The Toronto Blue Jays lost a shootout with the Atlanta Braves on a walk-off in the ninth inning on a single in a game that ended 10-9. Tomorrow they will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates and will have Ricky Tiedemann on the mound making his third start of the spring, he is 0-0 with a 7.36 ERA, a 1.64 WHIP, and three strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Tonight the Blue Jays made a trade with the Cincinnati Reds, they acquired RHP Chris McElvain in exchange for INF Santiago Espinal. The move comes after the Reds lost shortstop Edwin Arroyo. The Blue Jays have a log jam currently which made Espinal expendable with Justin Turner, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Cavan Biggio, Ernie Clement, and Davis Schneider all likely making the roster for 2024.
Blue Jays Trade By The Numbers
Chris McElvain
McElvain was drafted by the Reds in the eighth round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Vanderbilt. At Vanderbilt he made 44 appearances with 17 of those coming as starts, he went 11-6 with a 4.33 ERA, a 1.34 WHIP, and 165 strikeouts in 141.1 innings, and he won the National Championship with the Commodores in 2021. Last season in his first season in the Reds system he pitched at High-A and Single-A making 23 appearances with 19 of those coming as starts going 5-5 with a 3.75 ERA, a 1.31 WHIP, and 87 strikeouts in 96 innings.
Santiago Espinal
Espinal in 2024 will be entering his fifth season, his first four all with the Blue Jays, and in 346 games he hit .273 with a .698 OPS; he had 11 home runs, 99 RBI, 123 runs scored, 15 stolen bases, and 80 walks; he was an All-Star in 2022. Last season in 93 games he hit .248 with a .644 OPS; he had two home runs, 25 RBI, 30 runs scored, two stolen bases, and 18 walks.
