Blue Jays open up a roster spot ahead of September call-ups

On Monday, the Toronto Blue Jays made an interesting move during their off-day in preparation for their September call-ups. The Blue Jays optioned pitcher CJ Van Eyk back down to their Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons. However, there was no corresponding move that was announced. With that, all signs are pointing towards the Blue Jays making three additions to round out their 28-man roster heading into September.

Van Eyk has put together a solid minor league season with the jays this year. In 21 games that included 15 starts, the 27-year-old right-hander has amassed a 6-3 record with a tidy 3.79 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, giving up just seven home runs along with 35 walks and 68 strikeouts over 95 total innings of work with the Bisons. In doing so, Van Eyk earned a couple of looks with the Blue Jays big league club as a result.

However, he was only able to manage a 4.05 ERA, 1.95 WHIP, yielding 11 hits with only one strikeout in 6.2 innings pitched over four appearances as a reliever for Toronto. As a result, it made sense for the Blue Jays to look for another more effective option heading into the stretch.

CJ Van Eyk heading back down to the minors makes for an interesting Tuesday for the Blue Jays

Among pitching options that the Jays could add, Ricky Tiedemann should be right there at the top of the list. Tiedemann had a one-game cameo for his MLB debut with the Blue Jays earlier this month against the New York Yankees. Despite giving up one earned run, his stuff looked electric as he fanned two Yankees in 1.2 innings of relief.

Many were surprised that he was sent back down so quickly after just that one shot. But perhaps the Jays had an intricate plan to ramp up his activity after coming off the IL in the minors to get him more ready for September instead.

Perhaps Toronto may be looking to add a big young power bat such as Sean Keys for the playoff run. After all, Keys is one of the hottest hitting prospects currently in the Blue Jays’ system, so anyone that could significantly boost the team’s offensive potential down the stretch is definitely worth considering. Or they might even do what they did last season in picking up a key role player in Isiah Kiner-Falefa from waivers to add to their roster for September.

Nevertheless, the Van Eyk move makes for an interesting Tuesday for the Blue Jays as they prepare for their run for a postseason berth starting in Cleveland.

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