Blue Jays Notes: Berríos, Kirk, Barger
Among the many Blue Jays starters currently on the injured list, José Berríos‘ health situation might be the most perplexing at the moment. Berríos suffered a stress fracture in his throwing elbow during intake physicals for the World Baseball Classic, and that injury flared up again during a minor league rehab stint. Although an update was expected yesterday on Berríos’ condition, there was no clear answer on the current severity of the stress fracture.
If anything, the picture is even murkier now. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet relays comments from manager John Schneider, who says that “surgery is on the table” for Berríos. Schneider doesn’t believe there is any ligament damage, but there may be “loose bodies” in Berríos’ elbow in addition to the stress fracture, according to Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. The latter injury comes with a range of outcomes for recovery. The Braves’ Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep both underwent surgery to remove loose bodies in the spring. Schwellenbach is on the 60-day injured list and hasn’t thrown yet, while Waldrep avoided the 60-day IL. In the last month, Tarik Skubal and Edwin Díaz have also undergone surgery for loose bodies, and they’re expected to miss two to three months.
It’s difficult to predict a timeline for Berríos from that range of outcomes. Given his long layoff and the lingering stress fracture, the Jays will understandably proceed with caution. At the moment, that leaves a four-man rotation of Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage, Kevin Gausman, and Patrick Corbin. That obviously won’t hold up long-term, and it’s further complicated by the Jays’ hectic schedule in the next two weeks. The team does not have an off day until June 1st, with 17 games between now and then, including tonight. Schneider has said the club will use a spot starter tomorrow, leaving three additional turns through the rotation that need to be covered by a spot starter or bullpen games.
As hectic as their rotation seems, the Jays’ offense got some positive injury updates today. Alejandro Kirk is progressing in his rehab and has responded well to catching, per Nicholson-Smith. According to MLB.com’s injury report, Kirk will catch injured starter Shane Bieber‘s next bullpen session. That bodes well for the health of Kirk’s left thumb, which fractured on April 3rd on a foul tip and necessitated surgery a few days later. At the time, he was projected for a six-week recovery timeline. It remains to be seen how Kirk will fare against live pitching, but for now, the signs point to him being back within or not too far beyond that time frame.
In Kirk’s absence, Toronto’s offense has been a bottom 10 unit in the Majors. Entering play today, the team ranks 23rd with a 93 wRC+. Kazuma Okamoto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are hitting 15-20% better than average by wRC+. However, Andrés Giménez, Davis Schneider, and George Springer are all hitting at least 11% below average. Meanwhile, Kirk has a 110 career wRC+ and an 11.5% career strikeout rate. His eventual return will add a tough out to the lineup and lengthen the group overall. If the Blue Jays elect to keep Brandon Valenzuela on as Kirk’s backup catcher, that could also benefit the offense by limiting playing time for the weak-hitting Tyler Heineman.
Nicholson-Smith also provides an update on Addison Barger. Schneider feels that Barger is “doing better” and will ideally be hitting and throwing by next week. If all goes well, Barger could be back “pretty soon” after that. This current IL placement is Barger’s second of the year, as he previously missed a month due to an ankle sprain. He played one game before injuring his elbow on May 11th and landing back on the IL.
The Jays may understandably be concerned after that succession of injuries, though it’s perhaps a good sign that Barger can be back pretty soon after hitting and throwing drills. Barger has only had 28 plate appearances this year, but he had a 107 wRC+ in 502 plate appearances last year. His underlying metrics suggest that performance is sustainable. Barger’s average exit velocity and hard-hit rate were in the 86th and 91st percentiles, respectively. Assuming he stays healthy this time, Barger would add depth to Toronto’s lineup, albeit not as impactfully as Kirk.
Photo courtesy of Brian Fluharty, Imagn Images
Blue Jays Designate Eric Lauer For Assignment, Place Addison Barger On IL
The Blue Jays announced that left-hander Eric Lauer has been designated for assignment. His roster spot goes to right-hander Yariel Rodríguez. It was reported yesterday that the Jays would be selecting Rodriguez to the roster. The Jays also placed infielder/outfielder Addison Barger on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 10th, with right elbow inflammation. Outfielder Yohendrick Pinango has been recalled to take Barger’s spot.
It’s been quite a rollercoaster ride for Lauer and the Blue Jays. He signed a minor league deal with the club heading into the 2025 season. He was added to the major league roster in late April as the Jays were dealing with some injuries and some poor performances.
Lauer ended up sticking around and played a notable role in the club’s strong season. Often getting shuffled between the rotation and the bullpen, Lauer made 15 starts and 13 relief appearances. On the whole, he logged 104 2/3 innings with a 3.18 earned run average, 23.9% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate. He added another 8 2/3 innings in the postseason with a 3.12 ERA, as the Jays went all the way to Game Seven of the World Series.
