Latest On Blue Jays Roster Outlook
Alejandro Kirk, Trent Thornton, Tim Mayza, and Rowdy Tellez were given good news today. The quartet made the Blue Jays opening day roster, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter).
With the increasingly-popular Kirk earning his roster spot, the Blue Jays have a decision looming on Reese McGuire. If the Blue Jays decide against carrying three catchers, they will have to expose McGuire to the waiver process. There is a possibility that Toronto keeps him on the roster, however, especially if George Springer starts the year on the injured list. With Joe Panik and Jonathan Davis also announced as members of the bench, there’s probably not room for McGuire if Springer is healthy enough to play. Infielder Breyvic Valera will also have to be designated for assignment should he not make the roster, as seems likely.
In terms of the bullpen, the final roster spot will go to either Julian Merryweather, Francisco Liriano, or Anthony Castro, notes Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star (via Twitter). A.J. Cole was in the running as well, but he is less likely to start the season with the big-league club. Merrweather has some multi-inning potential as a power arm, and he is slated to pitch once more before a final decision is made. He’s also the one of the four who is already on the 40-man roster.
Speaking of which, Panik needs to be added to the 40-man roster, as does Mayza. The 40-man roster is currently full, though since McGuire and Valera are both out of options, they could be DFA’ed to open the space needed. Ben Nicholson-Smith of sportsnet.ca provides a visual representation of the decisions ahead for Toronto.
AL Notes: Eloy, Royals, Tigers, Rangers, Rowdy
White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez suffered a mid-foot sprain on Thursday, and the club doesn’t expect to have him for its season-ending series against the Cubs, manager Rick Renteria told Scott Merkin of MLB.com and other reporters. It’s unknown whether an early playoff return is in jeopardy for Jimenez, who has helped the White Sox to a 34-23 record and a postseason berth with his stellar offensive output. The 23-year-old’s regular season concluded with a .296/.332/.559 line and 14 home runs in 226 trips to the plate.
- The Royals have placed reliever Greg Holland and outfielder Jorge Soler on the 10-day injured list with oblique strains, per a team announcement. They reinstated reliever Ian Kennedy from the IL and recalled first baseman/outfielder Ryan McBroom in corresponding transactions. The season’s now officially over for Holland, who enjoyed a major bounce-back year in his return to KC after signing a minor league deal in the offseason, as well as Soler. A 48-home run hitter a season ago, Soler totaled eight in 173 plate appearances this year and finished with a .228/.326/.443 line. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the final time during the offseason.
- Tigers third baseman Jeimer Candelario is done for the year, as the club announced that it has placed him on the 10-day IL with a low back strain. Candelario, whom the Tigers acquired from the Cubs in 2017, made notable strides in 2020. The switch-hitting 26-year-old significantly upped his hard-contact rate en route to a .297/.369/.503 mark and seven homers in 206 PA. He leads all Tigers in fWAR with 1.6.
- The Rangers will be looking for starters in the offseason, especially if they trade Lance Lynn, but it doesn’t appear reliever Jonathan Hernandez will fill any voids in their rotation in 2021. Hernandez informed the Rangers that he’d rather stay in the bullpen next year than transition to a starting role, TR Sullivan of MLB.com tweets. The rookie Hernandez has been one of the main bright spots this season for Texas, with which the 24-year-old has posted a 2.51 ERA/2.49 FIP and registered 9.42 K/9 against 1.57 BB/9 across 28 2/3 innings. Hernandez has averaged almost 98 mph on his fastball along the way.
- The Blue Jays don’t expect first baseman/designated hitter Rowdy Tellez to be ready for the wild-card playoff round, GM Ross Atkins told Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet and other reporters. Tellez has been on the IL with a right knee strain since Sept. 9. He put up a career-best .283/.346/.540 line with eight homers in 127 plate appearances before then.
Bo Bichette Back, Teoscar Hernandez And Rowdy Tellez Hopeful To Return Before Playoffs
The Toronto Blue Jays have pushed their contention window up with a strong first two-thirds of the season. At 24-20, Charlie Montoyo’s club sits half a game ahead of the Yankees for second place in the AL East. If the season ended today, Toronto would find themselves in the playoff bracket for the first time since back-to-back ALCS appearances in 2015 and 2016.
The Blue Jays have remained competitive despite a number of injuries to their offense. Bo Bichette is their biggest absence to date, but he’s back in the lineup for tonight’s game, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (via Twitter). They may have other reinforcements on the way as well. GM Ross Atkins sounds hopeful that Rowdy Tellez can return soon, though his language suggests a playoff return is more likely, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Said Atkins, “Hopefully Rowdy becomes an option for us if not by the end of the season, hopefully by the playoffs.”
