Blue Jays Place Jose Bautista On 15-Day DL

2:59pm: Bautista has been diagnosed with a sprained toe, Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star tweets. Though he’s wearing a walking boot, there does not appear to be any concern that he has suffered a fracture.

2:50pm: The Blue Jays have placed star outfielder Jose Bautista on the 15-day DL, according to Barry Davis of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Darrell Ceciliani has been called up to replace him on the active roster.

As Sportsnet’s Kristina Rutherford reported earlier today, Bautista had been dealing with a hip flexor issue and then injured his left big toe in a collision with the outfield wall last night. It’s not yet clear whether either injury is worse than had been hoped, or whether he’s just going to get a rest to allow both to heal up.

Toronto’s bats have come alive of late, even as Bautista’s own production has sagged a bit after a huge first month. Still, the 35-year-old is carrying a .230/.360/.455 slash with a dozen home runs on the year. He has racked up a league-leading 48 walks while striking out just 49 times, so there’s every reason to believe he’ll continue to provide top-line production when he returns.

Needless to say, the 25-year-old Ceciliani won’t be expected to replace Bautista’s offensive output. He struggled in a brief stint last year with the Mets, and has continued to post meager numbers this year at Triple-A.

As the updated Blue Jays depth chart at RosterResource.com shows, Ceciliani will likely move to the bottom of the outfield rotation, with additional opportunities opening up for Ezequiel Carrera.

It’s an unfortunate loss for the Jays, who have climbed to within striking distance of the AL East lead. Unless the matter is much more serious than has been reported to date, though, Toronto will hope to fill in with internal options until Bautista makes his way back.