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Blue Jays Designate Preston Guilmet; Select Luis Santos, Rhiner Cruz

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The Blue Jays announced some pitching shuffling in advance of today’s game. Righty Preston Guilmet was designated for assignment to facilitate the additions of righties Luis Santos and Rhiner Cruz, whose contracts were selected. An additional active roster spot was cleared by optioning lefty Tim Mayza.

The 30-year-old Guilmet had been plucked off of waivers earlier in the season from the Cardinals. Unfortunately, he has not been able to carve out a permanent role in his first MLB action since 2015. Through eight frames in Toronto,he allowed eight earned runs and four home runs while recording only five strikeouts against four walks.

Santos threw well last year in a brief debut stint for the Jays, but was bombed in his lone outing of 2018. He has gone on to pitch rather well at Triple-A since that time and now owns a 2.52 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 39 1/3 innings.

As for Cruz, he’s returning from an even longer MLB absence than was Guilmet. Now 31 years of age, Cruz allowed one earned run in 8 2/3 frames at Buffalo before earning the call. He previously appeared in 2012 and 2013 with the Astros.

Blue Jays Place Josh Donaldson On 10-Day DL

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The Blue Jays have placed veteran third baseman Josh Donaldson on the 10-day DL, per a club announcement. Taking the open roster spot will be lefty Tim Mayza, the club also announced.

Calf tightness is the official cause for the placement, which is backdated to May 29th. Donaldson previously missed time this year owing to a shoulder ailment.

It’s obviously disappointing for the Jays to see Donaldson again hit the DL. There had been at least some hope that he’d manage to avoid it, but evidently the injury was not coming along as hoped. His outlook remains largely unknown, though it seems generally promising that the club felt it worthwhile to wait a few days before deciding upon the move.

Donaldson’s every move is under a microscope given the circumstances. He’s a pending free agent playing for a team that is now six games under .500 and already staring at a 13.5 game deficit in the AL East. That makes Donaldson a potentially significant trade chip. And that’s all before considering his status for the upcoming free agent market.

The 32-year-old Donaldson has long been seen as a big part of a much-hyped 2018-19 free agent class. But he has not been quite himself on the field, with a .234/.333/.423 slash through 159 plate appearances, and the injuries are of increasing concern. There’s certainly plenty of time for Donaldson to get back to health and show he’s still capable of playing to his exceedingly lofty standard, though.

Many of the Toronto faithful will perhaps see this as an opening that ought to be filled by top prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The 19-year-old third baseman has laid waste to Double-A pitching all year long, but there’s no indication as of yet that the front office is considering him for a potential MLB promotion.

Blue Jays Place Marcus Stroman On Disabled List

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The Blue Jays announced that they’ve placed right-hander Marcus Stroman on the 10-day disabled list due to right shoulder fatigue. In addition, left-handed reliever Tim Mayza has been optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. The Jays recalled right-handers Joe Biagini and Sam Gaviglio from Buffalo to fill the spots on the active roster. Stroman’s DL placement is retroactive to May 9.

The 27-year-old Stroman has had a disastrous start to his 2018 season, pitching to a 7.71 ERA with 7.7 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and 1.21 HR/9 in 37 1/3 innings (seven starts). He still ranks among the league leaders in ground-ball rate, at 60.5 percent, but virtually all of Stroman’s numbers have gone in the wrong direction, including his fastball velocity (93.4 mph in 2017, 92.2 mph in 2018). Either Biagini or Gaviglio, each of whom has been working in the Buffalo rotation, will start in Stroman’s place this weekend, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.

It remains unclear exactly how long Stroman can be expected to be sidelined. Toronto’s announcement didn’t come with any sort of timetable, nor did it include a specific injury or indicate that any further testing, such as an MRI, is on the horizon. Stroman is slated to meet with the Toronto media at 2:45pm ET, the Jays announced.

Turning to his potential replacements, Biagini enjoyed a terrific rookie season as a Rule 5 pick in 2016, tossing 67 2/3 innings of relief with a 3.06 ERA, 8.3 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 52.2 percent grounder rate. He faltered considerably in a starting capacity last season, though, and hasn’t fared particularly well in the Triple-A rotation this year, either (4.57 ERA, 5.4 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 in 21 1/3 innings).

Gaviglio, meanwhile, was acquired from the Royals in March in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. The 27-year-old got his first look in the Majors last season when he struggled through 74 1/3 innings between Seattle and Kansas City. He’s off to a terrific start in Triple-A, however, where he’s notched a pristine 1.86 ERA with 9.0 K/9, 1.2 BB/9, 1.24 HR/9 and a 45.9 percent ground-ball rate in 29 innings of work.

Blue Jays Select Tim Mayza’s Contract, Release Taylor Cole

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The Blue Jays announced on Monday that they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Tim Mayza from Triple-A Buffalo. In order to clear roster space, Toronto has optioned right-hander Leonel Campos back to Buffalo and given righty Taylor Cole his unconditional release.

Cole’s release comes on the heels of a tough MLB debut, during which he allowed four runs on six hits and a walk with one strikeout. The Jays had placed Cole on the 10-day DL due to a fractured fifth toe in his right foot shortly after he made that debut. The 27-year-old Cole had a solid 2016 season — 3.97 ERA, 7.2 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 in 77 innings — but missed most of the 2017 campaign recovering from an injury.

As for Mayza, the 25-year-old will be making his own MLB debut the first time he takes the mound. A 12th-round pick back in 2013, Mayza logged a lackluster 4.59 ERA in Double-A before taking off with a 0.93 ERA and a 16-to-7 K/BB ratio in 19 1/3 innings with Triple-A Buffalo. Overall, he has a 3.25 ERA with a 58-to-22 K/BB ratio in 52 2/3 minor league innings this season.

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