The Blue Jays announced that they have selected left-hander Ryan Borucki to the roster. Fellow lefty Easton Lucas has been optioned to Triple-A Buffalo in a corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, righty Robinson Piña has been recalled and placed on the 60-day injured list due to a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
Borucki, now 31, began his career with the Jays many years ago. He showed some promise as a potential starter but some injuries eventually got him moved to a relief role. As a reliever, he has bounced around to the Mariners and Pirates with some occasional success. From 2020 to the present, he has thrown 147 2/3 innings with a 4.39 earned run average. His 22.3% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate in that time are close to average, while his 50.1% ground ball rate is quite strong.
This year hasn’t been his best. After an injury-marred 2024 season, he had to settle for a minor league deal with the Pirates. He cracked Pittsburgh’s Opening Day rotation and stuck on the roster through mid-August, with an IL stint of over a month due to back inflammation mixed in. He had a 5.28 ERA over 30 2/3 innings when they designated him for assignment a few weeks back. He had a 21.4% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate and 55% ground ball rate.
After he was released, the Jays scooped him up on a minor league deal. Toronto has had Brendon Little as the primary lefty in their bullpen this year. Guys like Mason Fluharty and Justin Bruihl have also factored in but both of those guys were optioned to the minors in recent days. A pitcher optioned to the minors can’t be recalled for 15 days, unless someone else is going on the injured list.
Eric Lauer is now in the bullpen, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, but he’ll likely be deployed more as a long man. Lucas is also more of a long relief guy, so the Jays are swapping him out for Borucki.
For his career, Borucki has held lefties to a .185/.268/.265 line, whereas righties have hit .280/.347/.494 off him. That split has been even more extreme this year, as he has held opposing lefties to a .132/.217/.170 line but righties have lit him up for a .333/.400/.649 slash. The Jays will probably try to target Borucki against lefties in the other team’s lineup, though the three-batter minimum makes that a challenge. Little has pitched in the past two games and three of the past four, so it’s possible he’s not available tonight.
Pina, 26, was acquired from the Marlins in a June trade. He has largely been on optional assignment since then. His health status is unclear but he hasn’t pitched in an official game since August 1st. The Jays putting him on the 60-day IL suggests they don’t expect him to pitch again this season. If his UCL sprain requires surgery, then he’s obviously slated to be out even longer. There’s no 60-day IL between five days after the World Series and the start of spring training. The Jays will therefore have to add him back to the 40-man roster in November or remove him somehow.
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images
“Sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament” I’m writing these all down to use at work. That’s number 86 on the list of injuries I’ve never heard of and I’m certain my job hasn’t either.
UCL sprain, as in why pitchers get Tommy John surgery. Looks like you don’t work in baseball.
No, I was fired for misdiagnosis on a “Sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament” sending the poor guy for Freddy John surgery instead of Tommy John surgery. I screwed the whole thing up. Good call on your part.
“No I was fired for misdiagnoses”..They didn’t have flexors, obliques or UCLs back in the day that’s why you never heard of guys being out with “obliques”, flexors and UCLs back then.
My idea to almost completely end these type injuries? Quit using the words UCL, flexor and oblique and watch how quickly these injuries begin to stabilize and decrease.
That is genius!!
“Genius “…If we can just go back to “right arm” or “left arm”, I think we could reinvent and revitalize the modern baseball starting pitcher.
All these new medical terms certainly haven’t helped the cause of today’s modern starting pitcher. I think in this case, less could be more.
Of course we’ll need some cooperation from the science and medical community, to virtually eliminate the use of certain medical and scientific terms.
Save more money just getting rid of the medical staff. Let the bench coach use ethyl chloride on every ailment. It’s good for bad breath all the way to dislocated shoulders and whatever. Yes it’s dangerous but so is taking a liner in the Pharynx (that’s a big word for me) plus a nice pep talk like, “I’ll give you something to cry about” goes a long way in recovering.
@Butters
My generation rubbed dirt on injuries regardless of how far the bone was sticking sticking out. Ivermectin appears to be today’s go to.
Back to where he started. Good pickup for Toronto even though he’s having an off year.
Borucki could just need a change of scenery
@TheMan 3
Behind the wheel of an 18 wheeler is also a change of scenery.
Off year? 132 .217 .170 .386 what batters are doing against him. Absolutely fantastic year. Actually it is off year for him just not the way you meant.
I think that that is for left handed batters.
Right handed batters have an OPS of 870 I think.
Like I said. You’re bright eyes 2.0
There definitely is bullpen by committee. This is the first I’ve heard of bullpen by throwing them against the wall to see what sticks.
The Jays should be aware there are at least a dozen other Pirates they’re welcome to take.