From there, things have turned sour, both in terms of performance and Lauer’s relationship with the club. The Jays retained him for 2026 via arbitration but the two sides couldn’t agree on a salary, eventually going to a hearing. It was a unique case because Lauer had been in arbitration before and raised his salary to $5.075MM in 2023. But he struggled and lost his roster spot, spending 2024 in the minors and in Korea, before having a bounceback with the Jays in 2025.
He filed at $5.75MM and the Jays at $4.4MM. The club won. He appeared to be frustrated by that outcome, telling Hazel Mae of Sportsnet that he felt his earning power was damaged by getting bumped to the bullpen late in the year when the Jays acquired Shane Bieber and called up Trey Yesavage.
Coming into 2026, there was a time where it looked like Lauer would again be pushed to a bullpen role. The Jays had signed Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce, in addition to re-signing Max Scherzer. With those three joining Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Yesavage and Bieber, it looked like quite a crowded group. Lauer again seemed less than enthused, telling reporters that he preferred to be a starter.
In the end, he got his wish. Berríos, Bieber and Yesavage started the season on the IL. Yesavage has since been activated but the Jays have also lost Ponce and Scherzer to the IL. The injuries were enough for Lauer to get a rotation spot, even with Patrick Corbin being signed to jump into the mix.
But Lauer’s results haven’t been nearly as good as last year’s. He has made eight appearances this year. Technically, only six of those were starts, as he pitched behind an opener twice. That was something he also wasn’t happy about, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. “To be real blunt, I hate it. I can’t stand it,” he said. He added that the switch messed with his habits as a starter.
Whether it’s due to his routine being messed up or residual effects from batting the flu earlier this year, Lauer has a 6.69 ERA on the season. His 16% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate are both significantly worse than last year. His fastball has only averaged 90.4 miles per hour on the year. That’s a big drop from last year’s 91.7 mph, which was on the low end to begin with.
Perhaps the combination of the poor numbers and Lauer repeatedly going public with his frustrations has prompted the Jays to move on, even though they don’t have an obvious rotation solution and the schedule is about to get tricky. Subtracting Lauer leaves them with Gausman, Cease, Yesavage and Corbin in four spots. It doesn’t appear as though any of the guys on the IL are close to returning, so the club will need to figure out something by next week. They start a series against the Rays tonight, with Gausman, Corbin and Cease lined up. They are off on Thursday but then play 17 in a row after that.
Perhaps they will opt for some sort of bullpen game and/or piggyback situation. Spencer Miles has been pitching reasonably well and went three innings in front of Lauer yesterday, though that would be risky since he is so inexperienced. Miles came into this year as a Rule 5 guy with only 14 2/3 minor league innings under his belt, none above Low-A. Rodríguez has starting experience and pitched two innings in his most recent minor league outing. They could call up someone else from Triple-A, with Josh Fleming, Austin Voth, CJ Van Eyk, Chad Dallas and Grant Rogers all pitching in the Triple-A rotation at the moment, though no one in that group is currently on the 40-man roster. They could scoop up an external addition, with Chris Paddack being one starter who just became a free agent.
Lauer heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Jays could take as long as five days to explore trade interest. Given his salary and recent performance, he probably doesn’t have a lot of trade value.
If he were to clear outright waivers, he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while keeping his money. The Jays might skip that formality and simply release him. If that comes to pass, they would remain on the hook for the contract. Any other club could sign him and pay him the prorated league minimum, which would be subtracted from what the Jays pay.
Barger’s IL placement is frustrating, since he just came off the IL due to a separate issue. He got out to a slow start this year and hit the IL due to a left ankle sprain. He was reinstated off the IL and was only able to play one game before this elbow inflammation has put him right back on the shelf. That’s less than ideal for the Jays as injuries have played a big role in their season so far. In addition to the aforementioned pitching issues, they have seen Barger, George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, Nathan Lukes and Anthony Santander miss time. Those injuries have surely contributed to a lackluster 18-22 start this year.
Now that Barger is out again, the Jays will return to having an outfield group consisting of Daulton Varsho, Myles Straw, Davis Schneider, Jesús Sánchez and Pinango. They just optioned Pinango when Barger got healthy but he has quickly come back. Position players normally have to wait ten days after being optioned before being recalled but an exception is made when someone goes on the IL. Pinango has a .423/.444/.462 line this year but with an unsustainable .478 batting average on balls in play, so he’s surely due for some regression.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images
AL East Notes: Contreras, Suarez, Barger, Rogers, Cole
X-rays were negative on Willson Contreras‘ right hand after the Red Sox first baseman was hit by a 94mph pitch from Nick Martinez. The bruised hand forced Contreras out of the game after the first inning, and Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters (including the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey) that it isn’t yet known if Contreras will undergo an MRI or more in-depth testing. The Red Sox don’t play on Monday, so Tracy said the team will use the off-day to “kind of reevaluate and see how he feels.”
Contreras is off to a flying start in his first season in Boston, hitting .259/.380/.467 with eight homers through 166 plate appearances. The veteran first baseman has been one of the few bright spots in an underachieving Red Sox lineup, so the offense will be further hampered if Contreras has to spend any time on the injured list.
