The Blue Jays today announced the acquisition of a right-handed pitcher. jordan romano and Eric Swanson He was removed from the injured list.In a corresponding move, they chose right-handed Nate Pearson To Triple A and designated right-hander mitch white for a mission.
Romano and Swanson were mainstays of Toronto’s bullpen last year, but have not contributed to the club until now in 2024. During the spring, Romano had inflammation in his elbow and Swanson had tightness in his forearm, which kept him in the lead. Both will start the season on injured reserve.
With these two players out, the club turned its attention to what’s next. Yimi Garcia and chad green For most high-leverage tasks, these two work brilliantly. Garcia posted a 1.17 ERA in seven games, with 11 strikeouts and only one walk. Green, on the other hand, appeared in seven games and posted a 2.35 ERA with seven punches and two walks.
Despite the strong work of those two, the Jays would certainly be happy to have Romano and Swanson back. Romano has emerged as the club’s closer over the past three years, saving 36 games while holding an ERA under 3.00 in each of the past two seasons. Swanson had 29 holds and four saves last year, posting a season ERA of 2.97. The two, along with Garcia and Green, give the Jays a strong four-head bullpen mix to finish games.
Due to the health of that group, White was removed from the roster. White, now 29, was a second-round pick of the Dodgers in 2016. baseball america The Jays acquired him on a 2022 contract. alex de jesuspromising Nick Frasso and Moises Brito Go over there.
At the time of the deal, White had pitched 105 2/3 innings in the major leagues, posting a 3.58 ERA, 22% strikeout rate, and 8.3% walk rate. Unfortunately, his performance quickly deteriorated after changing jerseys. White pitched 43 innings with the Jays in 2022, posting a 7.74 ERA and 15.3% strikeout rate. There was a bit of bad luck there, as his .368 batting average and 54.3% strand rate in play were both on the unlucky side, giving him a 3.76 FIP and 4.70 SIERA at the time.
Fortunately or not, the poor performance meant the Jays couldn’t guarantee White a rotation spot heading into 2023. At the time, four rotation spots were available to the Jays. Alec Manoah, Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios and Chris Bassitt.White attended spring training. Yusei Kikuchi He was aiming for the final spot, but suffered shoulder and elbow injuries and had to start the season on the IL. By the time he returned, his rotation spot was gone and he played a long relief role in the bullpen.
He did not accept the move and posted a 7.11 ERA in 10 games before being drafted. Twenty-nine other clubs gave him a chance to clear waivers, and he was sent outright to Triple-A. He grew stronger in Buffalo and finished the season with a 1.89 ERA over his final 33 1/3 innings, with a strikeout rate of 31.4% and a walk rate of 10.2%.
The Jays moved him back to the 40-man roster in November to prevent him from becoming a minor league free agent, leaving him in a similar position as a year ago, with no options coming in the spring. They were competing for spots. The Jays had to put Manoah on the IL this spring, which freed up a rotation spot. boden francis I beat White for that gig.now Yariel Rodriguez was also extended and appeared to hit Francis from the rotation, causing White to move further back. He’s only appeared in long relief four times this year, and a lackluster 5.40 ERA in those appearances definitely hasn’t helped him.
White will be taken off the roster again, and the Jays will have one week to work out a trade or clear him off waivers. He cleared waivers last year, so doing so again would give him the right to select free agency. There could be some interest in him given his past performance and strong performance in Triple-A last year. The fact that he doesn’t have options means he needs an active roster spot somewhere, but since he’s been active for less than three years, he could be in control for three more seasons beyond this season. means.
Many teams around the league have struggled with significant pitching injuries, but it’s been less than a week since the Jays managed to turn things around. wes parsons to the Guardians for space in the international bonus pool. Parsons is an option, but he’s more than two years older than White and doesn’t have the same pedigree of past prospects.
