<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Toronto &#187; Chad Girodo</title>
	<atom:link href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/tag/chad-girodo/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com</link>
	<description>Comprehensive coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 24 Mar 2026 03:35:47 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en-US</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1</generator>
	<item>
		<title>How Well Has Toronto Been Using the 25th Roster Spot?</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/06/24/how-well-has-toronto-been-using-the-25th-roster-spot/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/06/24/how-well-has-toronto-been-using-the-25th-roster-spot/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jun 2016 11:53:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mike Passador]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aaron Loup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chad Girodo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dustin Antolin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jimmy Paredes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pat Venditte]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ryan Tepera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Diamond]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=4078</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Toronto’s recent series against the Philadelphia Phillies saw the appearance of a familiar face: Jimmy Paredes. The Blue Jays claimed Paredes off waivers from the Orioles on May 16, only to designate him for assignment on the 30th and ship him to Philadelphia on June 1st. After notching a .886 OPS in his 17 Blue [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Toronto’s recent series against the Philadelphia Phillies saw the appearance of a familiar face: Jimmy Paredes. The Blue Jays claimed Paredes off waivers from the Orioles on May 16, only to designate him for assignment on the 30<sup>th</sup> and ship him to Philadelphia on June 1<sup>st</sup>. After notching a .886 OPS in his 17 Blue Jay at bats, Paredes was traded for cash considerations. When Paredes stepped to the plate, Pat Tabler lamented that the team had to let him go and referred to the notion that the Jays ‘just didn’t have room for him.’</p>
<p>With apologies to Mr. Tabler, that’s a statement that didn’t quite sit well at first. It seems like the Blue Jays often have a frustratingly short bench and a bullpen that has one guy who never gets enough work in. While that makes for simple math, it’s something I wanted to investigate. Who have the Jays been using in their final roster spot and were their performances more valuable than Paredes’ admittedly short stint of production?</p>
<p>On the offensive side of the equation Paredes seemed to fill a need for the Jays, who could probably use a bench bat considering the current options, regardless of how adequately some of those players have performed so far. With a usual bench of Josh Thole, Ryan Goins, Darwin Barney, and Ezequiel Carrera (now Darrell Ceciliani), pinch hitting late in games seems futile beyond the instances where Edwin Encarnacion starts at first base and pushes Justin Smoak to the bench.</p>
<p>A jack of all trades and a master of none, Paredes can play around the infield as well as in the outfield but is generally a subpar defender no matter where you put him. His defensive deficiencies definitely didn’t help his case, but the team can probably afford to carry a bad defender who will be limited to mostly pinch hitting duties. If you were to pinch hit for, say Darwin Barney, you could get Paredes an at bat and then insert Ryan Goins (or more likely Devon Travis, assuming full health) into the game defensively.</p>
<p>Since the team is insistent on carrying four middle infielders when at full health, we can assume that the final bench spot was sacrificed so the team could add another reliever to the mix. Looking at this season’s end-of-bench hitters (chronologically by call-up date) shows just three players who haven’t performed well in limited at bats, Paredes excepted:</p>
<p style="text-align: center"><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/25thHitters.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-4079 aligncenter" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/25thHitters.jpg" alt="25thHitters" width="718" height="154" /></a></p>
