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Blue Jays Place Rowdy Tellez On 10-Day IL

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4:39pm: The Blue Jays have placed Tellez on the IL and recalled outfielder Billy McKinney, per Hazel Mae of Sportsnet.

3:28pm: The Blue Jays are likely to place first baseman/designated hitter Rowdy Tellez on the 10-day injured list with a right knee strain, Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star tweets.

At 24-18 and in possession of an American League playoff spot, Toronto has been one of the game’s pleasant surprises this year. The 25-year-old Tellez has been among the reasons the Blue Jays have jumped out to such a quality record and have scored the majors’ ninth-most runs (210). Tellez has slashed an excellent .283/.347/.540 with eight home runs in 127 plate appearances in 2020. Of course, with such a small amount of time left in the regular season, it’s unknown if Tellez will be able to return in the coming weeks. For now, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Travis Shaw will take up the lion’s share of playing time at first base.

Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, this is the second major injury their offense has dealt with this week. They previously lost outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, who has been an elite hitter this season, to a left oblique strain. Nevertheless, the Jays will go for a sweep against the division-rival Yankees on Wednesday.

AL Injury Notes: M. Chapman, Jays, Angels

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A few notable injury notes from around the American League…

  • Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman will resume baseball activities Wednesday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. It’s still unclear how much longer the AL West-leading A’s will go without Chapman, though. The 27-year-old has been out since he left their game Sunday with a right hip strain. Chapman batted a power-driven .232/.276/.535 with 10 home runs in 152 plate appearances before his injury.
  • Blue Jays first baseman Rowdy Tellez is dealing with right knee discomfort and will undergo an MRI on Wednesday, according to Hazel Mae of Sportsnet. Tellez has been one of the bright spots for the playoff-contending Blue Jays, who have benefited from his .291/.355/.555 line en route to a 24-18 record.
  • More on the Blue Jays, whose top reliever, Ken Giles, may be on track to return this weekend, Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star tweets. Giles has only pitched twice this year – on July 24 and 26 – because of a forearm strain. The long absence could affect the 29-year-old’s earning power entering free agency, though the Blue Jays have carried on well without him. Their bullpen entered Tuesday ranked fourth in the majors in ERA and sixth in FIP.
  • The Angels placed infielder Franklin Barreto on the injured list Tuesday, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com tweets. They recalled infielder Matt Thaiss in a corresponding move. Barreto, whom the Angels acquired from the division-rival Athletics for fellow infielder Tommy La Stella before the trade deadline, has struggled in his time in the majors and hasn’t provided any value to LA so far. Since joining the Angels, Barreto has collected two hits in 18 trips to the plate.

Blue Jays Place Teoscar Hernandez On 10-Day IL

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The Blue Jays have placed outfielder Teoscar Hernandez (left oblique strain) and right-hander Wilmer Font (right shin contusion) on the 10-day injured list, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet tweets. The team recalled outfielder Jonathan Davis and righty Sean Reid-Foley to fill out its roster.

While the severity of Hernandez’s injury is unknown, oblique issues are always a concern – especially considering that the regular season is in its final month. The Blue Jays, owners of a 22-18 record, are a playoff team as of now, and Hernandez has contributed plenty to their cause so far. After a pair of roughly league-average full seasons at the plate, the 27-year-old has seemingly broken through with a tremendous .308/.358/.637 line over 157 plate appearances in 2020. Hernandez ranks second among qualified hitters in home runs (14), 16th in wRC+ (163) and 20th in fWAR (1.5). He also sits near the top of the league in several Statcast categories, including expected weighted on-base average (.443).

Defensively, Hernandez has primarily handled right field for the Blue Jays, who have also used Cavan Biggio and Derek Fisher there. But Toronto did better its infield/outfield depth when it acquired Jonathan Villar at last week’s trade deadline, and he could give the team another option in right as long as Hernandez is out. For Monday’s crucial game against the division-rival Yankees, though, the Blue Jays will have Biggio take over for Hernandez.

