The Toronto Blue Jays lost a four-hour affair yesterday, dropping the second game of the Seattle series in the 12th inning that saw former Blue Jay Rowdy Tellez belt a grand slam over the right field wall to put the game away.

José Berríos went six innings and allowed three earned runs through his outing, but the Jays called on five relievers yesterday, throwing a total of six innings to cover the distance in extras. Each pitcher went at least one inning, while Yariel Rodríguez went through two innings. Yimi García and Jeff Hoffman were unavailable after throwing 11 and 17 pitches, respectively, on Friday, and should be good to go today, while Rodríguez, Chad Green, and Brendon Little are likely unavailable today after their recent outings (Green also pitched on Friday). The Jays also announced that Nick Sandlin is landing on the IL with a lat strain, leaving manager John Schneider with one less arm available to him.

To counteract last night’s game and the Sandlin injury, the Jays designated Jacob Barnes for assignment (he allowed the Tellez homer) and called up Dillon Tate and selected the contract of Paxton Schultz from triple-A Buffalo. Tate rejoined the Blue Jays late into spring training on a Major League deal and owns a 1.50 ERA through five outings, while Schultz will make his big league debut the first time he steps on the mound. In triple-A, he owns a 2.08 ERA through four relief appearences, striking out nine through 8 2/3 innings.

Looking towards today’s game, the club likely has Tate, Schultz, García, Hoffman, and Mason Fluharty good to go for the bullpen, which is a solid group to work with, although there are some question marks surrounding Tate and Schultz, mostly because they are just new to the squad. Schneider likely doesn’t want to use García and Hoffman until later in the game or if the situation requires it, if the game is close, so the other three might be the first go-to arms depending on how Lucas fares.

The best thing the Blue Jays can have go their way today is a strong start from Lucas, going at least five innings and at least 80 pitches. The southpaw has gone at least five innings in each of his previous three starts and has ranged from 74 to 87 pitches between the three outings, with the highest mark being his latest outing against Atlanta. His first two starts were strong, holding the Nationals and Red Sox to just four combined hits and zero runs with three walks and 11 strikeouts while posting a 0.68 WHIP in the process. Lucas held the Nats and Red Sox batters to a .114 average and was all around the strike zone, posting a 65.4% strike rate, but things went sideways for the California product on Monday against Atlanta when he allowed eight runs off of six hits and four walks.

The Braves laid off some tough pitches and capitalized on his mistakes, belting three home runs while striking out just three batters in the contest. He still went five innings and hit the 87 pitch mark, but a repeat performance will be tough to follow, and will likely require either Tate or Schultz to fall on the sword for multiple innings to try and get through the day should Lucas struggle.

This issue goes away if Lucas can get through five-plus innings and hold the game close, while hopefully getting support from the Blue Jays’ bats, but he needs to go the distance today with a battered bullpen that includes some new but untested arms to start the 2025 season, at least in the Majors. Both Tate and Schultz have fared well in Buffalo so far, but that success is not guaranteed right away in the big leagues, as we have all seen.

Toronto will look to end the series on a high note with a win at the Rogers Centre before hitting the road to face the Houston Astros tomorrow.

All Toronto Blue Jays odds are brought to you by MLB betting site Betway!