With nine games left in the regular season, the Blue Jays are shuffling the deck.
With nine games left in the regular season, the Toronto Blue Jays are shuffling the roster deck.
As reported by Mitch Bannon of 'The Athletic,' the Blue Jays have designated veteran right-hander Michael Lorenzen for assignment. The recently acquired Jose Rodriguez has been added to the added roster.
Here's more of what you need to know.
About the Blue Jays situation
Entering play on Friday, the Blue Jays are 76-77 with those nine games to play. They currently trail the Cleveland Guardians by two games in the battle for the third spot in the American League wild card race. They are tied with the Texas Rangers, who they play this weekend in a three-game series in Arlington.
It should be noted:
The Guardians and Chicago White Sox are tied, but the White Sox hold the tiebreaker, which puts them in the lead in the American League Central and knocks the Guardians down to the wild card spot.
That's important, because the Blue Jays do not have the tiebreaker on the White Sox, but they do on Cleveland. The Blue Jays would prefer that the White Sox stay in the divisional lead as a result.
Scoreboard watching
The White Sox play the Detroit Tigers on Friday night while the Guardians play the Athletics. Given that the A's are the second-worst team in the American League, you have to assume Cleveland will win the series. That makes this series against Texas even more important for Toronto, who not only needs to pull in front of Texas, but needs to keep pace.
The Blue Jays and Rangers will play at 8:05 p.m. ET as Dylan Cease takes the mound against Kumar Rocker.
About Michael Lorenzen
A 12-year veteran of the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, Tigers, Colorado Rockies, Blue Jays and Rangers, Lorenzen has gone 57-68 for his career with a 4.44 ERA. He was an All-Star with the 2023 Tigers and threw a no-hitter for the Phillies that same year.
He was 0-2 with an 8.49 ERA for the Blue Jays this year, appearing in six games and tossing 11.2 innings.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Michael Lorenzen (55) pitches to the Baltimore Orioles during the ninth inning at Rogers Centre. John E. Sokolowski-Imagn ImagesAs for Jose Rodriguez
He was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers around the trade deadline. When he appears in a game, this will be his major league debut.
He is 4-4 with a 3.79 ERA this season in the minors. He's struck out 51 batters in 38.0 innings.
