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Injury Notes: Belt, Candelario, Lee, Reid-Foley

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The Blue Jays placed Brandon Belt on the 10-day injured list this afternoon. He’s dealing with lumbar spine muscle spasms. Outfielder Nathan Lukes is up from Triple-A Buffalo to take the roster spot.

Toronto didn’t provide a timetable for Belt’s return. There are just under three weeks to go in the regular season and the Jays are on the edge of the playoff race. They go into the second game of this week’s series against the Rangers in possession of the American League’s second Wild Card spot, half a game above Texas and one game better than the Mariners.

Belt has had a strong first season in Toronto. Signed to a $9MM free agent deal, the veteran first baseman is hitting .251/.369/.470 with 16 homers across 382 plate appearances. The Jays have used him a platoon capacity, keeping him to just 31 at-bats versus same-handed pitching. His injury could leave more at-bats for lefty-swinging rookie Spencer Horwitz, who is in the lineup tonight against Max Scherzer.

In other injury news:

  • The Cubs plan to place Jeimer Candelario on the 10-day injured list with a back issue, tweets Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Rookie outfielder Alexander Canario will be recalled to take the roster spot. Candelario suffered the injury on Sunday, so the placement will likely be backdated by one day. He’ll first be eligible to return a week from Thursday. Acquired from the Nationals at the deadline, Candelario is hitting .237/.324/.449 in 36 games during his second stint as a Cub. He’d hit well in August before falling into a slump over the past couple weeks.
  • The Braves have placed Dylan Lee on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation, the club announced. He had originally been optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett, but that demotion was voided thanks to the injury. Lee will continue to be paid at the MLB rate. Unfortunately, that’ll come at the cost of the rest of his season. Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that the Braves will shut the southpaw down until 2024. Lee was out from mid-June until the start of September because of shoulder soreness. He returned to make just four appearances before the shoulder sent him back to the IL. His season wraps up with 23 2/3 innings of 4.18 ERA ball. Atlanta has A.J. Minter and Brad Hand as their top left-handed relief duo going into the playoffs.
  • Mets reliever Sean Reid-Foley suffered a lat strain, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. That’ll certainly end his season. New York recalled Reed Garrett to take Reid-Foley’s place on the active roster. It’s a frustrating development for the 28-year-old Reid-Foley, who was limited to eight appearances since the club selected his contract at the end of August. He’d been out since last May working back from a Tommy John procedure. Reid-Foley tossed 7 2/3 innings of three-run ball this year in the majors, striking out 16 while walking six.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Paredes, Swanson

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Top prospect Ceddanne Rafaela has found limited playing time with the Red Sox since being called up at the end of August despite an overall strong performance at the plate in the majors so far, going 7-for-16 with two doubles. When asked about Rafaela’s playing time, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive’s Chris Cotillo) that Rafaela will continue to play in a reserve role as long as the club remains in the playoff race.

While the playoff odds at Fangraphs give the Red Sox just a 1.3% chance to make the postseason after tonight’s loss to Baltimore, Boston still has three games to go against each of the two clubs directly ahead of them in the standings, Texas and Toronto. That gives them a slim opening for a miracle run despite being a whopping seven games back of the final AL Wild Card spot with just three weeks to go in the regular season. With Rafaela’s first taste of everyday action in the big leagues on hold for the time being, the versatile youngster figures to share time at second base with Enmanuel Valdez while also offering backup options to Trevor Story at shortstop and Adam Duvall in center field.

