Liam Hendriks optioned to Buffalo as Marcus Stroman takes over

Right-hander Liam Hendriks acquitted himself nicely in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform, going 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA and a solid 6.2 K/9 ratio. However, that wasn’t able to derail the Marcus Stroman train, and in a battle between the two over who would stay in Toronto and who would be optioned back to Buffalo, the latter won.

After Sunday’s win over the Royals, the Blue Jays opted to option the 25-year-old Australian back to Buffalo according to Barry Davis of Sportsnet.

Despite his solid ERA and K/BB rate, Hendriks was particularly lucky in his 2 starts with the Blue Jays. While he posted a 2.31 ERA, his FIP of 5.21 and SIERA of 4.42 foretold that the ERA was a mirage and things would turn for the worst sooner rather than later. It didn’t help that 56.3% of batted balls against Hendriks were fly balls, something that certainly doesn’t play well when your home park is Rogers Centre.

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The decision was made much easier on Saturday, when top prospect Marcus Stroman made his first career start for the Blue Jays and was absolutely lights out. In 6 innings of work, the 23-year-old surrendered 1 run on 5 hits, while striking out 6 and walking none for a game score of 64. He through 63 or his 94 pitches for strikes and 12 of the 21 batted balls were of the ground-ball variety.

The Blue Jays are off on Monday, as they travel to Detroit for a three-game set with the Tigers. They’ll likely announce their corresponding roster move prior to the game, which I imagine would involve adding another arm to the bullpen, likely Neil Wagner.