The Blue Jays are still very much in the hunt for the American League’s third and final wild card spot, and that keeps the conversation focused on one thing: depth. Toronto entered Monday, Aug. 7, one game back of the Cleveland Guardians, with the club sitting at exactly .500 and still able to claw its way into October.
That means the Jays may need every usable bat they can find. They already added Ricky Tiedemann and Sean Keys to the 28-man roster on September 1 after both turned in strong minor league seasons, with Tiedemann helping a battered rotation and Keys earning another look after a big August with Triple-A Buffalo. But if Toronto wants to bring up more minor league help, it will have to create room by sending current players down.
Two outfield names worth watching are RJ Schreck and Yohendrick Piñango.
Schreck missed 80 days after an awkward slide against the Worcester Red Sox on June 7, but he’s back after a rehab stint in Dunedin and wasted no time making noise again. He homered in Buffalo on Saturday, and the power bat has the kind of plate discipline that can give Toronto’s offense a lift when it needs one.
Piñango has already shown he can handle the big league stage this season. He debuted on Apr. 26 and appeared in 58 games for Toronto, hitting .260/.306/.396 with five homers and 20 RBIs in 169 at-bats. He was sent back to Buffalo in late July after Jesús Sánchez returned from the injured list following his ankle injury, but Piñango has already proven he can contribute in the Blue Jays lineup.
If either Schreck or Piñango is going to rejoin Toronto, the roster math has to work first. Brett Bateman and Myles Straw are two players who could be optioned to Triple-A.
Bateman has put the ball in play, but the hits have mostly been singles. Straw’s August was far rougher, as he hit just .093.
Even so, the chances of Toronto making those kinds of moves right after the September 1 call-ups are slim. Still, Schreck and Piñango remain names to track this month. Both could be summoned if the Blue Jays need another spark, and if they aren’t, their recent work is still a positive sign for Toronto heading into 2027 and beyond.
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What makes Batemans case especially interesting is how he is doing it without the usual power numbers grabbing the spotlight. He has been better than Daulton Varsho, the player he replaced, because his value has come from the less glamorous parts of the game, with defense and baserunning driving his production. Even without a home run to his name, he has given the Blue Jays a reason to keep asking whether what theyre seeing is a hot start or something closer to a new standard. [Read more 🡒]