Blue Jays option slugging prospect to minor leagues among series of roster moves

Last month, Orelvis Martinez opening the Blue Jays' spring training slate by mashing a homer in the first game of the spring.

It turns out that fast start won't result in a major league start, as he was optioned to Triple-A yesterday among a series of 10 roster moves ahead of Opening Day.

Blue Jays trim nine players from major league camp

The four players assigned to minor league camp were:

• LHP Mason Fluharty
• RHP Kevin Gowdy
• RHP Hayden Juenger
• C Matt Whatley

None of these players are on the 40-man roster, which is why they were assigned to minor league camp instead of being optioned to the minors.

Fluharty opened some eyes early in the spring and got some buzz as a bullpen option as injuries have popped up, but it seems the team elected not to start his service time clock just yet.

He's tallied a 1.29 ERA in seven innings this spring with 11 strikeouts and just one walk.

All of the other assignments to minor league camp were expected. Gowdy and Juenger both had high ERAs this spring (5.69 and 8.31, respectively), while Whatley hit .273 in just 13 plate appearances.

The five players optioned to Triple-A are:

• RHP Jake Bloss
• OF Jonatan Clase
• INF Orelvis Martinez
• RHP Dillon Tate
• LHP Josh Walker

The big news here is the demotion of Martinez. While his stock is still a bit down after he hit with a 80-game suspension following his big league debut, he's still the Blue Jays' No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline and the No. 10 prospect at second base.

Martinez hit .333 this spring with the aforementioned home run in 27 at-bats. He stuck out seven times, which was something that plagued him in the minor leagues.

Toronto also demoted Clase after he had a rough spring. He was acquired last year at the trade deadline in the Yimi García trade, but only went 1-for-14 this spring in nine games.

Bloss, who was also acquired at last year's trade deadline, got demoted on the back of an up-and-down spring. He allowed eight earned runs in eight innings this spring and had the same number of walks as he did strikeouts (six).

That said, he could be in Toronto sooner rather than later if the starting pitching staff keeps getting decimated with injuries.

Tate and Walker both could have fit into the bullpen picture but now they'll start the season in Triple-A.

Tate hasn't pitched with the Blue Jays since he signed a major league, split-level deal with the team back in March, while Walker is in his first year with the Blue Jays after spending the start of his career with the Mets.

Tate is likely the first of these two to see time in MLB (they signed him to a major league deal for a reason, after all), but they should both into Toronto's big league bullpen picture at some point this season.