DUNEDIN, Fla. — A morning filled with rain and a forecast calling for more led to the cancellation of the Toronto Blue Jays’ Grapefruit League game at the Detroit Tigers on Monday and prompted a shuffle of their plans.
Bowden Francis, set to make his spring debut, will instead follow Max Scherzer on Tuesday when the St. Louis Cardinals visit. Jose Berrios starts Wednesday versus the Philadelphia Phillies followed by Easton Lucas at the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday and Chris Bassitt at home versus the Tigers and Jake Bloss at the New York Yankees on a split-squad Friday.
As for the rest of Monday’s plan?
“It's kind of nice at this time, take a little breather,” manager John Schneider said. “We'll do work in the cages and on the covered field there. (Ryan Yarbrough) is going to throw a glorified two-up side with some hitters standing in, get our work in and get out of here. So a nice little Monday where you kind of take it easy.”
Absent from the list of upcoming probables is Kevin Gausman, who threw live batting practice on Sunday and is “opting to do one more live BP before jumping in to get into game action.”
Once he does, “he'll slot in probably where Easton is,” added Schneider.
Addison Barger, hit on the right hand by Garrett Crochet on Sunday, was “a little swollen and he had a little bit of a blood blister, which is kind of annoying,” but otherwise fine, said Schneider. “He's going to try to hit (Monday) and see how he is (Tuesday). Day-to-day.”
