Saturday, August 02

TORONTO -- Alan Roden has forced the Blue Jays’ hand twice now. 

First, Roden was the darling of camp, a Spring Training sensation who became the most newsworthy addition to the Opening Day roster. It didn’t work, though, at least not the first time. 

Roden, who just graduated from being the Blue Jays’ No. 5 prospect, hit just .188 (13-for-69) with a .541 OPS over his first 25 games, so while the decision to option him back to Triple-A Buffalo on May 7 wasn’t exactly a stunner, Toronto knew how this would go. The organization still believes in his talent -- not just as a contributor, but a future everyday player -- so what happened next didn’t surprise anyone. Roden went down, dropped a 1.029 OPS on Triple-A pitching over 18 games with the Bisons and earned a trip right back to Toronto. 

Now, Roden has a shot to stick. Daulton Varsho is dealing with a week-to-week left hamstring injury while Anthony Santander’s left shoulder injury will keep him out a while longer. The door is wide open for the next couple of weeks, but even beyond that, as he competed with Myles Straw and Jonatan Clase for a more permanent role. This time, he knows how it feels to stumble.

“Pitching is obviously good in the big leagues and they can make adjustments, so the thing that was missing was making the adjustment back,” Roden said, “and doing things to recognize patterns and how I was being pitched. You have to do that quick enough so you don’t get the ball rolling on a bunch of poor outings, you try to be more consistent.”

The adjustment game is what got Davis Schneider last year and this April. It’s the same game that will try to bring down Addison Barger now, each opposing pitcher doing everything in their power not to end up in a viral clip of another Barger blast. 

You hear it all the time now, that the gap between Triple-A and the big leagues may be wider than it’s ever been, which is really a statement about pitching. 

“It’s the consistency of the stuff and the ability to execute every pitch that they have, that’s the big difference,” Roden said. “In Triple-A, there’s obviously good arms and pitchers are good there, too, but it’s the consistency of night in, night out, every guy you face has it. That’s a big difference.”

Knowing what went wrong is the first half of solving the problem for Roden. The other half, looking forward now, is finding a way to make this next crack at the big leagues better. 

This is where Roden’s mental makeup comes in. He’s long been praised up and down this organization -- from player development staff to coaches at each level -- for his ability to process information and adjust to pitchers. It didn’t happen quickly enough in April, but this time, the Blue Jays hope that Roden will be able to find the right speed. They’re betting heavily on it, and while he’s in a big, messy timeshare in the outfield, Roden will still see plenty of playing time against right-handed pitchers.

Since Roden has returned, John Schneider continues to point to the idea of Roden getting “his pitch” to hit. That definition can vary from player to player.

“I think it can be anything,” Roden said. “I’m confident I can hit any pitch if it’s in the right zone. I think part of this was me expanding too much and being uncommitted to whatever I was trying to do. I was trying to do everything with everything. Obviously, that’s never going to work. It’s about getting pitchers in the zone and putting my commitment into the at-bat.”

This is the type of response coaches and front offices want to hear from young players, and Roden captures his early struggles perfectly. When you try to do “everything with everything,” as Roden puts it, that gives more control to the pitcher, who already has enough to begin with. 

It’s up to Roden now to produce, and the Blue Jays are willing to give him the space to do that again. This team is already benefiting from its decision to believe in Barger and his upside, as the club continued to roll him out regularly before his recent explosion. The same approach should suit Roden well, particularly while Toronto has Varsho and Santander on the IL.

It’s that time of year again… Phase 1 of All-Star voting is now open and will run until June 26. You can see the full ballot and vote for your favorite players here. 

The Blue Jays’ leading candidates include Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has been to each of the last four All-Star Games and is still trying to chase down his 10th, which would put him one ahead of his Hall of Fame father. 

Alejandro Kirk has a fine case, too, now that his bat has returned to complement his excellent defensive game. 

Once this phase wraps, Phase 2 will run from June 30 until July 2 to select the starters.

Earlier this week, the Blue Jays teamed up with ALS Canada to educate fans and raise awareness around ALS on Lou Gehrig Day. They also hosted ALS Canada in the Jays Care Community Clubhouse for the game. 

The Blue Jays joined teams across the league in keeping Gehrig’s legacy alive while working to raise funds to help fight ALS. You can learn all about the work being done around the league and opportunities to contribute to help the fight against ALS right here. 

To subscribe to Blue Jays Beat, visit this page and mark "Blue Jays Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Blue Jays or that they're checked as your favorite team.

View Online

© 2025 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (ed.eagle@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.