AL East Notes: Gil, Bastardo, Lux
Since the Yankees play only nine games during the season’s first 13 days, manager Aaron Boone announced today (to the Athletic’s Chris Kirschner and other reporters) that the team will use a four-man rotation of Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, and Ryan Weathers during this rather staggered portion of the schedule. This leaves Luis Gil in a bit of an awkward spot as an unnecessary fifth starter, though pitching coach Matt Blake suggested that Gil could be used in a piggyback capacity during Weathers’ first outing. It is also possible Gil could be left off New York’s Opening Day roster altogether — he could bide his time in the minors until he’s needed, and the Yankees could use his roster spot on an extra reliever.
After winning AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2024, Gil was limited to 11 starts and 57 innings last season due to a right lat strain. Gil’s peripherals were unimpressive, and his whopping 5.74 SIERA indicates that the right-hander was quite fortunate to manage a 3.32 ERA. The fact that Gil has been relegated to this uncertain role for the start of the season perhaps indicates that the Yankees still have some questions about the righty, though Blake was encouraged by some adjustments Gil made to his release point.
More from around the AL East…
- The Blue Jays‘ bullpen continues to take final form, as manager John Schneider told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae and Shi Davidi) that Tommy Nance will make the team, while Yariel Rodriguez, non-roster invite Jorge Alcala, and Rule 5 Draft pick Angel Bastardo won’t be part of the Opening Day roster. In Bastardo’s case, this means the Jays must offer the right-hander back to the Red Sox, work out a trade with Boston to officially obtain Bastardo’s rights, or perhaps trade Bastardo to another team interested on carrying him on their active roster all season. Bastardo was actually selected in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft, but a Tommy John surgery cost him the entire 2025 season and thus Toronto retained his R5 status for the coming season.
- Gavin Lux‘s shoulder remains a bit of a question mark for the Rays as Opening Day looms, though the second baseman was able to return to the lineup for today’s game with the Blue Jays. Lux’s first camp with the Rays was initially slowed by some oblique discomfort, and then a sore throwing shoulder that has limited him to seven Grapefruit League games to date. Manager Kevin Cash told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and other reporters that due to the “time crunch” created by Thursday’s opener, “we’ve got to get [Lux] going for him to be ready to go.” If Lux needs a 10-day injured list stint to give himself more time to get right, Topkin suggests the Rays could add Richie Palacios to the roster, or perhaps explore the market for a new depth infielder.
Blue Jays Add Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer To ALCS Roster; Bo Bichette Not Included
The Blue Jays have announced the 26 players who will be part of their American League Championship Series roster against the Mariners. As in the ALDS, the Jays will be using 13 pitchers and 13 position players, though a couple of new arms will be joining the pitching staff. The full list…
Catchers: Alejandro Kirk, Tyler Heineman
Infielders: Addison Barger, Ernie Clement, Andres Gimenez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Isiah Kiner-Falefa
Outfielders: Nathan Lukes, Anthony Santander, Davis Schneider, George Springer, Myles Straw, Daulton Varsho
Left-handed pitchers: Mason Fluharty, Eric Lauer, Brendon Little
Right-handed pitchers: Chris Bassitt, Shane Bieber, Seranthony Dominguez, Braydon Fisher, Kevin Gausman, Jeff Hoffman, Yariel Rodriguez, Max Scherzer, Louis Varland, Trey Yesavage
Beginning with the most notable omission from the roster, Bo Bichette remains unavailable, as the shortstop has yet to fully recover from a left knee sprain that has kept him out of action since September 6. Bichette didn’t start any running work until this past Wednesday, but a move to a bit more high-intensity running on the bases yesterday didn’t yield much progress. Bichette clearly looked to be in discomfort following even this brief session, which created doubt that he would indeed be healthy enough to be activated.
