The Blue Jays have placed right-hander Trent Thornton on the injured list and selected the contract of lefty Travis Bergen to the Major League roster in his place, the team announced. In order to open a spot for Bergen on the 40-man roster, the Jays have designated left-hander Thomas Pannone for assignment.
Thornton’s injury is the latest in a mounting series of pitching ailments for the Jays. He joins Ken Giles, Nate Pearson and Matt Shoemaker among the notable names on the injured list for Toronto (in addition to star shortstop Bo Bichette). There’s no immediate timetable on Thornton’s return, but he lasted just one inning in this weekend’s spot start. Meanwhile, manager Charlie Montoyo tells reporters that Shoemaker is dealing with a lat strain and is considered “week to week” at this point (Twitter link via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet).
Bergen, 26, will be making his Jays debut when he first takes the hill. The southpaw was the team’s seventh-round pick back in 2015 but spent much of last season with the Giants after being selected in the 2018 Rule 5 Draft. Bergen didn’t get the full year he needed to stick with the Giants, however, as San Francisco returned him to the Jays last August following an IL stint due to a shoulder strain. Bergen pitched just 19 2/3 innings with the Giants and stumbled in that time: 12 runs on 18 hits, nine walks and a hit batter with 18 strikeouts (5.49 ERA).
Bergen has excellent when healthy in the minors, pitching to a 1.69 ERA across five levels. However, because he spent most of last season with the Giants’ MLB roster, has not pitched in a game this year in the absence of a minor league season and spent time on the IL in both 2016 and 2017, Bergen has just 106 2/3 total minor league innings under his belt.
Pannone, also 26, came to the Blue Jays in the 2017 trade that sent righty Joe Smith to Cleveland. He’s pitched 116 innings in the big leagues but has just a 5.43 ERA and 5.14 FIP to show for it, with averages of 7.6 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9. He’s worked mostly as a starter in the minors and has a decent track record in both Double-A and Triple-A. Pannone will be out of options next spring but can be optioned freely for the rest of the 2020 season, so a club in need of some flexible rotation/bullpen depth — e.g. the Mets, who play six games in nine days beginning tomorrow — could conceivably take a look.
Why not just go with pannone, hes nothing special but he has started in the past
Because Pannone has been designated for assignment.
Good point
They are going to use Kay and one of the other long guys from the pen as starters. Thus they need someone to take the place in the bullpen . Pannone is mediocre so why not have a look at Bergen now out of the pen,
Bergen has alot more upside then Pannone as a reliever.
Look at what a year has done for Romano.
Pannone got lit up every time they tried him, he’s 26, and he doesn’t throw hard nor have an overwhelming secondary pitch. Not the kind of guy that gets many chances before a team cuts bait. Hopefully he’ll have better luck elsewhere.
From the headline I thought I had somehow missed Matt Thornton’s comeback.
Jays lose another pitcher. Time to trade for Pablo Sandoval
And not because he has pitched, but because when we lose pitchers, we trade for fat position players.
Maybe Juan Uribe will come out of retirement to play for the Blue Jays.
think Delmon Young is still playing independant ball
Bartolo spotted shagging flies while John Fogerty blares on the boombox.
Bergen should be given another look. If the Jays were smart they would look to contending teams and find a deal for Bass and Cole, even Dolis and Font. Bergen pitched in 20-something games and was smashed hard in 4 of them. Very hard to bring the ERA and WHIP numbers down when that happens.
imo Dolis is the best asset of all of them. rest are DFA or non tender fodder but he’s got a cheap option and a better track record (albiet in another hemisphere)
Anthony Bass pitched well in 2018 (albeit very small sample) and in 2019. The DFA idea of yours can be obliterated with one name: Chris Martin. If Martin can be dealt for Kolby Allard, Bass can be dealt for something similar.
If nobody wants AJ Cole, fine. He can’t start but so far he’s been fine as a reliever.
Dolis might have the worst track record of the bunch yet you’re calling him the best asset? Might want to re-think and re-check your take.
I liked Pannone coming through the Indians’ system. He didn’t have the best stuff, but his pitchability was really good. Maybe they could get him back and see if his stuff would tick up in a bullpen role because they need more lefties.
The Mets may as well inquire. Pannone isn’t great by any means, but Lockett and Oswalt are pretty subpar. Besides, it remains to be seen how long Gsellman will be permitted to throw. He hasn’t exactly been stretched out yet and Pannone could operate as a piggyback pitcher if necessary