Who will be the Blue Jays' Opening Day starter? With Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez coming off poor seasons, does Ryan Borucki have a chance?

-- Jackie L., Halifax, Nova Scotia

The Blue Jays won't make this official until much later in Spring Training, but it's a pretty safe assumption that Stroman will be the No. 1 starter. The only other pitcher under consideration is Sanchez, but Stroman's spring routine began earlier and he has a larger body of work over the last two years.

The other three starters can safely be ruled out. Clayton Richard and Matt Shoemaker just arrived, and while Borucki finished 2018 as Toronto's top starter he's technically competing for the No. 5 spot.

Assuming he's healthy, bank on Stroman taking the ball on March 28 vs. the Tigers.

• Submit a question to Blue Jays inbox

Spring is full of optimism and potential, but by the end it usually comes down to health and options. The consensus seems to have Billy McKinney as the fourth outfielder. However, Dalton Pompey still is on the 40-man roster and, more importantly, out of options. What are his chances if he can stay healthy and have a productive spring?

-- Chris L., Pembroke, Ontario

The spring started off poorly for Pompey when Ross Atkins appeared to hint during the first week of camp that McKinney and Teoscar Hernández would split time in left. If Hernandez and McKinney are on the roster alongside fellow outfielders Kevin Pillar and Randal Grichuk, it's almost impossible for Pompey to make the team. Combine that with the fact that Pompey was the only healthy member of the 40-man roster who did not receive a September callup last year and it foreshadowed a long spring for the former top prospect.

The beautiful thing about baseball is that it doesn't take long for things to change. In Pompey's second game, he flashed the potential that made him the Opening Day center fielder in 2015 by homering and stealing a base. He seems like an ideal fit off the bench because of his speed and ability to play all three outfield spots. Do I think he'll make the team? No, but if he keeps playing like he did Sunday against the Orioles, it won't take long for that to change.

What does Joe Biagini have to do to make the Opening Day roster, or is his spot in the bullpen assured? His 2018 season was poor and he has an option left.

-- Jeff W., Thunder Bay, Ontario

Simply put, if Biagini has a good spring he'll make the team. If he doesn't, he won't. The 28-year-old needs to regain the consistency that made him one of the club's top relievers in 2016. Bouncing between the rotation and the bullpen over the last two years didn't do him any favors, and constant changes to his mechanics seemed to throw everything out of whack. This spring is about getting back to the basics and keeping things simple, just as he tried to do as a rookie Rule 5 pick three years ago.

Ken Giles, Ryan Tepera and David Phelps (if healthy) are the three locks in the bullpen. The other four or five jobs are up for grabs. While options usually work against people competing for jobs, almost everyone else in the bullpen is in a similar spot, so Biagini controls his own fate.

If the Blue Jays experiment with an opener strategy, who do you think the opener might be?

-- Chris S., @chrissu39361236

Tepera has been mentioned as one possibility, Biagini is another and even lefty Tim Mayza could be thrown into the mix if he makes the team. It's worth noting, despite all of the recent opener talk, Toronto does not have any immediate plans to implement this strategy. The Blue Jays are expected to open the year with five starters and, at least for now, all of them are expected to be on the hill in the first inning. That might change later in the year because of injuries or specific matchups, but for now all of this remains hypothetical.

Do you really think Stroman's comments about the front office will influence his chances of getting traded?

-- @TheJaysMan

No, I don't. The Blue Jays were open to dealing Stroman before he made some controversial comments, and they remain open to dealing him now. The expectation all along was that Toronto would hang onto both Stroman and Sanchez during the offseason, hope for a strong first couple of months, and then look to deal the starters to a contending team. There's no reason to believe that has changed, and just because Stroman criticized the organization for having a lack of veteran leadership that doesn't mean the Blue Jays will trade him away for pennies on the dollar.

I know it's so early, but will Lourdes Gurriel Jr. get 500-plus at-bats this year?

-- @joeg414

Assuming he stays healthy, that seems like an ideal total for Gurriel. Toronto's top priority this season should be developing its young talent to see which players are long-term fits. Hernandez, McKinney, Gurriel, catcher Danny Jansen and soon enough Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are the types of players who need to be playing every day and if it impacts a veteran or two so be it. Freddy Galvis will be used a lot at shortstop and that's fine, but the club will need to use Gurriel at other positions to make sure his development continues.