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.

Davis Schneider 

Davis Schneider took the baseball world by storm last year when he had a record-breaking debut against the Boston Red Sox in an early August weekend series. Armed with his prolific bat, he managed to stick with the club for the final two months of the season. Despite fading somewhat towards the end, Schneider still posted a solid .276 average with a 1.008 OPS, 23 runs scored, 12 doubles, 8 home runs and 20 RBI in just 35 games played. His outstanding performance gave him a head start as he put himself very much in play for the 2024 season as a result.

Schneider managed to continue that success into 2024, as he ended up making the team out of spring training and actually began 2024 on a strong note. In fact, he was one of the more productive players on the squad while many others were struggling coming out of the gate. Schneider hit close to .250 with an OPS over .800 along with 25 runs scored, 13 doubles, 7 home runs and 29 RBI over the first two months of the season. He impressed so much that he even took over the prime leadoff spot from a slumping George Springer and became almost an everyday player in the process.

However, Schneider’s production had regressed considerably since then, as he has hit a measly .183 with a .532 OPS, along with just 12 runs scored, 3 home runs and 8 RBI for the months of June and July. In doing so, he has seen an overall decrease in playing time in recent weeks. With other options performing admirably this season in Ernie Clement, Spencer Horwitz, and more recently Leo Jiménez and Addison Barger; Schneider will need to fight for all the playing time he can get going forward. Otherwise, he could even risk the possibility of being optioned back down to the minors if his ongoing struggles continue.

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.

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.