Toronto Blue Jays Make Declaration About Spring Training Opener, Provide Injury Update on Possible Starter
The Toronto Blue Jays open up their spring training slate on Saturday afternoon against the Philadelphia Phillies and they will do so with top prospect Ricky Tiedemann on the mound.
Per the Toronto Star:
The team's top prospect, 21-year-old left-hander Ricky Tiedemann, is pencilled in to start against the Philadelphia Phillies, kicking off a year that is likely to include his major-league debut.
Tiedemann was limited to just 44 innings over 15 starts last season because of shoulder and biceps injuries, but finished 2023 with an Arizona Fall League championship as a member of the Surprise Saguaros, winning the premier prospect league's pitcher of the year award along the way.
Tiedemann is the No. 1 prospect in the organization and the No. 29 prospect in all of baseball entering the season. He struck out 82 batters in those 44 innings last year and clearly has the kind of swing-and-miss stuff that teams value.
Because of injury history and age, he has little to no chance of breaking camp with the Blue Jays, who already figure to have five starters penciled in, but as the story indicates, he should debut at some point this season.
In other Blue Jays news, the team gave a good update on Cavan Biggio, who is a candidate to start at second base.
Per MLB.com's Keegan Matheson:
Cavan Biggio (shoulder tendinitis) is out taking batting practice on the field today. The issue never sounded too serious, but still a good sign after he’d been limited earlier in camp. #BlueJays
The 28-year-old Biggio is a former top prospect who has struggled to put it together at the major league level. Lifetime, he's a .229 hitter with 46 homers. He had nine homers in 289 at-bats last season.
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