Nick Sandlin Elects Free Agency
May 6: Sandlin cleared waivers and elected free agency, according to the MLB.com transaction log. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he returns to the Halos on a fresh minor league contract.
May 4: The Angels announced that left-hander Sam Aldegheri has been recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake. In a corresponding move, right-hander Nick Sandlin has been designated for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.
Sandlin, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Halos in the offseason. He was added to the big league roster about three weeks ago. Since then, he has logged 8 2/3 innings but has unfortunately surrendered 11 earned runs in that time. He allowed nine hits, including two home runs. He walked five batters and hit another three while striking out five opponents.
The Angels have bumped him off the roster after those struggles. He has options but he just hit five years of big league service time in recent weeks. By getting to that line, he can no longer be optioned to the minors without his consent, hence the DFA. He can be in DFA limbo for as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Halos could take five days to field trade interest, but they could also put him on waivers sooner than that.
Sandlin does have some major league success but the past year or so has been rough for him. From 2021 to 2025, he logged 211 2/3 innings in the show with a 3.19 earned run average. His 11.4% walk rate was high but he struck out 27.3% of batters faced. Injuries hobbled him with the Jays last year. He made trips to the injured list for a lat strain and then later for elbow inflammation. He only tossed 16 1/3 innings around those IL stints. The Jays outrighted him in November and Sandlin elected free agency.
The Angels were hoping for a bounceback but couldn’t get it. He started his season with a 1.42 ERA in 6 1/3 Triple-A innings but with poor underlying metrics. That low ERA was mostly a byproduct of a .222 batting average on balls in play and 87.5% strand rate. When he got called up to the majors, his results regressed to an extreme degree.
If Sandlin clears waivers, he would have the right to elect free agency. His recent form has been rough but some clubs may be interested in signing him to a minor league deal, hoping he can get back to his previous form with some regular reps.
Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Angels Select Nick Sandlin
The Angels announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Nick Sandlin. Right-hander George Klassen was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake in the corresponding move, and no 40-man transaction was required since the Halos had an open space on their 40-man roster.
Sandlin signed a minor league deal with Los Angeles after the Blue Jays outrighted the reliever off their 40-man roster in November. It was basically an early non-tender, as Sandlin was projected to earn a $2MM arbitration salary in 2026, and Sandlin elected to become a free agent in the wake of the outright assignment.
It wasn’t long ago that Sandlin was a valued member of the Guardians bullpen, posting a 3.27 ERA, 27.7% strikeout rate, and 11.4% walk rate over 195 1/3 innings for Cleveland from 2021-24. Home runs became an increasingly large problem for Sandlin over his last two seasons with the Guards, yet it was poor health rather than a lack of results that marred his lone season in Toronto. Sandlin had a 2.20 ERA over only 16 1/3 innings and 19 appearances with the Jays, as he missed most of the year due to a lat strain, and then elbow inflammation.
Signing Sandlin to a minors contract represented a low-cost risk for the Angels, who spent much of their offseason trying to buy low on once-solid relievers looking for bounce-back years. The early returns in Salt Lake were been promising for Sandlin since he had a 1.42 ERA over 6 1/3 Triple-A innings, though his secondary metrics weren’t impressive.
Klassen heads back to Triple-A after making his first two Major League starts, and the righty’s debut in the Show was far from smooth. Klassen was hit hard to the tune of a 13.50 ERA over his 4 2/3 innings pitched (with a whopping 10 walks allowed), and he also left his start yesterday due to a fingernail issue.
Robert Stephenson Sidelined With Possible UCL Damage
11:41AM: In what Stephenson described as “heartbreaking” news to Jeff Fletcher, the setback is related to possible UCL damage. Another surgery certainly appears to be a possibility, but Stephenson will first visit Dr. Keith Meister to discuss any non-surgical methods.
“There is concern right now for the state of my UCL, and my flexor,” Stephenson said. “I’m going to see if there’s a way we can rehab this thing and be able to pitch this year, but I don’t know what it looks like….It’s three years and I’ve got 10 innings to my name. It sucks. I just want to be on the field.”
9:52AM: Robert Stephenson is dealing with yet another injury concern, as Angels manager Kurt Suzuki told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) that the right-hander has sustained some type of unspecified setback during his throwing sessions. Suzuki described the issue only as “a little setback,” but Stephenson will undergo tests to determine the extent of the matter.
