The Toronto Blue Jays have named a starter for Saturday's game against the New York Yankees.
Right-hander Braydon Fisher will open a bullpen game against Yankees star Cam Schlittler, the Blue Jays announced on Friday.
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Toronto (60-64) sits just one game back of the American League's third wild-card spot, held by the Detroit Tigers (60-62), though a tight race has four other clubs within 1.5 games.
A second straight win over the Yankees on Saturday would only aid that push.
Fisher owns a 3.54 ERA and a 3-3 record with 67 strikeouts and 33 walks across 61 innings of work this season.
Manager John Schneider told reporters that right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson will also be part of the Blue Jays' plan "in some capacity."
The 25-year-old was re-acquired by the Blue Jays — he was part of the organization from 2020-2021 — from the Minnesota Twins on June 3 and has appeared in three games, owning a 0.69 ERA across 13 innings with seven strikeouts and eight walks.
However, they'll be in tough against Schlittler, who is battling Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease for Cy Young honours with a 2.21 ERA and 182 strikeouts over 146.2 innings in his sophomore season.
Meanwhile, star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was not in Saturday's starting lineup after he exited Friday's game after a knee to the head and experienced headaches afterward, per Schneider. Guerrero Jr. was undergoing concussion testing.
Beyond helping Cease's case with a big offensive day, the Jays might find extra motivation against Schlittler after he jabbed Jays fans in June.
“They’re easy to rage-bait, I think,” Schlittler said. “All the stuff last year in the playoffs or whatever it is — they’ve got a whole country behind them, so there’s a lot. They’re passionate about it. You respect them for that, but I don’t really like them. They ended our season last year. I hope everyone’s got that chip on their shoulder.”
The Blue Jays are called up former No. 1 prospect Ricky Tiedemann for the first time, the team announced Saturday. Tiedemann has been pitching out of the bullpen over the last week at triple-A in his first game action since undergoing Tommy John surgery two years ago.
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