Next up: Rays promote top prospect Junior Caminero ahead of huge series with Blue Jays

The Blue Jays took care of business against the basement teams in the AL East, now they’ll face a stiffer challenge.

This weekend’s series at The Trop will see the Blue Jays go up against a Rays club who have a division banner in their sights. Tampa Bay is currently a game-and-a-half back of the Orioles in the standings and passing them would mean the Rays get a bye through to the ALDS rather than playing a wild-card series.

The Rays will also be getting a significant boost as they’ve called up infielder Junior Caminero, who ranks sixth in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects list. Caminero has slashed a .324/.384/.591 line between High-A and Double-A this season and will be skipping over Triple-A when making the jump to the big leagues.

 

Chris Bassitt will go up against Tyler Glasow in the series opener on Friday. Bassitt made one start against the Rays earlier this season and scattered two runs over six-and-one-third innings of work in a losing effort. This will be Glasnow’s first start against the Blue Jays since the 2021 season.

The second game will see Hyun Jin Ryu face Zack Littell. Ryu will be going up against the Rays for the first time since having Tommy John surgery while Littell will pitch against the Blue Jays for the first time in his career. The Rays grabbed Littell off of waivers in May and he’s posted a 3.94 ERA for them across 80 innings.

The finale on Sunday will feature Yusei Kikuchi and Taj Bradley. Kikuchi had a great start against the Rays in Toronto in April but he got smacked around at The Trop in May. Bradley, a rookie sporting a 5.36 ERA on the season, allowed four runs in four innings of work against the Blue Jays in his one outing against them in his big league career.