Given the timing of this apparent injury and Stephenson’s checkered health history, it now seems very possible that he’ll begin the season on the Angels’ 15-day injured list. Even if this current issue is just a speedbump and Stephenson is back throwing in a few days’ time, his throwing progression could be scaled back a bit, plus the reliever has yet to pitch in any Cactus League games.
In his own words, Stephenson already went into Spring Training “a little bit behind everybody” after receiving an injection during the offseason to deal with some symptoms related to thoracic outlet syndrome. Still, it was just a week ago that Stephenson was feeling confident about his chances of making the Opening Day roster, as he had progressed to facing hitters during live batting practice sessions.
It’s an unwelcome start to Stephenson’s third season with the Halos, as the right-hander has barely pitched over the first two seasons of what was initially a three-year, $33MM contract. As per a clause in the contract, the Angels gained a $2.5MM club option for 2027 because Stephenson suffered a major elbow ligament-related injury — namely the Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for the entirety of the 2024 season.
Stephenson returned to appear in two games in May 2025, but a nerve-related biceps problem forced him back to the IL for almost three more months. He made it back to pitch in 10 more games for Los Angeles before a bout of elbow inflammation ended his season. Stephenson’s Angels resume consists of just 10 innings in 2025, with a 2.70 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate, and 7.1% walk rate.
While a small sample size, Stephenson’s solid numbers provided some hope that he could again flash the high-leverage form he showed (albeit on an inconsistent basis) in past seasons with the Reds, Rockies, Pirates, and Rays. On the other hand, the TOS symptoms provided a new injury scare, and it remains to be seen what imaging might reveal about this latest situation.
In better news for the Angels’ relief corps, Fletcher writes that Ben Joyce has added sliders to his throwing repertoire during bullpen sessions, and minor league signing Nick Sandlin is expected to soon move into game action after a pair of live BP sessions. One of the highest-velocity pitchers in baseball, Joyce had a seeming breakout season in 2024, but missed almost all of 2025 due to shoulder surgery. Sandlin also barely pitched in 2025, as a lat strain and elbow inflammation limited him to 16 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays.
Angels Bullpen Notes: Joyce, Stephenson, Sandlin
The Angels are counting on a number of pitchers to bounce back from injuries, as they seemingly didn’t have interest in making any notable moves on the free agent front. Their bullpen consists of almost all reclamation types after the departure of Kenley Jansen and with Reid Detmers moving back to the rotation. They signed Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz, Jordan Romano and Brent Suter to one-year deals at $5MM or less.
Their highest-ceiling relievers are those coming back from injury. Ben Joyce throws as hard as any pitcher in MLB. It’s easy to envision him as a potential closer when he can run his fastball to a staggering 104 mph. Joyce was capped at five appearances last year before suffering a shoulder injury. He underwent season-ending surgery in May.
The flamethrowing righty threw a bullpen session on the team’s first day of camp workouts (link via Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register). It was his first work off a mound since the operation. Joyce and general manager Perry Minasian each said they’re uncertain whether he’ll be ready by Opening Day. It nevertheless seems he’s making good enough progress that if there is a season-opening injured list stint, it’s not an extended one. “I’d rather him miss two weeks than six months. We’re going to take our time with guys that need it and kind of see where it goes,” Minasian said.
If Joyce isn’t available, Robert Stephenson would be the presumptive favorite to close. Of course, that’s conditional on him being healthy — no small caveat given how much time he has missed over the past two seasons. Stephenson missed all of 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery out of Spring Training. He was out of action until last May. The veteran righty made one appearance but went back down with a nerve issue in his biceps. He missed another three months, was active for about a month, then was shut back down for the season’s final week by elbow inflammation.
Stephenson told Fletcher and other reporters on Wednesday that he learned over the offseason that he had experienced symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome. It doesn’t appear he received a full-fledged TOS diagnosis, as he treated the issue with an injection plan but no surgery. Stephenson conceded he’s “a little bit behind everybody” coming into camp but expressed confidence he’ll be available for Opening Day.
Considering Joyce and Stephenson each have health questions, it comes as no surprise that first-year skipper Kurt Suzuki isn’t eager to name his closer. “I think the benefit for us is we have options and we can be flexible. But in that ninth inning, I wouldn’t put a name out there to be our closer right now,” Suzuki said this week (link via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com). Romano and Yates each have multiple 30-save seasons on their résumés. While the Angels aren’t lacking for ninth-inning experience, both pitchers were working with diminished stuff and had rough numbers in 2025.
