Blue Jays by the numbers: Dalton Pompey, Daniel Norris, Miguel Castro all back in Buffalo

The 2015 MLB season is less than a month old, yet the Toronto Blue Jays' opening day starting centre fielder, No. 3 starting pitcher, and the power arm reliever who briefly took over closing duties are already back in the minor leagues. It's no coincidence that all three are rookies and that the team is off to a middling 12-14 start and looking for a change to lift them out of last place in the AL East.

It started when Daniel Norris was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo following a short outing Wednesday in Cleveland. Dalton Pompey and his .183 batting average was next to go a couple days later and Miguel Castro was sent down a few hours after Sunday's 10-7 loss to the Indians in which he gave up two earned runs in 1 1/3 innings.

The transition to the top is never easy, even for players as talented as Norris, Pompey, and Castro. For now, the three are off the major league roster and each have parts of their game they need to work on before they're ready to return to the bigs.

LHP Daniel Norris

Norris, 22, made five starts in April and only one, a seven inning one-run outing against the Rays on April 25, qualified as a quality start. His ERA was a respectable 3.86 but he walked 12 batters and hit two in 23 1/3 innings. Veteran right-hander Marco Estrada assumes Norris' spot in the rotation and will start Tuesday against the Yankees.

The key for Norris is to harness his command. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons mentioned that Norris was having difficulty repeating his delivery – baseball jargon for an inconsistent approach on the mound – and figuring that out should lead to improved performances.

Among the three players demoted, Norris is the favourite to be brought back first, barring an injury to an outfielder.

OF Dalton Pompey

Pompey, 22, impressed as a surprise September call-up in 2014 and earned the starting job in centre with a strong showing in spring training. That form was nowhere to be seen through the season's first month. Pompey struggled particularly with his timing at the plate, striking out 22 times in 83 at-bats. According to the PITCHf/x data compiled by Brooks Baseball, Pompey racked up all those strikeouts despite demonstrating a solid batting eye and not chasing many pitches outside of the strike zone.

Add in that he was moved to left field because of Kevin Pillar's stellar defensive play, and it became quite obvious Pompey could use a physical and mental reboot away from Toronto to rediscover his timing and his confidence.

"I'm not going to lie there was a little bit of pressure," Pompey told the Bisons official website on Sunday. "For me personally, being from [Toronto] it was a lot. Now I can come here and kind of refocus, get my mind right, and hopefully do good things and hopefully get back up there."

RHP Miguel Castro

Castro, 20, was so electric in relief early in April that he was installed as the team's defacto closer by Gibbons less than a week into the season as Brett Cecil continued his recovery from shoulder inflammation. His fall back to earth was just as dramatic as his rise, which comes with the territory of having inexperienced pitcher who hadn't pitched above Class A before this year go up against major league hitters.

The main factor for Castro's sudden regression: his fastball was far often too flat and he couldn't simply overpower opponents with his velocity like he did in the low minors. That's why his lessons in pitching will come in Triple-A for the time being.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Yahoo Canada Sports. Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr