Blue Jays: Friday Night Moves to help bullpen against Orioles

As the Blue Jays continue to look for arms to use out of the bullpen, the club announced two moves on Friday afternoon.

The team recalled Anthony Kay from the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons and he will be active for Friday’s contest against the Baltimore Orioles.  Kay had made five previous appearances for the Blue Jays this season, four which were starts and unfortunately he had struggled.  The 26-year old lefty has had trouble keeping runners off base as he has a 1.64 WHIP, while posting a 6.62 ERA.  Things have not gone well in Buffalo either, as he has been roughed up a bit in Buffalo as well as over 13 starts he has surrendered 14 runs in just 12.2 innings.

Kay did have two good starts before being sent down where he tossed a combined eight innings allowing just to runs, however, he walked six in those appearances.  If Kay can put together a couple good appearances in relief he may be able to hold down a roster spot for the near future, as the bullpen continues to be completely unreliable.

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To make room on the active roster for Kay, the Blue Jays optioned T.J. Zeuch back to the Bisons after he started for Toronto on Thursday night against the Yankees.  Zeuch was brought in to be Steven Matz’s replacement as Matz tested positive for the Coronavirus and was placed on the COVID-Related Injured List.  Zeuch was able to toss just three innings during his start after allowing two runs.

The Blue Jays take on the Orioles Friday night in which Robbie Ray gets the start.  The team will need him to pitch as deep into the game as possible as they used six different bullpen arms during Thursday night’s game against the Yankees.  Ray has pitched into the sixth inning in nine of his last 10 start and it would be ideal if he could toss a season high tonight which is currently seven innings back on May 22.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1405982770074095630

Nate Pearson and Thomas Hatch continue to progress in Triple-A and I believe we could see a recall of one, if not both sometime next week.