5 biggest surprises on the Blue Jays Opening Day roster

The final bullpen spots

Entering camp, it looked like Tommy Nance (who is out of options) and Ryan Yarbrough (who was a stud last season with the Jays) were the favorites for the final two sports in the Jays' bullpen. Instead, those sports went to Richard Lovelady and Jacob Barnes, which came as a total surprise.

After all, Lovelady had a less-than-stellar spring with Toronto with a 6.48 ERA and 1.44 WHIP in 8 1/3 innings. Barnes didn't fare much better with a 6.75 ERA in 5 1/3 innings. Those are numbers that normally get you sent to the minors.

Perhaps the Jays based their decision on something deeper than the spring numbers like MLB track records. But if that was the case, Yarbrough still should have earned a spot. Not only did he excel for the Jays down the stretch in 2024, he is also a proven, effective commodity in his seven years in the big leagues.

We got a first-hand look at Yarbrough's value when the New York Yankees scooped him up less than 24 hours after he left the Jays. Here's hoping that baffling decision doesn't come back to bite them.

The amount of outfielders

With Roden, Straw and Nathan Lukes all surviving final roster cuts, the Blue Jays are opening the season with six outfield options as their disposal heading into the 2025 season. And that doesn’t even include Daulton Varsho, who will start the year on the IL.

Anthony Santander and George Springer will likely get the bulk of their starts in the corner outfield spots, which leaves Roden, Straw and Lukes to rotate through centerfield. Schneider can also play some left field along with second base.

Yes, all four of those players have had solid springs and probably deserve their spots on the roster, but is it worth it to have so many outfielders on the roster? Lukes' production was a step behind everyone else's this spring, so would it have made more sense for them to use that spot for someone else?

Barger could have been on the roster as the super utilityman or Toronto could have elected to use it to select Bethancourt's contract to continue the battle for the backup catcher spot.

Not only will this current roster setup deprive someone of valuable playing time, but it will also limit the amount of player evaluation opportunities for the front office.