Quick Hits: Nationals, Blue Jays, Pearson, Red Sox, Eovaldi, Hernandez

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The Washington Nationals have been unable to string together wins so far this season. After losing Anthony Rendon to free agency and Stephen Strasburg to injury, the reigning champs are in a weakened state. Newly-extended GM Mike Rizzo – who accomplished the rare feat of getting ejected from the club box on Sunday – didn’t see enough progress to make a move at the deadline, especially considering their limited scouting capabilities. Rizzo, a former Scouting Director in Arizona, values scouting input more than most of his contemporaries. In his words, per NBC Todd Dybas of NBC Sports, “So, the combination of where we were going into the trade deadline, performing on the field, and the fact I didn’t feel really comfortable about making trades kind of blind where you haven’t seen one of these prospects play in a year or so, impacted us in our decision-making.” Rizzo also didn’t want to give up the possibility of going on a run and getting back into the playoff race, so the Nats stood pat rather than deal upcoming free agents like Asdrubal Cabrera and Adam Eaton. While we’re here, let’s grab some injury updates…

  • Blue Jays’ top prospect Nate Pearson took a big step to returning to the mound yesterday…by returning to the mound. Pearson threw off a mound for the first time since going on the injured list on August 19th with elbow soreness, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). The 6’6″, 250-pound hurler is an intimidating presence on the hill when he’s pumping 96 mph heaters. After a couple of solid starts to begin his major-league career, Pearson struggled over his last two before going on the injured list. He’s currently the owner of a 6.61 ERA/7.62 FIP brought on largely by dodgy command (6.6 BB/9) and 5 home runs surrendered in 16 1/3 innings. The Blue Jays would love to give Pearson an opportunity to right the ship before the season runs out.
  • The Red Sox could get a couple of pitchers back from the injured list soon. Nathan Eovaldi threw a bullpen session on Sunday and could return as soon as this weekend in Tampa Bay, per The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey. Darwinzon Hernandez also has started throwing. He could be ready for a bullpen session on Tuesday. Hernandez, 23, made three scoreless appearances out of Boston’s bullpen before hitting the injured list with a shoulder strain. The Red Sox have patched together their pitching staff for most of the season. Eovaldi and Hernandez could bolster a staff that’s last in the majors by measure of fWAR (-1.4) – by a fair margin.

Teoscar Hernandez Dealing With Rib Injury

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Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernández is dealing with left rib cage stiffness, reports Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (Twitter link). Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link) first reported that Hernández had suffered a rib-related injury. He’s headed for further examination, notes Nicholson-Smith (via Twitter). Longley adds that Hernández is likely ticketed for the injured list.

Needless to say, an extended absence for Hernández would be a massive blow for the 21-18 Blue Jays, who are tied with the Yankees for second place in the AL East. Hernández has seemingly broken out in his age-27 season, putting up a monstrous .308/.358/.637 slash line. Only Mike Trout (15) has hit more runs than Hernández, who has slugged 14 in just 159 plate appearances. Unsurprisingly, the right-handed hitting Hernández also sits near the top of the league’s Statcast hitting metrics, with a 97th percentile or better mark in terms of average exit velocity, hard contact rate, expected batting average and expected slugging percentage.

Derek Fisher is starting in Hernández’s customary right field spot for Toronto against the Red Sox this afternoon. He figures to pick up the lion’s share of playing time there if Hernández winds up missing time.

Blue Jays Select Caleb Joseph’s Contract, Move Ken Giles To 45-Day Injured List

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The Blue Jays announced some roster moves prior to tonight’s game against the Red Sox, including the news that catcher Caleb Joseph’s contract had been selected from the team’s alternate training site.  Joseph will replace catcher Reese McGuire, who was optioned to the alternate site.  To create 40-man roster space for Joseph, closer Ken Giles has been moved from the 10-day injured list to the 45-day IL.

Joseph has been on Toronto’s taxi squad for much of the season, and he’ll now be in line to get his first in-game action of the 2020 season.  Signed to a minor league deal last winter, Joseph saw regular action with the Orioles from 2014-18, hitting only .224/.271/.353 over 1317 plate appearances in Baltimore and then posting only a .513 OPS over a 41-PA stint with the Diamondbacks last season.  Joseph has, however, earned a solid reputation as a defensive catcher, adept at pitch-framing and throwing out would-be base-stealers.