More from around the AL East…
- In other Red Sox news, Tracy said the teams plans to start Ranger Suarez on Thursday against the Phillies, Suarez’s former team. Suarez hasn’t pitched since a hamstring strain forced him out of his last start on May 3, but it appears as though the left-hander has avoided the injured list. After something of a dicey start to the season, Suarez has a sparking 1.17 ERA over his last five starts and 30 2/3 innings.
- Just one game after being activated from the Blue Jays‘ 10-day injured list, Addison Barger was scratched from today’s lineup and will undergo an MRI on his right elbow, Jays manager John Schneider told Sportsnet and other media. The elbow issue may have arisen from Barger’s tremendous throw from right field that nabbed Jorge Soler at the plate in Saturday’s game. That contest was just Barger’s ninth game of the season, as an ankle sprain sidelined the outfielder/third baseman for over a month.
- Trevor Rogers won’t come off the 15-day IL when first eligible tomorrow, but the left-hander believes he could be back Tuesday or Wednesday during the rest of the Orioles’ series with the Yankees. Rogers was placed on the IL while dealing with a rough case of the flu, and he told MLB.com’s Jake Rill that he doesn’t believe he’ll need a rehab start after throwing a “simulated bullpen” session on Saturday. In another Baltimore injury update, Heston Kjerstad started a minor rehab league assignment this weekend. The outfielder has yet to play this season due to a hamstring strain suffered in Spring Training.
- Gerrit Cole allowed two earned runs on four hits and a walk over five innings in today’s rehab start with Double-A Somerset. Cole recorded eight strikeouts over the 77-pitch outing, which was the fifth start of Cole’s rehab assignment. Greg Joyce of the New York Post writes that Cole is expected to make one or two more rehab starts before being activated from the Yankees’ injured list, which would make it a little over 14 month since Cole underwent a Tommy John surgery in March 2025.
Blue Jays Notes: Barger, Pinango, Berrios, Scherzer, Bieber, Garcia, Kirk, Lukes
As expected, Addison Barger was activated from the Blue Jays’ 10-day injured list today. The team announced that outfielder Yohendrick Pinango was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo in the corresponding move.
The 2026 season has essentially been a wash for Barger to date, between his five weeks on the IL and his ice-cold start at the plate. Barger had only one hit and three walks in his first 23 plate appearances, resulting in an ugly .053/.174/.105 slash line. He hasn’t played since April 5, when he hurt both ankles while trying to beat out a grounder to first base. What was initially termed as “bilateral ankle discomfort” was officially designated as a left ankle sprain when Barger was placed on the injured list.
Barger returns looking to get his season on track, and to ideally return to the form that make him a breakout player during the 2025 regular season and especially during Toronto’s postseason run. With Kazuma Okamoto now firmly entrenching himself as the everyday third baseman, Barger will mostly be deployed in right field, though his ability to play third base in a pinch could be useful in late-game situations or if Okamoto is given a rest day or a DH day.
Since Barger is a left-handed hitter who will be handling corner outfield duty, Pinango was a little redundant on the active roster, but manager John Schneider told Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling and other reporters that the team was impressed during Pinango’s brief stay in the majors. Pinango hit .423/.444/.462 over his first 27 plate appearances as a big leaguer, and is very likely to get another look in Toronto at some point in 2026.
Schneider provided more injury updates to the media (including The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon) yesterday, with some positive news on some other position players. Alejandro Kirk is throwing and started swinging this week in the latest steps of his recovery from thumb surgery, and Nathan Lukes has started running drills as he recovers from a hamstring strain.
On the pitching front, Shane Bieber will throw a live bullpen session on Tuesday, and Yimi Garcia started a minor league rehab assignment. Both right-handers started the season on the 15-day IL before being moved to the 60-day IL to give the duo more time to build up arm strength. Bieber dealt with forearm fatigue over the offseason while Garcia underwent surgery last September to fix scar tissue in his throwing elbow.
The outlook isn’t as clear for Jose Berrios, who is set to visit Dr. Keith Meister on Tuesday. An MRI on Berrios’ right elbow revealed inflammation but also “changes to his previous stress fracture.” What exactly this means for Berrios perhaps won’t be known until after his consultation, or if any kind of surgery might be under discussion.
At the very least, it doesn’t look like Berrios will be back on the mound in the near future, so the veteran right-hander’s 2026 debut will continue to be on hold for some time. What began as elbow inflammation and then a stress fracture in his right elbow put Berrios on the 15-day IL to begin the season, though it appears like he didn’t experience much actual discomfort until his most recent Triple-A rehab start.
Max Scherzer is also on the 15-day IL, sidelined by left ankle inflammation and tendinitis in his right forearm. The ankle problem looks to have largely subsided, while the forearm issue is being treated by a cortisone shot, so Scherzer won’t resume throwing for five days. Since his IL stint began on April 25, Scherzer will obviously miss longer than the minimum amount of time, and a loose return timeframe of late May seems possible if the cortisone shot is a fix and Scherzer’s throwing progression goes smoothly.
