The Blue Jays announced a series of roster moves this morning. The club has selected the contract of infielder Davis Schneider from Triple-A, optioned infielder Ernie Clement to Triple-A, reinstated right-hander Jay Jackson from the family emergency list, and designated right-hander Thomas Hatch for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster stands at 40.
Hatch, 28, came over from the Cubs in a 2019 trade that sent reliever David Phelps to Chicago. He made his big league debut with Toronto in 2020 and has seen Major League action every season since. The 2016 third-round pick has pitched to a 5.28 ERA in 44 1/3 big league innings, fanning 21.3% of his opponents against a 12.4% walk rate.
While he’s worked primarily as a starter in Triple-A, Hatch has moved to the bullpen for the majority of his work in the upper minors this season. He’s pitched to a 4.40 ERA in 30 games — 45 innings — and notched a 27.8% strikeout rate and 10.8% walk rate. Hatch has typically kept the ball on the ground at average or better rates in Double-A and Triple-A, and this year’s 4.40 ERA in Triple-A is right in line with the 4.45 mark he’s posted in 240 2/3 total innings at that level.
Hatch can still be optioned for the remainder of the 2023 season. Add that to his respectable results in parts of three Triple-A seasons, his ability to work multiple innings in relief, and his experience as a starter — and it pique the interest of another club seeking some depth now that the trade deadline has passed. The Jays can’t trade Hatch at this point, so they’ll have to place him on outright waivers.
As for the 24-year-old Schneider, he’ll be making his big league debut the first time he gets into a game. A 28th-round pick in 2017, Schneider has been primarily a second baseman in the minors but also has more than 900 innings at the hot corner, more than 600 innings in left field and has added eight games at first base in the 2023 season. He’s posted an excellent .275/.416/.553 batting line in 392 plate appearances this season, walking at a massive 18.4% clip against a 21.9% strikeout rate.
But… but, guy had a WAR of 0.1, ERA+ of 201 and a FIP that matched his actual ERA of 2.27. Guy should be on the 2nd half all-star team. He’s destroying MLB hitters with his 18K/9, which is Kerry Woods territory.
I’d take Hatch over Gillaspie or Krehbiel on the 40.
Jay Jackson is killing it this year at age 35. Good for him.
He seems to always have been good looking back at his very limited stats each year he’s played. Nobody has given him a good chance to prove himself though which seems very undeserved, hopefully the jays keep giving him innings and he continues doing great!
Thomas Hatch. What a name, sounds like an 1800s short novel author lol
Thomas Hatch, author of “Mitch of the DF’Abervilles,” “Far From the Arb-Eligible Crowd,” and “Manager of Bisonbridge,”
Reds should pick him up.
Why not designate Clement? He’s not replacement level even & less chance someone would scoop him up; hatch is likely to get grabbed
Middle infield depth maybe. If Hatch is snatched that will be that team’s problem. Hatch is not a major league pitcher.
Or why wasn’t Nathan Lukes DFAed? Clement brings value
Mostly because they don’t have a lot of MLB-ready depth at AAA in either the OF or middle infield.
With Hatch, they have a few other pitchers already on the 40-man roster in Buffalo that can theoretically deliver the same or better performance as Hatch in an ’emergency’ role.
They have a couple of guys with prior MLB experience such as Nate Pearson or Zach Pop, some prospects they might want to take a look at before the off-season such as Yosver Zulueta or Hagen Danner (insert ice cream-themed joke here), and then there’s Chad Green, who’s getting pretty close to being ready to return from his rehab stint… out of all the above, Hatch was the one with the least upside and the easiest to replace, so he became the odd man out. Feel bad for him – he was good in 2020 in a small sample, then hurt his arm and hasn’t been the same since.
Jays tried to make Hatch a starter in 2021. Considering how dire their bullpen was in 2021, it was a bad decision.
@AMATO
Hey, easy, easy. I can’t figure out why Lukes was on the active roster when Luplow was in the minors when the Jays need someone which could hit lefties. Now you want to know why he wasn’t DFA’ed? Einstein and Hawkins are both dead. This mystery may never be solved.
Probably a matter of pitcher vs position player balance. You don’t have to balance them on your 40 man roster, but if you don’t that makes it hard to manage your 26 man portion where they do have to balance.
Doing a quick count, they have 7 minor league position players and 4 minor league pitchers on the 40 man roster, along with 2 injured pitchers (2 others on the 60 day but those don’t count yet). That’s 39 spots, I guess the 40th might be Jackson on the family leave list.
At any rate, it’s clear Hatch would’ve had to go when they activated Green so might as well do it now.
Down the Hatch
Hatch is going to be picked up by someone. This guy had a great arm before his elbow got hurt in 2021. Unfortunately that injury changed him as a pitcher. I still think he has a place in the big leagues, he just needs lots of big league time to sort out what kind of the pitcher he is now. Maybe in the long-term a Tommy John can bring him fully back.
Are you the guy’s dad or something? That egg never hatched.. I’m glad he’s gone.
Jays are avoiding the fall rush of getting rid of bad players.