<p>It’s unfair to ask anyone to try and hit major league pitching right away, especially when they’re given less than one plate appearance for each day spent with the big club. Additionally, the recent AAA assignment of Andy Burns marked the first time this season that a position player was not sent down to bring up a pitcher, as the activated Troy Tulowitzki took Burns’ spot on the roster. It’s clear that the Jays view Dominguez and Burns as insurance policies more than anything and getting them at bats is not one of the team’s primary goals. While it’s nice to have guys who can step in in case of injury, the Blue Jays could attempt to maximize their bench output in the meantime by having a legitimate pinch hitting threat.</p>
<p>With that in mind it’s pretty obvious that the team likes to call on relievers more often than not. The Jays typically run a seven man bullpen but will occasionally carry eight relievers, much to the chagrin of some fans, myself obviously included. When the team brings up an eighth reliever, there is usually simple logic to follow that rationalizes the move. They could be trying to bring up additional arms to get their usual guys some extra rest. They could be calling up certain pitchers for matchup purposes; like if a lefty heavy lineup is on the horizon. And finally, if the bullpen’s current members aren’t up to snuff, they could simply be trying a new solution.</p>
<p>The strong performance of Toronto’s rotation points to conflicting notions about the rest idea. The starters are more often than not only leaving 6-9 outs for the bullpen to record, which is good for the collective bullpen but probably puts undue stress on the top relievers. While the Jays would like to ease the burden on their trusted arms, no single reliever should be too overworked. Given the general mediocrity (though thankfully upward trend) of most of the Blue Jay relievers, the final spot has also served as a revolving door for different pitchers to show that they can stick with the big club.</p>
<p>The list of names hasn’t been all that inspiring, but having an effective mop up guy could pay off later. Everyone would take one step up the ladder, so pitchers like Jesse Chavez and Gavin Floyd will handle fewer low leverage innings and are better rested for situations that call for quality pitchers. In essence, a quality 7<sup>th</sup> reliever takes away an inning that would otherwise be wasted on superior pitchers. Given Roberto Osuna’s nagging ailments this year, the team has to be aching for some extra depth to both save arms and elevate top performers. So how have those alternatives looked?</p>
<p style="text-align: center"><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/25thPitchers.jpg"><img class="  aligncenter wp-image-4080" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/25thPitchers.jpg" alt="25thPitchers" width="449" height="168" /></a></p>
<p>As you can see, the results have been underwhelming so far. Rather than look at the season as a whole, I broke down each reliever’s numbers by their specific stretch with the Blue Jays.</p>
<p><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/PitcherStints.jpg"><img class="  wp-image-4081 aligncenter" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/PitcherStints.jpg" alt="PitcherStints" width="817" height="295" /></a></p>
<p>On the whole, the last reliever on the roster is used in low leverage situations (by aLI), with the only exception being Ryan Tepera’s shrimp game in San Francisco. Even then, John Gibbons only called on Tepera because every other pitcher had been used aside from Roberto Osuna, who had pitched the previous two games. That low leverage use is ideal and accomplishes the goals outlined above concerning resting superior pitchers in less important situations, but it does raise the question of whether this rotating cast of characters is worth keeping over an extra bench bat considering they pitch so infrequently.</p>
<p>Aside from extended and ongoing stints by Chad Girodo and Aaron Loup’s 19 days on the roster, the bullpen call-ups might appear once per series. Tepera and Pat Venditte both had more than six days off at one point or another, and if the team really wants to give their high leverage guys an inning off every once in a while they certainly would be using these bottom bullpen players more often. So for the longer stints (we’ll deal with the one game guys in a moment), just how long do these pitchers get to show their stuff?</p>
<p>The average stint is just shy of 10 days, and shrinks to just over eight when we remove Girodo’s abnormally long outlier stint. If we also remove Aaron Loup’s run on the roster, operating under the assumption that he was expected to be a permanent member of the bullpen, it drops to just over seven days. These relievers spend about a week with the Jays and appear once or twice.</p>