Blue Jays Notes: Berríos, Scherzer, Bieber, Barger
Blue Jays right-hander José Berríos has been trying to get healthy for a long time now but appears to have hit another setback. Mitch Bannon of The Athletic was among those to relay that the righty went for an MRI Tuesday night. His most recent rehab outing featured decreased velocity followed by increased pain for the veteran.
Berríos hasn’t really been healthy since late last year, due to varying maladies that may or may not be connected. Right elbow inflammation put him on the injured list with just a few days remaining in the 2025 season.
He started this year healthy, or so it seemed, as he was pitching in spring training games early on. In mid-March, he was going to join the Puerto Rico team in the World Baseball Classic and underwent a physical which found some elbow inflammation, apparently in a different spot than last year’s inflammation. It was an unusual situation because he wasn’t feeling any discomfort. Stranger still, he was then diagnosed with a stress fracture in his elbow.
Despite the ominous diagnosis and starting the season on the IL, he began a rehab assignment a few weeks ago, but it hasn’t been going well. He has allowed 17 earned runs in 14 1/3 innings. As mentioned, his velo has been down, with Bannon noting a drop of about 3 mph from his first rehab start to his most recent. And with Berríos experiencing more pain than expected, the signs are generally worrying. The Jays are off tomorrow and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet notes that the Jays will likely have more information to share by Friday.
It doesn’t appear as though Max Scherzer is close to a return either. He hit the IL a little over a week ago due to both tendinitis in his right forearm and inflammation in his left ankle. He had been pitching through the tendinitis for a while but said the addition of the ankle issue was too much to juggle at once. Today, he expressed some frustration with the path forward.
“It’s confusing as heck because I have a clean MRI,” Scherzer said to Hazel Mae of Sportsnet. “That’s what has everyone pulling their hair out. The MRI is saying, ‘hey you should be good,’ and I’m like ‘No, the check engine light is on.'” Given that puzzling situation, it’s hard to say what the path forward is.
As for Shane Bieber, who has been on the IL all year due to forearm fatigue, there are some positive signs. Per Bannon, he did a “2-up” bullpen today, which effectively means he threw the equivalent of two innings with a break in between to simulate a game environment. He’ll do another bullpen like that next week and then could progress to live hitters. Presumably, he would be in line for a rehab assignment after that.
The Jays have been trying to get their rotation to a better state of health all year. They started the season with Berríos, Bieber and Trey Yesavage on the IL, leaving them with a rotation of Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Eric Lauer, Cody Ponce and Scherzer. Ponce suffered a season-ending knee injury in his first start, prompting the Jays to quickly sign Patrick Corbin. Yesavage came off the IL at the end of April, which was supposed to push Lauer to the bullpen, but then Scherzer hit the IL instead.
Lauer has been struggling this year, with a 6.03 ERA so far. Corbin has been doing better, entering today with a 3.65 ERA, but it’s fair to wonder how much longer he can keep it up. He’s approaching his 37th birthday and has had an ERA above 5.00 in most of his recent seasons. Ideally, the Jays would get some of their veterans healthy to push Lauer and/or Corbin out of the rotation but that may not be imminent.
There’s a bit more positivity coming on the position player side, since Addison Barger seems close to a return. He has already begun a rehab assignment and the plan is for him to rejoin the big league club on Friday, per Bannon. He struggled through the first eight games before a left ankle sprain put him on the IL. He hit 21 home runs for the Jays last year and slashed .243/.301/.454, so they will obviously hope to get him back in good form.
Barger played a lot of third base last year but Kazuma Okamoto‘s signing means he’ll be mostly in the outfield going forward. With Barger, Nathan Lukes and Anthony Santander on the shelf, the Jays have had an outfield mix including Daulton Varsho, Myles Straw, Jesús Sánchez, Yohendrick Pinango and Davis Schneider.
The Jays will have to make room for Barger somehow, which could lead to an interesting decision. They have been playing a lot of matchups with this group, as Varsho, Pinango and Sánchez are lefties while Schneider and Straw are righties. Schneider isn’t hitting well and has options but sending him down for Barger wouldn’t be ideal in the sense that it would tilt the group to four lefties with Straw as the only righty.
Pinango is hitting better than Sánchez but the latter is more experienced and out of options, whereas Pinango’s recent surge has come in just a handful of games and with a .500 BABIP he won’t sustain. Sending down Pinango might be the easiest decision in a sense but it also may be hard to option a hot hand while the club isn’t scoring tons of runs.
Photo courtesy of Brian Fluharty, Imagn Images
AL East Injury Notes: Yesavage, Springer, Holliday, Uceta
Injuries come frequently in April, but the AL East seems particularly snake-bitten to begin the season. The Blue Jays have had several key players go down since the start of Spring Training. The Orioles are missing most of their young offensive core. The Rays and Red Sox haven’t had any debilitating absences, but both squads have been without important pieces.