More from the AL East…

  • Rays infielder Isaac Paredes exited today’s game after being hit in the hand by a pitch from right-hander Luke Weaver during the fifth inning of today’s game against the Mariners. Fortunately for Tampa, x-rays on Paredes’s hand came back negative and the 24-year-old third baseman was diagnosed with a hand contusion. Manager Kevin Cash indicated to reporters (including those at MLB.com) that Paredes won’t be in tomorrow’s starting lineup and is day-to-day, but could be available off the bench if necessary. It’s been a breakout campaign for Paredes in 2023, as the youngster has slashed a fantastic .253/.352/.502 in 497 trips to the plate this season. 22-year-old rookie Osleivis Basabe figures to take over at the hot corner while Parades is out of action.
  • The Blue Jays could welcome back right-hander Erik Swanson in the near future. The righty has been out due to thoracic spine inflammation since late August, and he’ll reach the minimum 15 days spent on the IL tomorrow. Swanson made a rehab appearance with Triple-A Buffalo this evening, and notched one strikeout without allowing a baserunner during his inning of work. Assuming he bounces back from tonight’s outing well, MLB.com notes that Swanson could return to the big league club without requiring another rehab appearance. That’s great news for the Blue Jays, as Swanson was perhaps their most reliable set-up man for closer Jordan Romano before he went on the shelf. In 58 innings of work this season, Swanson sports a 3.10 ERA, 3.28 FIP, and a 29.4% strikeout rate. He figures to form a lethal three-headed-monster at the back of the Toronto bullpen alongside Romano and deadline addition Jordan Hicks should the Blue Jays make it to the postseason.

Danny Jansen Undergoes Finger Surgery

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Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen underwent surgery yesterday to address his fractured right middle finger, the team announced (relayed by Scott Mitchell of TSN). He’s out for the rest of the regular season, though the club is leaving open the possibility for a return in the postseason if they qualify.

Jansen broke his finger last week when it was struck by a foul tip. The Jays promptly put him on the injured list, recalling Tyler Heineman from Triple-A to take the active roster spot. Heineman will remain in the #2 capacity while Alejandro Kirk takes the majority of the reps. The right-handed hitting Kirk had started the season slowly but has found his stride in the second half, posting a .296/.379/.463 line since the All-Star Break.

That positions the Jays better than virtually any other team to withstand the loss of a catcher, but it’s still disappointing for player and team alike. Jansen also missed time this year with a groin strain and has gone on the IL in each of the last three seasons. When healthy, the 28-year-old is one of the better catchers in the game. He owns a .228/.312/.474 slash with 17 homers in only 301 plate appearances this year.

In better news for Toronto, they reinstated Bo Bichette from the IL before this evening’s matchup with the Royals. Bichette missed a minimal amount of time with a quad strain. The star shortstop has been the Jays’ best player this year, so getting him back quickly is obviously a huge development for a team that entered play Friday half a game up on the Rangers for the last Wild Card spot in the American League.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s Unusual, Replacement-Level Season

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The Blue Jays are 1.5 games behind the Rangers for the last AL wild card berth, so it remains quite possible that Toronto could still end up as part of the postseason bracket.  However, simply squeaking into the playoffs wasn’t at all what the Jays envisioned when spending roughly $215MM (a club record) in payroll and surpassing the luxury tax threshold for the first time, as the team fully expected to be contending for a World Series title.

Alek Manoah’s extreme struggles and a lack of bench depth have contributed to the Jays’ underwhelming season, yet the biggest culprit has been a very up-and-down offense.  Though the Blue Jays are actually among the league’s best in getting hits and getting on base, they rank middle of the pack in runs due to an inability to consistently drive in runners in scoring position.  Beyond this specific flaw, the Jays have also gotten disappointing years at the plate from several regulars, and while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has still been above average, his oddity of a season has been pretty symbolic of Toronto’s 2023 campaign as a whole.

“Above average” production and a 112 wRC+ is a perfectly respectable year for most players, yet for Guerrero, it stands out as a red flag.  When that good (.264/.337/.432 with 20 homers over 579 plate appearances) but unspectacular offense is paired with a subpar defensive season, Guerrero has only 0.4 fWAR — among all qualified players in baseball, only 16 players have a lower fWAR than Guerrero’s modest total.

It is an eye-opening statistic, since for all of the money the Blue Jays have invested in building their roster, the team’s plans have been built around the assumption of excellent production from homegrown stars Guerrero and Bo Bichette.  While Bichette has mostly lived up to that billing and has been Toronto’s best player this season, Guerrero suddenly becoming barely a replacement-level player has been a big setback for the Jays.

