The Blue Jays are rolling into their three-game set with the Cleveland Guardians with a different look on the mound Tuesday, and Spencer Miles will be the one setting the tone.
Toronto has chosen the right-hander to open the series opener, with Spencer Arrighetti expected to come in afterward and cover the bulk of the innings. It’s a clear nod to the way Miles has handled his role this season, and the Blue Jays are leaning into that reliability again.
Miles has been one of the more steady pieces in Toronto’s staff since the club grabbed him in the Rule 5 Draft last December out of the San Francisco Giants organization. He’s made 42 appearances this season, putting together a 5-2 record with a 2.92 ERA and one save over 83.1 innings. That kind of production has made him a trusted arm for a team that has had to juggle both the rotation and the bullpen.
His most recent outing in an opener role came last week against the Kansas City Royals, and it went exactly the way Toronto wanted. Miles worked two scoreless innings, gave up only two hits, and helped the Blue Jays finish off a 3-0 shutout win. That performance almost certainly strengthened the case for giving him the ball in the same role against Cleveland.
Arrighetti, meanwhile, is still trying to find his footing with Toronto. Acquired in the trade involving Daulton Varsho and the Houston Astros, the right-hander has had a rough start since joining the Blue Jays. In 7.1 innings, he owns a 7.36 ERA, has allowed six earned runs, and struck out eight.
The hope is that coming in behind Miles will let Arrighetti settle in without the immediate burden of starting the game from the first pitch. For Toronto, the setup is simple: get the early edge with a pitcher who has been getting the job done, then give Arrighetti a chance to build some confidence as the game unfolds.
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Stephen Vogt now has three names in the mix for those spots, with Rocchio competing against Angel Genao and Travis Bazzana. If the offense does not turn back in Rocchios favor, Cleveland could lean toward Genao and Bazzana and leave Rocchio in a reserve role, a sharp shift for a player who not long ago seemed positioned to hold a much more prominent place in the lineup. [Read more 🡒]
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Guardians Playoff Push Just Ran Into A Frustrating Defensive Problem
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A sloppy second inning turned into the kind of inning that lingers, with Travis Bazzana and Angel Genao both involved in the breakdown that opened the door for the Blue Jays to pile on. Cleveland wound up staring at an 11-0 defeat, and the frustration was not just the final score but the way the Guardians kept giving Toronto extra life when they could least afford it. [Read more 🡒]