Francis, Tiedemann making their mark on Blue Jays in different ways

BRADENTON, Fla. – Bowden Francis’ time is here with the Toronto Blue Jays. Ricky Tiedemann’s time, meanwhile, is very much coming.

The two pitchers made their marks in different ways Thursday, the 27-year-old righty was told by manager John Schneider that he’s opening the season in the rotation hours before the 21-year-old lefty demonstrated in a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates why he’s destined to join him in majors at some point this year.

A fateful four days remain before spring training wraps up and several moving parts remain – largely linked to the health of starters Kevin Gausman and Alek Manoah and relievers Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson. But the naming of Francis to the rotation, tentatively slated to start next Sunday’s opening series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays, put one key piece in place before Tiedemann’s tantalizing display of what might be down the line.

“We talk about (Francis) holding his stuff throughout longer outings, he's done that in our eyes and I think it also taught him how to pitch a little bit,” said Schneider. “Everyone goes to velo with Bowden and is it going to drop as his pitches go up. But he can still get 94, 95, in the fourth, fifth inning with two strikes and still pitch at 90, 91, 92 and then pair his other stuff so well with that. I think that's what really excited us, too, watching him evolve as a pitcher.”

While Schneider wouldn’t explicitly say it, putting Francis in the rotation essentially confirms that Manoah, who is slated to throw a one-inning live batting practice on Friday if weather permits, won’t be ready for opening day.

Gausman, meanwhile, might have a shot at April 1 in Houston depending on what happens Monday, when he could start the Blue Jays’ Grapefruit League finale back in Bradenton versus the Pirates or pitch in a minor-league game.

“He feels good which is a great thing,” said Schneider and the plan is to follow Gausman’s lead on what happens Monday. If all goes well there, the Blue Jays could aim for four or five innings from Gausman versus the Astros and then build him up from there.

Or they could slow him down, have him start the season on the injured list – the earliest teams can backdate a stint out of spring training is March 25, which would set up an April 9 return – and backfill for two outings with Mitch White or a patchwork solution.

Monday offers up a leading indicator of what comes next.

“You trust Kevin and the veteran that he is,” said Schneider. “If he's feeling really good and is wanting to get into a spring game, that would be that would be a good indication that he's getting pretty close.”

Tiedemann also looked like someone on the cusp while dicing up a regular-season calibre Pirates lineup with five strikeouts in three innings before giving up a solo homer to Bryan Reynolds and a walk to Ke’Bryan Hayes in the fourth to close out his outing.

His fastball topped out 98.1 and his slider was particularly filthy while generating four whiffs on six swings, but he pointed to a changeup he threw eight times for three called strikes, one whiff, one foul ball and one weak grounder as a key.

“I think it had them kind of off-balance because of my changeup being in the zone,” he said. “If I can have that there every game, then it opens up for my fastball and slider and you saw that today.”

Had injuries not limited Tiedemann to 62 innings last season, he might very well be in the big-league mix right now. But he’s expecting to open the season at triple-A Buffalo with a carefully managed workload designed to keep him available wire to wire.

“I’m not too sure exactly what they want, but if I had to guess, that would be the case, kind of start me out light so they can utilize me later on in the year when it really matters, rather than throwing me out there at the beginning of the year, reach my inning limit and then kind of have to pull back the reins on me,” he said. “I don't think they want to do that and I definitely don't want to do that if we can ramp up the year in the right way to get to the major leagues later in the season, rather than the beginning.”

Big-league needs may change those plans over the course of the season, of course, but a debut for the club’s top prospect very much seems like a matter of when, not if. Tiedemann seems to see it, too, saying that “being ready when they call is something that I need to focus on,” and pointing to health and strike-throwing as being key for him.

“If I’m in the zone, I think my stuff plays well enough that they're going to need it at some point,” he said. “Hopefully if I can keep doing that, I can get the shot.”

SO LONG SANTI: The late Wednesday trade of Santiago Espinal to the Cincinnati Reds for pitching prospect Chris McElvain cleared an infield logjam for the Blue Jays, although it cost them someone part of the club the past four seasons.

“It's always bittersweet when a guy that's been around for a long time is moving on,” said John Schneider. “I think it's a good opportunity for Espy to go, hopefully, and play. I speak for a lot of people in the clubhouse that, for everything he did for this team, and for me in particular minor-leagues all the way up, awesome guy and we wish him the best.”

In his absence, Cavan Biggio, Davis Schneider, Ernie Clement and Isiah Kiner-Falefa figure to do the heavy lifting at second and third base, with non-roster invitee Eduardo Escobar a possibility.

Justin Turner, who hit a two-run homer Thursday while starting at third for the first time this spring, is someone the Blue Jays envision playing a small handful of games, perhaps as few as 10, on the hot corner.

NOTE: Erik Swanson played catch Thursday and “felt great,” said John Schneider while Jordan Romano needs “probably a day or so before we see if he's ready to throw.” The status of the two relievers might also drag out to Monday, with Zach Pop and Nate Pearson among the leading candidates to backfill for them.