The Blue Jays rotation, as we often talk about it, is made up of an excellent top-4 (Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios and Chris Bassitt), but it lacks depth.
Right now, Yusei Kikuchi and Mitch White are options. In case of injury, it is not ideal.
Maybe the Blue Jays will wait until the start of the season is behind us to assess the situation (and give Kikuchi a real chance) and adjust as needed. After all, at the deadline, an addition can be made.
And in the best of all worlds, Hyun-Jin Ryu could be available… even if I don’t believe it.
But among the riskier options, keep in mind the depth of the minors. What if Ricky Tiedemann was a few months away from the Majors?
Tiedemann is a quality prospect for the Jays. The club’s 2021 third-round pick made his pro debut in 2022… and he’s done very well.
In 78.2 innings last year (the length of his outings was controlled), he dominated. Whether in Dunedin (30 innings in the A), in Vancouver (37.2 innings in the A+) or in New Hampshire (11 innings in the AA), he was excellent.
In all, he passed 117 guys in the mitt and he was, according to scouts watching him go, in full control of his shots.
He was rarely in trouble.
The left-handed pitcher is going to start next season, I daresay, in the AA. And at the rate things are going, a promotion to Buffalo shouldn’t take long if he picks up where he left off.
Can whoever is the Blue Jays’ best prospect (and the best prospect on the mound the club has had since Alek Manoah) achieve the impossible and be called up?
Regardless of the transactions that will be made, Tiedemann will not be included: it is with the organization of the Jays that he will progress… but he is so well seen that when it comes time to extract a big hope from the Blue Jays, it is often his name that comes up.
We can therefore think, whether it is to help the bullpen (as we sometimes see with young people) or the rotation, that the starter could have his place relatively quickly if all goes well for him.
Me, in any case, I believe in it.
Members of the Blue Jays organization did not expect to see him progress so quickly, but if we look at what happened with Manoah (he pitched 35 innings only in the minors in his career), the club n won’t be afraid to make room for Tiedemann if he deserves it.
It’s up to him, sort of, if he wants to pitch in Toronto as early as 2023.
