by the possibility of a suspension of at least 60 games. A new deal would surely take the form of a minor league contract, and if Harvey is suspended, he’ll need some extra time anyway to get ramped up to pitch.
- There doesn’t appear to be much new on the extension front between Aaron Judge and the Yankees, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the two sides aren’t close to an agreement. Judge has stated that he doesn’t want negotiations to continue after Opening Day, so it seems as though quite a bit of progress will have to be made over just five days’ time.
- Also from Rosenthal, he reports that the White Sox proposed a trade to the Rays that would’ve seen Austin Meadows head to Chicago in exchange for Craig Kimbrel. Though Tampa Bay has reportedly been discussing Meadows in other trade talks, the Rays turned down the Kimbrel offer, which isn’t a surprise considering that the closer’s $16MM salary for 2022 would’ve taken up an outsized portion of Tampa’s limited payroll.
- The White Sox ended up dealing Kimbrel to the Dodgers yesterday for another outfielder in AJ Pollock. Beyond Chicago’s talks with the Rays, there is another AL East connection to that swap, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets that the Red Sox were one of the teams interested in Pollock. The right-handed hitting Pollock would’ve been a nice balance for Boston’s current corner outfield tandem of Alex Verdugo and Jackie Bradley Jr., both of whom swing from the left side. Beyond just a platoon split, Pollock would’ve been mostly an everyday option, but the Red Sox seem committed to Bradley getting more of a regular share of outfield duty even though Bradley is coming off a dreadful season at the plate.
man, pearson is brittle.
He’s sick
Don’t let facts deter the trutf
thanks, tips, i think i read that somewhere in the article.
my point still stands.
“Judge has stated that he doesn’t want negotiations to continue before Opening Day,”
Not to nitpick, but is that supposed to read AFTER Opening Day? Big difference in meaning.
Good catch, a correction has been made.
Thanks Mark!!!
Borucki will continue to get hurt over and over unless he bulks up, his frame and connective tissue cannot handle the max effort that he pitches with at the moment.
Pearson is a reliever. Period.
Mayza would be in my bullpen.
Suscedo has a place in the big leagues.
And Kay can be an excellent one inning max effort reliever but Montoyo doesn’t use him correctly. No multiple innings, no setup or closer or long relief situations. He is what he is, a one inning max effort guy.
Agree with everything other than Kay. He’s a lot like a young Happ in that he doesn’t have an out pitch
Why would anyone be interested in Matt Harvey right now, even my beloved O’s? There’s 100 AAA pitchers right now that can perform as well, and with no baggage
Harvey might make a good closer in Baltimore. Unless they just want him to eat innings as a SP again.
Why? His stuff is garbage.
I know, what? Harvey doesn’t even belong in the majors. He doesn’t eat innings and don’t even get me started about how absurd the idea of him as a closer is. He might very well be the worst pitcher in baseball and he’s gonna be a closer?
Blue Jays with injury concerns in their bullpen? The continuation of 2021.
Concerns is a stretch.
Outside of Romano’s minor ankle injury we’re not talking about the back end of the bullpen.
Also, they haven’t really defined Pearson’s role so far this year.
I’m not concerned until some combination of Romano along with Mayza, Cimber, García and Richards are injured. Even without a couple of the top guys, the bullpen is still miles ahead of where it was at the same time last year. Hopefully Phelps will be able to reestablish himself again and add himself to that group which will only deepen it.
Interesting rumors involving Craig Kimbrel and AJ Pollock that were being discussed before the White Sox and Dodgers agreed to their trade on April 1st.
I had the Rays as a strong potential suitor for Kimbrel but apparently Rick Hahn was targeting lefty hitting LF/DH Austin Meadows rather than lefty hitting Gold Glove CF/OF Kevin Kiermaier. Clearly any deal for Meadows would have also cost the White Sox additional assets along with some cash. My proposed trade involving Kiermaier would have been an even salary swap with Tampa and also given the White Sox a lefty bat with a stronger defensive resume than AJ Pollock. That said, I’m certainly not complaining about the eventual deal consummated by the White Sox for Pollock. I also prefer the idea of Kimbrel closing for an NL team rather than him helping the Rays in a potential postseason matchup with the White Sox.
