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Alex Anthopoulos has zero respect for the Buffalo Bisons' probable starters' list. After calling up the Bisons' Friday night and Saturday afternoon's starters in Andrew Albers and Scott Copeland, the Blue Jays' general manager has dipped into his triple-A depth once again by recalling Chad Jenkins, who was set to start on Tuesday. Also being saved the trip to Durham, North Carolina is Steve Delabar, who earned the victory Sunday afternoon with the help of Brad Glenn's less-than-graceful triple-and-error.
Heading down to Durham are Scott Copeland and Miguel Castro. Copeland has done nothing to earn his demotion, but having been a starter in triple-A all season, his being used twice this weekend probably meant that he would be out of commission for a few days. That said, Copeland probably didn't do quite too much to deserve his promotion either, except for having been decent in Buffalo and having had his previous start at the right time. With the Blue Jays' starters consistently unable to pitch past five or six innings in games, it made perfect sense for Copeland to be sent out in favour of Jenkins' well-rested arm, especially with Marco Estrada starting on Tuesday.
Jenkins might not be around for long either, with the club's recent penchant for rotating long relievers. Jenkins has had some good numbers through four starts in Buffalo (especially his last two), having dropped his cutter in favour of his three best pitches, as we learned on this week's Around The Nest podcast.
The twenty-year-old Castro, who was for some reason given the closer tag after a couple of bad outings by Brett Cecil, lost his title promptly after a couple of bad outings of his own this past Monday. And after a low-leverage appearance and Sunday's crappy outing, he has lost his big league job, being swapped for Steve Delabar. I was thinking that it made sense to re-build Castro's confidence in low-leverage situations up in Toronto, but the clearly panicked front office believe that wholesale changes to the relief corps is needed to get the club back into a good groove. I am hoping that Castro gets used exclusively in high-leverage situations with the Bisons during his time in the minors.
Delabar, the former American League All-Star, has been pitching well in a small sample for the Bisons, having given up just a single run in nine innings pitched, striking out seven and walking one. His low strikeout numbers are rather concerning but let's close our eyes, cross our fingers, and say that it will regress eventually.
In the span of a few days, the Blue Jays have demoted three of the rookies they started the season with: Daniel Norris got the axe first, then followed by Dalton Pompey and now Miguel Castro. Starting with so many raw rookies, it was entirely predictable that at least a few of them would eventually be sent down to the minors for some work. It was quite unexpected that half of the rookie class would be shipped off together like this.
Dates of Recall
Player | Optioned | Recallable on |
Jayson Aquino | End of spring | Now |
Preston Guilmet | End of spring | Now |
Rob Rasmussen | End of spring | Now |
Bo Schultz | End of spring | Now |
Ryan Tepera | End of spring | Now |
Matt Hague | End of spring | Now |
A.J. Jimenez | End of spring | Now |
Colt Hynes | 2015-04-19 | Now |
Daniel Norris | 2015-05-01 | 2015-05-11 |
Dalton Pompey | 2015-05-02 | 2015-05-12 |
Andrew Albers | 2015-05-02 | 2015-05-12 |
Scott Copeland | 2015-05-03 | 2015-05-13 |
Miguel Castro | 2015-05-03 | 2015-05-13 |
UPDATE
The Dodgers announced that they have acquired first baseman Andy Wilkins for cash, who was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays when the club needed roster spots for Scott Copeland and Ezequiel Carrera.
The Dodgers have acquired IF Andy Wilkins from @BlueJays for cash considerations and designated RHP Scott Baker for assignment.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 4, 2015
Wilkins, 26, was picked up by the Blue Jays on waivers after being designated to make room for Kyle Drabek. He is a power first baseman who broke out with a 30-homer campaign with triple-A Charlotte in 2014 and should find a good home in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League when he joins Oklahoma City. Scott Baker was designated for assignment to make room for Wilkins.
Many teams were expected to be interested in Wilkins after he was DFAed, as he is only on his first option year and is a good piece for triple-A. The Blue Jays and the Dodgers worked out a cash deal that will probably get the Blue Jays something a little more than the $20,000 waiver price that they would've gotten had a team claimed him after being put on outright waivers.