In one other bullpen health update, Fletcher reports that non-roster invitee Nick Sandlin underwent arthroscopic elbow surgery last October. The righty had finished the season on the injured list with the Blue Jays but the surgery had not previously been reported. Toronto moved on from Sandlin after injuries limited him to 19 appearances. He has a 3.19 ERA in 211 2/3 career innings and has a decent chance to pitch his way onto the MLB roster with a good spring. Sandlin tells Fletcher that he’s scheduled to throw his first bullpen session this weekend, which presumably sets him up to get into Cactus League games if all goes smoothly.
Angels, Nick Sandlin Agree To Minor League Deal
The Angels and reliever Nick Sandlin are in agreement on a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training, reports Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The right-hander is represented by the Ballengee Group.
Sandlin, 29, has pitched in parts of four big league seasons, primarily suiting up for the Guardians. Cleveland shipped him to Toronto as part of last offseason’s Andrés Giménez swap, however. Sandlin wound up pitching only 16 1/3 innings with the Jays, as a lat strain and elbow inflammation led him to spend the bulk of the season on the injured list. Toronto designated him for assignment following the season — effectively non-tendering him — rather than paying a projected $2MM in arbitration (courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz).
Prior to that injury-marred Jays run, Sandlin was a quality member of the Cleveland bullpen. From 2021-24, he pitched 195 1/3 innings with a tidy 3.27 earned run average, a 27.7% strikeout rate, 11.4% walk rate and a 43.6% ground-ball rate. That walk rate is well north of league-average, but Sandlin’s strikeout rate was strong and his grounder rate was a hair better than par.
Sandlin has never been a hard thrower, but the 91.4 mph he averaged on his four-seamer last year and the 91.8 mph he averaged on his sinker were both career-low marks. That’s not necessarily surprising, given that a pair of arm injuries creates a pretty good chance he wasn’t pitching at 100% (or all that close to it) when he did take the mound. Sandlin’s huge 14.8% swinging-strike rate from 2025 (again, small-sample caveats apply) was also outstanding.
Sandllin has 4.157 years of major league service time. If he spends even 15 days on the Angels’ major league roster or injured list, he’ll reach five years of service. That’s still not enough to become a free agent — unless he’s non-tendered — so if he pitches well, the Angels will have control over him for not only the 2026 season but also the 2027 campaign.
There should be room in the Anaheim bullpen for Sandlin to grab a spot if he pitches well during spring training or perhaps early in the season with Triple-A Salt Lake. Robert Stephenson, Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz and Jordan Romano are all locked into spots, and out-of-options righty Chase Silseth probably has a place locked down as well. That’d leave three spots for some combination of Ryan Zeferjahn, Jose Fermin, Cody Laweryson, Sam Bachman and a handful of veteran non-roster invitees (Sandlin, Miguel Castro, Angel Perdomo, Tayler Saucedo). The Halos will probably add some more arms to the spring competition before long, but Sandlin gives them another talented arm on which to roll the dice.
Nick Sandlin Elects Free Agency
November 17: Sandlin has indeed rejected his outright assignment and elected free agency, according to an announcement from the Blue Jays.
November 15: The Blue Jays outrighted Nick Sandlin off the 40-man roster, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction tracker. Sandlin has over three years of service time and will surely elect free agency in the coming days.
It’s effectively an early non-tender of the righty reliever. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Sandlin for a $2MM salary if he were tendered an arbitration contract. That’s not a huge amount, but the Jays soured on his future enough that they didn’t want to lock him into a middle relief role going into next season.
This drops their roster count from 38 to 37. Teams need to decide which eligible prospects they want to keep out of the Rule 5 draft by Tuesday evening. The Jays have an extra spot available than they would have had if they’d waited until Friday’s non-tender deadline to make the cut.
Toronto acquired Sandlin as a secondary piece of last winter’s Andrés Giménez trade. The Southern Mississippi product had pitched to a 3.27 earned run average over parts of four seasons in Cleveland. Sandlin never had great control, but he missed a good number of bats behind a plus slider and a promising splitter. The Jays hoped he could take on a higher-leverage role after being more of a sixth/seventh inning type in a loaded Cleveland bullpen.
Injuries kept that from happening. Sandlin went down three weeks into the season with a lat strain. He returned in mid-June but was shut back down after nine appearances by elbow inflammation. The latter injury ended his year. Sandlin tossed 16 1/3 innings overall. He gave up seven runs (four earned) with 16 strikeouts and eight walks. He recorded five holds and a save but also surrendered three leads.
