Blue Jays’ Bassitt says he’s done calling his own pitches after loss to A’s
Multi-tool right-hander Chris Bassitt says he is done calling his own pitches with PitchCom after his latest outing against the basement-dwelling Oakland A’s ended poorly.
TORONTO — Alek Manoah’s latest sim game produced “a lot of positive feedback,” according to Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider. The big righty threw 74 pitches over five innings, he was up to 94 m.p.h., and over 70 per cent of his pitches were strikes. Next up is a bullpen session this weekend, likely followed by an outing either in the rookie-level Florida Complex League or low-A Florida State League next week, with the steps that follow to be decided from there.
The progression is an intriguing one in that it puts Manoah on a timeline which makes him an option for the July 1 Canada Day game against the Boston Red Sox — the next time the Blue Jays need a fifth starter. But asked Friday if he’s a possibility for that outing, Schneider pretty quickly played down the notion, replying “I don’t think so right now.”
“It’s not like we’re targeting that because it’s the next go-round in the rotation or anything,” Schneider continued. “It really will depend on how he’s doing. We told him from the get-go, we’ll know when you’re ready, you’ll tell us when you’re ready. It’s not like anyone has circled a date on the calendar.”
That puts Trevor Richards, the ever-versatile righty who’s made two starts amid pitching in nearly every bullpen role except for closer this season, on track to make a third start, hinting at a return for Bowden Francis to add length to the bullpen.
The Blue Jays will need a fifth starter only once more after that before the all-star break, on July 8 at Detroit, allowing them to provide Manoah with some runway. His work is focused on getting his pitching delivery more in line with what it was the previous two seasons, throwing more strikes and becoming more efficient with his pitches. Schneider reiterated that the “whole thing is to do what’s best for him… so whenever that time is when it will be.”
“The messaging to him has been very specific and very consistent,” added Schneider. “He knows what it is from a delivery standpoint, that’s been articulated very clearly from Pete (Walker, Blue Jays pitching coach) to him and from him back to Pete, really. So it’s really just kind of seeing those things play out and come to life consistently. That’s why I think he’ll kind of have a good idea of it, just like we will. But everyone’s really on the same page. It’s pretty cut and dry.”
An interesting consideration as the Blue Jays map out his outing next week — do they want a New York Yankees affiliate to get an up-close look at him? The Blue Jays complex league team plays games Monday at the Tigers then games Tuesday on the road and Thursday at home versus the Yankees. Low-A Dunedin, meanwhile, is off until Wednesday, when they open a series at Port St. Lucie.
