Key Highlights
- The Jays sent the B-team, with split squad action facing the Yankees and Phillies, while a number of Yanks are set to leave the team and join their World Baseball Classic sides as that tournament kicks off late next week.
- That, plus good outings from our starters made for a brisk Grapefruit League showdown, with the Yankees winning 5-1. Paul Blackburn is auditioning for one of the swingy bullpen roles, and his stock certainly improved today.
- It wasn’t exactly the Opening Day lineup for the Blue Jays, but it took Blackburn just 40 pitches to work through four scoreless innings.
- He leaned heavily on his sinker for five groundouts, although I think Statcast was a little clunky today and pitch movement data is hard to interpret.
- Still, it’s only spring but today was quite a good showing for a guy that really needs to impress after 2025. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWe flew through the first half of the game, with Blackburn’s strong start bettered by José Berríos spinning four no-hit innings.