5 Blue Jays who won’t finish the month of August on the big league roster

So after all the dust has settled from the trade deadline, the Toronto Blue Jays ended up having quite the exodus of everyday players as a result of it. Danny Jansen found a new home with division rivals Boston Red Sox. Both Justin Turner and Yimi García ended up joining the AL West hopeful Seattle Mariners. Yusei Kikuchi also landed in the AL West, but with the Houston Astros. Trevor Richards latched on with the Minnesota Twins, who took out the Jays last postseason. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has moved all the way to Pittsburgh to hopefully help the Pirates make the playoffs for the first time since 2015. Nate Pearson went to Chicago to join the Cubs to play out the season. Finally, Kevin Kiermaier will get his legitimate chance to chase a ring before his retirement with the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

As a result, it had left many holes both in the starting lineup and pitching staff for the Jays to fill in the meantime. In addition to the usual suspects that have been with the team already this season, many of the organization’s top prospects as well as serviceable players will now get their chance to show what they could bring to the club going forward. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that every player currently with spots on the Jays’ big league roster is all that secure, After all, they still have some intriguing options in the high minors that they would probably want to take a look at before the rest of the season plays out.

Therefore, we will take a look at five Blue Jays players that have a high probability of not making it through the month of August with the big league team if they don’t step up their game soon enough. With many other prospective players hungry for spots, they sure will have their work cut out for them in the coming weeks.

Steward Berroa

After spending six seasons in the Jays’ minor league system, Steward Berroa finally made his elusive MLB debut this year with Toronto. He was only able to secure his opportunity after the Jays ran into quite the injury woes in June. Known mainly for his speed and defense, he has certainly put that on full display during his short tenure with the team so far. Playing mainly in a reserve role, Berroa has stolen 5 bases along with sporting a flawless 1.000 fielding percentage over 50 innings in the field in 15 games.

However, with just one RBI, a .158 batting average and .484 OPS to show for from an offensive standpoint, Berroa has left a bit to be desired in that regard. Now with the recent addition of Joey Loperfido and the promotion of Barger who has been getting some outfield time, Berroa will likely see an even more reduction in playing time going forward, so much that he may even be optioned and be replaced by a call-up before the month is over.

Yerry Rodríguez 

Yerry Rodríguez was acquired from the Rangers by the Jays back at the end of June after he was designated for assignment by Texas. The acquisition added some much needed pitching depth for the organization at a time when the Jays’ pitching staff was enduring some of its struggles and injury woes.

After making a good impression with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons by posting a tidy 1.80 ERA with 8 strikeouts in 5 innings pitched over five appearances, Rodríguez was recalled by the Jays towards the end of July. However, he had a forgettable debut with the club on July 29 when he gave up 3 runs on 5 hits in just 1 2/3 innings against Baltimore.

Given Rodríguez has often battled control issues throughout his career, with a lifetime 1.77 WHIP and a walk rate of 4.6 batters per nine innings for his MLB career, he is most likely just a stop-gap solution for the Jays’ bullpen for now. He will likely hold on to a roster spot until the team decides to bring up a pitching prospect or two to evaluate in the coming weeks. At that point in time, Rodríguez would likely be sent back to the minors since he has an option remaining.

Ryan Burr

Similar to Rodríguez, Ryan Burr was another pitching depth acquisition by the Jays, this time back earlier at the end of May from the Philadelphia Phillies. Selected in the fifth round by the Arizona Diamondbacks back in the 2015 MLB Draft, the right-handed reliever didn’t make his big league debut until after joining the Chicago White Sox organization via trade. 

Despite a solid minor league career, Burr had ran into quite the roadblocks so far at the major league level. Following his breakout year in 2021 with the White Sox where he amassed a stellar 2.45 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 36.2 innings pitched, he was unfortunately met with injury troubles in 2022. Burr ended up missing the bulk of the season due to undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. When he tried to work his way back into the majors for the 2023 season with the Tampa Bay Rays, he spent the entire season instead in the minors and ended up having surgery once again as a result of a meniscus injury.

After joining the Jays this season, Burr has appeared in 12 games, posting a 4.50 ERA with 5 walks and 13 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched. Like Rodríguez above, Burr will likely last until the time when the Jays choose to bring up some promising prospects to take a look at. But given how hard he has worked to overcome his injuries to get back into the majors as revealed in an interview with Sportsnet earlier this season, he will give it everything he has to hopefully keep his spot as long as possible for now.

Zach Pop

It has certainly been an unexpectedly rough go for Zach Pop in his past couple of seasons with the Jays. After joining the team at the trade deadline back in 2022, Pop became a key piece of their bullpen puzzle down the stretch. In 17 appearances, he registered a stellar 2-0 record with a 1.89 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and only 2 walks to go along with 11 strikeouts in 19 innings pitched.

When Pop was determined to continue that success into 2023, he was met with a season riddled with injuries and ineffectiveness. That led to him to posting his career worst numbers in ERA (6.59), walk rate (4.0 per nine innings) and home run rate (2.6 per nine innings). His struggles persisted to a point that he actually ended up finishing the season in the minors, failing to regain his major league roster spot.

This season, Pop began the year at Triple-A Buffalo, but joined the Jays towards the end of April. However, despite a brief solid start to 2024, he has failed yet again to regain his dominant form that he has shown when he first got here. To date, Pop sports an 0-3 record with a 5.24 ERA and 1.31 WHIP while giving up a career-high 7 home runs in just 34.1 innings of work. 

More worrisome was the fact that he had struggled even more recently with an ERA over 5.50 and a WHIP over 1.60 in his past 15 games. In fact, Pop was actually already demoted in mid-July, only to be recalled back at the end of the month with the fallout of the trade deadline. As a result, being one of the bubble players currently on the roster, Pop likely won’t last the entire month of August.