Blue Jays: Craig Breslow Will Not Make the Team

Craig Breslow, the 37-year-old southpaw, signed a minor-league contract with the Jays earlier this spring in the hopes of playing in the big leagues for another season. Although he’s been a stealthily successful reliever in the past, Breslow has been informed he will not make the team.

According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, the Blue Jays have informed Craig Breslow that he will not crack the team’s 40-man roster. So far this spring, Breslow has struggled mightily, pitching to a 6.75 ERA in 6.2 innings, allowing 10 hits and walking five.

The Jays had hoped that he would be a complementary bullpen piece that would help even out the heap of righties already slated to make the team. Unfortunately, Breslow was decimated by right-handed hitters so far this spring, with righties hitting .389 against him with seven hits and a home run.

Breslow, a graduate of Yale University, is widely considered to be the “smartest man in baseball”. He had actually received an offer of admission to the NYU School of Medicine but deferred the acceptance in favour of being drafted in the 2002 draft. Funnily enough, he is still eligible to attend medical school at NYU, having deferred his original offer of admission four times since 2002.

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As for his contract situation, the Trumbull, Connecticut native has the opportunity to opt out of his deal on Thursday, March 22nd, or accept a demotion to the minors. At this point in his career, it’s likely he‘ll request a release and seek a position elsewhere.

Last year with Cleveland and Minnesota, Breslow was brilliant against left-handed hitting, limiting them to an ugly slash line of .214/.294/.286 in 52 plate appearances. Overall, he would finish the season with a 5.09 ERA in 35.1 innings with a WHIP of 1.557.

For his career, he sports a 3.45 ERA in over 550 major league innings. His best season in terms of WAR came in 2013 when he put up a 1.81 ERA in 59.2 innings for the Boston Red Sox. Despite his underwhelming spring, his unique combination of a slurve, overhand curve and a mix of fastballs should give him a decent shot to find a roster spot elsewhere in the league.

Next: Moves coming to make the 40 man roster work