And yet, a glimpse at Guerrero’s Statcast page would make one think that he is again an MVP candidate.  Guerrero ranks in at least the 89th percentile in such key categories as strikeout rate, hard contact, barrels, expected batting average, expected on-base percentage, expected slugging percentage, exit velocity, and xwOBA.  In fact, that latter statistic hints that Guerrero’s relative struggles this season have been due to horrid luck.  No qualified player in baseball has a larger gap between their xwOBA and wOBA than Guerrero, whose elite .379 xwOBA has resulted in a much more modest .332 wOBA.

The sea of red on Guerrero’s Statcast page seemingly indicates that a turn-around is imminent or almost inevitable, and yet as the calendar has now reached September, the first baseman has still yet to get hot for any extended period of time.  Guerrero’s best production came early in the season with an .885 OPS over 127 PA in March and April, but he has hit only .245/.318/.397 over 434 PA since May 5.

Hailed as a future cornerstone superstar and the game’s best prospect during his time in Toronto’s farm system, Guerrero seemed well on his way to living up to the hype with his sensational 2021 campaign.  Guerrero hit .311/.401/.601 with 48 homers over 698 plate appearances, and likely would’ve won AL MVP honors if it hadn’t been for Shohei Ohtani’s legendary two-way performance.

Rather than build on that big season, Guerrero took a relative step backwards in 2022, hitting .274/.339/.480 with 32 homers over 706 PA.  While not exactly a cause for concern considering that a 132+ wRC is still outstanding, Guerrero’s 2022 numbers revealed some issues that have become larger issues in 2023.  For one, Guerrero’s chase rates and chase contact rates have been well below average in 2022-23, as pitchers have learned that Guerrero is prone to swinging at pitches outside the zone with less-than-stellar results.

While Guerrero doesn’t strike out much, his tendency to chase has led to a lot of his hard-hit balls staying on the ground.  Guerrero has a 47.5% grounder rate this season, and an even 50% grounder rate since the start of the 2022 season — the eighth-highest among qualified hitters in that span.  Between these grounders, Guerrero’s below-average speed, and a .285 BABIP in 2022-23, it perhaps isn’t surprising that Guerrero has hit into 46 double plays since Opening Day 2022, tied for the most of any player in the league.

Guerrero has always had pretty high groundball rates over his five MLB seasons, yet in 2021, his career-best 36.5% fly ball rate resulted in that big 48-homer year.  He has only a 31.9% fly ball rate in the two seasons since, with rather a stark dropoff in overall power.  The first baseman’s Isolated Power metric has gone from .290 in 2021 to .205 last season to .169 this season.

As much as 2021 seemed like the first taste of what Guerrero was “supposed to be” as a budding superstar, it also stands out as an outlier within Guerrero’s five Major League seasons.  It is also worth noting that the 2021 season was also an outlier for the Blue Jays in general, as COVID-related border restrictions kept the team from actually playing in Toronto until the end of July.  Guerrero still had a .935 OPS in 152 PA at Rogers Centre in 2021, though even that impressive total paled in comparison to his numbers at the Blue Jays’ other two home ballparks that season — a 1.418 OPS in 96 PA at the Jays’ spring complex in Dunedin, or his 1.180 OPS in 98 PA at Buffalo’s Sahlen Field.

Since the pandemic also forced the Jays to play in Buffalo during the 60-game 2020 season, Guerrero has only played 241 games at his actual home ballpark in his career, and there is evidence that Guerrero has yet to entirely get comfortable at Rogers Centre.  Guerrero has hit .258/.327/.448 over 1024 career PA in Toronto, but his home/road splits have been unusually drastic this season.  Guerrero has only a .691 OPS at Rogers Centre in 2023, as compared to a much more respectable .837 OPS in road games.

The altered dimensions and wall sizes at Rogers Centre this season seems to have had some impact on overall offense, as Statcast’s Park Factor calculations rank Toronto as a slightly below-average hitting environment this season after years of being seen as a park that generally favors hitters.  Of course, there are some on-field factors that go into this calculation, as the reduced offense might have less to do with the ballpark renovations than how the Jays have had a strong defense and good pitching staff this season, or their own lineup’s lack of production.  And, since several other Blue Jays batters are hitting quite well at Rogers Centre, it is hard to pinpoint why Guerrero in particular is struggling so much in his home ballpark.

