Blue Jays Designate Bobby Korecky For Assignment

The Blue Jays announced that they have designated right-hander Bobby Korecky for assignment. The move clears roster space for first baseman Dan Johnson, whose contract will be purchased from Triple-A in the wake of Adam Lind’s injury.

The 34-year-old Korecky yielded three runs in 3 1/3 innings for the Blue Jays this season, striking out two and walking one. A seasoned veteran of the minor leagues, Korecky has seen brief time in the Majors with the Twins, D’Backs and Jays, pitching to a 7.39 ERA in 28 innings. He’s been excellent throughout his career at Triple-A, however, notching a 3.04 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 444 innings.

Johnson, also 34, is a lifetime .236/.337/.411 hitter in 1556 big league plate appearances, but he was enjoying a solid season at Triple-A Buffalo. The former seventh-round pick was hitting .248/.402/.471 with 17 homers in 403 trips to the plate. Johnson is perhaps best known for a pair of dramatic home runs with the Rays in 2008 and in 2011 — the first a game-tying shot in a game that ultimately gave Tampa the division lead, and the second a two-out, two-strike game-tying shot in the ninth inning of the season’s final game (Tampa would go on to beat the Yankees in extra innings and advance to the postseason).