Although the Blue Jays personnel have been a sore point at times this year, they are still a strong unit overall. At least that’s what the stats say, sometimes shooters don’t pass the sight test, but that’s neither here nor there.
While the bottom of the Bulls on the Blue Jays’ active roster has been a revolving door this year, the results haven’t been as dire as one might think. With Trent Thornton, Mitch White, Zach Pop, Bowden Francis, Thomas Hatch, and Jay Jackson this year, the group has one tendency in common: They’re all right-handed.
While Eric Swanson (. 143 batting average) and Trevor Richards (. 183 batting average) are left-handed pitchers who handle left-handed hitters well, Tim Maesa remains the only pitcher on the roster. While Mayza has been absolutely dominant this season (AL championships in 35 appearances, 1.40 ERA, 1.99 FIP and 294 ERA+), this is a game that could use one more.
Looking at Triple-A, the Blue Jays have five-year MLB veteran Paul Frey in Buffalo who is currently working on a minor league deal. The 29-year-old signed with the club in January and has been a solid starter for the Bisons.
In 19 outings, Fry posted a 2.96 ERA while striking out 27 and walking 10 in 24.1 innings of work. Historically, he’s done a good job of limiting home runs, and he’s used to being a hard-hitting pitcher that the Blue Jays like to use a lot.
As of now, South Bao is on the injured list. He was placed back at IL for 7 days by the Bisons on June 1 to make room for Wes Parsons on the roster. Since then, he has not been activated by the club yet, so any campaign to include him in the list of senior players will have to stop for the time being.
Once he’s off the injured list, it’s worth wondering if Fry could be one of the next arms in line to take a spot with the Bulls. Until now, the Jays are playing a game of musical chairs with their comfortable pitchers, so anything is possible.