Beyond offense, Guerrero also hasn’t been helping his cause on defense.  Public defensive metrics (-8 Defensive Runs Saved, -0.3 UZR/150, -14 Outs Above Average) are very down on his glovework, which represents a step back after Guerrero had seemingly been improving as a first baseman in past seasons.  The public metrics have always been somewhat split on Guerrero’s defense, yet DRS gave him plus grades in both 2021 and 2022, while he had a +2.5 UZR/150 in 2021.

Given that he is close to competing his fifth MLB season, it is still almost a surprise to remember that Guerrero won’t turn 25 years old until March, and his prime years might well still be ahead of him.  Of course, this is small consolation to a team built to win right now, and Guerrero’s 2023 season also creates some new questions about his status as a long-term building block.  He is arbitration-controlled for two more seasons and will be due a raise on his $14.5MM salary in 2023, with his early-career success and Super Two status combining to give the first baseman some hefty paydays throughout his arb years.

The question of whether the Blue Jays will sign Guerrero and/or Bichette (or neither) to long-term contract extensions has been a lingering question for years, yet since Bichette is also controlled through 2025, it isn’t necessarily a question the Jays have to face just yet.  However, Guerrero’s 2023 performance is far from the ideal for a franchise player, and as that huge 2021 season gets further in the rearview mirror, the Blue Jays might still not know exactly what they have in Guerrero.

A big September would go a long way towards salvaging this season from a personal perspective and a team perspective if Guerrero can finally break out and carry the Jays into the playoffs.  But, after what has basically been a four-month slump, time is running out for Guerrero to adjust and turn his superb advanced metrics into better real-world results.

AL East Notes: Adam, Blue Jays, Wells

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Per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, Rays right-hander Jason Adam was unavailable during tonight’s 7-6 loss to the Guardians due to an oblique strain that will send him to the injured list. Adam hasn’t pitched since August 27 due to the issue. It’s another devastating injury for Tampa’s pitching staff, which has already lost three of its five opening day rotation members for the season in Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan. Now, the bullpen has lost perhaps its most reliable setup arm for right-hander Pete Fairbanks.

After a sensational 2022 campaign with the Rays where Adam posted a 1.56 ERA in 67 appearances, the 31-year-old righty has taken a step back but is still dominant with a 2.67 ERA in 54 innings this season, 56% better than league average by measure of ERA+. With Adam headed to the IL, it’s fair to wonder if his regular season is in jeopardy, though without confirmation from Rays brass its hard to speculate on a timetable for return given the considerable variance in severity regarding oblique injuries. With Adam headed to the shelf, the Rays figure to rely on Fairbanks, Colin Poche, and Robert Stephenson to cover the late innings, with veteran Andrew Kitteredge as a potential X-factor for the bullpen as he returns from last year’s Tommy John surgery.

More from around the AL East…

  • The Blue Jays had interested in then-Mets outfielder Mark Canha prior to the trade deadline, when he was ultimately traded to the Brewers. Per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, the club considered dealing for an additional bat like Canha or fellow Met Tommy Pham (who was eventually traded to Arizona) before ultimately opting to rely on prospect Davis Schneider to boost the offense down the stretch. While the decision to lean on Schneider looks prescient as the 24-year-old has set the world on fire with a 270 wRC+ in his first 15 games, a bat like Canha or Pham would surely help cover for the loss of Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman to the injured list earlier this week. Nicholson-Smith also notes that the club rebuffed interest from a free agent middle infielder toward the end of August in deference to Ernie Clement, who like Schneider has also delivered in a small sample size since taking over for Bichette at shortstop.
  • Orioles right-hander Tyler Wells is struggling with arm fatigue as he converts to a bullpen role with Triple-A Norfolk, as manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Jake Rill of MLB.com) today. As Rill notes, Wells last pitched on August 25, with Hyde noting that the righty hasn’t “bounced back” from his last outing as hoped. Wells posted a 3.18 ERA in 104 2/3 innings of work prior to the All Star break but was rocked for 11 runs in nine innings of work in three appearances after the break, prompting the club to demote the 29-year-old hurler for a conversion to the bullpen.

