Blue Jays Place Josh Donaldson On 10-Day DL

The Blue Jays have placed third baseman Josh Donaldson on the 10-day DL with shoulder inflammation, per a club announcement. With the open active roster spot, the Jays will promote outfielder Teoscar Hernandez.

Donaldson, 32, has hit just fine in the early going but has notably struggled with his throwing. The organization had to this point resisted a DL placement but will now see whether some rest will allow the club’s best player to get back to full strength.

There’s no indication of a new injury or any kind of “structural instability,” Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports on Twitter. Instead, it seems that Donaldson just hasn’t responded as hoped over the early portion of the season.

It’s hard to know how long Donaldson might be out. The Jays intend to put him on a throwing program at the team’s spring facility, Nicholson-Smith notes, but it’s not evident whether there is any kind of anticipated timeline.

Despite the issues with his throwing shoulder, Donaldson has received positive marks in his 55 frames at third on the year. It’s not worth reading too much into fielding metrics at this stage, but that’s generally promising for a player who has graded more as good than great in the field over the past two seasons.

Any uncertainty is unwelcome in a contract year, though, particularly for a player that is already set to enter the open market at a somewhat advanced age. That said, there’s plenty of time for Donaldson to get back to form and turn in a big platform campaign.