That was a fun way to wrap spring training. The Blue Jays smoked Tampa Bay, 14-1, with most of the regulars getting in on the action. The highlights:

Dylan Cease went 5.0 innings, striking out six while allowing no runs on three hits and two walks. He had a little wobble in the fourth, accounting for both walks and a single, but he was still getting it up to 97 and looking easy in the fifth.

Louis Varland gave up the lone Rays run, on a deep Carson Williams solo homer in the seventh. It’s been kind of a rough spring for Louis, they’ll need him to sharpen up for the regular season.

The rest of the bullpen was good. Spencer Miles, Mason Fluharty and Braydon Fisher combined for three innings of perfect relief.

The offence was rolling, dropping six in the first and then seven more in the fourth.

George Springer was 2-3 with a homer and a walk

Vladimir Guerrero jr. was 2-2 with a homer and a walk

Alejandro Kirk was 3-3 with a homer, a double, and a walk

Jesus Sanchez was 2-4 with a homer and a double

Andres Gimenez was 1-3 with a double and a walk.

Eloy Jimenez had a pinch hit double

We also got some news. Angel Bastardo and Yariel Rodriguez have been told that they didn’t make the opening day roster. Rodriguez had a good World Baseball Classic, but he hasn’t looked great in MLB camp and was always facing an uphill battle after being waived back in December and so coming off the 40-man roster. For Bastardo, failing to make the team probably means the end of his time as a Blue Jay. As a Rule 5 draftee, he’ll have to be traded to a team that will roster him or offered back to the Red Sox. Selecting him in the 2024 draft, knowing he needed to rehab from Tommy John surgery through the whole 2025 season, was an interesting gamble. The Jays got to take a long look at him over the winter, and if he’d been ready he could have been a talented addition. He struggled a lot, though, walking seven and throwing four wild pitches in 7.2 spring innings, and he doesn’t look ready to step directly into an MLB bullpen. There will be one more pitching cut to come, as the Jays currently list 14 uninjured pitchers as active with 13 being the in-season limit. Most likely that will be optioning Chase Lee so that they can keep 2025 Rule 5 draftee Spencer Miles. Miles has looked effective this spring, striking out 11 of 46 batters faced and regularly running his fastball up to 98.

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Now we enter the four day dead period before Sacramento comes to the Dome on Friday evening to open the season. I’m more than ready to watch some real baseball.