Tellez hit the injured list just a couple days ago with a knee strain. For the first 35 games of the season, the Blue Jays featured Tellez prominently as the big first baseman slashed .283/.346/.540 with 8 home runs and 23 RBIs while splitting his time between first base and designated hitter.
Teoscar Hernandez could return to the lineup even sooner, per Nicholson-Smith. The 27-year-old has enjoyed a breakout campaign as his contact and on-base skills have – at least in the small sample of the season – caught up with his considerable power. Over the previous two seasons, Hernandez posted a triple slash of .235/.304/.470 with 8.7 BB%, 32 K%, and a .235 ISO. This season, slight improvements in strikeout rate (28.3 K%) and a robust display of power (.329 ISO) have led to a .308/.358/.637 line with 14 home runs across 159 plate appearances this season for the right fielder. Of course, a .352 BABIP, perhaps brought on a by rising 56.9% Hard Hit percentage, hasn’t hurt his cause either. Per Nicholson-Smith, Hernandez’s recovery has thus far gone better than expected.
Blue Jays Place Rowdy Tellez On 10-Day IL
4:39pm: The Blue Jays have placed Tellez on the IL and recalled outfielder Billy McKinney, per Hazel Mae of Sportsnet.
3:28pm: The Blue Jays are likely to place first baseman/designated hitter Rowdy Tellez on the 10-day injured list with a right knee strain, Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star tweets.
At 24-18 and in possession of an American League playoff spot, Toronto has been one of the game’s pleasant surprises this year. The 25-year-old Tellez has been among the reasons the Blue Jays have jumped out to such a quality record and have scored the majors’ ninth-most runs (210). Tellez has slashed an excellent .283/.347/.540 with eight home runs in 127 plate appearances in 2020. Of course, with such a small amount of time left in the regular season, it’s unknown if Tellez will be able to return in the coming weeks. For now, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Travis Shaw will take up the lion’s share of playing time at first base.
Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, this is the second major injury their offense has dealt with this week. They previously lost outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, who has been an elite hitter this season, to a left oblique strain. Nevertheless, the Jays will go for a sweep against the division-rival Yankees on Wednesday.
AL Injury Notes: M. Chapman, Jays, Angels
A few notable injury notes from around the American League…
- Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman will resume baseball activities Wednesday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. It’s still unclear how much longer the AL West-leading A’s will go without Chapman, though. The 27-year-old has been out since he left their game Sunday with a right hip strain. Chapman batted a power-driven .232/.276/.535 with 10 home runs in 152 plate appearances before his injury.
- Blue Jays first baseman Rowdy Tellez is dealing with right knee discomfort and will undergo an MRI on Wednesday, according to Hazel Mae of Sportsnet. Tellez has been one of the bright spots for the playoff-contending Blue Jays, who have benefited from his .291/.355/.555 line en route to a 24-18 record.
- More on the Blue Jays, whose top reliever, Ken Giles, may be on track to return this weekend, Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star tweets. Giles has only pitched twice this year – on July 24 and 26 – because of a forearm strain. The long absence could affect the 29-year-old’s earning power entering free agency, though the Blue Jays have carried on well without him. Their bullpen entered Tuesday ranked fourth in the majors in ERA and sixth in FIP.
- The Angels placed infielder Franklin Barreto on the injured list Tuesday, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com tweets. They recalled infielder Matt Thaiss in a corresponding move. Barreto, whom the Angels acquired from the division-rival Athletics for fellow infielder Tommy La Stella before the trade deadline, has struggled in his time in the majors and hasn’t provided any value to LA so far. Since joining the Angels, Barreto has collected two hits in 18 trips to the plate.
AL East Notes: Lucroy, Rays, Blue Jays
As Yankees righty Luis Severino gets some unwelcome news on his birthday, here’s the latest from around the AL East…
- Ron Roenicke was Jonathan Lucroy‘s manager with the Brewers for over four seasons, and with Roenicke now serving as the Red Sox interim manager, he was the motivating factor in convincing Jonathan Lucroy to sign with Boston. “He called me and he wanted me to come. It was a big one,” Lucroy told reporters, including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “He’s like, you’ll get an opportunity to come here and make the team. Right now, that’s all you can ask for with a guy in my position.” Lucroy signed a minor league contract with the Sox after a pretty quiet stint in free agency, as Cotillo notes that Lucroy “negotiated with a few clubs who backed out of deals at the last minute.” This isn’t to say that Lucroy is surprised at how his trip through the free agent market went, given his struggles over the last three seasons: “Analytically, I’ve been terrible. Seriously. I’m not trying to make excuses. I’m not surprised I didn’t get a big league offer.” Now, Lucroy is reunited with his old skipper and will compete with Kevin Plawecki for the backup catching position.
