In an ideal scenario for the Blue Jays and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., the talented 25-year-old will spend a few weeks in Buffalo regaining his confidence and then will be able to rejoin the big league team. When dealing with the “yips”, making a game plan is a fool’s errand, and the Jays will just have to see how he responds and hope the setback is temporary.
Right now, it sounds like they want to ease him back into playing even in Buffalo and will likely give him a few games as the designated hitter, so he doesn’t have to worry about fielding right away. He will have to get back on the horse at some point, though, and how he responds to that challenge could go a long way in determining the futures of a few other talented Blue Jay prospects.
The club elected to promote Eric Sogard to Toronto to take Gurriel Jr.’s spot, and that decision makes sense for the time being. Unfortunately, they could not bring Richard Urena back until he’d been back in Triple-A for at least ten days, so if they wanted to send Gurriel Jr. down, they needed a replacement. Sogard is a veteran and will hopefully provide some stability for now, if nothing else.
The Blue Jays demoted Lourdes Gurriel Jr on Monday, and while they called up Eric Sogard for now, we could see some other prospects get a shot.
In an ideal scenario for the Blue Jays and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., the talented 225-year-old will spend a few weeks in Buffalo regaining his confidence and then be able to rejoin the big league team. When dealing with the “yips”, making a game plan is a fool’s errand, and the Jays will just have to see how he responds and hope the setback is temporary.
Right now, it sounds like they want to ease him back into playing even in Buffalo and will likely give him a few games as the designated hitter, so he doesn’t have to worry about fielding right away. He will have to get back on the horse at some point, though, and how he responds to that challenge could go a long way in determining the futures of a few other talented Blue Jay prospects.
The club elected to promote Eric Sogard to Toronto to take Gurriel Jr.’s spot, and that decision makes sense for the time being. Unfortunately, they could not bring Richard Urena back until he’d been back in Triple-A for at least ten days, so if they wanted to send Gurriel Jr. down, they needed a replacement. Sogard is a veteran and will hopefully provide some stability for now, if nothing else.
MI assumes that Sogard and Urena (when he’s eligible to return) will be tasked with filling in for the time being, and it might also mean that Alen Hanson gets a longer look with the Blue Jays. However, in a season that the Blue Jays want to use for development and evaluation, I don’t think they will stick with their temporary solution for long. Ideally, Gurriel Jr. will be able to return in a month or less, but if he can’t, Ross Atkins and the company will start taking a more serious look at other scenarios.
First, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be promoted to Toronto sometime soon. He’s already terrorizing the pitchers in Triple-A, and there’s no doubt that the Blue Jays could use the offensive boost he should provide, even as he adjusts to the big leagues for the first time. When that happens, the Blue Jays will have another option at second base in Brandon Drury, who will have to vacate the full-time duties at third base after the phenom’s pending arrival.
Drury hasn’t set the world on fire, though, and we don’t know much about when Devon Travis will be back from the IL just yet. While there are a lot of variables and moving parts, I can’t help but think that Atkins and the front office have to pay close attention to the hot hitting from Cavan Biggio in Buffalo and, to a lesser extent, from Bo Bichette.
Biggio has started his 2019 absolutely on fire with the Bisons in his first season at the Triple-A level. He was the 2018 Eastern League MVP in Double-A, and while he’s not as highly rated as Guerrero or Bichette, he’s also arguably more advanced at 24 years old and might be the type of contributor that the Jays hoped Gurriel Jr. could be this year. He’s experienced at second base, third base, and first base, and he also recently added the corner outfield to his resume.
I guess the Blue Jays would like to let Biggio play most of this season at Triple-A since he’s new to that level. Still, he feels like the type that could be worth a look and at less risk to his development, like Guerrero Jr. or Bichette, who is three and four years younger. They also don’t have to worry about the service time issues in the same way as him, which has been a frequent topic of discussion, especially in Vlad Jr’s case. We are past the point where that matters for this season, but some folks believe that Bo Bichette won’t see the big leagues until next year, partly because of that reason.
The other factor for Bichette is the great play of Freddy Galvis thus far, who has been arguably the best player on the offensive side of the ball. That said, it’s entirely possible that Galvis could be traded later this season if the Blue Jays feel they can get a solid return, and the fact that Gurriel Jr. may not be around to take over at shortstop could work in Bichette’s favor for later in the season. I’m sure he’s not cheering for his former, current, and future teammates’ struggles, but it may accelerate Bichette’s big-league timeline if Gurriel Jr. can’t get back on track in the next month or two.
It’s not something the Blue Jays will have to deal with immediately, and with Vlad Jr’s pending promotion coming, they’ll also have Brandon Drury Telp at second base. However, things could change as the season wears on. As I said, ideally, Gurriel Jr. will be able to get his confidence back and return to Toronto before the Blue Jays have to do more than put a bandaid on the situation. Still, you never know how long it will take or what else could happen before then.
