TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays put out an aggressive however unorthodox lineup for his or her house opener towards the Baltimore Orioles, they usually’ll doubtless keep it up to start out the season.
Shortstop Bo Bichette, first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and left-fielder Anthony Santander had been the primary three up in Toronto’s batting order in Thursday’s matinee, with Andres Gimenez batting cleanup, an uncommon spot for the defensively oriented second baseman.
Blue Jays supervisor John Schneider mentioned that the Bichette-Guerrero-Santander trio would doubtless be Toronto’s go-to mixture on the prime of the order to start out the season however that the cleanup hitter could be by committee.
“Most likely, yeah, for some time,” he mentioned in his workplace at Rogers Centre earlier than the sport. “I feel it’s simply discovering that candy spot of precisely what appears good on paper from a matchup standpoint and what guys are comfy with.
“I’m certain there’ll be some tweaks alongside the way in which, however I sort of like the way it how it’s proper now.”
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Bichette is a profession .290 hitter with 93 house runs; numbers negatively impacted by an injury-plagued 2024.
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Guerrero has hit .288 over his profession with 160 homers, together with 30 final 12 months. Santander was a .246 hitter with 155 house runs — together with 44 final season — over eight seasons with Baltimore earlier than signing with Toronto within the low season.
Gimenez is a profession .261 hitter with 49 house runs over his 5 Main League Baseball seasons. His profession slugging share — a metric that measures how efficient a participant is at getting extra-base hits — is .393, considerably decrease than Bichette (.466), Guerrero (.500) or Santander (.469).
“I identical to his at-bats proper now, in spring coaching, and getting again to driving the ball once more,” mentioned Schneider. “I’m not asking him to hit 40 house runs. Spots within the lineup get so outlined now.
“We’ve talked with him all through the course of spring coaching, from the very starting, and as camp went on, he is aware of we’re going to maneuver him round a bit of bit.”
The transfer was partly obligatory as outfielder Daulton Varsho was positioned on the 10-day injured checklist hours earlier than the opening pitch. Varsho’s transfer to the IL was retroactive to Monday and was wanted as he continues to get better from surgical procedure on his proper shoulder.
Varsho’s IL project was a part of a flurry of roster strikes the Blue Jays made earlier than opening day started round Main League Baseball.
Rookie right-fielder Alan Roden was chosen to Toronto’s main league roster and can make his first-ever MLB begin, batting ninth. Roden earned the opening debut with a powerful spring coaching the place he hit .407, with two house runs and 6 runs batted in over 20 video games.
“Pumped for Alan and every thing he’s accomplished,” mentioned Schneider. “I informed him yesterday after the exercise, ‘he was all proper, let’s go.’ I used to be like, ‘That’s it? he’s like, ‘Yeah, all proper, see you tomorrow.’
“I’m certain he’ll be a bit of bit nervous, however he’s dealt with every thing nice.”
Outfielder Myles Straw and right-handed pitcher Jacob Barnes had been additionally named to the opening day roster.
Proper-handed pitchers Ryan Burr, with proper shoulder irritation, and Erik Swanson, with proper median nerve entrapment, had been each placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to Monday.
Pitchers Tommy Nance, Zach Pop of Brampton, Ont., and Nick Robertson had been all designated for project.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed March 27, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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