<p>As for the pitchers who only made one appearance, they have all been used fairly ideally with the exception of Tepera’s necessary involvement in San Francisco:</p>
<p style="text-align: center"><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/1GamePitchers.jpg"><img class="  wp-image-4082 aligncenter" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/1GamePitchers.jpg" alt="1GamePitchers" width="636" height="395" /></a></p>
<p>Most of them took the mound in mop up duty during long stretches without an off day. If you want to give someone a chance to get work in, that’s the time to do it. For context, I looked at the amount of unique pitchers that Gibbons had called on over the previous two games. Two games was chosen as the cutoff simply because Gibbons often won’t use a pitcher on three consecutive nights. Aside from Tepera’s 13<sup>th</sup> inning outing, each other appearance came after five or six pitchers had seen action in the last two days. Beyond that, most of these damage control outings helped save a handful of more valuable pitchers from wasting innings in games that were all but over.</p>
<p>To sum it up, given the infrequent usage of the seventh man of the bullpen, there is almost never a reason to summon an eighth pitcher from Buffalo. That final spot would almost always be better spent on an extra bench bat. While having a player like Paredes around doesn’t guarantee John Gibbons would find him playing time, it seems like the last bullpen option has fewer opportunities to make an impact on the game. If anything, having both Barney and Goins on the roster makes having a pinch hitting specialist all the more palatable, especially late in games.</p>
<p>The team has actually done well to take a look at a few different pitchers this season in a Seventh Man role and while none have stuck so far, the Jays at least have an idea of what they’re working with. It might behoove the team to just give the spot to Loup, Girodo or Venditte and let them run with it in regular work, but there’s no harm in trying to get different pitchers acclimated to major league hitters in low leverage innings, especially earlier in the year. The negatives only truly arise when two spots are spent on players who appear infrequently at the expense of potential offensive upgrades. While the Blue Jays have tended to favor the safety net of a big bullpen, it might be time to think about the opportunity cost of doing so.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photos: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/06/24/how-well-has-toronto-been-using-the-25th-roster-spot/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>UPDATE: Blue Jays option INF Matt Dominguez, Recall LHP Chad Girodo</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/05/04/girodo-dominguez-part-2/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/05/04/girodo-dominguez-part-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 May 2016 13:00:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gideon Turk]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andy Burns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chad Girodo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matt Dominguez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=2285</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[UPDATE: Heading into the series against the LA Dodgers, the Blue Jays have made the right move, selecting the contract of Andy Burns and optioning Ryan Tepera. This leaves them with a true utility player who can hit lefties, and a proper seven-man bullpen with two left-handed pitchers. Look for Burns to get some time in [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong></p>
<p>Heading into the series against the LA Dodgers, the Blue Jays have made the right move, selecting the contract of Andy Burns and optioning Ryan Tepera. This leaves them with a true utility player who can hit lefties, and a proper seven-man bullpen with two left-handed pitchers. Look for Burns to get some time in LF in place of Saunders, or at 3B with Donaldson serving as DH to rest his legs.</p>
<p>With the move, the Blue Jays now have 39 players on their 40-man roster.</p>
<p>The Blue Jays made a roster move following Tuesday night&#8217;s walk-off win against the Texas Rangers, sending Matt Dominguez back down to AAA Buffalo and recalling Chad Girodo to take his place.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a> option Matt Dominguez and recall LHP Chad Girodo from Buffalo</p>