Danny Jansen Placed On 10-Day IL With Finger Fracture

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4:04pm: The Blue Jays have officially announced that Jansen was placed on the 10-day IL with a finger fracture, calling up Heineman in the corresponding move.

9:31am: Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen had to make an early exit from yesterday’s game due to what was eventually revealed as a fracture in the knuckle of his right middle finger.  During an at-bat in the sixth inning, Rockies left fielder Nolan Jones fouled a ball into Jansen’s exposed right hand, leaving the catcher in obvious discomfort.  Jansen remained behind the plate for the rest of the inning, but Alejandro Kirk pinch-hit for Jansen in the top of the seventh.

Tyler Heineman has already been called up from Triple-A as at least a precautionary measure while Jansen undergoes further imaging and tests, as manager John Schneider told Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and other reporters.  Given the nature of the injury, it’s hard to imagine that Jansen will be able to avoid the 10-day injured list, leaving the Jays without their starting catcher for at least some of their playoff push.  Kirk will take most of the starts in the interim, with Heineman perhaps getting only sparing backup duty.

Jansen has hit .228/.312/.474 with 17 homers over 301 plate appearances this season, translating to a 115 wRC+ that ranks third among all qualified Blue Jays hitters.  This adds to Jansen’s resume as one of the more quietly productive catchers in baseball, though due to injuries and splitting time with Kirk and other Toronto backstops, he has only amassed 754 PA since the start of the 2021 season.  This season, Jansen missed a few weeks due to a groin strain, and has perhaps been fortunate to avoid a hand injury until now considering how frequently Jansen is hit by pitches (10) or the natural risk and wear-and-tear of catching duty.

His injury resume includes another finger fracture last season, which kept Jansen for a little over a month.  That particular fracture was near Jansen’s left pinky finger, and given the wide variance and severity of finger-related problems, it is far to too soon to tell if Jansen’s current issue is anywhere as severe, or how long he might be out of action.

Consistency has been a problem all season for Toronto’s lineup, even before Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman went onto the IL earlier this week.  Losing Jansen would be another significant hit, though Nicholson-Smith writes that Bichette and Chapman have at least been working out on the field, creating hope that either player might be back at or shortly after the 10-day minimum absence.

Blue Jays To Activate Chad Green From Injured List

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The Blue Jays are reinstating Chad Green from the 60-day injured list tomorrow, tweets Eric Treuden of Jays Journal. He’ll take one of the expanded roster spots. Treuden and Robert Murray of FanSided report that the Jays will recall Spencer Horwitz with the other vacancy. In order to clear space on the 40-man roster for Green, Toronto is likely to transfer Hagen Danner from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list.

Green’s activation is the biggest news. The right-hander is in line for his first major league appearance since May 2022. Green injured his elbow and required Tommy John surgery that month. It ended his seven-year tenure with the Yankees, as he headed to free agency last winter.

The Jays and Green agreed on a complicated free agent pact. He’s making $2.25MM this season. At year’s end, the Jays will have to decide whether to trigger a three-year, $27MM team option. If they decline, Green would have a $6.25MM player option for next season. If he declines, Toronto could circle back on a two-year, $21MM pact. If all three provisions were declined, he’d return to free agency.

How Green looks down the stretch should play a role in his long-term future. Before the injury, he was a very valuable multi-inning relief arm in the Bronx. Green owns a 3.17 ERA with a 32.5% strikeout rate over 383 2/3 career frames. Toronto already has one of the game’s best bullpens, ranking fourth with a 3.47 ERA. If Green can immediately recapture his old form, he’d join the likes of Jordan Romano, Jordan Hicks, Tim Mayza and Trevor Richards in the middle to late innings. Erik Swanson could also factor into that mix but is currently on the injured list.

Green has made 12 minor league rehab outings over the past six weeks. He started with three rookie ball appearances and has pitched nine times with Triple-A Buffalo. In nine innings, he has allowed only three runs (two earned) with 11 strikeouts and one walk.

