The Blue Jays announced today that right-handed reliever Bo Schultz underwent Tommy John surgery. The operation, performed by Dr. Timothy Altchek, will cost Schultz the entirety of the 2017 season and likely part of the 2018 campaign as well, depending on his recovery.
The 31-year-old Schultz was a quality member of the Toronto relief corps in 2015, pitching to a 3.56 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 48.8 percent ground-ball rate in 43 1/3 innings of relief. The hard-throwing righty — he’s averaged 96 mph on his heater across the past two seasons — took a step back in 2016, struggling to a 5.51 ERA in 16 1/3 innings as he battled back from offseason left hip surgery.
Schultz entered the offseason hoping to compete for a bullpen spot this spring, though the Jays’ offseason additions of Joe Smith and J.P. Howell eliminated a pair of spots that he could’ve potentially filled. As an out-of-options player, he was a candidate to lose his 40-man spot at the end of Spring Training even prior to this injury. Now, he’ll presumably spend the 2017 campaign on the 60-day disabled list, allowing the Blue Jays to free up a 40-man roster spot but also thinning out the team’s bullpen depth.
“…though the Jays’ offseason additions of Joe Smith and J.P. Howell eliminated to spots that he could’ve potentially filled.”
I wish I could find that guy I argued with in a previous post who argued with me that these posts are proofread before posted lol.
They’re clearly edited after posting so that the news is out there quicker.
thinning out what bullpen depth? There isn’t any depth to thin out.
It’s not that bad. There’s going to be some mixture of Aaron Loup, Ryan Tepera, Danny Barnes, Mike Bolsinger, Domonic Leone, plus the young guys who excelled this spring starting in Buffalo which is a lot better than most teams have.
So, how does this work for him payroll-wise. He is considered on the roster and receives The MLB minimum ?