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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Frigid and far away from the Trop, one of the arms who could be critical to the Blue Jays success in 2024 got his season underway on Friday afternoon.

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It was opening day for the Bisons at Sahlen Field in Buffalo and Ricky Tiedemann made his debut pitching 2.2 innings in which he allowed one earned run (a leadoff homer) from his three hits in total while striking out three.

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The Jays (and their fans) will be monitoring the progress of the lefty closely as he builds towards possibly helping the big league team at some point this season.

A solid and healthy spring training in which Tiedemann immersed himself with the Jays coaching staff and fellow pitchers served him well on his road to an eventual promotion.

“I think it’s just executing,” Jays manager John Schneider said in what the coaching staff will be looking for from the team’s No. 1 ranked prospect. “We all know the stuff’s there and we were encouraged in camp. His last outing (against the Pirates in Bradenton) it was like he went out there and just executed his pitches.

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“It’s going to get harder when he gets up here, but I think it’s just executing every single pitch and not just saying I’m better than whoever I’m facing in the minor leagues.”

To hear Schneider talk, it certainly sounds like it’s a matter of “when” not “if” Tiedemann makes his big league debut. The highest level of minor league ball will serve as his finishing school.

“Every pitch has to have a purpose,” Schneider said. “You’re at the point where you’re a good prospect but you need to execute at a really high level.

“I think he’s kind of grasped that a little bit.”

JOSE CAN YOU SEE?

It’s time to move on from the playoff debacle, of course, but a note regarding Jose Berrios certainly stands out.

Dating back to last season, the right hander has pitched into the sixth inning or later in seven of his past nine regular season outings. Over that stretch, he has 58 strikeouts while holding opposition batters to a .231. average.

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He was strong again in the season opener, scattering six hits and striking out six Rays hitters, the most by a Jays opening day starter since Marcus Stroman punched out seven in 2019.

INJURY WARD

The Jays are encouraged with the progress catcher Danny Jansen is making from the broken bone in his hand. According to Schneider, Jansen has already caught a side from one of the Jays pitchers, is long tossing and has started swinging a bat. “Timeline isn’t definitive, but the fact that he’s doing that already is good,” Schneider said. “He’s definitely moving in the right direction.” … Though officially on the injured list, Alek Manoah has been in the dugout with the team here and is scheduled to pitch a side session on Sunday … Schneider still isn’t revealing when Kevin Gausman will make his debut – either Sunday against the Rays or the series opener against the Astros in Houston on Monday.

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