Blue Jays’ top prospect Ricky Tiedemann fans three in first FCL rehab start

Toronto Blue Jays top prospect Ricky Tiedemann began a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League on Friday, and the young flamethrower showed little-to-no rust against the Philadelphia Phillies’ FCL affiliate.

Tiedemann, sidelined since May 4 due to a left biceps injury, completed two near-perfect innings and struck out three batters before departing after the second inning. The only baserunner that reached against him came courtesy of a throwing error from the 20-year-old lefty.

It marked an important first step for Tiedemann, who had resumed throwing for several weeks at the organization’s Player Development Complex in Dunedin leading up to his highly-anticipated return to game action.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats pitching coach Drew Hayes joined Sportsnet’s Jays Talk Plus with Blake Murphy on Friday, saying the goal is for Tiedemann to make a few FCL starts over these next few weeks with “the hope that he feels good” and maintains his velocity throughout each outing.

The 6-foot-4 lefty was off to a decent start at double-A prior to landing on the IL, pitching to a 4.97 ERA, 1.51 FIP and a 29.6 per cent strikeout-to-walk rate difference over 12.2 innings in four starts.

Last season, Tiedemann climbed three levels (low-A, high-A, double-A) during his inaugural professional season, posting a 2.17 ERA, 2.51 FIP with 117 strikeouts and only 29 walks across 78.2 innings through 18 starts.