<p>&mdash; Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) <a href="https://twitter.com/thehazelmae/status/727697159613747200">May 4, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Girodo was optioned on April 24th for Drew Hutchison&#8217;s spot start, so today is the first day he was eligible to come back to the team after being away for 10 days. The move means the Blue Jays will now carry an eight man bullpen and go with a short, three-man bench. This would seem odd given that Michael Saunders and Russell Martin have both needed days off due to nagging injuries recently, but the move is likely only very temporary.</p>
<p>With Tuesday night&#8217;s game going into extra innings, four members of the bullpen had to pitch. The Blue Jays are also currently in the midst of a stretch of 29 games in 30 days, so giving the bullpen a fresh arm can&#8217;t hurt. Brett Cecil still looks like he isn&#8217;t himself, so getting another lefty in the &#8216;pen gives John Gibbons the option to use Girodo over Cecil against a tough lefty if he so chooses.</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t expect the Blue Jays to keep a short bench for long, as after Wednesday night, they will be facing two lefties over their next four games. As such, they may want to send RHP Ryan Tepera down &#8211; keeping Girodo to provide LHP depth behind Cecil &#8211;  and recall a platoon partner for Justin Smoak at first base. The player who would most likely fit this role is Andy Burns, as he has a history of success against left handed pitching in the minors:</p>
<p style="text-align: center"><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/05/Burns-LHP-updated.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-2286" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/05/Burns-LHP-updated.png" alt="Burns LHP updated" width="500" height="252" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: left">The other option would be Jesus Montero, who has hit .292/.341/.429 over his major league career against lefties, but those numbers are heavily skewed toward the first couple seasons of his career, where he showed promise, something he hasn&#8217;t done recently. Burns is also very versatile, which would be of value to the Blue Jays with the aforementioned soreness plaguing Saunders and Martin.</p>
<p>The 25-year-old Girodo has pitched 8 2/3 innings for the Bisons in 2016, allowing just one run in the process. For the Blue Jays, he has pitched two scoreless innings in one appearance.</p>
<p>Dominguez, 26, reached base just once, via a walk, in his eight plate appearance with the Blue Jays.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sport</em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/05/04/girodo-dominguez-part-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Spring Training News Roundup: Tulo, EE, and the Bullpen</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/25/spring-training-news-roundup/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/25/spring-training-news-roundup/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Mar 2016 20:23:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gideon Turk]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aaron Loup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chad Girodo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chad Jenkins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Aardsma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edwin Encarnacion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Troy Tulowtizki]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=672</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There were a few newsworthy pieces out of Blue Jays camp this afternoon as the team heads to Clearwater for a night game. The most important piece of news came when the lineup was posted, and a familiar face was back in it at shortstop: #BlueJays vs #Phillies pic.twitter.com/Y04Gamfdl5 &#8212; Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) March 25, [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There were a few newsworthy pieces out of Blue Jays camp this afternoon as the team heads to Clearwater for a night game. The most important piece of news came when the lineup was posted, and a familiar face was back in it at shortstop:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a> vs <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Phillies?src=hash">#Phillies</a> <a href="https://t.co/Y04Gamfdl5">pic.twitter.com/Y04Gamfdl5</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShiDavidi/status/713440248294989824">March 25, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>After being hit in the hand by an errant Bartolo Colon pitch on Wednesday afternoon, Troy Tulowitzki is healthy and will be playing tonight. This is definitely a good sign; sometimes, with hand injuries, the swelling can hide a partial fracture in one of the bones from the first x-ray. That obviously isn&#8217;t the case with Tulowitzki, as the swelling has gone down enough for him to play and he&#8217;s feeling no apparent discomfort.</p>
