Blue Jays Call Up Alford, Option Petricka

The Toronto Blue Jays have called up outfielder Anthony Alford and optioned Jake Petricka to the Buffalo Bisons, according to Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith.

It feels like the Alford move was inevitable. As of right now, he has the highest ceiling among all those in the log jammed Blue Jays outfield and figures to be the CF of the future. He hasn’t played much this year, but that’s because he missed a chunk of time getting ready for the season after suffering a right hamstring strain at the end of a hot spring. If you don’t remember what he did in Grapefruit League action back in March, he collected 10 hits in 31 at-bats, and six of those – three doubles, two triples, and a homer – went for extra bases. At the very least, the hope for Alford to finally get some consistent playing time because with his football commitments a few years ago and injuries, it’s something he hasn’t had much of throughout his Blue Jays career. With Steve Pearce and Randal Grichuk on the DL and Curtis Granderson day-to-day with his hamstring, this seems like the perfect opportunity to get him out there, at least temporarily. Who would have thought back in March that we’d be seeing Alford, Dalton Pompey, and Teoscar Hernandez all on the same team in less than two months? Thank goodness they had all that depth to start the season with, or we’d be back to watching guys like Brad Glenn, Darrell Ciciliani and Jimmy Paredes playing non-September games.

As for Petricka, I mean, what’s there to say? He throws with his right hand and was at the bottom of an eight-man bullpen. Thanks for the brief work and not allowing them to burn another bullpen guy in a boring loss against the Rays, Jake.