Here’s a rundown of injury updates from around the division, starting with the reigning AL champs…
Toronto
- Trey Yesavage (shoulder) will make another rehab start on Tuesday at Triple-A. The goal will be 75 pitches, to “let him feel that one more time,” manager John Schneider told reporters, including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Yesavage got up to 71 pitches in his outing with Buffalo on Wednesday.
- Jose Berrios (elbow) will make his next rehab start on Wednesday. He threw 38 pitches in his first outing on Thursday. The righty was knocked around for five earned runs over 2 2/3 innings. Fellow veteran Shane Bieber (forearm) threw a bullpen on Friday. He was recently moved to the 60-day IL. To round out the rotation injuries, Cody Ponce underwent ACL repair surgery and hopes to return for Spring Training in 2027. (h/t to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic for listing the injuries in one post)
- On the hitting side, George Springer (toe) is still hitting but has yet to progress to running. The same goes for Addison Barger (ankles), though he’s expected to start running next week. Springer is on track to make it back before Barger and might not need a rehab assignment, per Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.
Baltimore
- Jackson Holliday is set to be in the lineup for High-A Frederick this weekend, the team announced. The infielder is recovering from a hamate fracture. He was recently pulled off the rehab assignment after experiencing wrist soreness at Triple-A Norfolk. Holliday had scuffled to a .167/.239/.214 line in 11 games with the Tides. The second baseman’s absence has led to the emergence of Jeremiah Jackson. The 26-year-old utilityman had a 151 wRC+ heading into Friday’s action. That’s likely to go up after a go-ahead three-run homer against the Guardians.
- Adley Rutschman ran, hit, and caught a bullpen session on Friday, relays Jake Rill of MLB.com. The catcher is nursing an ankle injury. Rutschman is eligible to return on Tuesday, but he might need rehab games first.
- Also from Rill, outfielder Tyler O’Neill is not ready to return from the 7-day concussion IL. He’s been out since April 8. “Still has some boxes to check and go from there,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Obviously, with a concussion, it’s very touch and go.”
Tampa Bay
- Right-hander Edwin Uceta is still experiencing issues with his shoulder, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll be shut down for the next few days. After a pair of scoreless frames to begin his rehab assignment, Uceta has allowed three earned runs on six hits over his last two appearances.
- Gavin Lux was trending toward a Triple-A return on Friday, Topkin noted yesterday. However, the former Dodger was not in the Durham lineup tonight. Lux is working his way back from a shoulder injury. He hasn’t played since Saturday after injuring his ankle.
Boston
- Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com ran through several health updates for the Red Sox. Right-hander Kutter Crawford hasn’t resumed throwing and might require an MRI following elbow soreness. He missed all of 2025 with knee and wrist injuries. Crawford gave up five earned runs over three innings of work in his first rehab outing on Saturday. He reported the elbow issue shortly after.
- Reliever Justin Slaten will not return from his oblique strain when first eligible on Monday. He’s just now resuming throwing, relayed manager Alex Cora. It’s unclear when Slaten will progress to a rehab assignment.
- Left-hander Patrick Sandoval is slated for another rehab start on Sunday at Triple-A. He’s coming back from UCL surgery. Sandoval has thrown 63 and 59 pitches in his first two rehab outings.
- Sandoval’s teammate with Worcester, Tyler Uberstine, was placed on the IL with shoulder soreness. The righty was promoted earlier this season when Johan Oviedo went down with an elbow strain. Uberstine allowed a run over 2 2/3 innings in his big-league debut, taking the loss against the Padres.
- Romy Gonzalez, the lone update on the hitting side, has yet to resume baseball activities. He underwent shoulder surgery in March. Gonzalez is on the 60-day IL and won’t be back until the end of May at the earliest.
Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images
Blue Jays Designate Josh Fleming For Assignment
The Blue Jays announced a series of roster moves today. Left-hander Patrick Corbin and infielder Tyler Fitzgerald have been recalled to the active roster. Infielder/outfielder Addison Barger has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 6th, due to a left ankle sprain. That opened a spot for Fitzgerald, while Corbin takes the spot of left-hander Josh Fleming, who has been designated for assignment.
The Jays have recently been cycling through pitchers due to a few notable setbacks. Cody Ponce sprained the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee last week, opening a hole in their rotation. Eric Lauer has also been battling the flu lately, which pushed his Saturday start to Sunday.
The Jays recalled Lazaro Estrada when Ponce landed on the IL. He covered four innings as part of a bullpen game on Saturday but then got optioned right after that, alongside lefty Brendon Little. The Jays added Joe Mantiply and Austin Voth to replace those two. Lauer tried to gut through his illness on Sunday but could only stomach two innings, forcing Voth to absorb 2 2/3.
Prior to yesterday’s game, Fleming was added to the roster with Voth designated for assignment. Max Scherzer started yesterday but was held back by some right forearm tendinitis. It’s possible he may be fine enough to make his next start, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com, but he was pulled after just two innings last night. Fleming was called in to soak up three innings, allowing four earned runs as the Jays were eventually trounced by the Dodgers 14-2.