Since Bichette has been able to take batting practice and face live hitting, there had been some speculation that the Jays might use Bichette just in a DH role or even as a pinch-hitting specialist. Even that limited capacity would involve Bichette having to run in some form if he ended up getting hits, of course, and yesterday’s footage implies that Bichette’s knee is still far from 100 percent.
Technically, the Jays could still activate Bichette at some point during the ALCS if another injury arose. But the far likelier scenario is that Bichette won’t see any action until the World Series should Toronto advance, and it remains unclear if even 12 more days of rest and rehab will be enough for Bichette to return at all during the Jays’ postseason run.
By this point the Blue Jays have gotten used to playing without Bichette to some extent. Gimenez has settled in as the glove-first option at shortstop, and the Jays were will able to both win the AL East and defeat the Yankees in the ALDS without Bichette available. That said, obviously Toronto’s roster is better with Bichette than without, and the Jays figure to miss his bat against the Mariners’ deep pitching staff.
Speaking of rotations, Bassitt and Scherzer return after being left out of the ALCS picture. Scherzer was omitted since manager John Schneider felt the veteran didn’t match up well against the Yankees in particular, while Bassitt wasn’t fully recovered from a bout of back tightness that sent him to the 15-day injured list on September 19. The Jays felt they could navigate the five-game ALDS with only three starters (Gausman, Yesavage, Bieber) on the roster, and that proved to be the case, as the relief corps stepped up with a big bullpen-game performance in the clinching Game 4.
Gausman is set to start Game 1, and in all likelihood rookie sensation Yesavage will start Game 2 and Bieber will go in Game 3. Still, Gausman is the only announced starter to date, so the Blue Jays might still yet creative with their exact deployment of their starters. Not all five starters will actually start, of course, leaving some question with how Bassitt or Scherzer will be used. Bassitt has a little more career experience as a reliever, yet Scherzer struggled so much down the stretch that that recent form is a bigger factor for the Jays than Scherzer’s distinguished postseason track record.
Bassitt and Scherzer will be taking the places of relievers Tommy Nance and Justin Bruihl. Nance was inching his way into higher-leverage work after delivering a 1.99 ERA over 30 1/3 innings in the regular season, but he didn’t look sharp in posting a 13.50 ERA over 1 1/3 innings in the ALDS. Bruihl was charged for two earned runs in his lone one-third of an inning of ALDS work, and the southpaw was something of a 26th man for much of Toronto’s season, as he logged 13 2/3 innings with a 5.27 ERA.
Blue Jays Select Tommy Nance
The Blue Jays announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Tommy Nance. In a corresponding move, fellow righty Ryan Burr was placed directly onto the 60-day injured list with a right rotator cuff strain, which opened both an active roster and a 40-man roster spot for Nance.
Nance, 34, had a decent run late last year with the Jays. The club had planned to compete in 2024 but fell out of the race and ended up as a deadline seller. Nance was added to the roster in August, as the club was playing out the string on a lost season. He posted a 4.09 earned run average in 22 innings. His 20.4% strikeout rate and 9.7% walk rate were both a bit shy of average but he had a strong 52.4% ground ball rate.
The Jays kept him on their 40-man through the winter but he didn’t break camp with the club. Since he is out of options, he was designated for assignment and outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo. Since then, he has tossed 31 1/3 innings for the Bisons with a 4.60 ERA, though it seems like there’s a lot of bad luck in that figure. His 31.3% strikeout rate, 5.2% walk rate and 58% ground ball rate are all well above average. He’s seemingly been held back by a .363 batting average on balls in play and 55% strand rate, which are both to the unfortunate side. His 2.63 FIP suggests his ERA might be too high by almost two full runs.
The Jays will slot Nance into the bullpen to see if his numbers can regress towards the mean at the big league level. As mentioned, he is out of options and can’t be easily sent back down to Buffalo. If he holds onto a roster spot through the end of the year, he can be retained beyond this season. The Jays are leading the American League East and will presumably pursue relievers ahead of the deadline.
