Craig Breslow will not be making the trip up to Toronto for Opening Day at Rogers Centre.
After allowing 10 hits and five runs over 7.1 innings during spring training, the veteran lefty was released by the Blue Jays Saturday.
Roster Moves: LHP Matt Dermody has been assigned outright to Buffalo and LHP Craig Breslow has been released.
— Blue Jays PR (@BlueJaysPR) March 24, 2018
The Blue Jays reportedly told Breslow that he was not going to make the major-league roster earlier this week, but waited until the weekend to make it official.
Toronto will open the 2018 regular season on March 29 against the Yankees with seven relief pitchers expected in the bullpen. Closer Roberto Osuna, Ryan Tepera, Danny Barnes, newly-acquired Seung Hwan Oh and lefty Aaron Loup all have guaranteed spots on the Jays' roster.
Breslow was one of four relievers signed to minor-league deals, battling for the final positions in the bullpen. John Axford (1.35 ERA), Al Alburquerque (3.38 ERA) and most recently Tyler Clippard (4.50 ERA) were also veteran non-roster invitees.
Given his performance so far in Florida, it's not too surprising that Breslow (6.14 ERA) didn't make the cut, especially considering what he's up against.
Axford and Alburquerque have both put up strong spring training performances. Axford, a Simcoe, Ont., native, allowed just three hits, one run and eight strikeouts across 6.2 innings on the mound. The 31-year-old Alburquerque has surrendered eight hits, three runs and struck out 12 across eight innings.
Clippard, who signed a minor league deal with the Jays on March 7, has been a little less consistent, but still outpaced Breslow statistically. He has allowed four hits, three runs and recorded nine strikeouts over six innings.
Breslow's left-handed pitching was expected to give him an advantage coming into spring training since it was assumed that the Jays would want a second lefty to join Loup in the pen. The 37-year-old turned heads last offseason when he reinvented his pitching technique to be more effective, implementing a lower release point that helped him limit left-handed batters to just .196/.294/.286 last season.