Making sense of the Jays' roster as spring training comes to a close
Plus some links!
The Blue Jays came back to tie the Detroit Tigers 4-4 in their final home Grapefruit League game of the season on Sunday. Usually, such an occasion stirs some feelings about the long spring slog we’ve finally almost completed, as the big league lights over Dunedin Stadium dim for another year. That was not the case this weekend, however, as the Blue Jays will, of course, continue playing home games in Florida and — like the rest of us have been for months on end — now enter their Groundhog Day phase of pandemic baseball. (Save, of course, for road trips, like the one that takes them to New York starting on Thursday, followed by Texas — where the stadium will, super weirdly, be filled to capacity — early next week.)
Because of this, and because Sunday’s ballgame was a mundane affair that only ended in a tie because of some garbage-time Blue Jays runs courtesy a ninth inning home run by Tyler Wade and a two-RBI double from Logan Warmoth, the most notable thing the Jays did on the day was make some roster moves and give some injury updates.
Notably:
EL RECEPTOR DE TIJUANA! Locomotive Kirk! The Captain! Hell, I’m sure just plain ol’ Alejandro is fine. Whatever he prefers you call him, the Jays’ young catcher is a big leaguer once again, and that is incredible news for all of us who enjoy fun things.
It’s also not entirely surprising news, either. The signs have all been there. Kirk had an excellent spring in the field, getting rave reviews from manager Charlie Montoyo for his work with Robbie Ray, for example. He was his usual uncannily good self at the plate as well, slashing .292/.333/.583 over 11 games and continuing to hit the ball hard. He also, as I noted in an Atkins Speaks! post a little over a week ago, had the Jays’ team nutritionist go down to Mexico for weeks to work with him this winter — a serious sign of how much the team values him. And, as I noted in my most recent mail bag, he’d have needed to be held in the minors until early June if the Jays had actually wanted to push back his free agency for a year. (A choice that would have made little sense based not only on the attrition rate of catchers or his body type, but also the fact that the game’s player compensation mechanisms might be vastly different a year from now anyway.)
Kirk also makes sense for the Blue Jays’ roster construction because he’s a backup catcher you don’t actually mind using as a pinch hitter or DH at times. He helps make the idea of a three-man bench work because he’s not just a glove sitting needing to be shielded from having to hit as much as possible — which, though I take no pleasure in saying so, is precisely the case with Reese McGuire.
Yes, I recognize that McGuire’s short time in the majors hasn’t been horrific, offensively. But it’s not like his minor league track record doesn’t also exist, and that is pretty bad. I think because of his age (26) fans still have hope that there could be more development there. Blue Jays fans know as well as anyone that guys who look like cast-offs can still sometimes end up becoming stars, but McGuire is out of options, so there isn’t a place to give him that development except in the majors. And the problem with doing that is that the Jays are simply a better team with Kirk on it. Significantly so, I’d say.
The development of Kirk, a much more important player for the club going forward, is also probably better served at this point with him in the big leagues, too.
Montoyo told reporters on Sunday that McGuire remains in the mix to make the club, stressing “we’re still making last minute decisions.” The Jays, as I have written before, could theoretically carry McGuire for the first few games of the season before trying to send him down, with the hope that other teams will solidify their rosters in the meantime and not have room to take a flyer on him. However, it seems like roster spots are drying up all around him. Plus, given the praise GM Ross Atkins had on Sunday’s Sportsnet TV broadcast for Riley Adams — the next catcher in line, and a guy who handled Double-A just fine in 2019 — it seems like the club may not have big plans for McGuire to get the bulk of the work behind the plate in Buffalo anyway.
Yes, he could be a useful piece, but the Jays are showing that they don’t think he’s the kind of player all your roster decisions need to revolve around, and I think that’s correct.
McGuire’s fate now seems tied entirely to the health of George Springer, who hit off of a tee on Sunday and felt fine, according to Montoyo.
If Springer is ready to go on Opening Day, the roster spot for McGuire likely disappears — if it hasn’t already. The clock is ticking for the Jays to make a decision on Springer as Thursday’s opener approaches, but it appears as though they’re going to take as much time as they can.
“We’ll see how he feels tomorrow — how he comes back from what he did today,” Montoyo said.
This call seems like a genuinely tricky one. A Grade 2 oblique strain is no joke, but everything the Jays are saying seems to indicate that Springer isn’t feeling it or, really, being affected by it at all. You obviously want to be a bit cautious in this kind of situation. You definitely don’t want to make it worse. But if you’re not, and he’s not feeling it?
I’m not going to bang the drum for having Springer start on Opening Day, but if the Jays’ experts decide it’s OK to let him do it, I’d see no reason for anyone to not to be OK with that.
Well, unless you’re McGuire.
Slowly but surely the Opening Day roster is getting filled in. On Saturday, Jonathan Davis was told he’d have a spot, and Sunday it was not only Kirk, but also Trent Thornton and Tim Mayza. (Rowdy Tellez was also announced Sunday as well, but he was basically always going to make the club.)
Mayza and Thornton are interesting, because they both were a little bit on the bubble. Thornton may not have had a spot if not for the fact that Ross Stripling is currently holding down Nate Pearson’s spot in the rotation. The club continues to stress that Thornton is a starter, and their aim is to use him as a long man, which will allow him to continue to get stretched out. (He was unable to get fully stretched out because he was coming off of elbow surgery back in September, so was eased into the spring somewhat.)
As for Mayza, this spring I don’t think I have once presumed that he would make the club, even as he pitched very well and became a great comeback story.