It’s presumably not the return to the majors that Fleming hoped for. After being stuck in the minors in 2025, he got back to the show last night and was thrown into the proverbial lion’s den, having to face Shohei Ohtani and the dangerous Dodger lineup. The Jays surely appreciate the nine outs he gave them but it took him 77 pitches and he wasn’t going to be available for a few days. Since he’s out of options, he’s been bumped into DFA limbo. The Jays will likely place him on waivers in the coming days. If he clears, he’ll have the right to elect free agency.
The Jays only signed Corbin a few days ago, as he lingered unsigned in free agency beyond Opening Day. Though he missed spring training, he had been getting stretched out privately. He agreed to be optioned to Low-A Dunedin and tossed five innings at that level on Saturday. Per Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet, Corbin will join the Jays tomorrow and will start Friday’s game.
The Jays have Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease lined up to pitch the final two games of the series against the Dodgers. The Jays are off on Thursday and then start a series against the Twins, with Corbin taking the ball the first time through. Assuming Lauer and Scherzer are healthy, they could follow Corbin.
That may be the rotation plan, at least for the short term. Trey Yesavage is on a rehab assignment, working his way back from his shoulder impingement, and should be back in the mix in the coming weeks. José Berríos and Shane Bieber are also on the mend from their injuries, though they are a bit behind Yesavage. Eventually, someone may get pushed to the bullpen or off the roster, depending on health outcomes in the near future.
The injury bug hasn’t just bit the Toronto pitching staff. Outfielder Anthony Santander required shoulder surgery and will miss several months. Catcher Alejandro Kirk required thumb surgery and is slated to miss the next six weeks. Now Barger is also on the shelf, though this issue seems far more minor. Per Zwelling, the Jays are hoping it could be a minimal stint and he might not even need a rehab assignment.
Barger has mostly been playing right field this year. With him now subtracted from the outfield mix, the corners should be covered by some combination of Jesús Sánchez, Nathan Lukes, Davis Schneider and Myles Straw. It’s possible platoon matchups will be the plan, as Sánchez and Lukes are lefties while Schneider and Straw are righties. Fitzgerald, acquired in a cash deal a few days ago, has experience at every spot on the diamond except catcher, so he’ll give them some extra depth all over.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images
Blue Jays Reportedly Willing To Trade Major League Position Players
The Blue Jays are first in the American League East and clear buyers ahead of Thursday’s deadline. Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reports that they are willing to trade from their position player depth, including guys who are currently on the big league roster or in Triple-A.
The Jays came into this year with a cluster of players on the roster who hadn’t yet taken hold as big league regulars. That group includes Addison Barger, Nathan Lukes, Davis Schneider, Joey Loperfido, Will Wagner, Leo Jiménez, Jonatan Clase, Alan Roden and Orelvis Martínez.
Every player in that group apart from Martínez has seen some big league time this year, some more than others. Barger has separated himself from the rest of the pack and established himself as a middle-of-the-order bat in Toronto’s lineup. He has 14 home runs, a .264/.316/.500 slash and 122 wRC+ this year. He hits from the left side while most of the club’s other everyday players are righties. He provides defensive versatility by moving between third base and right field. Presumably, the Jays wouldn’t let go of him without getting something massive in return.
The other players in that group have played smaller roles. Lukes has 257 plate appearances on the year but almost exclusively against righties, with just 28 of those coming against southpaws. He’s been good as a strong-side platoon guy, which has been great for the Jays with Daulton Varsho missing so much time this year. Schneider is also having a good year, though doing most of his damage against lefties.
Loperfido has a huge .341/.396/.500 slash line this year but in just 16 games, as he was only just recalled from the minors a few weeks ago. Wagner has a .236/.331/.302 line in 37 games, having also spent some time in the minors. Jiménez was playing well in the minors but has a .071/.133/.179 line in the big leagues.
Those guys are all currently on the big league roster. As noted by Bannon, both Varsho and Andrés Giménez are expected to return from the injured list soon, which will push a couple of those guys back down to Triple-A, where they would join Roden, Clase and Martínez. Roden has a massive .331/.423/.496 line for Buffalo but just a .204/.283/.306 slash for Toronto. Clase also has some decent Triple-A numbers but a big league line of just .210/.288/.300. Martínez is not having a good year but is not too far removed from being a top 100 prospect.
The Jays won’t be able to give playing time to all of these guys down the stretch, so it’s logical for the club to think about using some of that depth to add to the pitching staff. They are known to be looking for both rotation and bullpen upgrades. Many selling clubs, meanwhile, will be looking for upper level players who could be plugged right onto a big league roster. A team doing a long-term rebuild might prefer younger prospects but some clubs are looking to do a quick sell at the deadline before attempting to return to contention in 2026. It’s also possible a team looking to do a buy/sell hybrid, such as the Padres, might look to acquire some of these cheaper players in a win-now move.
