Blue Jays: Obvious, interesting, and drastic changes to make

The obvious

While I could have listed a few things in the obvious category, I’m going to focus on pitching for a moment. Despite the fact that Tanner Roark has been relatively effective as a reliever so far, I don’t think you’ll find anyone willing to bet on his 0.00 ERA out of the bullpen lasting much longer. It’ll be a tough pill to swallow with the Blue Jays paying him 12 million dollars this year, but it’s pretty hard to argue in favour of giving him MLB innings right now.

I’m sure they tried over the winter, but if I’m Ross Atkins I’m calling every GM in baseball and seeing if there are any takers, even if that means taking on a bad contract in return or sending most of the remaining money owed to the right-hander along with him. Chances are they’ll end up having to designate him for assignment, and I expect that to happen as soon as one or two healthy arms re-join the pitching staff.

As much as I understand the need for pitching at the moment, I don’t know that I feel much different about T.J. Zeuch either. He was rocked on his first three pitches on Sunday, and now sports a 6.75 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP over 12 innings. Like Roark, his most important value is the needed length and innings that he could provide, but he’ll have to be more effective in order to do that.

For now Montoyo might just have to roll with what he’s got, but as soon as Jordan Romano and Tyler Chatwood are able to return this week, I’d start with sending Zeuch back to Triple-A, and likely admit that the situation with Roark just isn’t one that can be salvaged.