As for Burr, it’s an ominous development. He started the year on the IL due to shoulder inflammation. He worked his way back to health and was only reinstated off the IL five days ago. He appeared in two big league games but departed the second outing, which was on Wednesday, with an apparent injury. With the Jays immediately placing him on the 60-day IL today, it suggests they don’t expect him back until September even in a best-case scenario.
Like Nance, he got some run with the Jays last year. He tossed 32 2/3 innings with a 4.13 ERA, 33.6% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate. Perhaps a .329 BABIP hurt him, as his 3.07 FIP and 2.65 SIERA suggested he deserved better. Unfortunately, he hasn’t had a chance to build off that performance in 2025. He has already spent most the 2025 season on the IL and that will continue for a few more months at least.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Blue Jays Designate Richard Lovelady For Assignment
The Blue Jays announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Mason Fluharty. Fellow southpaw Richard Lovelady was designated for assignment to make room for Fluharty on both the 40-man and active rosters. In addition, the Blue Jays announced that right-hander Tommy Nance has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A.
Lovelady, 29, was a tenth-round pick by Kansas City back in 2016. He made his big league debut with the club during the 2019 season and spent parts of three seasons in the club’s bullpen. He struggled badly to a 7.71 ERA in 21 innings of work between 2019 and 2020, but in 2021 he began to look like a valuable relief option with a 3.48 ERA, 3.85 FIP, and a 27.4% strikeout rate against a walk rate of just 7.1%. Unfortunately for the lefty, he would require Tommy John surgery near the end of the 2021 campaign and missed the entire 2022 season while rehabbing.
He wouldn’t get the chance to return to the mound in Kansas City, as he was dealt to Atlanta just before the 2023 campaign began. That stay was very brief, however, as he made just five appearance at Triple-A before being plucked off waivers by Oakland. He posted middling numbers in 23 1/3 innings of work for the A’s, with a 4.63 ERA and 4.54 FIP across 27 appearances before being shut down due to a forearm strain. Lovelady was eventually outrighted off the club’s roster and elected free agency, at which point he signed a minor league deal with the Cubs.
Lovelady’s time in Chicago was brief, as he posted just 5 2/3 innings of work and was shelled to the tune of a 7.94 ERA during that limited time. He was DFA’d in May of last year and shipped to the Rays shortly thereafter before enjoying a successful season in Tampa. Across 28 2/3 innings the rest of the way, Lovelady posted a solid 3.77 ERA with a 3.83 FIP. That didn’t stop the Rays from non-tendering the southpaw back in November, however, which led him to join the Jays on a minor league deal back in January. He made the club’s Opening Day roster but walked two batters and hit another three in 1 2/3 innings before today’s DFA. Going forward, the Jays will have one week to either work out a trade involving the southpaw or place him on waivers.
Lovelady’s departure makes way for Fluharty, whose first appearance will be his big league debut. The Jays’ fifth rounder in 2022, the southpaw posted a decent 3.63 ERA with an excellent 27.4% strikeout rate in 67 innings of work at Triple-A last year. Solid as that performance was, Fluharty really made his case for a big league opportunity during Spring Training with a sterling 1.29 ERA and 11 strikeouts in just seven innings of work during camp. While the southpaw didn’t quite make the club’s initial Opening Day roster, he’s now poised to get the first big league opportunity of his career.
As for Nance, the 34-year-old signed with the Cubs out of indy ball back in 2016 and made his big league debut in 2021. He struggled to a 7.22 ERA in that first cup of coffee, but he’s looked like a solid middle reliever since then with a 4.25 ERA (97 ERA+) and a 3.80 FIP in 65 2/3 innings of work for the Marlins and Blue Jays since the start of the 2022 season. He’s struck out an impressive 26.3% of opponents during that time while walking 10.4%. Nance now figures to remain at Triple-A Buffalo as non-roster depth for the Jays going forward.