<p>The second piece of news is that left handed reliever Aaron Loup will open the season on the disabled list, retroactive to March 26th.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Loup starts season on DL &#8211; and DL starts March 26, so it could be retro to that date</p>
<p>&mdash; mark zwolinski (@markzwol) <a href="https://twitter.com/markzwol/status/713446270895951872">March 25, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>He was shut down earlier in camp with forearm tightness and has yet to get in a spring game. This paves the way for one of Pat Venditte or Randy Choate to make the team as the second lefty in the bullpen behind Brett Cecil, with the obvious advantage going to Choate (one of the greatest LOOGY&#8217;s in MLB history). The Loup transaction makes the bullpen picture a lot clearer, as does these three moves the club made this afternoon:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a> say David Aardsma, Chad Girodo and Chad Jenkins reassigned to minor-lg camp, 44 players remain.</p>
<p>&mdash; Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShiDavidi/status/713445678144421888">March 25, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Aardsma is the only one of the three who really had a shot at making the club out of Spring Training, and he may still get a chance at the big league team in the next couple of months before he has a chance to opt out in May. The competition for the last two bullpen spots is now down to Steve Delabar, Ryan Tepera, Joe Biagini, Arnold Leon, and Gavin Floyd/Aaron Sanchez. The other five spots will be taken up by Drew Storen, Roberto Osuna, Brett Cecil, Jesse Chavez, and one of Pat Venditte or Randy Choate. Although it is also possible Venditte grabs one of the empty spots if he loses to Choate.</p>
<p>The last bit of news concerns Edwin Encarnacion&#8217;s health. He has yet to play this Spring Training due to an abscessed tooth and an oblique injury, but that may change soon:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Edwin Encarnacion plans to play in minor-league game Monday. Hit in the cage today. Says oblique feels fine. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShiDavidi/status/713450518467710977">March 25, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>The decision to play in a minor league game is an obvious one because he&#8217;ll still be able to be placed on the major league disabled list (retroactive to March 26th) if he doesn&#8217;t get into a big league game before hand. Thus, playing EE in minor league games until he is comfortable with his bat will likely be the route that the team takes. However, it doesn&#8217;t seem that it may take too long, as he told <a href="https://twitter.com/SNBarryDavis/status/713450583697580032" target="_blank">Barry Davis</a> that it doesn&#8217;t matter how many at bats he gets in the spring, because if he is healthy come Opening Day, he&#8217;ll be in the lineup.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/25/spring-training-news-roundup/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Non-Roster Invites in Blue Jays Camp: The Prospects</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/12/non-roster-invites-in-blue-jays-camp-the-prospects/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/12/non-roster-invites-in-blue-jays-camp-the-prospects/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Mar 2016 13:49:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ewan Ross]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andy Burns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anthony Alford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chad Girodo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Connor Greene]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Danny Jensen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Derrick Chung]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dwight Smith Jr]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jio Mier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matthew Dean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rowdy Tellez]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=77</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every year at spring training, there there are a numbers of non-roster invitees (NRIs) that may seem surprising; some are there more as instructors and mentors while others are projects returning from injuries or just looking for another shot at the big leagues. This year the Blue Jays have 29 players in camp who aren’t on [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Every year at spring training, there there are a numbers of non-roster invitees (NRIs) that may seem surprising; some are there more as instructors and mentors while others are projects returning from injuries or just looking for another shot at the big leagues. This year the Blue Jays have 29 players in camp who aren’t on the 40 man roster &#8211; twelve pitchers and seventeen position players. Fourteen (eight pitchers, six hitters) of these players have some major league experience while the remaining eighteen players comprising of minor league fodder mixed in with legitimate prospects.</em></p>