Though Joseph isn’t known for his hitting, it won’t take much to top McGuire’s somewhat unfathomable -45 OPS+ during the 2020 season.  McGuire showed quite a bit of promise with his .882 OPS over 138 PA with the Jays in 2018-19, though this year has managed just a .073/.073/.146 slash line in 45 plate appearances.  With regular starter Danny Jansen also not hitting much, clearly the Blue Jays felt a change was needed to boost their production from the catcher’s spot.

Counting today, Giles has already spent 41 days on the injured list since his initial placement for a right forearm strain, so the move to the 45-day IL isn’t a big obstacle to his impending return.  Giles threw a live batting practice session today and is slated for another on Tuesday, so he could potentially be activated as soon as he hits the 45-day threshold.

Blue Jays Release Sam Gaviglio, Outright Brandon Drury

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The Blue Jays have released right-hander Sam Gaviglio and outrighted infielder/outfielder Brandon Drury, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The team designated both players for assignment Tuesday.

Gaviglio threw three innings for the Blue Jays this year and gave up three earned runs on three hits and five walks. The 30-year-old, also a former Royal and Mariner, was a more useful option across 293 2/3 frames from 2017-19, during which he amassed 94 appearances (37 starts) and pitched to a 4.84 ERA/4.95 FIP with 7.42 K/9, 2.64 BB/9 and a 48.5 percent groundball rate.

Drury, meanwhile, has fallen out of favor with multiple teams over the past few seasons. After spending 2015-17 as a member of the Diamondbacks, with whom he at times mixed league-average offensive production and defensive versatility, they traded him to the Yankees. Drury’s time in New York was short-lived, though, as he produced terrible results there. The Yankees dealt him to the Blue Jays during the summer of 2018 for lefty J.A. Happ, but Drury’s numbers have continued to spiral in Toronto.

Since he headed north of the border, Drury has totaled 525 plate appearances and hit a ghastly .208/.253/.353, which goes a long way in explaining why the Blue Jays cut him and why no other team claimed him. He’ll now report to the Jays’ alternate training site.

Brewers Designate Justin Smoak, Claim Daniel Vogelbach

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6:02pm: Milwaukee has announced the moves. The Brewers acquired Vogelbach via waivers.

3:23pm: The Brewers have designated first baseman Justin Smoak for assignment and acquired 1B/DH Daniel Vogelbach from the Blue Jays, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

The switch-hitting Smoak had a couple very good years with the Blue Jays from 2017-18, but his production went downward in ’19 during his final campaign in Toronto. The Brewers, hoping for a bounce-back effort, signed the 33-year-old Smoak to a $5MM guarantee last offseason, but the deal didn’t pay dividends for the club. Smoak logged an ugly .186/.262/.381 line with five home runs in 126 plate appearances this year before the Brewers designated him. Thanks in large part to Smoak, first base has been a black hole for Milwaukee, though Jedd Gyorko (who has totaled the second-most starts there for the club) has posted terrific production over a small sample.

Vogelbach could now wind up in the mix at first for the Brewers, but he hasn’t lined up there at all this year between Seattle and Toronto, instead playing all of his games as a DH. While Vogelbach was a Mariners All-Star a year ago, his numbers plummeted in the second half then, and he certainly hasn’t offered a DH-caliber bat this season. Between the M’s and Jays, he hit an abysmal .088/.246/.211 with two home runs in 69 plate appearances. Toronto designated Vogelbach after four at-bats as a member of the team.

East Notes: Realmuto, Bichette, Elieser, Benintendi

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With the winter fast approaching and time running out for an in-season extension, Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto will “likely” try his hand on the open market, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia observes. However, general manager Matt Klentak suggested Monday that the Phillies and Realmuto have at least discussed a new contract since the season began. “That’s not true,” Klentak said of a report that the two sides hadn’t talked, though Salisbury notes that the executive was loath to give more detailed updates. Regardless of where he signs, it’ll be fascinating to see how much Realmuto rakes in as a soon-to-be 30-year-old backstop whose trip to free agency will come off a pandemic-shortened season. Realmuto has continued to make an emphatic case for a mega-deal, though, as the two-time All-Star has once again been the game’s premier catcher in 2020.