Since these guys are controllable, the Jays would be subtracting from their long-term position player depth. But if they can work out a trade involving guys in this cluster, it could allow them to hang onto more highly-touted prospects who are further away from the big leagues, such as Arjun Nimmala or Trey Yesavage. They also don’t face huge roster turnover this coming offseason, as Bo Bichette is the only position player slated for free agency after this season.
Jiménez, Clase and Martínez are all slated to be out of options next year and haven’t fully established themselves as big league regulars, so the Jays might be especially motivated to move on from that group. Though of course, those players will have less trade value than some of the other guys who are putting up more impressive numbers or who still have more option years after this one.
The Jays are presumably evaluating various possibilities ahead of Thursday’s deadline. Bannon reported yesterday that the front office is “turning over every stone” in pursuit of bullpen additions. The Jays have also been connected to starting pitchers such as Dylan Cease, Zac Gallen and Mitch Keller.
Photo courtesy of Brian Fluharty, Imagn Images
Blue Jays Notes: Rotation, Yesavage, Outfield
The Blue Jays could get Max Scherzer back as soon as next week, writes Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. The future Hall of Famer tossed 74 pitches and punched out eight hitters — including a rehabbing Wilyer Abreu — in a rehab start against the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate this week. The Jays will need to see how Scherzer’s ailing thumb responds, but he’s built up and feels his stuff is where it needs to be. If Saturday’s scheduled bullpen session between starts goes well, Scherzer could return to the Jays next Tuesday.
A healthy Scherzer would be a welcome boon at an opportune time. Toronto recently lost Bowden Francis to the injured list. Kevin Gausman has allowed 17 runs over his past 20 innings. Chris Bassitt has allowed at least three runs in four of his past five starts, pitching to a 5.59 ERA in that span.
Scherzer, 40, lasted only three innings in his Jays debut early this season and pitched only 43 1/3 innings with Texas in 2024. There are genuine concerns about his health, both in terms of his thumb being able to hold up over the course of a full big league start and in terms of how it’ll recover between outings when he’s taking the ball every fifth day. At least with regard to his two rehab starts — 56 pitches and 74 pitches — he’s been holding up well enough during those games themselves. It might be a bit before the Jays let him unleash 100 pitches, but even if his pitch count is closely monitored, Scherzer should stabilize a rotation that’s cycled through a hodgepodge of fifth starter options this year.
The occupant of that fifth and final spot in the rotation, even with Scherzer back in the fold, is up in the air. Lefty Eric Lauer, who signed a minor league deal over the winter, has been excellent pitching in a variety of roles. Matheson notes that Lauer is angling for that fifth spot, quoting the lefty as follows: “I’m a starter and I want to be a starter. The fifth spot is kind of up in the air. I go out there and try to take that fifth spot every time.”
Lauer has indeed made a strong case. He’s pitched in 10 games for Toronto, four of them starts, and picked up 35 1/3 innings with a 2.29 earned run average. He’s fanned 26.1% of his opponents against an 8% walk rate. His ability to sustain that strikeout rate is a bit questionable, given below-average swinging-strike and chase rates of 9.8% and 24.6%, respectively, but this is far and away Lauer’s best work since his 2021-22 peak with the Brewers.
That said, another low-cost pickup has made a similarly strong case. Right-hander Spencer Turnbull, signed to a deal after the season was underway, has pitched 4 1/3 innings and held opponents to one run. He’s allowed seven hits, walked two and only fanned a pair, but Turnbull can add to his case when he starts tonight’s game against the White Sox.
Mitch Bannon of The Athletic adds that manager John Schneider called the fifth starter’s spot a “healthy competition” between Lauer and Turnbull. For now, both are in the picture. If there are any setbacks with Scherzer, perhaps that’ll remain the case. But if Scherzer returns next week, the Jays will have more healthy rotation arms than spots available — hardly a bad thing. If they get to that enviable spot, the Blue Jays could consider a variety of options. Turnbull could serve as a piggyback option behind either Lauer or Scherzer. They could go with a six-man rotation. They could alternate Turnbull/Lauer in that fifth spot depending on their opponent.
Further down the road, Toronto is hopeful that 2024 first-rounder Trey Yesavage can push to join the starting staff. That’s not likely in 2025, as he was only just promoted to Double-A and has already thrown nearly two-thirds as many innings this year as he did in his junior season at East Carolina University. However, Bannon writes in a separate piece that the hard-throwing Yesavage could emerge as a candidate to join the major league club down the stretch if the Jays are in contention — perhaps in the bullpen.
Schneider tells Bannon that Yesavage “has definitely opened some eyes here” and that “the stuff is real.” Blue Jays scout Coulson Barbiche adds that even when he was watching Yesavage pitch in college, he seemed “darn near ready-made” for the major leagues.