Blue Jays Place Bo Bichette On IL, Select Mason McCoy

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The Blue Jays announced that shortstop Bo Bichette has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 28, with a right quad strain. Infielder Mason McCoy has been selected to the roster in a corresponding move. The club already had a 40-man vacancy.

For Bichette, it’s his second trip to the IL this month, as he landed there in early August due to patellar tendinitis in his right knee. The Jays acquired Paul DeJong from the Cardinals to cover for Bichette’s absence but he hit just .068/.068/.068 for the Jays and was designated for assignment when Bichette returned just over two weeks later. Unfortunately, Bichette departed a game earlier this week due to quad tightness and it seems it’s serious enough that the club will give him at least a week-plus to rest. The club hasn’t provided any details on how long they expect Bichette to be out.

The move leaves the Jays without both of their regulars from the left side of their infield, as third baseman Matt Chapman landed on the IL yesterday due to a right middle finger sprain. That will leave the club improving solutions for those spots as they look to stay afloat in the American League Wild Card race. Perhaps the club has some regret over letting go of DeJong, but he hasn’t been thriving since signing with the Giants, hitting just .150/.143/.300 since signing with that club.

Ernie Clement played shortstop for the Jays yesterday and is in that spot again tonight. Davis Schneider was at the hot corner last night but Santiago Espinal gets the nod tonight, as Schneider moves over to second. Cavan Biggio has some third base experience and the club reportedly has some openness to using Vladimir Guerrero Jr. there as well, though it sounds like that might be limited to late-game defensive swaps based on in-game moves.

They will also add McCoy to their roster to serve as infield depth. He was just acquired a month ago from the Mariners with Trent Thornton heading the other way. The 28-year-old McCoy has long been considered a strong defender, though with his bat not drawing as much praise. In 467 Triple-A appearances this year, he’s walked at a 12% clip but also struck out 29.3% of the time. His .226/.324/.383 line amounts to a wRC+ of just 71, but he’s been able to play some shortstop, second base, third base and left field. He’ll give the Jays a glove-first option on the bench, making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Active rosters expand from 26 to 28 in September, which will provide the Jays an opportunity to potentially add another infielder into the mix. A maximum of 14 of the 28 players can be pitchers, meaning the Jays will have to add at least one position player, as they currently have a 13-13 split. Addison Barger, Orelvis Martinez and Spencer Horwitz are all on the 40-man roster and could be options. Barger and Martinez both have plenty of experience on the left side of the diamond but neither has made their major league debut yet. Horwitz was able to debut in the big leagues earlier this year but has mostly just played first base and left field. Outfielder Nathan Lukes is also on the 40-man but doesn’t have any infield experience.

Blue Jays Notes: Bichette, Vlad, September Call-Ups

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Blue Jays fans cringed in collective fashion when both Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman exited Sunday’s game due to injuries. Chapman has already been placed on the injured list with a strain in his right hand, while Bichette was out of last night’s lineup due to the quad discomfort that forced him from the prior day’s contest. While the Jays termed his exit precautionary, Bichette underwent an MRI last night, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. The team will presumably have an update on the star shortstop’s status today.

Toronto called up journeyman infielder Ernie Clement when Chapman hit the IL and went with him at shortstop and rookie Davis Schneider at third base in yesterday’s win over the Nationals. The 24-year-old Schneider has already popped five homers in his first 48 big league plate appearances, batting .425/.521/.875 in that tiny sample. Schneider has also fanned at a 29.2% rate and is sporting an outlandish .571 BABIP that he won’t sustain, but he’s nevertheless provided a jolt for the Toronto lineup. That arrangement could be in place a bit more regularly if Bichette misses time, although there’s room for the Jays to get creative.

One possibility that’s currently under consideration would be at least occasional time back at the hot corner for first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., it seems. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports that while the Jays aren’t currently planning to start Guerrero at third base in Chapman’s absence, they’re open to using him there late in games as they make substitutions around the diamond. Guerrero has been taking grounders at the hot corner in recent days.

