Blue Jays Notes: Kikuchi's Rotation Case, Tiedemann Gets Tagged
BRADENTON, FL— The Blue Jays lost to the Pirates in Bradenton. But, the results don't matter—yet.
With individual performances and health topping the priority list, a few of Toronto's biggest spring storylines added new chapters on Tuesday:
Kikuchi Keeps Clean Spring
Yusei Kikuchi wasn't flawless, but he was effective.
The lefty occasionally lost command against the Pirates, but always snapped back to the strike zone. Kikuchi walked his second and third batters of spring, but when he left the mound after the third inning, he departed without a run or hit against.
With a recently adjusted delivery and a new, harder, breaking pitch he added to the bag just weeks ago, Kikuchi kept his perfect spring going on Tuesday. With three hitless and runless innings (two walks, two strikeouts), Kikuchi's overall spring line moved to 7IP 1H 0ER 9K 3BB.
Manager John Schneider wasn't willing to commit to Kikuchi as his fifth starter after Tuesday's outing, but said the lefty has "put himself in a really good spot" to take the role.
Tiedemann's Second Outing
Carlos Santana vs Blue Jays lefties. Not a great recipe, it seems.
The Pirates 1B/DH took Toronto's top prospect Ricky Tiedemann over the centerfield wall at LECOM Park in Bradenton, spotting a two-run homer on the southpaw's record in the fourth inning.
The runs against were Tiedemann's first of the spring, but the lefty still flashed the high-90s fastball, slider, and change that wowed in his opening outing last week. He needed some baserunning blunders from the Pirates to get out of his first frame but bounced back in the second with a one-two-three inning.
"Even with any difficulties out there, I'm not surprised with it," Tiedemann said. "You got to work through stuff like that. So, just happy I was able to get in there, get those two innings in, and come out."
Merrifield Returns (and Runs)
Whit Merrifield hadn't played in spring action since March 2, dealing with some minor quad tightness. He returned on Tuesday and came out running.
The Blue Jays 2B/OF recorded two hits, tried to steal two bases and succeeded in the thievery once. His first steal attempt came after Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller disengaged from the rubber twice, meaning Keller would have to catch Merrifield if he threw over again. Taking advantage of one of MLB's newest rules, Merrifield took off for second and arrived safely with ease.
Here’s a look at Whit Merrifield just taking off after two mound disengagements from Mitch Keller. pic.twitter.com/CWcgNGHD0C
— Frank Stampfl (@Roto_Frank) March 7, 2023
"[Merrifield is] trying to work through it and see what teams are going to do," manager John Schneider said. "He's gonna be aggressive for sure, he's gonna pick his spots and try to do things like that."
Mitch Bannon is a baseball reporter for Sports Illustrated covering the Toronto Blue Jays and their minor league affiliates.Twitter: @MitchBannon