The 6’4″, 225-pound Yesavage has breezed through minor league lineups in his first full pro season, logging a 2.67 ERA with a mammoth 42.5% strikeout rate and an almost comical 21.1% swinging-strike rate. His 11.5% walk rate needs to come down, but Yesavage is already at his third minor league level of the season. The Jays may not have been all that aggressive with his original assignment to Low-A, but they’re promoting him aggressively now; Yesavage spent only four starts in High-A before being bumped to Double-A, where he’s now made two starts.
Good questions on the pitching side of the roster are circulating at the moment, but there’s also some uncertainty with the team’s mix of position players — specifically in the outfield. The Jays have Daulton Varsho and Anthony Santander on the injured list at the moment, but there’s still a surplus of outfield talent on the roster — particularly with Nathan Lukes returning from the concussion list today.
Shi Davidi of Sportsnet looks at what could be a looming logjam. Varsho is one of the game’s premier defenders and will man center field once healthy. Santander and George Springer will share one corner spot and the DH spot. Addison Barger is in the midst of a breakout and has logged plenty of time in right field, but he can play third base regularly once the rest of the group is healthy. Prospects Alan Roden and Jonatan Clase are also in the mix, as are Lukes, Will Robertson, Myles Straw and Davis Schneider.
It’s highly doubtful the Jays would move one of the more established veterans or Barger, given how well he’s hitting, but Davidi wonders whether the Blue Jays might be deep enough in outfielders to deal from that hefty supply as they look to improve for the stretch run.
Bo Bichette To Miss “Multiple Weeks” Due To Calf Strain
5:05pm: Schneider told reporters (including MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson) this evening that an MRI revealed a “moderate” calf strain for Bichette and that he will be sidelined for “multiple weeks” due to the issue.
10:57am: Bo Bichette left yesterday’s game due to a right calf strain, and it comes as no surprise that the Blue Jays have now placed the shortstop on the 10-day injured list. Infielder Addison Barger has been called up from Triple-A to take Bichette’s spot on the active roster.
Bichette broke out of the batter’s box after lining out to right field at the end of the sixth inning, but immediately came up limping after a few steps. Last night’s injury was the latest occurrence in what has been a collection of calf injuries for Bichette over the last month, as he spent a minimal 10-day stint on the IL with another strain to his right calf in June. He also left Toronto’s game on July 10 with what was described as a right calf fascia strain, though with the All-Star break looming, the Jays opted to not place Bichette on the IL again, hoping that the time off would allow him to heal up.
Unfortunately, Bichette now again finds himself sidelined, and likely for well beyond a 10-day minimum. Blue Jays manager John Schneider should soon update media on the outcome of Bichette’s MRI, yet even if the MRI was clean, the recurring nature of this calf injury probably means the Jays will opt on the side of caution in giving Bichette plenty of time to fully overcome this issue. This almost surely means that Bichette will still be on the injured list when the trade deadline hits on July 30, all but eliminating the possibility that Toronto could part ways with the former All-Star.
Though it isn’t unheard of for teams to still make offers for injured players if an injury appears to be fairly minor in nature, two calf injuries for Bichette in a month’s time would likely give pause to any potential suitor. From the Jays’ perspective, they’re not going to accept a diminished trade package for a player who (if healthy) is one of their strongest trade chips. Even as it looks more and more apparent that Toronto will be deadline sellers, the team reportedly is still planning to contend in 2025, so their July 30 moves might be limited to pending free agents rather than longer-term core pieces.
Even beyond Bichette’s injuries, his trade value has been lowered by an unexpectedly disastrous 2024 season. Bichette is hitting .222/.275/.320 with four home runs over 331 plate appearances, and his 69 wRC+ is the third-lowest among all qualified hitters in baseball. Even if a low .266 BABIP and a big gap between his wOBA (.264) and his xwOBA (.306) count as some misfortune, Bichette’s power numbers have absolutely cratered from his career norms. His .098 Isolated Power number is almost half the .187 ISO he posted from 2019-23, and his traditionally strong barrels and barrel rates are both well under the league average in 2024.
It is also worth noting that this isn’t entirely a one-year trend for Bichette. His strong 2023 season sputtered to an end thanks to a pair of IL stints in the second half, as Bichette missed time to patellar tendinitis in his right knee and then a right quad strain. Bichette’s first IL stint began on August 1, 2023, and he hit only .254/.292/.402 over his final 130 PA of the 2023 season.
With almost a full year of sample size, it is clear that Bichette simply hasn’t been right since that initial bout of tendinitis last August, and it is an additional concern that all of these injuries have come to his right leg specifically. If Bichette is facing a fairly lengthy (say, a month or so) stay on the injured list anyway with his latest calf problem, it isn’t out of the question that the Blue Jays might just shut him down to get him ready for 2025, since the team won’t be in contention for the remainder of this year.
If the Jays’ next two months indeed become an information-gathering session for 2025, one silver lining to Bichette’s absence could be more playing time for Leo Jimenez at shortstop. Jimenez has hit and fielded well in his small nine-game sample size as a big leaguer, and could become a shortstop of the future if Bichette is traded at some point, or if he leaves in free agency following the 2025 season.