Alejandro Kirk decision proves Blue Jays are living in the now

TORONTO – These days of angst end in either exhilaration or anguish for MLB players trying to make a team, and over the years Jonathan Davis became all too familiar with the disappointing end of the emotional spectrum.

Perhaps that’s why, “For real?” was his first reaction when manager Charlie Montoyo broke good news to him. The 28-year-old outfielder understood the odds were against him going into camp with the Toronto Blue Jays after the signing of George Springer, but instead of moping he threw down a terrific spring, let things play out and forced the team’s hand.

“Babe, we made the roster,” he texted his wife Hannah after learning he’d open a season in the majors for the first time, and then shared the news with his dad. Eventually he and Hannah enjoyed a celebratory slice of cheesecake after a moment that “was a long time coming.”

“We went with the red velvet cheesecake,” said Davis. “It was pretty decent. I don’t think it tops the turtle, but we went with something different to celebrate the day.”

The Blue Jays roster came into further focus Sunday, when they tied the Detroit Tigers 4-4, as Alejandro Kirk, Trent Thornton, Tim Mayza and Rowdy Tellez became the latest players to get good news.

Of the four decisions, Kirk’s ascension is the most notable because the Blue Jays rewarded the 22-year-old catcher, who on merit is clearly deserving of the spot, rather than letting asset management with the out-of-options Reese McGuire or service-time considerations sway the call.

McGuire can’t be sent to the minors without clearing waivers and if he’s claimed, prospect Riley Adams would be the next line of defence (Beau Taylor, briefly with the Blue Jays in 2019 and designated for assignment this weekend by Cleveland, might be one route to some additional protection).

But Kirk is clearly a better option than McGuire to spell Danny Jansen, with enough upside to even eat into his playing time. While there’s a development case to be made for giving Kirk a bit more time in the minors before having him transition, breaking with him is the type of decision made by a team living in the now.

Montoyo wouldn’t rule out carrying a third catcher, but with Davis and Joe Panik, informed Friday that he’d made the team, already on the roster, it makes little sense for the Blue Jays to run such a deep bench, even if George Springer starts on the injured list.

Springer hit off a tee again Sunday and Montoyo repeated how the star centre-fielder’s progression remains dependent on how he feels after each little increase in work. For the time being, his potential absence can be covered by Randal Grichuk and Davis in centre, with DH at-bats for Tellez, Kirk and others as needed.

Coming off elbow surgery, Thornton rejoins the Blue Jays as a long reliever, although Montoyo said he made sure to tell the right-hander that, “we still think of him as a starter, but we couldn’t stretch him out enough.”

Given that Robbie Ray won’t be available to start the season, they have a hole to fill on the opening weekend. Ross Stripling, who threw 70 pitches over 5.2 innings of one-run ball against the Tigers, is lined up for the Saturday start against the New York Yankees but the Blue Jays could always get creative and use Thornton as an opener.

At the same time, the Blue Jays told him that “he can also come in and throw two innings or one inning, whatever we need,” said Montoyo. “He’s got to be ready for all those situations.”

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Mayza, who like Panik will need to be added to the 40-man roster, was on the outside looking in when camp began as the club wanted to be cautious with him as he returned from Tommy John surgery in September 2019.

“But then the more we saw him pitch and him rebounding back after outings, that gave us (confidence) that he is healthy and good to go,” said Montoyo. “He’s been throwing nothing but 95 with movement and he did it again today. So he’s ready to go … he passed all the tests.”

Also passing a test Sunday was Ryan Borucki, whom the Blue Jays admitted had been nursing a hamstring issue in recent weeks, prompting them to pitch him only on the backfields since March 13. The lefty threw 1.1 scoreless innings against the Tigers, touching 98.3 m.p.h., and Montoyo pronounced him “healthy and ready to go” afterwards.

Rafael Dolis, who also last pitched March 13 and has been on the simulated game circuit, has been fighting back spasms, although Montoyo insisted the leverage righty “is good to go” as well.

How true that is will impact final roster calls, with Julian Merryweather facing an important outing in Monday’s spring finale to determine if he’s ready to break camp in the bullpen.

Depending on how the Blue Jays plan to cover for Ray – lefty Anthony Kay and righty T.J. Zeuch are short-term options – and what happens with Springer, the pathways to the roster appear to be closing off for non-roster invites Tommy Milone and Francisco Liriano.

With final rosters not due until noon Thursday, life in limbo could drag out a bit longer.

Davis remembers that well and is glad to not be living it again this spring.

“Man, you get very anxious, to say the least,” he said. “It’s tough for a lot of people, especially for people who I think have the ability to play there. But at the end of the day, it’s about what the team needs. That’s something that we have to keep in mind.

“Something that helped me in my journey and career when those times didn’t happen is knowing that at the end of the day, man, that doesn’t determine my value. Who I am is who I am. And you have to continue to work and continue to be who you are and stay ready because your name could be called at any time. Last year was proof of that. Everybody being a cohesive group and being ready to play. I think we’ve got a great chance at being a very good team this year. So it’s going to be exciting.”

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STRIPLING AND SPRINGER

Stripling was a member of the 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost the World Series to the sign-stealing Houston Astros, which meant a conversation needed to take place when Springer joined the Blue Jays.

“I texted George when he signed and said, ‘Dude, love to have you,’ and just opened up the conversation about that,” said Stripling. “It was a private conversation between me and George, certainly nothing that we want to share out in the open. But it was it was a good, productive conversation. We put it behind us. Now we’re teammates and we’re Blue Jays and we’re looking to win games here. It’s behind us, for sure, but definitely needed to touch on it, needed to be brought up, put it behind us and now we’re good.”

Stripling faced Springer in the eighth inning of the classic 13-12, Game 5 Astros win, surrendering a base hit before inducing an inning-ending double play by Alex Bregman. Stripling described that World Series as tainted, and decided to “punt” on a question on whether enough of a price had been paid by A.J. Hinch, now managing the Tigers, and Alex Cora, back with the Boston Red Sox this season.

“If you were to ask around most people would guess that was a quick turnaround for guys to come back and get massive roles in baseball again,” said Stripling. “But they served their punishment that was handed down. There were front offices and ownership and people out there that trusted them to give them big positions in baseball again and to right any wrongs they did before and all that.

“If you choose to look at it that way, they served their sentence and now they’re back to helping baseball players get better and win baseball games. I’ll look at it that way. But as far as what I think, I don’t know. I’ll punt it.”

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SHORT HOPS

• Stripling needed just 70 pitches to work through his 5.2 innings against the Tigers, so he went back out to the bullpen to log 10 more. He generated four whiffs with his fastball, using it a bit more than usual.

“I know I’m most likely going to get guys out with the other three pitches,” he said. “I’ve got to aim small, miss small with those heaters, because that is the pitch I give up the most damage with. I gave up 11 homers on fastballs last year. So it’s very much knowing the safe zones and really heightened need to execute those pitches, to execute that fastball to whatever quadrant I’m going to.

“The others I can be more on the plate with. I feel like I was able to do that today. Threw some good balls up at the top of the zone, got a strikeout with one, some foul tips, nothing really hard hit on those. As long as I’m either up or down, in or out, I feel good about my fastball and it just sets up my off-speed stuff even better.”

• A runner got thrown out trying to steal third base in both ends of the fifth inning. McGuire threw Akil Baddoo out to end the top half, while Davis got caught for the second out of the bottom half after successfully swiping second.