Blue Jays DFA Zach Pop, Tommy Nance, Nick Robertson
The Blue Jays revealed their Opening Day roster this morning and, in the process, announced that they have designated three right-handed pitchers for assignment: Zach Pop, Tommy Nance, and Nick Robertson. The three DFAs make room for right-hander Jacob Barnes and outfielders Alan Roden and Myles Straw on the 40-man roster. The Blue Jays had already confirmed their intention to select Barnes, Roden, and Straw, and today, they made the decision official. In addition, the Blue Jays formally placed right-handers Erik Swanson and Ryan Burr on the 15-day IL and center fielder Daulton Varsho on the 10-day IL. The team had already announced that Swanson, Burr, and Varsho would miss the beginning of the season.
Pop, 28, has pitched for the Marlins and Blue Jays throughout his four-year MLB career. In that time, he has a 4.45 ERA and 3.94 SIERA across 155 2/3 innings of work. He was electric after Toronto acquired him at the 2022 trade deadline, pitching to a 1.89 ERA in 17 appearances down the stretch. However, he has struggled at the big league level in each of the past two seasons, pitching to a 5.81 ERA in 73 total appearances. His 4.31 SIERA is better but still not especially promising. The righty is a groundball pitcher who does not miss many bats. His home run rate over the past two years (1.89 HR/9) is far too high for a pitcher who also issues his fair share of walks. To make matters worse, Pop was set to begin the season on Toronto’s injured list with elbow discomfort that arose this spring.
Nance, now 34, made his MLB debut with the Cubs at age 30 in 2021. He has had somewhat of an up-and-down career to this point. His rookie season was rough, but he looked like a capable low-leverage reliever over 43 2/3 innings with the Marlins in 2022. Then, injuries kept him out for much of 2023. He signed a minor league deal with the Padres last offseason and failed to make his way back to the majors in San Diego. Yet, after a late-summer trade to Toronto, he looked perfectly serviceable once again, pitching to a 4.09 ERA and 3.96 SIERA in 22 innings of lower-leverage work. He leads with a curveball and a sinker, a good approach for inducing groundballs, but hasn’t been able to consistently induce outs and strand baserunners at the highest level.
Robertson, 26, has already pitched for four different teams over his two MLB seasons, suiting up for the Dodgers and Red Sox in 2023 and the Cardinals and Blue Jays in 2024. He also pitched in the Angels’ system in between his stints with St. Louis and Toronto. The right-hander has a 5.30 ERA but a 3.52 SIERA in 35 2/3 career MLB frames. He has shown the ability to pitch multiple innings out of the bullpen as needed, but his performance has been poor at both the major and minor league levels since he left the Dodgers organization as part of the Enrique Hernández deadline trade in 2023. At times in the minors, Robertson has shown sharp strikeout stuff, but he has struggled in recent years to consistently rack up strikeouts and limit walks. He has one option year remaining, which could make him a bit more appealing to a club in need of bullpen help.
The Blue Jays will enter 2025 with something of a new-look bullpen, led by free agent acquisition and 2024 All-Star Jeff Hoffman. Other new pieces include Yimi García, who is back after a brief stint with the Mariners; Nick Sandlin, whom the Blue Jays acquired as part of the Andrés Giménez trade; and Richard Lovelady, who, like Barnes, signed a minor league deal with the club this offseason. Toronto selected his contract last week.
Blue Jays Acquire Tommy Nance From Padres
The Blue Jays announced that left-hander Génesis Cabrera has been placed on the paternity list with right-hander Tommy Nance selected to take his place on the active roster. The Blue Jays’ 40-man roster count was at 37 after their deadline dealings but now jumps to 38. Nance had been with the Padres on a minor league deal but the Jays acquired him for cash yesterday, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com on X.
Though the trade deadline has passed, certain swaps are still allowed. MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently explored the different ways teams can still add to their rosters after the deadline and noted that trades are still allowed if the players involved have not been on a 40-man roster this year.
