Competition for Blue Jays final bench spot, bullpen opening, boils down to these four players
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The competition for the Toronto Blue Jays final bullpen spot, and remaining bench role has come down to two pitchers and two infielders, as final roster decisions are expected to come to a close on Wednesday afternoon.
According to a report from Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling, the competition for the remaining Toronto Blue Jays bullpen spot is down to side armer Chase lee and Rule 5 Draft pick right-hander Spencer Miles.
Zwelling indicated that the final bench spot boils down to Davis Schneider or Leo Jimenez filling that role, noting that a final decision will come on Wednesday afternoon in Toronto.
Competition for Blue Jays final bullpen spot has come down to Chase Lee and Spencer Miles. Final bench spot will be one of Davis Schneider or Leo Jimenez. All will travel to Toronto Monday night. Expect club to make final decisions by Wednesday afternoon.
Tough final roster decisions for manager John Schneider to come ahead of Opening Day
Chase Lee is one of the favorites to earn the final spot, because not only does he have big league experience, but he's pitched six and one-third scoreless innings this season.
He's shown the ability to generate whiffs and strikeouts in the past, look no further than his minor league season in 2025, but he only has an 18.2 K% this Spring Training. Lee has options this year, meaning he could be an odd man out.
Through six outings this spring, Spencer Miles has a 4.15 ERA and 6.20 FIP over eight and two-thirds innings pitched.
Miles at least has more strikeouts than walks, but an 11.6 BB% isn't great, while his 25.6 K% is respectable.
That said, results aren't the most important thing in Spring Training, and Miles has legitimate potential.
Final bench role, a battle of underachievers this spring
It's been a tough spring for Davis Schneider.
The right-handed bat has just 5 hits through 17 games, 12 strikeouts in 38 at-bats and owns a .408 OPS as we enter the regular season.
He hasn't collected an extra base hit and has just two RBIs to his credit while getting considerable playing time with others being off at the WBC.
One thing going for Schneider is that his eye at the plate is still top-notch, and will likely benefit from the ABS program that is entering the 2026 season.
Fellow infielder Leo Jiménez, who is on the roster bubble and doesn't have any minor-league options remaining.
If Jiménez does not make the cut for opening day, he'll have his poor performance at the plate in a limited major league sample size largely to blame.
Last season, he had just two hits in 29 at-bats, amounting to a .301 OPS even with a home run in that sample.
That dropped his small-sample major league OPS to .635 in 242 plate appearances.
Jimenez's spring was nothing to write about either, in 14 games he batted .231, with 6 hits, 3 RBI, 7 strikeouts, no extra base hits and an OPS of .541.
Crunch time is Wednesday, and though his Blue Jays journey wouldn't be guaranteed to end if he missed the roster cutdown, it would drastically increase those odds.
Also read on Blue Jays Central :
Ex-Blue Jays pitcher's struggles keep him off Los Angeles Angels Opening Day roster
Ex-Blue Jays pitcher's struggles keep him off Los Angeles Angels Opening Day roster
| POLL | ||
MARS 23|232 ANSWERS Competition for Blue Jays final bench spot, bullpen opening, boils down to these four players Who do you think should get the remaining bench role and the final bullpen spot? | ||
| Davis Schneider/Spencer Miles | 102 | 44 % |
| Davis Schneider/Chase Lee | 84 | 36.2 % |
| Leo Jimenez/Spencer Miles | 20 | 8.6 % |
| Leo Jimenez/Chase Lee | 26 | 11.2 % |
| List of polls | ||