Blue Jays vs. Royals Preview: Toronto reloads roster after eventful trade deadline

Prior to the trade deadline, the Toronto Blue Jays (64-46) were amidst one of their worst stretches of the season. The Jays had lost four straight games, yielding double digits in runs for three of the contests, before finally eking out a 9-8 win in the series finale against the American League East bottom-feeding Baltimore Orioles.

However, coming out of the trade deadline and heading into the three-game weekend series against the Kansas City Royals (54-55) at the Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays have totally reloaded with some key additions to their current roster. 

Blue Jays vs. Royals Preview: Toronto reloads roster after eventful trade deadline

In search of pitching help, Toronto managed to reel in some big arms for both their starting pitching and their bullpen. Joining the rotation eventually will be former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber, while Seranthony Domínguez and Louis Varland help provide some much-needed stability for their relief corps. In fact, Domínguez has made a great first impression already in more ways than one by pitching two scoreless innings with four strikeouts since coming over from the Orioles just three days ago.

The Jays also recruited some extra firepower by adding slugger Ty France as well. As a former 20-homer, 80+ RBI man with the Seattle Mariners, France significantly enhances Toronto’s offensive potential heading into the stretch run.

But not to be outdone, the Royals made some solid additions of their own, trading for the likes of Mike Yastrzemski from the San Francisco Giants, Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek from the San Diego Padres, Bailey Falter from the Pittsburgh Pirates, along with former Blue Jay Randal Grichuk just a little earlier from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Their acquisitions might not be as impactful and tantalizing compared to what the Blue Jays hauled in. But for a Royals team on the borderline of contention, it might just be enough to give them a shot at the playoffs if everything falls into place.

As for the pitching matchups for the upcoming weekend, the Blue Jays have yet to determine how their rotation will look like for the entire series. As for the Royals, they appear to be set with Michael Wacha (4-9, 3.53 ERA) on the mound to lead off on Friday, followed by Noah Cameron (5-4, 2.44 ERA) on Saturday and Seth Lugo (8-5, 3.03 ERA) on Sunday. 

The Blue Jays will look to build on their trade deadline momentum to keep things rolling as they begin their final two months of the season in preparation for the MLB playoffs.