TAMPA, Fla. -- Griffin Conine wants in.

The 22-year-old outfielder, and son of Jeff, has seen the other Blue Jays players with big league pedigree make it to the Major Leagues and find success -- with Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the forefront of that list -- and Conine is hoping to take what¡¯s worked for him so far and see it play at the highest level.

¡°The Blue Jays made a point to go out and get some lineage guys, and it¡¯s paid off really well for them with the guys they have up now,¡± Toronto¡¯s No. 14 prospect said before the Blue Jays' 4-2 win over the Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. ¡°Hopefully I can be on that list of guys who have paid off. ¡­ The power can play at any level, and that¡¯s my calling card. It¡¯s just being able to figure out how I can make it work at every level rising up the system.¡±

Conine got into 80 games at Class A Lansing last year, missing the beginning of the Minor League season after testing positive for Ritalin, a banned substance. For the Lugnuts, he slashed .283/.371/.576 with 22 home runs, 19 doubles, two triples and 64 RBIs, relying on that power, an impressive arm in right field and a lot of defensive work that he hopes will help him improve.

¡°You want to impact the game in as many ways as you can,¡± Conine said. ¡°I¡¯m not a speed guy, so that¡¯s one [tool] I¡¯m already missing. So the glove is something -- you see the Defensive Runs Saved stat that¡¯s getting a lot of publicity in the bigs now, and that¡¯s a huge stat -- anything you can do in the outfield to help your pitcher out is big.¡±

The Florida native believes the reason he finished the season at the same level where he started was because of the 125 strikeouts he racked up over 348 plate appearances. Conine used the offseason to try to shorten up his swing with the aim of getting his strikeout numbers down, but he is still looking to make improvements across the board.

¡°If I had to rank [my tools], power would be No. 1, for sure,¡± he said. ¡°Arm would be No. 2, for sure, and after that, it¡¯s kind of a toss up. Speed would be on the lower end, [No. 5] maybe. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m slow, but defense is above that. Glove would be better than speed, and the hit [tool] is probably better than the glove. They can get better.¡±

Projected by MLB Pipeline to join the Major League ranks in 2021, Conine is looking forward to starting his Minor League season at Class A Advanced Dunedin and seeing where the year takes him.

Roark rolls on
Making his second Grapefruit League start Tuesday -- getting a late start to spring because of the flu -- Tanner Roark impressed, using what he called an ¡°unorthodox¡± approach to keep Yankees hitters off balance for four innings. The 33-year-old righty faced one batter over the minimum, allowing one run on one hit, striking out four.

¡°I don¡¯t want them to see all my best stuff, because they¡¯re in the division and we play them a lot,¡± Roark said. ¡°[I wanted to] keep them wondering what the heck I¡¯m trying to do ¡­ throwing back-to-back sliders or back-to-back changeups, just to get the feel of it when they¡¯re ahead in the count, that kind of stuff.¡±

Snip, snip
The Blue Jays made their first round of roster cuts Tuesday, optioning pitchers Thomas Hatch, Elvis Luciano, Julian Merryweather, Patrick Murphy, Hector Perez and T.J. Zeuch to Minor League camp, and reassigning position players Alejandro Kirk, Patrick Kivlehan, Nash Knight and Logan Warmoth to the Minors.

¡°They¡¯re the future,¡± Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. ¡°Hatch and Merryweather and Murphy, they were impressive. That¡¯s what I told them, ¡®Man, you guys have got good stuff, and you guys are going to be here in the next couple of years, for sure. You¡¯re a big part of our future.¡¯¡±

Up next
Chase Anderson will head to the hill for his fourth start of Spring Training against the Orioles at TD Ballpark in Dunedin on Wednesday, with first pitch set for 1:07 p.m. ET. The 32-year-old right-hander will look to rebound after allowing 12 runs -- 11 earned -- in 5 2/3 innings over his first three Grapefruit League appearances. Fans can listen to the game via a free audio webcast.