Things worth mentioning…

• A sort of interesting thing to note about this game is that the Blue Jays had four different lefties in their starting lineup: Greg Bird, Josh Palacios, Mallex Smith, and Nathan Lukes. I suspect that only two of those guys, Palacios and Bird, actually have a shot at cracking the team’s Opening Day roster, but it seems the Blue Jays are going to put some effort into figuring out how to make their team a little more left-handed than it currently is. All four of those aforementioned lefties picked up a hit on Friday, so the battle is on!
• Jose Berrios made his first start since signing a seven-year, $131 million contract extension. He looked (sounded, since this was on the radio) a bit rusty, allowing two earned runs on two hits and a walk over two-thirds of an inning. Shaun Anderson, who the team claimed on waivers earlier in the off-season, was also tagged for three earned runs over two innings.
• The best outing of the game from a Blue Jays pitcher came from Adrian Hernandez, an under-the-radar arm who had a strong season with High-A Vancouver last year. Hernandez tossed two-and-one-third innings and allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out three. An honourable mention goes to Brandon Eisert, another Vancouver arm. After Kyle Johnston loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth, Eisert came in and struck out back-to-back-to-back guys to end the game and give the Blue Jays the win.
• Finally, an important thing to keep in mind as we work our way through Grapefruit Play…