The Blue Jays have placed Santiago Espinal on the IL with a right hip flexor strain, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to Jarrod Dyson, who was claimed off waivers from the Royals on Friday.
Espinal has been a solid fill-in for the Blue Jays this season, slashing .290/.354/.378 for a wRC+ of 105, while playing third base. He’s seen his playing time increase due to the multiple IL stints of Cavan Biggio this year. With Espinal now out and Biggio recently suffering a setback during his rehab, the Jays will likely turn to Kevin Smith and Breyvic Valera at the hot corner. Smith, who got the start at third today, is off to a slow start to his MLB career, though in a tiny sample of just seven games. Valera’s only had 46 plate appearances this year, producing a meager wRC+ of 45, thanks to a line of .227/.261/.273.
As for Dyson, he will be hard-pressed to get regular playing time, given that the Jays have an outfield of Teoscar Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Randal Grichuk and Corey Dickerson. George Springer also seems poised to return soon, with the star outfielder telling Jon Morosi of MLB Network that he hopes to be back as soon as tomorrow. Whether his own self-assessment lines up with the team’s vision remains to be seen. This is Springer’s third IL stint of the season, only appearing in 49 games so far this year. He’s made his limited time count, however, slashing .269/.362/.610, a wRC+ of 157. If he can return in that form, he would be a huge boost for a Blue Jays team that has slipped to 6 1/2 games out of a playoff spot in his absence.
Time to call up Lopez? #Bluejays
Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.
Time to see what Smith can do at 3B for the rest of the season.
Vladdy to third? Seems like he might be able to man it
Why. He’s pretty good at first. I agree with the guy below me try Gurriel there
Lourdes came up as a middle infielder
The Blue Jays should “quietly” (before games/off days) see if Gurriel Jr. can handle third. He has the arm for it. Although it is hard to ask him to move again as he is just now starting to show some promise with his defense in Left field. i think you see a lot of Grichuk on the bench.
As for third I want to see someone with experience in the majors who can handle it but they may not happen. This is not the time of year to try minor leaguers, you can do that in the beginning/middle of the year.
It’s not as if they can make a trade lol. Gotta deal with what you have. What they have is injuries, a bunch of outfielders, and a guy in Gurriel who came up as an SS.
I agree. Gurriel Jr to 3rd if no Lopez.
Vlad Jr belongs at first. Period.
I agree it’s not a bad idea at all… Thought about that as well in the past. Would be nice to have more speed out there in LF as well. He always could handle longer throws, it’s the short ones he had an issue with. If he can throw it to 2B for double plays and what have you, he would be solid imo as well.