The big question is who’ll eat innings in the final Blue Jays game of the season?
Well, that was answered on Sunday, as Wes Parsons was called up to the major leagues. To make room for the 40-man roster and the 28-man roster, Let’s look at Parsons first.
Who is Wes Parsons:
So, who is Wes Parsons? The 31-year-old signed with Atlanta as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He spent seven years in the organization, and even worked his way up to the major leagues, where he had a 5.67 ERA and a 5.97 FIP in 39.2 innings pitched.
After the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Parsons signed with the NC Dinos of the KBO League in Korea. In the two seasons that he pitched there, he had a 3.68 ERA in 176 innings pitched.
In the spring of 2023, the Blue Jays signed Parsons to a minor league deal, where he spent the majority of the season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. He had a 4.52 ERA and a 4.72 FIP in 81.2 innings pitched, along with a 27.5 K% and a 12.6 BB%.
Parsons has a four-pitch mix, a four-seam fastball, a sinker, a slider, and a changeup. His fastball averaged 94.5 mph and had a 22.3 whiff% in Triple-A. His best pitch was his low-80s slider, which had a 41.6 whiff%.
Jay Jackson DFA’ed:
This is absolutely brutal news.
The 35-year-old is set to become a free agent at the end of the season and it was unlikely that he was going to make the playoff roster.
However, the impact Jackson had on the 2023 Jays cannot be understated. The righty posted a 2.12 ERA and a 4.20 FIP in 29.2 innings pitched while appearing in 25 games. Moreover, he had a 23.3 KK% and a 7.8 BB%.
That doesn’t tell the whole story though. From June 5th to August 11th, Jackson pitched 16.2 innings without giving up a single run. The 35-year-old posted a 0 ERA and a 1.82 FIP in the 13 games he appeared in during that stretch. To end the season, he pitched 6.2 innings without giving up a run as well.
Although the timing is brutal, this doesn’t mean Jay’s tenure as a Blue Jay is over. As Blue Bird Banter’s Minor Leaguer points out, he can accept the outright assignment and pitch in ten days if an injury occurs.
Who knows what the off-season will bring or if Jay Jackson will pitch for the Jays again. However, if the Blue Jays win the 2023 World Series, he definitely played a part in it.
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