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Thomas Pannone

Blue Jays Option Brandon Drury, Outright Thomas Pannone

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The Blue Jays have optioned infielder Brandon Drury to their alternate training site and outrighted hurler Thomas Pannone, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet tweets. The Drury move clears roster space for newly acquired right-hander Taijuan Walker.

The 28-year-old Drury has been a massive disappointment for Toronto, which acquired him from the Yankees for lefty J.A. Happ before the July 2018 trade deadline. Drury, who had his moments with the Diamondbacks from 2015-17, struggled during his brief Yankees stint before they gave up on him. His issues have continued as a member of Toronto’s roster, as he owns a horrid .211/.254/.360 line with 15 home runs in 496 plate appearances. Drury’s minus-6 wRC+ across 49 plate trips this year ranks fifth to last among 300 major leaguers who have amassed at least 40 PA.

The left-handed Pannone, 26, had been in limbo since the Jays designated him Aug. 24, but he’ll stick with the organization after clearing waivers. Pannone, who combined for a 5.43 ERA/5.14 FIP over 116 innings from 2018-19, hasn’t pitched in the bigs this season.

Blue Jays Put Thornton On IL, Select Bergen, Designate Pannone

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The Blue Jays have placed right-hander Trent Thornton on the injured list and selected the contract of lefty Travis Bergen to the Major League roster in his place, the team announced. In order to open a spot for Bergen on the 40-man roster, the Jays have designated left-hander Thomas Pannone for assignment.

Thornton’s injury is the latest in a mounting series of pitching ailments for the Jays. He joins Ken Giles, Nate Pearson and Matt Shoemaker among the notable names on the injured list for Toronto (in addition to star shortstop Bo Bichette). There’s no immediate timetable on Thornton’s return, but he lasted just one inning in this weekend’s spot start. Meanwhile, manager Charlie Montoyo tells reporters that Shoemaker is dealing with a lat strain and is considered “week to week” at this point (Twitter link via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet).

Bergen, 26, will be making his Jays debut when he first takes the hill. The southpaw was the team’s seventh-round pick back in 2015 but spent much of last season with the Giants after being selected in the 2018 Rule 5 Draft. Bergen didn’t get the full year he needed to stick with the Giants, however, as San Francisco returned him to the Jays last August following an IL stint due to a shoulder strain. Bergen pitched just 19 2/3 innings with the Giants and stumbled in that time: 12 runs on 18 hits, nine walks and a hit batter with 18 strikeouts (5.49 ERA).

Bergen has excellent when healthy in the minors, pitching to a 1.69 ERA across five levels. However, because he spent most of last season with the Giants’ MLB roster, has not pitched in a game this year in the absence of a minor league season and spent time on the IL in both 2016 and 2017, Bergen has just 106 2/3 total minor league innings under his belt.

Pannone, also 26, came to the Blue Jays in the 2017 trade that sent righty Joe Smith to Cleveland. He’s pitched 116 innings in the big leagues but has just a 5.43 ERA and 5.14 FIP to show for it, with averages of 7.6 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9. He’s worked mostly as a starter in the minors and has a decent track record in both Double-A and Triple-A. Pannone will be out of options next spring but can be optioned freely for the rest of the 2020 season, so a club in need of some flexible rotation/bullpen depth — e.g. the Mets, who play six games in nine days beginning tomorrow — could conceivably take a look.

Blue Jays Option Thomas Pannone, Jacob Waguespack, Santiago Espinal To Triple-A

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The Blue Jays made three roster moves today, announcing that left-hander Thomas Pannone, right-hander Jacob Waguespack, and infielder Santiago Espinal have been optioned to Triple-A Buffalo.

Pannone has become a familiar face in Toronto over the last two seasons, tossing 116 innings of 5.43 ERA ball with a 2.13 K/BB rate and 7.6 K/9.  The lefty has started 13 of his 49 career Major League games, though since Pannone has had much more success as a reliever (3.40 ERA in 55 2/3 relief innings, as opposed to a 7.31 ERA over 60 1/3 frames as a starter), he was being considered as a candidate for a bullpen role in 2020.

The Jays are a bit thin on left-handed relief options, as aside from Pannone, non-roster invitees like Marc Rzepczynski, Brian Moran, Kirby Snead, and Travis Bergen comprise the club’s top southpaw relievers.  Though we’re so far in advance of an Opening Day (that might still not even happen) that it’s hard to make clear projections, Pannone’s option could hint that the Blue Jays are going to select at least one of those non-guaranteed contracts.

Waguespack made his MLB debut last season, starting 13 of 16 games and posting a 4.38 ERA, 2.17 K/BB rate, and 7.3 K/9 over 78 innings.  Though ERA predictors and Statcast metrics weren’t impressed with Waguespack’s output, his 4.38 ERA still represented a decent on-field result for a pitching-starved Blue Jays team.  Toronto made a point of adding pitching over the winter, meaning that younger arms like Waguespack and Pannone (who ranked fifth and sixth in the Jays’ innings list in 2019) will no longer be relied on to such a heavy extent this season.

Espinal is best known to Jays fans as the prospect acquired from the Red Sox in the June 2018 trade that sent Steve Pearce to Boston.  Espinal’s first full season in Toronto’s farm system was a successful one, as he hit .287/.347/.393 over 521 combined plate appearances at the Double-A and Triple-A levels.  MLB Pipeline ranks Espinal as the 22nd-best Jays minor leaguer, describing him as a potential utility infield candidate based on glovework alone, with an offensive profile includes “good bat speed” and strong baserunning.

Blue Jays Select Edwin Jackson

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The Blue Jays have selected the contract of righty Edwin Jackson, per a club announcement. Lefty Thomas Pannone was optioned out to create active roster space, with righty Matt Shoemaker moved to the 60-day injured list for a 40-man spot.

Jackson’s addition to the MLB roster was a foregone conclusion when he was acquired recently from the A’s. The veteran hurler had joined the Oakland organization on a minors pact that included an opt-out chance later this month. He was shipped to Toronto to help fill a need for innings on the Jays’ roster and will take the ball this evening.

By making it official, the Blue Jays have now become the 14th MLB team Jackson has appeared with in 16 seasons in the majors. He’s closing in on two thousand career innings with a cumulative 4.60 ERA.

Last year, the 35-year-old pitched to a 3.33 ERA in 92 frames for the A’s, though metrics suggested those results were based in no small part upon some batted ball fortune. Jackson ran up 19 strikeouts but also surrendered four home runs in his 14 2/3 minor-league frames to open the present campaign.

Once Jackson takes hill today, he’ll officially surpass righty Octavio Dotel for the all-time lead in number of Major League teams pitched for. The most well-traveled veteran in the game’s history has appeared for the Rays, Cubs, Dodgers, Nationals, White Sox, Diamondbacks, Cardinals, Braves, Athletics, Padres, Orioles, Marlins and Tigers prior to the 2019 season. And while he’ll make his Toronto debut this afternoon, Jackson has technically even been a Blue Jay in the past; he was traded from the White Sox to the Jays on July 27 but immediately flipped to the Cardinals just hours later.

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