Here’s more from baseball’s East divisions…

  • The Blue Jays have been without shortstop Bo Bichette for two weeks because of a knee sprain, though manager Charlie Montoyo said Tuesday that “he’s progressing pretty good,” according to Scott Mitchell of TSN. Bichette, if he returns, could be a huge down-the-stretch pickup for a Blue Jays club that has legitimate playoff aspirations. He began the year with a superb .361/.391/.672 line and five home runs in 64 plate appearances before going to the IL. Shortstop has become a weakness for Toronto since Bichette went down, but the team did acquire veteran Band-Aid Jonathan Villar from Miami prior to Monday’s trade deadline.
  • Speaking of those two teams, Marlins right-hander Elieser Hernandez exited his start against Toronto on Tuesday with a sore lat muscle, the Fish announced. He’s listed as day to day, but manager Don Mattingly revealed Hernandez will undergo an MRI, Craig Mish of Sports Grid relays. Any kind of absence for Hernandez over the season’s last month would be an unwelcome development for the surprising Marlins, who are in playoff contention thanks in part to his contributions. With a 2.81 ERA and 11.92 K/9 against 1.75 BB/9, the 25-year-old Hernandez has given Miami front-line production across 25 2/3 innings.
  • Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke admitted Tuesday that injured left fielder Andrew Benintendi might not return this season, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Benintendi headed to the IL on Aug. 12 with a right rib cage strain, which continued a miserable start to the 2020 campaign for the 26-year-old. If he is done for the year, he’ll end it with a .103/.314/.128 line and no homers in 52 trips to the plate.

Blue Jays Designate Daniel Vogelbach, Brandon Drury, Sam Gaviglio

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The Blue Jays announced Tuesday that they’ve designated first baseman Daniel Vogelbach, infielder/outfielder Brandon Drury and right-hander Sam Gaviglio for assignment. The DFAs open roster space for lefty Robbie Ray, righty Ross Stripling and infielder Jonathan Villar, each of whom were acquired leading up to the trade deadline yesterday.

Vogelbach had a short run on the 40-man roster of the Blue Jays, who acquired him from the Mariners Aug. 23. The 27-year-old rode a hot first half of 2019 to an All-Star nod with Seattle, but his numbers cratered in the second half and haven’t rebounded with either club this season. Vogelbach owns a nightmarish .088/.246/.211 line with two home runs in 69 plate appearances so far.

Drury himself was a deadline pickup by the Jays in 2018, when they sent lefty J.A. Happ to the Yankees. Drury had struggled mightily since being acquired to fill a versatile infield role (likely similar to the one ultimately taken up by DJ LeMahieu). At the time of his trade to Toronto, he was only a half season removed from a two-year stretch that saw him hit .275/.323/.453 with 29 homers, 68 doubles and three triples while logging time at second base, third base, first base and both outfield corners. His 2018 scuffles aside, Drury looked like a solid acquisition.

Obviously, things haven’t played out that way. Drury has now spent parts of three seasons with the Jays and racked up a bit less than a full year’s worth of playing time without any offensive production to show for it. He’s appeared in 149 games and tallied 525 plate appearances with just a .208/.253/.353 slash to show for it. He’s arbitration-eligible this winter and was a surefire non-tender given his lack of production, so it’s not a surprise to see him cut from the roster early. Another club could technically claim Drury, but to do so they’d need to assume the remaining $298K on this year’s prorated salary. For a player who is hitting .152/.184/.174 through 49 plate appearances — that seems highly improbable.

The likeliest outcome, then, is that the Jays will either run Drury through outright waivers or simply opt to release him. If he does pass through outright waivers, he can be outrighted to the club’s alternate training site and remain on hand as a depth piece. He’d have the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but because he does not yet have five years of MLB service, doing so would mean forfeiting that $298K he is still owed. Again — that seems quite unlikely.

Turning to Gaviglio, he’s been up and down with the Jays dating back to the 2018 season himself, showing some flashes of quality production at times but ultimately posting lackluster numbers. In 222 1/3 frames with the Blue Jays, Gaviglio carries a 5.06 ERA and 4.70 FIP with 7.9 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 1.58 HR/9 and a 47.6 percent ground-ball rate.

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