A strong spring training has vaulted Drew Hutchison to the top of the Toronto Blue Jays' rotation as he'll start the season opener April 6 at Yankee Stadium against New York.
The 24-year-old has won three of four games (three starts) in the pre-season and sports a 1.80 earned-run average while striking out 11 in 15 innings.
Starting Hutchison in the opener would put him on track to face Baltimore in his second start, a team he dominated last season to the tune of a 2.54 ERA. The right-hander was also the lone American League starter to beat the Orioles three times (3-1).
Hutchison won 11 games in 2014, his first full season after elbow ligament replacement (Tommy John) surgery. In 32 starts, he logged 184 2/3 innings with a 4.48 ERA.
Hutchison wasn't as effective against the Yankees last season as he was versus Baltimore. New York lit him up for five home runs in 31 1/3 innings as Hutchison went 2-4 in six starts with an ugly 5.17 ERA. He fanned 37 but also walked 17.
As a team, Toronto was 3-7 at Yankee Stadium, a slight improvement from the Jays' 0-10 showing in 2013.
Toronto unveiled its 25-man roster Tuesday, with rookie second baseman Devon Travis and former Seattle first baseman Justin Smoak cracking the lineup. Smoak, who hit just .202 in 80 games last season for the Mariners with seven home runs and 30 runs batted in, was claimed on waivers on Oct. 28 and later signed for one year and $1 million US after Toronto declined his $3.65 million option on Nov. 1.
Travis, 24, hit .352 in his first 54 at-bats this spring after being acquired in November for centre-fielder Anthony Gose. Travis has the inside track on a starting job over Ryan Goins and the injured Maicer Izturis.
Projected starting centre-fielder Dalton Pompey, who hails from Mississauga, Ont., will head north with the Blue Jays, as will utility man Steve Tolleson.
The 22-year-old Pompey hit .317 across three minor league levels last season and was promoted to the big leagues in September. He has shone at the plate in 18 games this spring with a .327 average and .364 on-base percentage through March 29. The switch-hitting Pompey can be a big asset in steals after recording 43 steals in 50 attempts in the minors last season.
The versatile Tolleson, 31, returns for a second season with Toronto after appearing at 55 games at second base, twice at shortstop, 43 at third and seven in the outfield.
He hit .253 in 108 contests last year with three homers and 16 RBIs. Tolleson has matched the home run total in 31 spring at-bats while driving in six in 16 games with a .258 average.
One player who won't travel with the Blue Jays to New York is outfielder Dayan Viciedo.
Coming off a 21-homer season with the Chicago White Sox, he was signed to a minor league deal March 1 when projected starting left-fielder Michael Saunders went down with a knee injury that required surgery on his meniscus.
Viciedo, a five-foot-11, 240-pound Cuban, batted .231 with 58 RBIs for the White Sox in 2014. He had 122 strikeouts and 32 walks in 523 at-bats.
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