Montoyo explained that he was initially worried about Mayza’s health, given the long layoff he’d had following Tommy John surgery back in September 2019, “but then the more we saw him pitch, and him rebounding back after outings, that gave us (confidence) that he’s healthy and good to go.”
“He’s been throwing nothing but 95 with movement, and he did it again (Sunday),” the manager continued. “So he’s good to go.”
With Mayza and Thornton now confirmed, the Jays have seven bullpen spots accounted for — those two plus Ryan Borucki, Tyler Chatwood, Rafael Dolis, David Phelps, and Jordan Romano. That group plus their five starters gives them twelve arms, and their list of position players (minus Springer) runs 12 players deep as well (Kirk, Tellez, Davis, Danny Jansen, Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Joe Panik, Marcus Semien, Randal Grichuk, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Teoscar Hernández). That’s 24 spots taken, leaving just two for Springer, potentially McGuire, and whoever else may land in the bullpen.
Francisco Liriano is “still in the mix,” according to Montoyo. So is Julian Merryweather, who the club wants to evaluate when he pitches here on Monday, and in the days to follow, to see how well he recovers. Tommy Milone is technically still in that conversation still as well, per Montoyo, but I can’t imagine that actually happening.
One guy whose name has come up a few times in recent weeks who I haven’t mentioned yet is T.J. Zeuch. He is taking the ball for the Blue Jays here on Monday, in their final game of the Grapefruit League season, and is in line to take Robbie Ray’s turn in the rotation — a necessity because, as Montoyo also announced in his Sunday media session, Ray will have to miss at least one start with his bruised elbow. (I discussed Ray’s injury in Saturday’s post. #FreeManoah.)
So, with Zeuch probably in the rotation (UPDATE: Let’s, uh, maybe not assume too much about that yet, though after his day was done on Monday, Zeuch told reporters he’d been informed he will be on the Opening Day roster in an unconfirmed role), I think the most likely scenario is Liriano and Merryweather take the Jays’ final roster spots, with Springer opening the season on the IL, and Jonathan Davis relinquishing his place once Springer is healthy.
We’ll see, though! There may just be one game left before they count for real, but several days remain in which the Jays could still do some tinkering. Or for more injuries to crop up.
My preference would definitely be for news of the transactional variety, personally. *COUGH*
There is, however, one more concern in the bullpen that was addressed during Montoyo’s Sunday session, and that’s the status of Dolis. The club says he’s fine, but Dolis was scheduled to pitch Sunday and instead ended up throwing on the back fields at the Jays’ development complex — where he’s been working exclusively since his last Grapefruit League action back on March 13.
“He had something that was bothering him, I think it was a back spasm a little bit, so we wanted to control that,” Montoyo told reporters.
By “control that” he was referring to the team’s ability to more closely monitor him, and to have him avoid laborious innings, when out of the Grapefruit League environment. It was something he’d said the team had done with Borucki over the last couple weeks, as he quietly dealt with a hamstring issue.
“He’s also good to go,” Montoyo said of Dolis, but one wonders if that status could still change. (One wonders if Zeuch may pitch his way out of a job here on Monday, too!)
Quickly…
• There may still be some lingering questions about the composition of the Jays’ roster, but Opening Day lineup seems pretty much ready to go, and the Jays are giving us a preview of it (without Springer) here on Monday.
• Interesting note from the broadcast of Monday’s game, which is underway as I type this: Ruben Amaro Jr., who is the analyst on NBC Sports Philadelphia’s broadcast, revealed that he worked with the Jays last spring as a consultant. Not the guy I’d want them to let make the final call on decisions, but consulting? Sure, what the hell!
• Hey, and speaking of this game, while I generally find it tacky to include my own tweets in my posts, I’m just gonna leave this one right here.
• Shi Davidi of Sportsnet also looks at how the Jays’ roster is coming together, giving us a great anecdote about Jonathan Davis and his wife enjoying some cheesecake after learning that he would finally be in the big leagues for Opening Day, and noting that former Blue Jays catcher Beau Taylor (who could forget those two plate appearances in late 2019) could be an option for some depth in a post-McGuire world, as he was designated for assignment by Cleveland over the weekend.
• The Vancouver Canadians — or, should I say, the Hillsboro Oregon Canadians — have got some clarity on where they’ll begin playing the 2021 season. Apparently there’s still hope they will be able to return to Canada before the end of the summer.
• Glad to hear this!
• Speaking of Wilner, over at the Toronto Star he takes a nice look at the success Pete Walker has had as a pitching coach. Walker is a great guy to listen to talk about pitching, and a really positive, solid dude that guys seem to really enjoy working with. He’s a great asset for the Jays organization, I think. Thing is, I’m not sure the results have matched the reputation he’s gained so far. Wilner cites Marco Estrada (yes, great!), Aaron Sanchez (hmm), J.A. Happ (Ray Searage erasure), Robbie Ray (a little soon, no?), and Joe Biagini (uh?) as Walker’s best protégés, which isn’t exactly the most compelling list. This season gives him a huge chance to add to it, though, and I’m certainly not betting against him.
Top image via the Toronto Blue Jays/@BlueJays
I like where you're going with the nicknames for Kirk. Baseball is seriously short of nicknames as its path to generic sterility continues. So this represents a great opportunity. However I'm not sure that 'Locomotive Kirk' rolls off the tongue easily. What about 'The Train'? I have previously thought that 'The Brick with Eyes' would suit, but I have stolen that nickname from a Rugby League player here in Australia and it's also possibly a little insensitive in these politically correct times. I do like 'Captain Kirk', but give him time, give him time.