When the聽Blue Jays聽opened camp in February, general manager Ross Atkins was asked if there were聽any young players he was especially looking forward to be watching up close.
“I’ll single out and put some pressure on Alan Roden,” Atkins said.
Roden responded to the pressure by being the Jays’ best player this spring and Sunday morning the 25-year-old Wisconsinite got a tap on the shoulder from manager John Schneider and was told he had made the team.
“A hot hand is definitely part of it,” Schneider said before Roden went 2-for-3 Saturday to raise his spring average to .423. (He went 0-for-1 Sunday to finish at .407.) “Especially when you’re trying to put the best team out there every day.”
But it’s not just Roden’s incredible spring, in which he got on base 54 per cent of the time and posted a 1.245 OPS. It’s that it has been a continuation of his outstanding minor-league half-season in Buffalo, where he had a slash line of .314/.406/.510. The Creighton University product (he’s an astrophysicist in his spare time) is a .298 lifetime hitter in the minors, with a .407 career OBP. This is no springtime fool’s gold.
The plan, Schneider said, is to get the rookie into the lineup three or four times a week, and he passed a big test by getting those two hits Saturday after having had only one at-bat since the Monday previous. That game may well have tipped the scales.
Daulton Varsho’s recovery from shoulder surgery, which will result in him opening the season on the injured list, helped make room for Roden on the roster, but so did Will Wagner’s emergence at third base.
The 26-year-old Wagner,聽who hit .357 in August聽before being slowed by a knee injury, has not only shown that he is healthy, he has also dazzled defensively at the hot corner, a position the team wasn’t especially confident that he would be able to handle.
Wagner’s comfort at third meant Addison Barger’s versatility as a third baseman and outfielder was less of a consideration and, despite a terrific spring of his own (.367 average, 1.132 OPS, three homers), Barger lost the battle with Roden for the final spot on the roster.
Barger features an incredible arm and tons of power but, like Joey Loperfido, who was sent down Friday, he struggled in his first taste of the majors last season, hitting .197 with a below-average .601 OPS and 60 strikeouts in 225 plate appearances. The Jays want him playing every day in Buffalo.
A superior defender was a must, since the Jays really don’t have any of those in the outfield without Varsho. Anthony Santander is below average, according to defensive runs saved, while George Springer and Davis Schneider are average defenders. Nathan Lukes is strong in left field, but a little lacking in centre.
Hence Myles Straw. The right-handed Bradley Zimmer is making the team after hitting .414 this spring. The offence won’t last, but the speed and defence certainly will.聽
There were a couple of surprises at the back of the bullpen, with Schneider announcing right-hander Jacob Barnes and left-hander Richard Lovelady secured the final two spots in the bullpen. They join Jeff Hoffman, Chad Green, Yimi Garcia, Brendon Little, Nick Sandlin and Yariel Rodriguez in the arm barn.
Right-hander Tommy Nance, who was out of options, and lefty Ryan Yarbrough, who opted out of his minor-league contract Friday , were expected to make the team, but the Jays let Yarbrough walk and chose Barnes over Nance.
Neither right-hander had a good spring, but Barnes made 63 appearances for Washington last season, posting a 4.36 ERA and impressed with tweaks to his pitch mix that made his splitter and slider more effective.
Lovelady had an awful spring, allowing three home runs among his nine hits over 8 1/3 innings, walking three and hitting three while striking out eight, and throwing two wild pitches. The Jays preferred him to Yarbrough.
With Max Scherzer showing up Sunday without his sore right thumb having “blown up,” the Jays’ five-man rotation is set: Jos茅 Berr铆os, Kevin Gausman, Scherzer, Chris Bassitt and Bowden Francis.
Moves will need to be made to get Roden, Straw and Barnes onto the 40-man roster. Nance is out of options, so he will be placed on waivers. Ryan Burr (shoulder)聽Adam Macko聽(knee) and聽Zach Pop聽(elbow) are candidates to be added to the 60-day injured list to make room. Nick Robertson, along with outfielder Steward Berroa, could also be on the bubble.
The Jays finished camp with the best record in the Grapefruit League at 18-10-1.聽
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