<p><em>BP Toronto will be breaking down these NRIs into three groups &#8211; <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/10/non-roster-invites-in-blue-jays-camp-the-pitchers/">veteran pitchers</a>, <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=57" target="_blank">veteran hitters</a>, and prospects &#8211; and assessing their odds of making the opening day roster.</em></p>
<p><strong>Derrick Chung – Catcher</strong></p>
<p>PECOTA Projection: 250 PA &#8211; .238/.288/.323 – 2 HR, 0 SB, 16 BB, 41 K &#8211; .222 TAv, -0.8 WARP</p>
<p>As a 28-year-old who&#8217;s only played 71 games above Single A, it&#8217;s fairly safe to assume that Derrick Chung isn&#8217;t much of a prospect. While Chung has shown an excellent batting eye, his two career home runs, and sub .350 slugging percentage leaves much to be desired. Despite his struggles at the plate, Chung comes with a strong defensive reputation for both working with pitchers, and throwing out would be base stealers. This isn&#8217;t the profile of a player destined for a major league career. However, those skills usually lead to a long minor league career followed by a career in coaching.</p>
<p><em>How he fits: </em>Chung is a valuable piece for a major league club, even though he&#8217;s incredibly unlikely to don a Blue Jays uniform. His value will come via working with young pitchers as they attempt to make the critical developmental jump to AA.</p>
<p><em>Likely Opening Day Assignment: </em>AA New Hampshire</p>
<p><strong>*Danny Jansen – Catcher</strong></p>
<p>PECOTA Projection: 250 PA &#8211; .211/.273/.335 – 6 HR, 0 SB, 19 BB, 53 K &#8211; .221 TAv, -0.2 WARP</p>
<p>Like Chung, Jansen is a player whose primary skill is his discipline at the plate. However, unlike Chung, he has shown at least some power (5 HRs last season). More importantly, Jansen is only 20 years old. With that said, catching prospects are always the most difficult to get a handle on until they reach the upper levels&#8230;so it&#8217;s tough to predict how he will progress.</p>
<p><em>How he fits:</em> With A.J. Jimenez having lost all of his prospect sheen, and with Max Pentecost&#8217;s status behind the plate in question, Jansen in the Jays top catching prospect. We&#8217;re at least two years away from Jansen even sniffing the big league roster, but he&#8217;s an interesting player to keep track of.</p>
<p><em>Likely Opening Day Assignment: </em>Low A Lansing</p>
<p>While there was some promise to Jansen&#8217;s season in Lansing last year, I&#8217;d think that his .206 BA wouldn&#8217;t cut it for a promotion. He&#8217;ll probably reach High A Dunedin at some point this season, but it won&#8217;t be at the beginning.</p>
<p><strong>*Rowdy Tellez – First Baseman</strong></p>
<p><em>PECOTA Projection: </em>250 PA &#8211; .229/.279/.388 – 8 HR, 0 SB, 17 BB, 65 K &#8211; .229 TAv, -0.3 WARP</p>
<p>When Rowdy Tellez was drafted in the 30th round of the 2013 draft, he was largely seen as unsignable. That all changed when the Jays failed to sign their first round pick, Phil Bickford, and instead devoted all their excess bonus pool money to signing the power hitting first baseman. In 2015, he rocketed through the Midwest League. As well, despite battling a wrist injury, his second half promotion to the Florida State League was a massive success. With enough plate appearances, he would&#8217;ve finished second in the league in slugging percentage.</p>
<p><em>How he fits: </em>Tellez is the Blue Jays&#8217; top power prospect. With both Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista being free agents at the end of the 2016 season, the club may be in need for a power bat by this time next year. With that said, it&#8217;s doubtful that Tellez will be ready that soon. It&#8217;s also still unclear if he has the ability to hit, and hit for power, at the major league level. Nevertheless, he&#8217;s one of the most intriguing prospects to track this upcoming season.</p>
<p><em>Likely Opening Day Assignment:</em> High A Dunedin.</p>