- The Rays are known for cycling different players through a position rather than having a set everyday starter, and MLB.com’s Juan Toribio examines how the club will juggle its many third base options. Yandy Diaz, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, Joey Wendle, Daniel Robertson, Nate Lowe, and Mike Brosseau could all factor into Tampa Bay’s choices at the hot corner, while also being rotated around to other positions on the diamond. Diaz is expected to get the majority of playing time, while Tsutsugo’s readiness at third base is perhaps the biggest wild card in the mix, as he hasn’t played the position since 2014 as a member of the Yokohama BayStars.
- The Blue Jays face some interesting decisions with their bench mix, as the Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm observes that slugger Rowdy Tellez might not make the Opening Day roster. Since minor league signing Joe Panik “is almost a sure bet to be included on the roster” as a utilityman and outfielders Derek Fisher and Anthony Alford are both out of options, this trio might have the advantage over Tellez, who is defensively limited to only first base. Tellez has shown some strong power (25 homers, .475 slugging percentage) over 482 MLB plate appearances, though is somewhat one-dimensional at the plate, as evidenced by his .241 career average and .299 OBP. Fisher and Alford will both need to perform well this spring to block Tellez, however, and Chisholm notes that Brandon Drury also isn’t a lock for the roster, as the Blue Jays could opt to cut Drury and just go with Panik as the primary utility player. Since Drury was an arbitration-eligible player, releasing him before Opening Day would leave the Jays on the hook for just a small portion of his $2.05MM salary. If Drury was released, Chisholm speculates Toronto could potentially put those savings towards signing another veteran player who might become available as teams trim their rosters in advance of the season opener.
Blue Jays Notes: Smoak, Galvis, Bichette, Catcher
A day after suggesting that Rowdy Tellez was in line to receive more playing time down than Justin Smoak down the stretch, Blue Jays skipper Charlie Montoyo has walked that assertion back a bit. “Maybe it came out like he’s going to play more than Smoak, but it’s still the same way,” Montoyo told reporters, including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. “Smoak will DH, play first. I don’t see that much of a difference.” Smoak himself was caught off guard by Montoyo’s initial comments, but the first baseman said Montoyo took him aside in an effort to sort things out. It seems that Smoak and Tellez will share first base/designated hitter duties down the stretch, though Montoyo has no shortage of other players he’ll need to try to work into the mix at DH. Davidi adds that the Blue Jays “seem to have no intention” of placing Smoak on outright waivers in the manner they did with Freddy Galvis, who was claimed by the Reds earlier this week.
More out of Toronto…
- The Blue Jays didn’t find much in the way of trade interest for Galvis prior to the trade deadline, writes The Toronto Sun’s Ryan Wolstat, but the arrival (and immediate success) of Bo Bichette prompted the club to give the veteran Galvis an opportunity to be claimed by a club that’d play him every day at his natural position. General manager Ross Atkins said the club and Galvis were open and honest with each other leading up to the move. Montoyo effused praise for Galvis’ professionalism and leadership, and teammates such as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. expressed some sadness in seeing Galvis depart. “He taught me a lot, not just to me, to the rest of the guys and I will always carry that with me,” said Gurriel of Galvis. “Freddy’s a huge mentor for any player.” The Reds will now have the ability to exercise Galvis’ $5.5MM club option for the 2020 season, though they’ll also be on the hook for the $1MM buyout should they not decide to bring him back.
- While Danny Jansen is still the favorite to serve as the Jays’ primary catcher in 2020, TSN’s Scott Mitchell writes that Reese McGuire will be given an opportunity to show he can be a significant piece of the catching puzzle in the season’s final six weeks. Both Jansen and McGuire drew heaps of praise for their defensive prowess from catching coordinator John Schneider, and Jansen indeed ranks among the game’s best backstops in terms of pitch framing, pitch blocking, Defensive Runs Saved and Baseball Prospectus’ fielding runs above average. Jansen has also salvaged what was shaping up to be a miserable season at the plate, hitting .252/.316/.484 dating back to June 1. As Mitchell points out, the Jays have a number of other catching options coming up through the system, giving them some potential trade commodities to address other holes on the club if the Jansen/McGuire pairing is indeed determined to be the long-term catching tandem.
