Blue Jays' Ricky Tiedemann: Already impressing in camp

Tiedemann was hitting 96-97 mph with his fastball in a bullpen session Friday and drew raves from catcher Danny Jansen, Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic reports.

"The fastball comes out hot and doesn't seem to really be straight, which is a good thing - it's got some ride, it's got some run on it," Jansen said afterward. "The action was great on his changeup, you could tell it's a pitch that he's always had. It's a good feel pitch for him. Then his slider was the same thing, it's a good pitch." Tiedemann had a breakout campaign in the minors last season, and while the 20-year-old lefty is almost certain to begin the 2023 season at Triple-A, he may not be there long. Alek Manoah had a similar minor-league trajectory and made only three starts for Triple-A Buffalo in 2021 before getting called up for good that May, so the Blue Jays organization has a track record of promoting top pitching prospects as soon as they seem ready. Lackluster options Yusei Kikuchi and Mitch White (shoulder) are the current contenders for the fifth starter job, but if neither one seizes the opportunity in camp or early in the regular season, Tiedemann could be the next man up.