The Toronto Blue Jays loaded up on pitching as the season went on, and it means they had some tough decisions to make for their ALDS roster to face the New York Yankees.
Two of those tough decisions became official Saturday: Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt have been left off the ALDS roster.
Scherzer, one of the greatest pitchers of this generation, would've brought veteran experience and moxie to the matchup with the Yanks.
Two problems with keeping Scherzer around, though. One, he wouldn't have started, which means he would've had to undertake the relatively unfamiliar bullpen role. And two, he had a 5.19 ERA this season as he battled injuries, and his effectiveness at this point is no sure thing.
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Bassitt is a slightly different story. He actually led the Blue Jays with 11 wins this season. He put up a solid 3.96 ERA.
But in the end, Toronto went with the starting pitcher upside of the likes of Kevin Gausman, jose Berrios and Shane Bieber. Young phenom Trey Yesavage is also on the roster.
The Blue Jays have also opted to load the bullpen up with left-handed arms.
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From a neutral perspective, the Yankees are happy to platoon for some of their lefties (Jazz Chisholm, Ben Rice, etc.) but don't necessarily have an equal but opposite right-handed bat to call on. So it seems like Toronto plans on making the Yanks make tough platoon decisions early and often with the bullpen.
Now that the roster decisions have been made, it's time to play ball. Scherzer and Bassitt will only be able to watch.
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