Nance, 33, signed a minor league deal with the Padres in December and had been with their Triple-A club all year until this trade. He has thrown 33 1/3 innings over his 26 appearances in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League with a 4.05 earned run average. He struck out 23.3% of batters faced, limited walks to a 5.3% clip and got batters to hit grounders at a 51% rate.
Despite that decent performance, he wasn’t likely to crack the San Diego bullpen, especially after they bolstered it at the deadline by trading for Jason Adam, Tanner Scott and Bryan Hoeing. The Toronto bullpen, on the other hand, is far more open. They traded Yimi García, Trevor Richards and Nate Pearson prior to the deadline. They also placed Jordan Romano on the injured list and now will be without Cabrera for at least a brief spell.
That will give Nance the opportunity to build upon his career numbers. He pitched for the 2021 Cubs and 2022 Marlins and currently has a 5.47 ERA in 72 1/3 innings. His 10.5% walk rate in that time was a tad high but his 26.9% strikeout rate and 50.5% ground ball rate were both a few ticks better than average. His .324 batting average on balls in play, 68% strand rate and 18.9% home run to fly ball ratio all helped put some more runs on the board. For what it’s worth, his 4.23 FIP and 3.48 SIERA suggest he may have deserved better than the ERA would indicate.
Nance was still with the Marlins last year but missed the first few months of the season with a shoulder strain. He was reinstated from the IL in August but then optioned to Triple-A, exhausting his final option season in the process. He was then returned to the IL due to an oblique strain, making it mostly a lost season for him. He was outrighted by the Marlins at season’s end, elected free agency and then signed his aforementioned deal with the Padres.
The righty is now out of options but has just over two years of major league service time. If he can hang onto his roster spot until the end of the season, he still won’t be arbitration eligible and can be cheaply retained into the future.
Padres, Tommy Nance Agree To Minor League Deal
The Padres have agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Tommy Nance, as reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. The right-hander had reached minor league free agency after being outrighted by the Marlins at the beginning of the offseason.
Nance, 32, lost the bulk of the 2023 season to shoulder and oblique injuries. He pitched 17 innings over four minor league levels but didn’t make an MLB appearance for the Fish this year. Nance had seen a fair amount of action out of the Miami relief corps the previous season. He logged 43 2/3 innings across 35 appearances in 2022, posting a 4.33 ERA while striking out an impressive 29.1% of batters faced.
A Long Beach native and Santa Clara product, Nance has 72 1/3 MLB innings under his belt. He debuted with the Cubs in 2021 five years after going undrafted. The Marlins claimed him off waivers in Spring Training the following season. He owns a 5.47 ERA at the highest level, although he’s shown the potential to pick up a fair amount of whiffs and ground balls.
San Diego has a handful of relief jobs up for grabs after each of Josh Hader, Nick Martinez and Luis García reached free agency. The Padres are likely to add one or two relievers who’ll be locked into the season-opening mix, but they’ll also take a few fliers of this nature to bring in non-roster competition.
Minor 40-Man Moves: Rodríguez, Vázquez, Nance
It has been an extremely busy day at MLBTR, since today was the deadline for various roster machinations around the league. Free agency, both the major league and minor league variety, kicked off at 4:00 pm Central. That was also the deadline for decisions on various contract options, as well as the deadline for clubs to decide whether to issue qualifying offers to eligible players. Those deadlines led to many roster moves, some of which got lost in the shuffle. Here’s a post rounding up some moves that were missed throughout the day.
- The Rays announced that they added right-hander Manuel Rodríguez to their 40-man roster, preventing him from reaching minor league free agency. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported on the move prior to the official announcement. The 27-year-old was acquired from the Cubs in a trade just before the deadline. He made 34 major league appearances with the Cubs over 2021 and 2022 but spent all of 2023 in the minors. Between the two clubs, he had a 3.99 ERA in 56 1/3 innings on the farm, striking out 32.4% of hitters against a 10.5% walk rate. The club also announced that infielder Tristan Gray, outfielder Raimel Tapia and right-hander Cole Sulser, all of whom were placed on waivers last week, cleared waivers and will become free agents.
