Blue Jays: Three players on the 40-man that may not be around on Opening Day

Ross Atkins and the Toronto Blue Jays are continually working at making the club better for the 2023 season.  Part of taking a step forward is that there is more competition on the roster, which means not everyone on the 40-man roster right now will be there when the season starts at the end of March in St. Louis.  Here is a look at some players that are are at risk of finding a new home before that Season Opener.

Julian Merryweather

It has been over four years since Atkins traded former AL-MVP Josh Donaldson for a relatively unknown 27-year-old pitching prospect coming off Tommy John surgery in Julian Merryweather. 

Atkins took a lot of negative responses from the fanbase when the trade came down, due to Merryweather’s age and injury history, however when he took the mound in late 2020 the negativity turned to excitement.  In his first four major league appearances, he threw 7.1 innings without surrendering a run and striking out 12.  However, just under a month after making his debut, Merryweather found himself on the injured list and did not pitch again in 2020 which would be a theme over the next couple of seasons.

In 2021, Merryweather spent time on the 60-day injured list with an oblique strain and again in 2022 with an abdominal strain.  He has spent almost as much time on the injured list as he has on the active roster since joining the Jays.  He rejoined the club in September last year after missing almost three months and looked impressive as he posted a 2.35 ERA over his first five appearances before surrendering five runs in 0.2 innings in his final outing of the season. 

Merryweather is now out of options and he will be in tough to earn a spot in the bullpen due to his injury history.  You can count on the club giving him as long of a look in Spring Training as possible, but he may be running out of time in Toronto.