TORONTO — The realities of how this Toronto Blue Jays season is playing out, combined with today’s fire-hose-stream-of-content world means that, fairly or not, until the July 30 trade deadline passes, speculation is likely to touch nearly everyone on the roster.
After all, contenders are all circling vultures at this time of year, looking to pick what they can from the carcasses of clubs bound for the upper third of the 2025 draft. Even after an entertaining 10-6 win over the San Francisco Giants fuelled by another Ernie Clement three-run homer plus a wild six-run sixth Wednesday, right now that includes the 1.7 per cent playoff-probability Blue Jays.
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As such, Chris Bassitt’s name has surfaced a bit recently within the chattering classes, not in a he’s available kind of way, but more along the lines of an, if they’re selling anyway they should consider him, thought-exercise sort of way.
From a buyer’s perspective, it makes sense. Who wouldn’t want the remarkable reliability the 35-year-old right-hander brings to the table, not only for the rest of this season but also next year, too?
But with the Blue Jays intent on only trading expiring contracts this month and trying to compete again in 2025, well they really can’t afford to sacrifice Bassitt’s dependability, especially amid the ongoing attrition to their pitching organization-wide.
The latest hits came not at splendid Oracle Park, but at Lehigh Valley, where top pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann’s return to triple-A Buffalo lasted only one inning and 27 pitches due to left forearm tightness. The 21-year-old had just come off an injured-list stint for ulnar nerve inflammation in his left elbow, after being limited to 62 innings last year due to separate shoulder and biceps issues.
Exactly how severe the issue wasn’t immediately clear, but his truncated return comes on the heels of fast-rising Canadian lefty Adam Macko missing his weekend start at double-A New Hampshire and hitting the injured list with left forearm soreness that he’s rehabbing.
Fellow pitching prospects Brandon Barriera and Landon Maroudis both underwent the hybrid Tommy John surgery with an internal brace earlier this season, the same procedure Alek Manoah had last month.
All of that depletes the pitching pool the Blue Jays can draw from next year, when they’ll need to not only replenish their major-league staff, but the depth layer beneath it.
Cliched as it is to say, you can never really have enough, their making-it-up-on-the-fly bullpen being Exhibit A, with closer Jordan Romano recovering from arthroscopic elbow surgery, Yimi Garcia’s latest rehab outing from an elbow injury pushed back another day due to neck stiffness, Erik Swanson at Buffalo trying to figure things out and Tim Mayza just joining the Yankees on a minor-league deal after being released.
There’s so much heavy lifting needed to get this team ready for another run at the post-season out of the American League East that it’s hard to fathom that they can backfill for Bassitt, as well.
His latest start was a classic demonstration of resilience.
He faced seven batters and threw 33 pitches during a two-run first, added 29 more during a second in which he left the bases loaded yet still managed to give the Blue Jays five innings, surrendering an RBI double to Michael Conforto in the fifth that tied the game 3-3 after Clement’s homer in the top half.
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No worries there as the Blue Jays poured it on in the sixth, getting a go-ahead RBI single from Justin Turner that cashed in a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. double, plus RBI singles from Davis Schneider, Alejandro Kirk and Clement plus a two-run double from George Springer.
That made it 9-3 for the Blue Jays and their depleted bullpen found the final 12 outs to bring it home.
All of it started with Bassitt, though, an essential stability post for a team desperately in need of one, an essential stability post right to be coveted by others, too.