<p>While Tellez was very successful in Dunedin last year, he only played in 35 games at that level. As a result, you&#8217;d expect the Jays to let him prove himself there over a larger sample size. However, there is a chance that they get aggressive and push Tellez up to the Fisher Cats to begin the year.</p>
<p><strong>*Matthew Dean – First Baseman</strong></p>
<p>PECOTA Projection: 250 PA – .217/.257/.358 &#8211; 7 HR, 0 SB, 11 BB, 79 K &#8211; .219 TAv, -0.9 WARP</p>
<p>As a non-elite prospect who is restricted to first base, Dean is one of my least favourite type of prospects. Throughout his four year minor league career he has achieved just enough to get promoted further up the ladder, but not enough to really stand out. With that said, Dean did lead the notoriously pitcher friendly Florida State League in home runs. That&#8217;s more than enough to earn him another year of faith on the potential that he could develop into a second division starter at first base.</p>
<p><em>How he fits: </em>Dean is at least a full year away from being major league ready (if he&#8217;ll ever be). Strangely, his ability to hit both right and left handed pitchers almost equally is one of the biggest drawbacks to his big league future. If he had similar production, but did most of his damage against left handed pitching, you could see him as a platoon bench bat.</p>
<p><em>Likely Opening Day Assignment: </em>AA New Hampshire</p>
<p>Matthew Dean will likely start the season as the Fisher Cats&#8217; staring first baseman. However, he could potentially be moved to designated hitter when Rowdy Tellez gets the call to AA.</p>
<p><strong>Andy Burns – Infielder</strong></p>
<p>PECOTA Projection: 250 PA &#8211; .248/.297/.395 – 6 HR, 4 SB, 16 BB, 51 K &#8211; .247 TAv, 0.5 WARP</p>
<p>Burns was drafted as a shortstop in 2011, but he was quickly shifted off the position. Over the past two seasons, he has shifted into a super utility role, having played every position on the diamond except for catcher and centre field. He’s unlikely to ever be an impact defender at any of those positions, but that added flexibility gives him an increased chance to make the big leagues. As does his ability to consistently hit left handed pitching. In every season that he has played as a professional, Burns has posted an OPS of .800+ against southpaws. That has all the makings of a quality bench player.</p>
<p><em>How he fits:</em> Burns is a low upside prospect, but one who could still provide value to the big league club as a utility bench bat at some point in the near future. Given his success hitting versus left handed pitching it’s even possible that he could emerge as a platoon starter.</p>
<p><em>Likely Opening Day Assignment: </em>AAA Buffalo</p>
<p>Even with Devon Travis starting the season on the disabled list, Burns is still behind both Goins and Barney on the second base depth chart. He&#8217;s also behind Donaldson and Dominguez on the third base depth chart. As a result, he&#8217;ll likely spend most of the season in AAA.</p>
<p><strong>Jio Mier – Shortstop</strong></p>
<p>PECOTA Projection: 250 PA &#8211; .209/.278/.309 – 4 HR, 3 SB, 22 BB, 61 K &#8211; .215 TAv, -0.6 WARP</p>
<p>Mier was acquired via minor league free agency this offseason. At lot of his sheen comes from the fact that he was drafted 21st overall in 2009. Despite some initial success, Mier&#8217;s career largely stalled after arriving in AA in 2013. At that point, his contact rate completely collapsed, and scouts were starting to question whether he could stick at shortstop.  Strangely, despite never hitting, the Astros yo-yo’d Mier back and forth between AAA and AA before losing him to minor league free agency past offseason.</p>
<p><em>How he fits: </em>With Munenori Kawasaki and Jonathan Diaz leaving the organization over the offseason, Mier has replaced them on the depth chart in the middle infield. He’ll provide stability for the Bisons, and be emergency depth in case of middle infield injuries.</p>
<p><em>Likely Opening Day Assignment: </em>AAA</p>
<p>Mier will begin the year manning shortstop for the Bisons, and with Devon Travis already on the shelf, he’s probably only a single injury away from heading to Toronto.</p>
<p><strong>*Anthony Alford – Center Fielder</strong></p>
<p>PECOTA Projection: 250 PA &#8211; .223/.304/.345 – 5 HR, 7 SB, 25 BB, 72 K &#8211; .235 TAv, -0.1 WARP</p>
<p>At this point, I think most Blue Jays fans are familiar with Alford’s story. The former football star, who put his baseball career on hold until the end of the 2014 season. In the first full season that he devoted to baseball, Alford had a bigger breakout than any prospect in the game. The most surprising aspect of Alford’s breakout was the true baseball skills he showed. It was expected that Alford had the tools to succeed, but seeing his discipline at the plate, and his efficiency in stealing bases has given me even more faith that he will develop into the star he seems destined to become.</p>
