Blue Jays: Five players who could lose their roster spot at the deadline

Anthony Banda

Designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates back in late June, reliever Anthony Banda hasn’t spent a lot of time with the Blue Jays but has pitched to mixed results since arriving in Toronto.

Through five outings and 4.1 innings, Banda has surrendered three runs and allowed five hits in that span. He has three outings where he didn’t give up an earned run and also has four strikeouts on his record but opponents are finding ways to get hits off of him although it is a small sample size with his new organization. Before being traded to Toronto, Banda was struggling with the Pirates, sporting a 6.41 ERA through 23 outings while opponents authored a 3.94 batting average off the southpaw.

I can see why the Jays took a flier on him given he throws from the left side but if the Jays make some moves, Banda could be one of the first to lose his roster spot, especially since he is out of options. It’s tough for a playoff-worthy team to keep a pitcher with an ERA over 5.00 on the year and unfortunately, Banda’s time with the Jays might be coming to an end over the next week.

Trevor Richards

One player I did not expect to struggle as much as he has this year is right-hander Trevor Richards. After being acquired midway through the 2021 campaign and pitching well to end the year, Richards was one of the relievers the Blue Jays staff could trust in the high-pressure situations, at least, that’s how it felt going into the 2022 season.

Fast forward to the end of July and Richards is not living up to expectations, as the former Milwaukee Brewers reliever has struggled to find consistency on the mound and is currently holding a 5.54 ERA through 37 appearances. While June was not kind to him (ten earned runs through eight innings pitched with a neck strain IL stint to finish out the month), the 6’2″ Richards has turned in better results in July, only getting knocked around on Sunday against the Red Sox to the tune of two earned runs with a home run to boot. Before that, Richards had a seven-game stretch going where he didn’t allow an earned run while striking out 12 with four walks through 7.2 innings.

With Richards, it really comes down to the numbers game and who the club would prefer to have on the MLB roster. If the Jays acquire two to three relievers, I believe it will really be decided on whether they want to send Max Castillo down and have him start again in Buffalo or DFA Richards, keeping the Castillo in the Jays bullpen over the veteran reliever. Castillo does have options available but he is pitching better while being able to give the Jays multiple innings.

Bradley Zimmer

Acquired just prior to the start of the 2022 campaign, former top prospect Bradley Zimmer is having a time at the plate this season. Used sparingly this year, mostly in a defensive replacement/pinch runner role, Zimmer has eight hits on the year through 75 at-bats while owning a .452 OPS on the season. He does have two home runs this year, one being off Justin Verlander and the other off Rays reliever Dusten Knight, but he has struck out 33 times, almost half of his at-bats on the campaign (44%).

As the trade deadline is only a week away, any addition the Blue Jays make to the squad requires one member to come off. Who could be dropped?

While the defense is his calling card, if the Blue Jays are looking to add a lefty-bat to the bench, I would imagine the front office is going to let go of Zimmer before they remove Zack Collins, Cavan Biggio, or Raimel Tapia.

Collins could be moved to AAA but considering they like to have Kirk hit in the DH spot on occasion, having the third catcher is an additional safety net that the club has utilized for most of the year. If his bat was playing a little better than a .107 batting average then I could see the argument to keep him and maybe move Collins but considering Tapia can cover centre field when George Springer needs an off-day, I think Zimmer is potentially on the chopping block.

The Options Bus

I will admit that this one is cheating in that it really isn’t just one singular player but involves at least three, and potentially more depending on who you view being within the bigger picture.

So far this year, the Blue Jays have used 27 different pitchers due to poor performance, various injuries, and because of bullpen pitchers being overworked when the starters weren’t able to go deep into games. Numerous players like Jeremy Beasley, Trent Thornton, Matt Gage, Casey Lawerence, and Julian Merryweather have ridden the options train on numerous occasions this year, and if the Blue Jays acquire two to three bullpen arms or even a starter over the next week, there is a chance that the train isn’t needed at the station anymore.

The whole point of rotating between these players was because they needed length out of the bullpen for the reasons I mentioned above. If the club acquires a couple of solid veteran relief arms and maybe even another starter, with Max Castillo on the roster or Ross Stripling/Yusei Kikuchi potentially in the bullpen, they can get the innings and length they need should the situation arise like a freak injury or a starter getting knocked around early.

Zack Collins

Catcher Zack Collins finds himself in a bit of a predicament. He doesn’t necessarily receive a lot of playing time now that Danny Jansen is healthy and Alejandro Kirk is having a great season, as well as the fact that Gabriel Moreno, the organization’s top prospect, is back down in AAA and could be brought back to the Blue Jays if need be as Collins does have options at his disposal.

Factor in that if the Jays do acquire a left-handed bat and decide they require the defensive ability of Zimmer in the back half of the season (given the Springer injury concerns), Collins would most likely be next on the position player chopping block. His stats at the plate aren’t terrible by any means, a .203/.276/.435 slash line with four home runs and a .711 OPS through 69 at-bats but like Zimmer, he strikes out a lot (43% of the time).

This puts Collins in a bit of a tough spot should the Jays add a position player over the next week, as it will really come down to whether the club prefers him or Zimmer on the squad. Collins could also be switched out for Moreno as the season begins to wind down but that won’t necessarily happen this week or particularly anytime soon. It just really matters whether the team ultimately adds a position player and where the value lies in a third catcher or a defensive-minded outfielder for the switch.

We will have to wait and see.