The Toronto Blue Jays lost yet another 2024 Spring Training contest with their 8-4 loss to the New York Yankees. Daniel Vogelbach was one of the better performers for Toronto, an encouraging sign for Vogelbach to potentially make the Opening Day roster. The Blue Jays also had several high-level bullpen arms gain some reps prior to the beginning of the 2024 regular season. While the Jays ended up dropping this one, the development and increased comfortability of their personnel is much more valuable.
The Highlights of the Loss
Overall, Chad Dallas’ day was pretty solid considering his competition of sluggers like Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and Anthony Rizzo. Dallas’ main issue was putting hitters away with two strikes. 5 of 9 hitters Dallas faced reached two strikes, but the young righty was only able to register two strikeouts. However, the cutter in on lefties’ hands and away from righties’ hands registered two swings-and-misses, including the putaway pitch that struck out Jorbit Vivas.
The main issue of the day for Dallas was the curveball. The curveball wasn’t an effective pitch, especially in the second inning. Yankees catcher Austin Wells roped a curveball to right field for a 103 MPH single. Then, outfielder Everson Pereira unloaded on a hanging curveball 108.4 MPH to left field for a 406 FT home run. Other than the few mistakes Dallas made, his two innings of work put Toronto in the position to seal the victory.
Overall Line: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
The Blue Jays’ closer, Jordan Romano, picked up straight where he left off. The 30-year-old tallied 2 strikeouts over his lone inning of work, while also registering 4 swings-and-misses (2 with slider, 2 with four-seam fastball). His velocity was as advertised, reaching up to 97.4 MPH with the fastball. Everson Pereira and Jorbit Vivas both chased Romano’s slider out of the zone. That’s a sight that Blue Jays fans should get used to seeing as Opening Day looms.
Overall Line: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Toronto Blue Jays RP Brandon Eisert had a surprisingly impactful inning after an iffy beginning to Spring Training. The lefty’s fastball stayed around 90 MPH, but the real highlight was the slide piece. The slider registered 4 of Eisert’s 7 (!!) swings-and-misses. The hardest hit ball that Eisert yielded was a mere 76.2 MPH from a Josh VanMeter flyout. The southpaw’s slow delivery allowed outfielder Greg Allen to steal a base, but the amount of whiffs Eisert generated should leave Blue Jays fans satisfied with the amount of depth in the bullpen.
Overall Line: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Daniel Vogelbach
The Daniel Vogelbach train has officially departed.
In Vogelbach’s first at-bat against the reigning AL Cy Young Award Winner in Gerrit Cole, he unloaded on a 96 MPH fastball and roped a 370 FT homer. After a relatively unproductive beginning to Spring Training, the slugger finally showed his abilities against right-handers. The 31-year-old would end his day going 1-2 with a HR and a BB. If Vogelbach can continue demonstrating his patience and power at the plate, it’s highly probable that he makes the Opening Day roster.
Overall Line: 1-2, R, HR, RBI, BB
Davis Schneider had a few ups and downs against the Yankees, but his bright spots definitely outweighed his downsides. Schneider worked a 3-2 count in the 5th frame against Yankees pitcher Luke Weaver where he crushed an 87 MPH cutter into left field for a 361 FT home run. The one issue that the 25-year-old had was a dropped routine pop-up in shallow right field. Luckily, the error didn’t result in any additional runs scored for the New York Yankees.
Overall Line: 2-3, 2 R, HR, RBI
Honourable Mention – Ernie Clement: 2-3, RBI, 3B
Iffy Outings From Bullpen Arms
Juan Nunez had an abysmal outing in the second frame. The 28-year-old walked 3 batters in D.J. LeMahieu, Juan Soto, and Aaron Judge. With the bases loaded, Nunez hurled a predictable first-pitch fastball that Anthony Rizzo crushed into the right-field seats for a grand slam. In the next at-bat, Nunez hit Giancarlo Stanton in the back with an 86 MPH cutter. After an error committed by Davis Schneider, the young righty finally got out of the inning with an Oswaldo Cabrera flyout. Nunez’s walk problems in AA New Hampshire (9.6 BB/9) were definitely shown on March 1st.
Overall Line: 0.1 IP, H, 4 ER, 3 BB, HR
Chad Green didn’t have the greatest outing by any means, giving up 2 home runs and 3 fly balls in one inning. Green did tally a strikeout by dropping a curveball into the top of the zone, with the help of catcher Brian Serven’s frame job. With the veteran’s GroundBall% increasing from 2022 to 2023, it was ideal that this success continued. However, Green’s inability to tally one ground ball in his one inning Friday seems to make some Blue Jays fans rather pessimistic.
Overall Line: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 HR, K
Difficult Roster Construction
With the majority of Toronto’s relief pitchers having solid showings in the Blue Jays contest against the Yankees, there is plenty of optimism in regards to the status of the bullpen and the bullpen depth. Davis Schneider, Ernie Clement and Daniel Vogelbach also made statements in Toronto’s 8-4 loss, making the front office’s job much more difficult when it comes to roster construction. The Blue Jays will face the Atlanta Braves on March 2, with Chris Bassitt taking the mound for Toronto at 1:07 PM EST.