The Toronto Blue Jays are looking for a series win against the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday.
Toronto is coming off a massive 11-0 win over the Guardians in the second game of the series. The Blue Jays lost the series opener on Tuesday, 6-1.
The Blue Jays will start right-hander Jose Soriano in the series finale, which is massively important for the standings. If Toronto loses, they will be 2.5 games back of the Guardians for the final Wild Card spot, while with a win, they will be 0.5 games back.
First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. ET.
Blue Jays Reveal Spencer Arrighetti’s Role
The Blue Jays acquired Spencer Arrighetti from the Houston Astros at the trade deadline for Daulton Varsho in a 1-for-1 swap.
Arrighetti is an optionable starting pitcher who’s under team control through the 2029 season. Although the trade was for the future, Arrighetti was expected to help the team this year as well, especially with the injuries to the rotation.
So far, Arrighetti has had mixed results and has been used as a bulk-inning reliever as he’s not fully built up. Toronto has used openers in front of him, and after Tuesday’s game against Cleveland, Blue Jays manager John Schneider revealed the plan for Arrighetti going forward.
“We’re kind of at an imperfect spot to build up over the next three or four start days or bulk days, if you will,” Schneider said. “As much as we can, we’ll build him up and try to build off of last time. At the same time, we’ll try to take advantage of some guys we have here, too.”
Blue Jays insider Keegan Matheson of MLB.com, meanwhile, believes Arrighetti is likely to remain in this role with an opener in front of him.
“At this point, it’s possible that Arrighetti stays in this role the rest of the way, with the Blue Jays using one or two “openers” in front of him,” Matheson wrote.
Arrighetti is 7-8 with a 4.82 ERA this season. With the Blue Jays, he’s 0-3 with a 6.55 ERA in 3 games, including 1 start.
Toronto Right Now
The Blue Jays are firmly in the playoff mix.
Toronto is coming off a massive 11-0 win to even up its series against Cleveland. In the win, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed a three-run home run, which the Blue Jays are hopeful will help turn his season around.
“Everyone has been behind him,” Schneider said. “You guys know I have been behind him the entire year and will continue to be. That was a bit of a deep breath for him and a deep breath for everyone. Hopefully he can stay right there.”
The Blue Jays, meanwhile, said they are also leaning on last year’s playoff run to help them right now.
“The mentality, going back to that Seattle series [in the ALCS] when we were coming home down 3-2,” Schneider said. “We just had to win tomorrow. We had to win the next day and figure it out. That’s the mentality right now.”
Toronto is 69-71 and 1.5 games back of a Wild Card spot.
Blue Jays Manager Reveals Role for Recently Acquired Pitcher During Guardians Series