Sandlin’s stuff was diminished. He averaged career lows on both his slider (78.4 MPH) and four-seam fastball (91.4). While he has never been a flamethrower, his heater was in the 94-95 MPH range during his rookie season and sat between 92-93 last year. Other teams evidently share the Jays’ concerns about the diminished velocity. Sandlin cleared waivers, suggesting no club wanted to take a flier and tender him at that projected $2MM price.
Blue Jays Announce Several Roster Moves
The Blue Jays announced a series of roster moves this morning. Right-handers Nick Sandlin, Bowden Francis, Yimi Garcia, and Angel Bastardo were all activated from the 60-day injured list. Meanwhile, the Jays outrighted right-handers Dillon Tate, Robinson Pina, and Ryan Burr off their 40-man roster. Tate and Burr both elected free agency, while Pina will qualify for minor league free agency this evening as a player with seven years of experience. Additionally, Toronto has selected the contract of catcher Brandon Valenzuela.
Pina, 27 later this month, made his big league debut earlier this year as a member of the Marlins. His time in Miami lasted just one appearance, as he surrendered a solo home run but allowed no other traffic in his lone inning of work before being designated for assignment. Pina was traded to the Blue Jays just a couple of days later in exchange for minor league hurler Colby Martin, but once again made only one appearance for Toronto in 2025 with a 6.75 ERA in 1 1/3 innings of work. Despite his struggles in the majors in an extremely small sample, Pina did pitch to a respectable 3.58 ERA in 65 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A between his two organizations this year.
Tate, 31, spent most of the year at the Triple-A level. In 39.1 innings there, he pitched to a 2.06 ERA while getting ground balls at a 48.1% rate. He did walk 12.0% of opposing hitters though, and his 4.55 xFIP in the minors suggests that he benefited from good luck. Tate only made it into six big-league games for the Blue Jays in 2025, allowing three earned runs in 6 1/3 innings while striking out eight. His overall body of work is solid and includes a 3.05 ERA with just a 5.5% walk rate as recently as 2022 with the Orioles. He’ll get looks from other organizations as a depth piece.
Burr, 31, underwent season-ending surgery in July to repair a capsule injury in his right shoulder and was therefore seen as a non-tender candidate. He also missed time earlier in the year with shoulder inflammation, which led to him making just two appearances at the big-league level. In 32 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays in 2024, Burr had a middling 4.13 ERA but struck out 33.6% of hitters while walking 8.6% and posting strong peripherals. He’ll find opportunities elsewhere if and when he is recovered from his surgery.
Turning now to the IL activations, these are largely procedural moves. Teams place players on the 60-day IL during the regular season to free up a spot on the 40-man roster. However, they must be added back during the offseason. Sandlin had been out with right elbow inflammation since early July, while Francis went down in June with a right shoulder impingement. Garcia underwent season-ending elbow surgery in August and is expected to be ready for spring training. Bastardo missed the year while recovering from Tommy John surgery. All four are controlled through at least 2026.
As for Valenzuela, the 25-year-old catcher was rated as a top-30 prospect for the Padres in 2024 before being traded to Toronto this past July. He batted a roughly average .229/.313/.387 in 87 games at Double-A but struggled with Toronto’s Triple-A team, with just a 76 wRC+ and a 30.5% strikeout rate in 105 plate appearances. Toronto, of course, has Alejandro Kirk entrenched as their starting catcher, so Valenzuela is likely a depth option behind him and Tyler Heineman.
Valenzuela would have been eligible for minor league free agency as a seven-year minor leaguer if he weren’t added to the 40-man roster. Toronto evidently didn’t want to let him get away for nothing. He still has a full slate of minor league options and can spend the next few seasons in Triple-A, but he’s the clear #3 catcher on the depth chart at the moment.
Blue Jays Select Dillon Tate
As active rosters expand from 26 to 28 today, the Blue Jays are selecting right-hander Dillon Tate. The other spot will be taken by infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who was claimed off waivers from the Pirates yesterday. To add Tate to the 40-man, the Blue Jays transferred righty Nick Sandlin to the 60-day injured list. Mitch Bannon of The Athletic was among those to relay the moves.
Tate, 31, signed a split deal with the Jays earlier this year. That pact pays him at a $1.4MM rate in the big leagues and a $500K pace while in the minors. He spent the early parts of the year getting shuffled between the majors and Triple-A Buffalo. In May, he was outrighted off the 40-man. Since he has at least three years of service time, he could have elected free agency. But since he was shy of five years of service, he would have had to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in exercising that right.
