TODAY : The Blue Jays have officially announced Rodrguezs promotion, and right-hander was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move. APRIL 12: Rodrguez will get the start, manager John Schneider told reporters ( ). Francis will be kicked to the bullpen. APRIL 11: The Blue Jays are set to promote offseason signee , reports Francys Romero ( ). The Cuban-born righty will officially be recalled on Saturday, according to the report. Rodrguez already occupies a spot on the Toronto 40-man roster. The Jays signed him to a five-year, $32MM free agent pact late in the winter. The 27-year-old might have been in consideration for the final rotation spot after suffered a shoulder injury early in camp. Yet Rodrguez was slightly delayed in his own right by back spasms. He Dominic Canzone Jersey only made two Spring Training appearances as a result, to sing five innings of one-run ball. The Jays tabbed to step into Manoahs vacated rotation spot. They optioned Rodrguez to Triple-A Buffalo to continue building his arm strength. He has pitched twice for the Bisons, working 6 1/3 scorele s frames while fanning 10 and i suing three walks. He has thrown 55 and 47 pitches in his respective appearances. Its fair to a sume the Jays arent going to rely on Rodrguez to go 100+ pitches in his major league debut. He should be able to contribute in some form of multi-inning capacity out of the gate, though. That could take the form of long relief or a slightly abbreviated start. Rodrguez last pitched on Monday, so hell be on five days rest by the weekend. The corresponding move isnt clear, but the Jays currently list Francis as their probable starter for Saturdays matchup with the Rockies. Francis first two major league starts have not gone well. The righty has been blitzed for 12 runs on as many hits in only 8 1/3 innings. He still has a minor league option remaining, so the Jays could send him to Buffalo if they wanted to swap Rodrguez into his place in the rotation. Alternatively, they could deploy Francis and Rodrguez in some form of tandem start, perhaps letting them each face the lineup twice without stretching their pitch counts too far. However the Jays deploy Rodrguez, theyll surely keep an eye on his innings tally as the season rolls along. His only competitive action in 2023 came during the World Baseball Cla sic. After that tournament, Rodrguez sat out the season as he waited for MLB to officially declare him a free agent. He pitched exclusively as a reliever with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Profe sional Baseball two years ago, to sing 54 2/3 frames of 1.15 ERA ball. Rodrguez threw 94 2/3 innings between the Dragons and their minor league team in 2021. The heaviest workload of his career came in 2018, when he worked 133 1/3 innings as a 21-year-old in Cuba. Cade Marlowe Jersey