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Blue Jays option Adam Macko, send Fernando Perez and Gage Stanifer to minor league camp
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Photo credit: © Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Mar 3, 2026, 18:00 EST
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The Toronto Blue Jays have made their first cuts of the season.
Shortly after the Blue Jays’ 10-7 victory over Canada on Tuesday afternoon, the team announced that Adam Macko has been optioned, while prospect pitcher Fernando Perez and Gage Stanifer have been assigned to the minor league camp.
Macko was optioned as he’s on the 40-man roster. That said, he pitched three innings in Spring Training, where he struck out two, walked two, and didn’t allow an earned run. The left-handed pitcher also pitched an inning in the game against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, as he’ll pitch for Canada when the World Baseball Classic kicks off.
Although he was optioned, it’s not out of the question that the 25-year-old will make his big league debut at some point in 2026. With a mid-90s fastball and strong secondaries at his best, he could be called upon to eat a few innings at some point this season.
Stanifer’s Spring Training didn’t go as planned, pitching just one and two-thirds innings over three outings. His first outing on February 21st was solid, pitching a scoreless inning, but he walked two batters and hit a batter to load the bases in his start on February 26th. He struck out the next two batters before being replaced, and seeing those runners cross the plate once he was out of the game.
What likely did him in was his outing on Tuesday. Entering the game in the top of the eighth, with the Blue Jays up 7-3, Stanifer gave up a home run on the first pitch he threw. Stanifer then walked Otto López, hit Matt Davidson with a pitch, then gave up an RBI single, and an RBI double. His fourth run came in thanks to a sacrifice fly once he was replaced.
Two bad outings shouldn’t ruin the optimism about the right-handed pitcher heading into 2026. He’s a strikeout artist who’ll need to lower his walk rate, and Double-A will be a big test for him once the New Hampshire Fisher Cats’ season begins.
As for Perez, who’ll likely start the season with Stanifer in the Fisher Cats’ rotation, he had a tough outing against the Boston Red Sox in the second game of Spring Training, giving up four runs in two-thirds of an inning, all unearned. He bounced back in his next outing on February 28th, striking out one Yankees and giving up an earned run in his two innings of work.
Expect there to be more cuts as Spring Training continues.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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