The Toronto Blue Jays will welcome back old friends.
On Tuesday, the Blue Jays begin a six-game home stand, starting with a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. This will be the second time Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. return to Rogers Centre after being dealt on December 23, 2022, for Daulton Varsho.
This season, Gurriel Jr. is slashing .256/.302/.433 with 10 home runs in 278 plate appearances for a 101 wRC+ and a 0.6 fWAR. Moreno is slashing .270/.324/.414 with five home runs in 188 plate appearances, giving him a 106 wRC+ and a 2 fWAR. As for Varsho, he remains out of the lineup due to injury.
The weekend series was a tough one for the Blue Jays, as they lost all three games to the Philadelphia Phillies. In that series, they failed to hit a home run and had just two extra-base hits, a double from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a double from Ernie Clement. To make matters worse, the pitching struggled, with only three of the seven relievers they used throwing a scoreless outing. Erik Swanson struggled mightily and was designated for assignment on Tuesday.
Tuesday will see Bo Bichette lead off, with Addison Barger hitting second. Guerrero Jr. moves down the the third spot. Alejandro Kirk bats cleanup, followed by George Springer and Andres Gimenez. Ernie Clement, the only regular with a good series against the Phillies, bats seventh. Will Robertson makes his second career start and will bat eighth, followed by Jonatan Clase.
Chris Bassitt makes the start for the Blue Jays. In his last outing, he gave up four earned runs in seven innings, the second consecutive game he was able to go seven innings.
Let’s hope the Jays return to the win column!
Location: Toronto
First Pitch: 7:07 PM ET
Watch/Listen: Sportsnet One, SN590

Starting Pitchers

Toronto Blue Jays – Chris Bassitt: 7-3 record, 3.70 ERA, 80.1 IP, 78 SO, 19 BB
Arizona Diamondbacks – Brandon Pfaadt: 8-4 record, 5.50 ERA, 70.1 IP, 55 SO, 18 BB

Lineups:

Blue Jays:
  1. Bo Bichette- SS
  2. Addison Barger – RF
  3. Vladimir Guerrero – 1B
  4. Alejandro Kirk – C
  5. George Springer – DH
  6. Andres Gimenez – 2B
  7. Ernie Clement – 3B
  8. Will Robertson – LF
  9. Jonatan Clase – CF
OPPOSING TEAM:
  1. Corbin Carroll – RF
  2. Ketel Marte – 2B
  3. Geraldo Perdomo – SS
  4. Josh Naylor – 1B
  5. Eugenio Suarez – 3B
  6. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. – LF
  7. Pavin Smith – DH
  8. Gabriel Moreno – C
  9. Alek Thomas – CF
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.