Ryu continues to build in intrasquad game

SARASOTA, Fla. -- With the Blue Jays playing the Orioles on the road, ace Hyun Jin Ryu stayed at the club’s complex in Dunedin to pitch in an intrasquad game as he focuses on building up his pitch count for Opening Day.

Ryu threw 50 pitches over three innings, facing Teoscar Hernández, Bo Bichette, Marcus Semien, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Randal Grichuk and a few other Blue Jays hitters. As he often does, Ryu then threw 15 more pitches in the bullpen, putting him right on track for where he wants to be.

There’s some logic behind the decision, too. If he’s going to be pitching to the Orioles throughout the season, why give them an early look in Spring Training?

“If we have to play them throughout the season, I think it would be better for us to not [see] them in Spring Training from a pitcher’s standpoint,” Ryu said through translator Jun Sung Park. “Obviously, everything goes as the situation is presented to myself and the team. I believe that both parties from our team and the other team also agrees on that aspect.”

The intrasquad game provides a more controlled environment, too, and if Ryu gives up any sort of hard contact, he’s able to go to his catcher or the hitter and get direct feedback from them, which can be especially valuable when it comes to what the hitter was expecting or looking for in a certain count. On Wednesday, instead of working with Danny Jansen as Ryu typically does, it was Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Ryu said that Kirk did “pretty well” over the three innings.

“He’s a young player, and as a pitcher, it’s about how I could bring him and pull him along to my type of game,” Ryu said.

Given his progression to this point, Ryu should be fully built up by Opening Day, and the left-hander says he’s already developed a good feel for his whole arsenal. No news is good news when it comes to Ryu, and so far in camp, he’s been his predictable self.

Stripling sharp in debut
Ross Stripling could be looking at an opportunity to open the season in the starting rotation as No. 1 prospect Nate Pearson deals with a groin injury. Stripling looked sharp in his first outing of the spring in the Blue Jays’ 4-3 loss to the Orioles, tossing two scoreless innings with three hits allowed and two strikeouts on 38 pitches.

Stripling felt strong after a late arrival to camp following the birth of his child, and he is coming out of an offseason where he added a long-toss program and work with weighted balls. The right-hander sat around 91 mph on the stadium radar gun and hit 93 mph several times.

“I bet I had more swings and misses on fastballs in those two innings than I might have had all season last year, so that’s a good sign off the bat that my heater is getting on guys,” Stripling said. “Obviously, they may not have their timing down yet, but that’s a good thing for me to have, because obviously I’m not a velo guy. I’m not a fastball guy. So if I can beat guys with my fastball and keep them off-balance, that’s just going to play my offspeed up even more.”

Extras from Sarasota
• George Springer, who missed Tuesday’s game with left abdominal tightness, completed a full workout on Wednesday, took live batting practice and then played defense in the intrasquad game. He’s still “day to day” and should be back in the lineup soon.

• Anthony Kay allowed a pair of runs in the third inning after entering in relief, but he worked a clean fourth and ended his three frames with two strikeouts, the second of which came on a nice changeup to Orioles prospect Jahmai Jones. Kay blew a 96-mph fastball past another O's prospect, Ryan McKenna, for a strikeout in the fifth.

• Jonathan Davis had a good day at the dish, singling twice with one walk. As long as he can reach base consistently enough, Davis’ glove in center will keep him in the picture and he could be up and down between the Major League roster and Triple-A Buffalo through the season.

• Outfielder Forrest Wall entered for Davis and launched a solo home run to right field. Wall is looking at plenty of outfield depth ahead of him, of course, but he’s having a nice camp so far and should get plenty of opportunities at Triple-A this season.

• Pitching prospect Yosver Zulueta closed things out and the Cuban right-hander controlled his pitches far better than in his previous outing. Sitting near 96 mph, Zulueta hit 97 mph multiple times in a clean inning. Zulueta also got a couple of curveballs across for strikes, which will be a key to his development over the next couple of seasons.

• Right-hander Jacob Waguespack, who was recently designated for assignment, has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Buffalo. Waguespack will stay in Major League camp, but he is now off the 40-man roster.

Up next
Tanner Roark is set to make his second Grapefruit League start of 2021 on Thursday at 1:07 p.m. ET at TD Ballpark in Dunedin. Going up against the Tigers, Roark will look to build his workload, as one of the staff’s most experienced starters could be asked to carry a heavy load. After his first outing, Roark said he’d be focusing on keeping his pitches on the plate and forcing hitters to get themselves out going forward. Watch all the action for free on MLB.com.