East Notes: Scherzer, Stanton, Jays, Mets
A look around the majors’ East divisions…
- Nationals ace Max Scherzer came out of a 32-pitch sim game Tuesday feeling “really good,” Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com relays. If all goes well over the next few days, Scherzer could throw a bullpen session Thursday and then either make a rehab start or return to the Nationals’ rotation Sunday. The three-time Cy Young winner has started just twice for the team over the past month and a half – his most recent outing came on July 25 – because of back problems. Should he return this weekend, he’d be on a limited pitch count, according to manager Dave Martinez.
- Injured Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is “up to 75 or 85 percent,” according to manager Aaron Boone (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). It’s unclear how close Stanton is to returning, though. The former NL MVP has been on the shelf since late July with a knee injury, and he only took 38 plate appearances before then. Somehow, though, the Yankees have thrived this season with basically no contributions from Stanton. Just about every outfielder they’ve plugged in has succeeded, including formerly unspectacular-looking pickups Mike Tauchman and Cameron Maybin.
- The Blue Jays recalled first baseman Rowdy Tellez from Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday. The 24-year-old forced his way back by mauling pitchers at the Triple-A level, where he slashed .366/.450/.688 with seven home runs in 109 plate appearances. Tellez wasn’t nearly that good this year in the majors before a mid-July demotion, as he hit .227/.280/.436 with 14 HRs over 286 PA. However, considering they’re looking toward the future, the rebuilding Blue Jays want to see if Tellez can continue his minor league brilliance in their uniform. His promotion could spell bad news for veteran first baseman Justin Smoak, who’s likely to lose playing time to Tellez, manager Charlie Montoyo said Tuesday (via Scott Mitchell of TSN). That doesn’t seem to bode well for the Toronto future of Smoak, a pending free agent.
- Mets righty Jacob Rhame has undergone ulnar nerve transposition surgery and will miss the rest of the season, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. The 26-year-old only threw 27 innings between the majors and minors this season, six of which came as a member of the Mets.
Blue Jays Option Rowdy Tellez
Following this afternoon’s game, the Blue Jays have optioned 1B/DH Rowdy Tellez to Triple-A Buffalo, per Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star. The move leaves the team without its everyday designated hitter. A corresponding roster move has yet to be announced, though Shi Davidi of Sportsnet suggests that outfielder Billy McKinney could be activated from the injured list.
Tellez has been an everyday player for the Blue Jays, toggling between first base and designated hitter alongside Justin Smoak. Despite an extended look, Tellez has failed to make good on the offensive potential he flashed in a brief big-league stint last season. The 24-year-old has managed just 17 walks this season, good for a 5.9% walk rate and a .281 OBP. He’s slugged 14 home runs, but the overall offensive output has not been enough to justify his presence in the lineup every day. On the bright side, he’ll receive consistent at-bats in the minors, hopefully making the necessary adjustments to vault himself back into a Major League batting order.
With Tellez no longer on the roster and a vacancy at DH, it seems as though the Blue Jays will have a few options as to how they construct their lineup. If McKinney is indeed the corresponding roster move, he could slot into a regular role in right field, while Teoscar Hernandez and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. looking like the most likely candidates to pick up the bulk of the DH reps—though it’s unlikely the Blue Jays would relegate Guerrero to playing just one side of the ball this early in his development. If not McKinney, Cavan Biggio, who has shown impressive versatility in his debut, could be in line for more regular playing time in the outfield.
Blue Jays Select Javy Guerra, Promote Rowdy Tellez
The Blue Jays have announced their Opening Day roster. Reliever Javy Guerra will make the club, meaning his contract was selected to the 40-man roster.
In other roster news, first baseman Rowdy Tellez received a promotion for his second stint in the majors. He’ll take the place of Kendrys Morales, who was dealt to Oakland yesterday.
Guerra, 33, has spent parts of eight seasons in the big leagues, most recently in 2017-18 with the Marlins. He has a career 3.42 ERA with averages of 7.2 strikeouts, 4.0 walks and 0.6 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched. The 2018 season was an ugly one for the former Dodgers closer (5.55 ERA in 35 2/3 innings), but he had a solid partial season with the Fish in 2017. Guerra also allowed just one run in 10 1/3 spring innings, notching a 10-to-4 K/BB ratio along the way.
Tellez, 24, mashed five spring homers and hit .280/.308/.600 in 52 plate appearances. That output came on the heels of an intriguing MLB debut in which Tellez batted .314/.329/.614 with four homers and nine doubles in just 73 plate appearances in 2018. Tellez hasn’t had anywhere near that type of success in Triple-A, but scouting reports have long touted his above-average power. He’s also fanned at a 17.7 percent clip in Triple-A — a lower rate than one might expect for a first baseman whose primary asset is his power.