<p><em>How he fits: </em>Alford fits as the top prospect in the Blue Jays newly depleted minor league system. If things go especially well this upcoming year, it’s possible that we could see Alford for a cameo in September. However, it’s more likely that the Jays hold him down to preserve his service time.</p>
<p><em>Likely Opening Day Assignment: </em>AA New Hampshire</p>
<p>Considering Alford played 57 games in Dunedin last season, it’s conceivable that the Blue Jays send him back to there to start the season. With that said, he also laid waste to the Florida State League in his cameo appearance there. As a result, I expect the Jays push him up to New Hampshire.</p>
<p><strong>*Dwight Smith Jr. – Outfielder</strong></p>
<p>PECOTA Projection: 250 PA &#8211; .236/.297/.364 – 5 HR, 2 SB, 20 BB, 51 K &#8211; .238 TAv, -0.3 WARP</p>
<p>Dwight Smith Jr. is a very difficult prospect to get a handle on. He lacks any significant upside, as a likely fourth outfielder. This is largely due to the fact that he lacks a carrying tool. However, while Smith lacks the carrying tool, he also doesn’t have a real weakness either. He isn’t my favourite type of prospect, but he is one who could provide some value to the big league team.</p>
<p><em>How he fits: </em>With Michael Saunders currently slotted in as the starting left fielder, and a collection of veteran fliers in the mix for the fourth outfield spot, I think it&#8217;s incredibly unlikely that Smith gets an opportunity at the major league level this season.</p>
<p><em>Likely Opening Day Assignment: </em>AA New Hampshire</p>
<p>Given the struggles that Smith showed in the sound half while battling injuries, it&#8217;s difficult to justify promoting him up the ladder to AAA. As a result I’m expecting he&#8217;ll restart the season down in New Hampshire. Hopefully he can prove he’s ready for the next challenge and his stay there won’t be long.</p>
<p><strong>*Conner Greene – Starting Pitcher</strong></p>
<p>PECOTA Projection: 88.5 IP – 4.75 ERA, 5.04 DRA, 5.9 K/9, 3.7 BB/9</p>
<p>Connor Greene rocketed through the Jays system in 2015, going from Lansing all the way to New Hampshire. In doing so, he emerged as a very legitimate prospect. While the Blue Jays consistently had a highly rated farm system in the Anthopoulos era, it was rarely on the backs of low round draft picks. As a result, seeing someone like Greene emerge from that quagmire is a true credit to the team’s developmental staff.</p>
<p><em>How he fits: </em>After the Blue Jays traded away 11 pitching prospects at last year’s trade deadline, Greene remains the top pitching prospect left in the Jays system. While it’s unlikely that we&#8217;ll see Greene pitch for the Jays this season, he’s a key name to keep in mind if they need to upgrade the major league squad at the deadline.</p>
<p><em>Likely Opening Day Assignment: </em>AA New Hampshire</p>
<p>Greene will start the 2016 season where he left off 2015 in Double A New Hampshire. I expect that he&#8217;ll stay there for the majority of the season, especially with the Jays increased pitching depth<strong> </strong>decreasing their need for spot starters in 2016.</p>
<p><strong>Chad Girodo – Relief Pitcher</strong></p>
<p>PECOTA Projection: 50.2 IP, 4.12 ERA, 4.42 DRA, 6.9 K/9, 2.9 BB/9</p>
<p>The Jays selected Girodo in the 9<span style="font-size: small"><span style="line-height: 20px">th</span></span> round of the 2013 draft. He was primarily selected because, as a senior, he&#8217;d sign for just $10,000, and then the Jays could save money to spend on the rest of their draft picks. However, despite the low expectations, Girodo has climbed the ladder and emerged as a quality relief prospect (even though that is somewhat of an oxymoron).</p>
<p><em>How he fits: </em>The Jays have an abundance of contenders for the final bullpen slot coming out of camp. Girodo is clearly behind most of the veteran contenders in camp, but if he goes back to Buffalo and posts similar numbers to what he did last year it&#8217;s possible we could see him later in the year.</p>
<p><em>Likely Opening Day Assignment: </em>AAA Buffalo</p>
<p>Girodo got a cup of coffee in Triple A to close out 2015, so he will start the season back there for 2016.</p>
<p><em>*denotes player has already been reassigned to minor league camp</em></p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/12/non-roster-invites-in-blue-jays-camp-the-prospects/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