He understandably accepted and has been put back on the roster today. He has thrown 35 Triple-A innings with a 2.06 earned run average this year. His 12.7% walk rate is on the high side but his 22.7% strikeout rate is decent and his 47.9% ground ball rate is strong. He has seemingly benefitted from an 85.8% strand rate, which is why his 3.74 FIP is far higher than his ERA, but that’s still a decent number.
The Jays also have Braydon Fisher, Mason Fluharty, Paxton Schultz and Justin Bruihl on the 40-man but weren’t able to recall any of them since they were all optioned recently. An optional assignment for a pitcher comes with a 15-day minimum, unless someone is going on the injured list. Fisher was the one optioned longest ago, back on August 21st, so he’ll be eligible to be recalled later this week.
Tate is still optionable but is 11 days away from the five-year service marker, at which point he could not be optioned without his consent. Fisher pitched pretty well for the Jays earlier this year but was squeezed down to the minors when Shane Bieber was activated from the injured list. Perhaps Fisher will be recalled once eligible and Tate sent back to serve as a depth role in Buffalo. For now, he’ll give Toronto a fresh arm for a bullpen which saw heavy usage over the weekend.
As for Sandlin, he landed on the 15-day IL due to right elbow inflammation on July 8th. This transfer is retroactive to that date, so he’ll be eligible for reinstatement in the next few days, though he won’t be healthy by then. Per Hazel Mae of Sportsnet, he just had another injection in his elbow as he tries to get back on the mound. Whenever he’s healthy, he’ll presumably need a few weeks to ramp back up to full strength.
Photo courtesy of Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Blue Jays Notes: Garcia, Swanson, Burr, Sandlin, Gimenez, Manoah
Yimi Garcia was placed on the Blue Jays’ 15-day injured list on Saturday, as the reliever is dealing with a right shoulder impingement. Manager John Schneider provided some updates on several injured players to reporters (including Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling) today, including the news that Garcia received a cortisone shot in his ailing shoulder and will therefore be shut down from throwing for a few days while the shot takes effect. A more definitive recovery timeline won’t be in place until Garcia starts throwing, Schneider said.
Garcia hasn’t allowed an earned run in 19 of his 21 appearances in 2025, as all of his damage allowed (seven ER) came over back-to-back disastrous outings against the Guardians and Angels on May 3 and 6, respectively. He has a 3.15 ERA and an excellent 28.9% strikeout rate over 20 total innings this season, but his 12% walk rate is far beyond his career norms, and his 23.8% chase rate is well below the league average.
Even with those minor red flags, Garcia was Toronto’s top set-up option behind closer Jeff Hoffman, so losing Garcia for at least 15 days is another tough break for a Blue Jays bullpen that has been missing some key arms for all or most of the 2025 campaign. Erik Swanson has yet to pitch at all this year, due to median nerve entrapment in his right arm that surfaced during Spring Training and then some forearm soreness that interrupted the start of his minor league rehab assignment.
Fortunately, Swanson now looks ready to go, as Schneider said the reliever will get a rehab outing with Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday. Swanson was another pitcher ticketed for a set-up role this season, and he excelled in the position in 2023 and in the second half of the 2024 season, albeit only after an injury-marred first half.
The news isn’t as good for right-hander Ryan Burr, who went in for a check-up with team doctors following his Triple-A rehab appearance on Sunday. Burr is another pitcher still waiting for his 2025 debut since he was dealing with shoulder inflammation in the spring, and Burr’s shoulder was still feeling some discomfort in the wake of Sunday’s outing. More will be known soon if Burr’s soreness was anything serious, or if his rehab may be put on hold.
Nick Sandlin got his Blue Jays tenure off to a nice start when he posted a 2.25 ERA in his first eight innings with the team, before a right lat strain sent him to the 15-day IL back on April 20. With now over a month spent on the sidelines, Sandlin is on the road to recovery, as he threw a bullpen session today at the Jays’ training complex in Florida.
Turning to position players, Andres Gimenez is also down in Florida, and Schneider said Gimenez is aiming to be part of a rehab game on Wednesday. Acquired along with Sandlin in a big offseason trade with the Guardians, Gimenez drastically cooled off after a hot start, and was hitting only .195/.273/.305 over 143 plate appearances before a right quad strain sent him to the 10-day IL earlier this month. Gimenez had been the Jays’ starting second baseman, and Ernie Clement has since moved to the keystone in Gimenez’s absence, bringing Addison Barger into the picture as the regular third baseman.