It’s also worth noting that the Jays will soon have two more roster spots to potentially add some depth with Chapman out at least 10 days and Bichette potentially sidelined as well. Rosters are set to expand from 26 to 28 players on Sept. 1, which could clear a path for Toronto to tap further into its minor league system for reinforcements. Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic suggests that infielders Addison Barger, Orelvis Martinez and Spencer Horwitz could all be considered for a big league call when rosters expand.

Each of Barger, Martinez and Horowitz is already on the 40-man roster. The former two could benefit the Jays with their versatility, as that pair has experience at each of shortstop, third base and second base. Horwitz has played primarily first base and left field in his professional career.

FanGraphs currently ranks Barger as the game’s No. 36 overall prospect. He’s spent time on the injured list but has turned in a .257/.371/.414 slash in 65 Triple-A games since returning, walking at a hearty 14.6% clip against a 21.1% strikeout rate. He hit .308/.378/.555 between High-A, Double-A and Triple-A last year. Martinez landed on Baseball America’s top-100 list prior to the 2021 and 2022 seasons but saw his stock tumble with a rough year in Double-A last year. The 21-year-old, has bounced back to some extent this season, posting a combined .242/.344/.496 line between Double-A and Triple-A (including a .276/.355/.517 slash at the higher of those two levels). Horwitz went 2-for-8 with a pair of walks in a brief MLB debut earlier this season and has slashed .339/.450/.499 in 476 Triple-A plate appearances, walking (15.8%) more often than he’s struck out (15.1%) in the process.

Blue Jays Place Matt Chapman On Injured List

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The Blue Jays have placed third baseman Matt Chapman on the 10-day injured list due to a sprained right middle finger, per a team announcement. Infielder Ernie Clement has been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to take his spot on the active roster. Chapman exited yesterday’s game with discomfort in that finger, and manager John Schneider revealed after the game that it had been bothering Chapman for several weeks after a weight room accident.

Chapman’s season began with a blistering hot streak that saw the former A’s slugger briefly regain the MVP-caliber form he’d displayed earlier in his career. Through the end of April, the two-time Platinum Glove winner posted an outrageous .384/.465/.687 batting line with a 12.3% walk rate and 22.8% strikeout rate. That checked in 115% better than league average, by measure of wRC+, but Chapman’s previous strikeout woes have since come roaring back since that time. In 406 plate appearances dating back to May 1, he’s batted .211/.303/.360 with a 30% strikeout rate.

The past few weeks have indeed been particularly difficult; Schneider didn’t place an exact date on Chapman’s injury, but he’s hitting .194/.256/.278 since the trade deadline — a far cry from the month of July, when he looked to be on the upswing (.247/.402/.506). Chapman averaged a hefty 94.2 mph off the bat with a massive 59.3% hard-hit rate through Aug. 1 of this season, but since the deadline he’s been at 89.5 mph and 41.3%, respectively, in those regards. It seems rather clear that something hasn’t been right.

It’s not presently known just how long Chapman will be sidelined, though the Jays will certainly hope for a swift return. Even as his bat has fallen off, Chapman has continued to play his customary brand of excellent defense at third base. His batted-ball profile also creates some consistent hope for a turnaround at the plate. Players who can consistently make high-end contact at Chapman’s rate tend to eventually see their production line up with those batted-ball trends. Toronto is currently 2.5 games out of the American League Wild Card hunt as well, and getting a healthy Chapman back into the lineup would be a boon as they look to chase down the Rays, Rangers and Astros — who currently hold those three Wild Card spots.

A speedy return to the lineup will also be of importance to Chapman himself, who’s slated to become a free agent for the first time at season’s end. The month of August hasn’t gone as he’d hoped following a productive July, and the ideal scenario for him would be to allow that barking hand to heal and finish out the season on a productive stretch. A qualifying offer for Chapman appears quite likely, and provided he can return and finish out the season with a strong performance, he’d have little hesitation in rejecting it in favor of a multi-year deal. Up-and-down as his season may have been, Chapman is currently batting .248/.338/.431 on the whole — production that’s about 13% better than league average, per wRC+. Coupled with his standout glovework and the general upside of his batted-ball profile, he’d still be one of the market’s most sought-after free agents — albeit not to the extent that he’d have been had he maintained his plus offensive output all season.

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