4 years agoToronto Blue Jays veteran reliever Kirby Yates made his first spring appearance against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday. He allowed a couple of hits in his one shutout inning but needed just nine pitches to retire the side. Yates' fastball normally sits around 93-94 mph and he was mostly 92-93 mph on Thursday despite a long layoff. He threw just 4.1 innings and allowed six runs in 2020 due to an elbow injury (bone chips) that required surgery. In 2019, the 33-year-old reliever posted a 1.19 ERA with 41 saves in 60 games. Toronto signed Yates to a one-year, $5.5 million free-agent deal in the offseason to help solidify the back-end of the bullpen.--Marc Hulet - RotoBaller
Source: Mike Wilner, Toronto Star