Why there’s reason to believe the Maple Leafs’ putrid penalty kill will get better
Toronto’s penalty kill currently ranks 27th in the NHL, worse than any team in a playoff spot. Justin Bourne writes that while that is a concern, there’s reason to believe it will get better.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Wes Parsons didn’t know what to expect when manager John Schneider’s name popped up on his phone. The right-hander felt that he pitched well during spring training and was hopeful of breaking camp with the Toronto Blue Jays for his first Opening Day in the majors since 2019 with Atlanta.
Still, when Schneider broke the news that he was opening the year in the majors, “I was honestly in shock,” he said Wednesday in the visitors’ clubhouse at Tropicana Field, where he and his teammates worked out ahead of Thursday’s curtain-raiser against the Tampa Bay Rays. “Didn’t see it coming at all. I was ecstatic.”
He was also tearful, so much so that when he FaceTimed his wife, Della, immediately afterwards she asked, “What in the world happened?”
“I was like, ‘I made the team.’ She was very excited,” said Parsons, who credits Della and their 15-month-old son Beckett for helping him persevere through some tough times. “It’s been a really long trip between the two opening days. It was crazy just going through the KBO trying to find myself, going through back surgery and after back surgery (a microdiscectomy of the L4-L5 vertebrae in 2022), I thought I was pretty much done. But I kept going and here we are. The feelings are just, I mean, it was an amazing moment.”
For Nate Pearson, the other right-handed reliever added to finalize the Blue Jays roster with Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson slated to hit the injured list, the phone call from Schneider on Wednesday night offered both joy and relief.
During the two-day wait between Monday’s spring finale and word on his fate, “I was just sitting there, stressing a little bit.” That disappeared after learning that he’ll enjoy a proper Opening Day for the first time – he debuted six games into the COVID campaign of 2020 and while he was around the team when that season opened, he wasn’t actually part of it.
“This is definitely a lot more meaningful,” Pearson said. “I’m happy to be down there for the first game of the season. It was a good time for me and my family when I found out.”
What the opportunity looks like for both pitchers will be a moving target as their ascensions come amid many machinations for the Blue Jays.
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Kevin Gausman emerged from his dominant showing in Monday’s spring finale feeling fine and the Blue Jays are still kicking around whether to start him in Sunday’s series finale against the Rays, or Monday’s opener at Houston, with Bowden Francis getting whichever game he doesn’t start.
Alek Manoah, who threw 34 pitches over two innings in a simulated game at the Player Development Complex, is “likely” to begin the season on the injured list as he continues to build up, said Schneider.
Yariel Rodriguez, the Cuban righty signed to a $32-million, five-year deal, was optioned along with Canadian Zach Pop so he can be fully built up under “a pretty set plan” since “we want a lot of his innings to be with us and to be 100 per cent when he is,” said Schneider.
Top prospect Ricky Tiedemann, meanwhile, will start at triple-A Buffalo where focal points will be ensuring “his fastball command, the slider usage and changeup usage are at levels that he can do different things to different lineups,” said GM Ross Atkins. “Because he has so much potential, it is really important for us to help him maximize that time down there.”
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And Joey Votto, who hasn’t resumed baseball activity since rolling his ankle after stepping on a bat March 17, is still feeling “a little bit of tightness,” said Atkins, and will want to essentially have a full spring training once he’s ready.
“He wants to make sure, most importantly, that he’s at an elite level and not just at a level where he’s participating or contributing,” said Atkins. “He’ll be, and we will be very mindful of giving him every chance to do that. The most likely scenario would be some time essentially building up a spring training at extended and then moving to Buffalo at some point. We don’t, he doesn’t have a firm timeline on that.”
There isn’t a firm timeline yet for Romano and Swanson, although Atkins suggested that the IL stints “could be minimal” for them. Both are long-tossing without issue and getting back up on a mound is the next step.
Once they do that, “they will likely need a couple of outings facing hitters, for sure,” said Atkins. “We’ll see if they need to pitch in Buffalo. It will really depend on how long that progression is.”
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Schneider pointed to Chad Green and Yimi Garcia as options to close in the interim with Tim Mayza and Genesis Cabrera helping to cover some of the set-up work. Others will need to step up and Pearson could certainly pitch his way into being an option there, with Parsons around to support Mitch White in providing length.
Pearson is feeling good about the way he pitched in the spring, save for a rough first outing, and likes the way a new splitter that’s taking the place of his changeup has played.
“I got one strike out on it and like three or four quick ground balls, so I like where it’s at,” he said. “I can get a quick out with it, throw it ahead in the count or to putaway. I like where all my off-speed is, really. It’s really about attacking the zone with the heater to set up those things.”
Parsons, meanwhile, signed as a minor-league free agent with the Blue Jays last May after initially wondering if his back surgery would derail his dream. He split 2019 between Atlanta and Colorado, which claimed him off waivers in August, was stuck at the alternate training site in 2020 and then headed to the NC Dinos in Korea for 2021, logging 133 innings over 24 starts with a 3.72 ERA. But he made just eight starts the next year before his back flared up, three months of rehab didn’t help and he came back home for the operation.
Once he woke up, the pressure on a nerve in his spine was gone immediately – “it was instantaneous,” Parsons said – and before long he was pitching in Buffalo, covering 81.2 innings over 17 starts.
Over the winter, he spent time focused on the mental part of his game, finding ways “to take it from pitch to pitch, if something goes south, not letting it spiral out of control, just reset.”
When spring hit, “I just showed up and I was just ready to play every day,” an approach that’s carried him right back up to the big-leagues.
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