- The Cubs added infielder Luis Vázquez to their 40-man roster, per Meghan Montemurro of Chicago Tribune, to prevent him from reaching minor league free agency. The 24-year-old has spent his entire professional career with the Cubs, having been selected by them in the 14th round of the 2017 draft. He split this year between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting .271/.361/.456 for a wRC+ of 112. He played the three infield position to the left of first base, giving the club some depth at those positions going forward.
- The Marlins announced they sent right-hander Tommy Nance outright to Triple-A Jacksonville. The righty had an encouraging season for the Fish in 2022, making 35 appearances with a 4.33 ERA, 29.1% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate and 46.4% ground ball rate. Unfortunately, a shoulder strain kept him on the injured list until August, at which point he was optioned, meaning he didn’t pitch in the majors in 2023. He also finished the year on the IL due to an oblique strain. His 17 innings in the minors resulted in a 1.59 ERA.
Marlins Reinstate Tommy Nance, Place Avisaíl García On IL
The Marlins made some roster moves today, per Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. Right-hander Tommy Nance has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and infielder/outfielder Garrett Hampson recalled from Triple-A. In corresponding transactions, outfielder Avisaíl García has been placed on the 10-day IL due to a left hamstring strain and left-hander Ryan Weathers has been optioned. There was already a vacancy on the 40-man roster for Nance’s activation.
Nance, 32, began the season on the injured list due to a strain in his throwing shoulder, an injury that has kept him away from the major league team until today. Now that he’s back, he’ll look to build off a solid showing last year. He tossed 43 2/3 innings for the Marlins, allowing 4.33 earned runs per nine frames. He issued walks at a high rate of 10.7% but also struck out 29.1% of batters faced and kept the ball on the ground at a 46.4% clip.
For Garcia, 32, this continues an incredible frustrating season. He’s only been able to play 37 games this year, missing almost all of the May-July portion of the season due to a back injury. When healthy enough to take the field, he’s hit just .185/.241/.315. It’s the second straight disappointing season for the outfielder since signing a four-year, $53MM contract with the Marlins, as he hit .224/.266/.317 in 2022 while being limited by various injuries to 98 games. He still has another two years and $29MM left on that contract.
Marlins Select Jeff Lindgren
The Marlins selected the contract of right-hander Jeff Lindgren from Triple-A today, with Lindgren set to act as the 27th player for Miami’s scheduled double-header with the Guardians. Right-hander Tommy Nance was moved to the 60-day injured list to create a 40-man roster spot.
Lindgren was designated for assignment and then outrighted off Miami’s 40-man roster earlier this month, after he’d made his MLB debut. That first game came in somewhat unexpected fashion, as an early injury to starter Johnny Cueto meant that Lindgren was called upon to pitch five innings of relief work (allowing four ER on four hits and three walks) in the Marlins’ 11-1 loss to the Twins on April 3.
It’s possible that Lindgren’s latest trip to the Show might only last through the doubleheader, but the 26-year-old might get another chance to show Miami’s coaching staff what he can do against big league hitters. Lindgren was a 24th-round pick for the Marlins in 2019 draft, and has worked almost exclusively as a starter since the beginning of the 2021 season. His work at Triple-A Jacksonville (both last season and this season) has been shaky, with only a 5.26 ERA over 78 2/3 innings for the Marlins’ top affiliate.
Nance has yet to pitch this season due to a strain in his throwing shoulder, and his move to the 60-day IL is backdated from his initial placement on the 15-day IL. As such, Nance won’t be eligible for activation until the end of May, which might represent something of a setback considering that he seemed to be making decent progress. Just yesterday, the Marlins told reporters that Nance had thrown a 30-pitch bullpen session. It could be that Nance emerged from that session with some shoulder soreness, or the 60-day IL placement could simply indicate that Nance might need more build-up time considering that he missed most of Spring Training.