Blue Jays Place Lazaro Estrada On 15-Day Injured List

The Blue Jays placed right-hander Lazaro Estrada on the 15-day injured list due to an impingement in his throwing shoulder.  The placement is retroactive to April 5, which was the day the Jays optioned Estrada to Triple-A.  As Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi explains, Estrada’s injury was discovered to have occurred when he was on the active roster, and as such Estrada has been placed on the big league version of the IL.

The transaction means that Estrada logs some extra MLB service time, which is no small matter for a player who entered the season with only four days’ worth of service time.  Estrada made his big league debut in 2025, posting an 8.59 ERA over 7 1/3 innings and two appearances for Toronto.  The righty only got into one game this season, but Estrada looked much sharper in tossing four shutout innings against the White Sox on April 4, issuing just two walks in the long relief appearance.

Estrada (who turns 27 later this week) began his pro career as an international signing in 2018 and has spent his entire career in the Jays organization.  He didn’t reach Triple-A until 2025 and Estrada then posted a 5.73 ERA over 97 1/3 innings for Buffalo, though a .331 BABIP somewhat inflated Estrada’s ERA.  Working mostly as a starter in the minors, Estrada is viewed as a long reliever or depth arm at best as a big league option.

Estrada now becomes the seventh pitcher and 11th player overall on Toronto’s big league injured list, as the Jays have been hammered by injuries in the early part of the 2026 season.  The health woes may not be over yet, as Daulton Varsho left yesterday’s 6-3 loss to the Diamondbacks due to left knee discomfort.  Varsho’s issue is considered minor enough for now that an MRI isn’t being planned (as per MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson), yet losing Varsho even on a day-to-day basis is another hit to the Blue Jays lineup.