The Toronto Blue Jays made some lineup changes before their series finale against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
Toronto is coming off a 7-3 win to even up the series after a 7-4 loss on Friday. With the win, the Blue Jays are 73-74 and 1 game back of the final Wild Card spot in the AL.
Toronto will start Dylan Cease on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1:37 p.m. ET.
Toronto Blue Jays Announce Brandon Valenzuela Decision
Before Toronto’s series finale against the Orioles, manager John Schneider made some major changes to his lineup.
Backup catcher Brandon Valenzuela gets the start and will be batting eighth as Alejandro Kirk gets the day off.
Toronto’s lineup on Sunday is as follows:
- B. Bateman RF
- G. Springer DH
- V. Guerrero Jr. 1B
- K. Okamoto 3B
- C. McAdoo LF
- E. Clement 2B
- A. Giménez SS
- B. Valenzuela C
- M. Straw CF
Valenzuela has been a solid backup catcher, as he’s great defensively with a cannon of an arm. Given the problem Cease has with holding runners on, having Valenzuela behind the plate makes sense.
Valenzuela is hitting .215 with 8 home runs and 21 RBIs with the Blue Jays this season. He has struggled as of late, as he’s 0-for-14 in his last 7 games, while he’s hitting .103 with 7 strikeouts in his last 14 games.
Dylan Cease Struggled With Holding on Runners in Last Start
In Cease’s last start, the Athletics ran all over him as runners Henry Bolte and Zack Gelof stole two bases each, which led to two runs in the third inning.
After the start, Cease admitted he had to do a better job of holding runners on.
“I wish I had a little more focus on that,” Cease said of the Athletics’ disruptive baserunning. “I feel like looking back, I kind of just let it happen. They definitely took advantage.”
Blue Jays manager, John Schneider, meanwhile, said it was something they had talked to Cease about.
“We talked about it before the game: Against a pitcher like [Cease], they’re going to take chances,” Schneider said. “We’ve got to do a better job of limiting those extra bases. First inning, really, too, we’ve got to handle the baseball.”
So, due to the success of the Athletics runners, the Blue Jays will be starting Valenzuela at catcher. He’s caught 17 runners stealing for a stellar 27.9% caught stealing percentage.
Toronto Blue Jays Announce Brandon Valenzuela Decision Before Orioles Finale