Plus Pollock has more offensive potential so the lineup got a lot better.
Kiermaier can’t hit. Why would the Sox want him? Making outs from the left side are still outs.
They needed someone who can credibly play right field and hit right handed pitching. Pollock fill the bill on both.
Bradley can’t hit. I know his defense is very good but cmon you can’t start him if you want to contend.
I agree with this. It’s not just that he “is coming off a dreadful season at the plate”. For the past five years he has an OPS+ of 82.
JBJ will be given every opportunity for a rebound season, and he will not be starting against LHP..
JD and Duran are the backup OF’ers right now.
Duran was already sent down
He was on the active roster at the time I wrote that. LOL
Probably just for some seasoning. They are not gonna keep him down all year, he will either be promoted or traded.
It’s not just that he “is coming off a dreadful season
=================================
Actually, it is only the 2021 season.
2020 OPS+ = 116
19-20 = 96
18-20 = 95
17-20 = 93
16-20 = 99
15-20 = 101
For the most part, he’s been fairly adequate. He’s a lot like KK. Considering their defense, they hit well enough.
The Sox definitely need another Outfielder and hopefully they find one as camp begins to wind down. I actually think Bloom should take flyer on Upton, the price is cheap enough that it is no risk and can only reward
@Rsox;
It’s all about in-season trades in MLB.
Teams want to see who looks ready for a good season, who’s dragging, etc. Chaim did that with the Rays. The roster only matters the day after the trade deadline.
Opening season roster as well as Depth Charts mean nothing anymore. Here’s an interesting one……
Joe Madden has determined that David Fletcher is his best infielder. So depending on where charts show the batter hits the ball, Fletcher can be positioned anywhere next to the 3rd base bag to 20 feet to the right of 2nd base. The other 2 infielders will be moved around as needed. I’ve been expecting something like this for years.
True. The roster you start with is generally not the one you finish with. However, if the Sox want to be in the position to make meaningful moves in at the deadline i think they need a little better than they have right now
Maybe……
I’m a big Chaim fan. He needed some time to bring the staff up to speed and move players around some. Preseason predictions mean nothing due to the in-season moves. But as long-shot it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Red Sox finish ahead of the Jays…..and of course Yankees in 2022.
Smart FO. Smart manager. Developing smart players…or they’ll be moved.
Upton? No way.
The Renfroe-Bradley deal still completely puzzles me to this day. The prospects they got back are decent, but neither one appear to be future impact players, and they took on another ~$10M in salary too. Boston is going to miss Renfroe’s production in the lineup and his arm in RF too. Sure, he made a few errors out there but he lead the league in OF assists, hit over 30HRs and batted RH too. Boston is going to miss him more than they realize.
I believe Bloom had another deal in mind. Whether it was Suzuki or another free agent or trade that got scuttled i think something else was meant to happen that ultimately didn’t
Aaron – “I also prefer the idea of Kimbrel closing for an NL team rather than him helping the Rays in a potential postseason matchup with the White Sox.”
If Kimbrel’s future post seasons are anything like 2018, having him on Tampa would benefit the White Sox more than Tampa.
Kimbrel has more value for the Rays as someone they “pursued” as a free agent and finished “runner-ups” for than he would if he were closing games for them.
dear Orioles – please try and sign a half-decent SP for the first time in a half decade – sincerely, logic
Why are you surprised? They haven’t been trying to do anything over the past half-decade except collect draft picks.
if they think Harvey can help with the tank than they should actually sign someone who might play.
It’s not like there’s any possible offseason the Orioles could’ve had which would’ve given them even the slightest chance of not finishing in last place in 2022. They’re chasing four 90+ win teams. Might as well go for the draft pick.
I wonder how much money the White Sox may have offered (plus Kimbrel) to the Rays to get Meadows.
Could have been the LH bat the Sox need.
Who is the better fielder? Meadows or Pollock?
Meadows is “slightly” above average on Defense
Ha ha try again.
The only way the Rays were ever taking Kimbrel in a deal is if the White Sox were paying $15.5 of the $16 Million he is owed
Maybe 16.5
Yeah, they really really like odd numbers.
Bradley is always coming off a dreadful season at the plate wym lol