Alek Manoah also provided reporters with an update on his status during the Blue Jays’ recent visit to Tampa to play the Rays, as Manoah has been rehabbing from his Tommy John surgery at the Jays’ Dunedin complex. Speaking with MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson and other media, Manoah is aiming to be back with the Jays in August, which would mark roughly a 14-month absence since he underwent his TJ procedure in June 2024.
As with any recovery from a UCL surgery, of course, this timeline is still pretty fluid. Manoah is still in the bullpen session phase of his throwing progression (with twice-weekly bullpens of more than 40 pitches), so he has a ways to go before turning to his own minor league rehab work and fully building his arm up for a starter’s workload.
Once the burgeoning ace of Toronto’s rotation, Manoah’s career has been going sideways for the better part of three years. Manoah followed up his excellent 2022 season with a miserable 2023 campaign that saw him lose his command of the strike zone and his spot on the Jays’ big league roster entirely. He seemed to be somewhat back on track when he posted a 3.70 ERA over five starts and 24 1/3 innings in 2024 before the Tommy John procedure put Manoah on the IL.
It is anyone’s guess as to how Manoah may look once he makes his return to the active roster, yet even the 2024 version would be welcomed by a Jays team in need of rotation depth. Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, and Chris Bassitt remain the top three anchors of the pitching staff, but Bowden Francis has struggled, and Max Scherzer‘s own injury problems have led to a revolving door of mostly ineffective options in the fifth starter’s role.
Blue Jays Place Nick Sandlin On Injured List, Select Paxton Schultz
The Blue Jays announced a handful of roster moves this morning, headlined by the club’s decision to place right-hander Nick Sandlin on the 15-day injured list due to a right lat strain. Toronto has recalled right-hander Dillon Tate to replace Sandlin on the roster, and also selected the contract of right-hander Paxton Schultz. Right-hander Jacob Barnes was designated for assignment to make room for Schultz on both the 40-man and active rosters.
Sandlin, 28, came to Toronto as part of the trade that brought in Andres Gimenez and saw Spencer Horwitz depart the club. He had plenty of success over the years in Cleveland as a middle reliever despite shaky peripherals, pitching to a 3.27 ERA (126 ERA+) in spite of a 4.41 FIP and an 11.4% walk rate. In the early going this year, Sandlin has managed to tighten things up with a 2.25 ERA and 2.77 FIP across his first ten appearances with the Blue Jays. It’s a significant loss for the Blue Jays’ bullpen, as both Sandlin and fellow newcomer Jeff Hoffman have both been key cogs in Toronto’s early success this year.
Fortunately, there are some signals that this could be a fairly short absence. John Schneider told reporters this morning (including Keegan Matheson of MLB.com) that the lat issue Sandlin is currently dealing with is one that’s been nagging him for a while, and that they’ve decided to be “proactive” about it rather than risk it becoming a larger issue down the road. While Sandlin will be shut down for at least a few days, it seems possible that he could return relatively quickly if the strain improves during that layoff. In any case, he’ll be down for at least the next two weeks.
Replacing him on the roster for the time being is Tate, who the Jays claimed off waivers from the Orioles back in September. He was non-tendered by Toronto over the offseason but re-signed with them on a big league deal back in March. He’s yet to appear in the majors for the club this year but has generally been a cromulent middle reliever over the years, with a 3.89 ERA and a near-matching 3.88 FIP since the start of the 2021 season. He’ll be joined as a option for the middle innings by Schultz, a 14th-round pick by the Brewers back in 2019 who has spent the majority of his professional career as a starting pitcher in the Blue Jays organization. Toronto brass moved him to the bullpen last year, and despite previous middling results he’s looked quite good in 8 2/3 frames of multi-inning relief work this season with a 2.08 ERA and a 27.2% strikeout rate with Triple-A Buffalo.
Schultz’s addition to the roster is made possible by the departure of Barnes, a veteran currently in his tenth major league season. Signed to a minor league deal back in February, Barnes impressed during camp enough to get called upon to make the Jays’ Opening Day roster but has struggled in eight innings of work with the club this year, surrendering nine runs (eight earned) on ten hits and three walks while striking out five. The Jays will have one week to either trade Barnes or pass him through waivers, at which point he’ll have the opportunity to either accept an outright assignment from the club or elect free agency in search of greener pastures. The right-hander posted a 4.36 ERA in 66 innings for the Nationals last year and has a career 4.79 ERA over his decade of work in the majors.