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Latest On Clay Buchholz, Devon Travis, Ryan Borucki

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Blue Jays right-hander Clay Buchholz went to the injured list May 10 with a shoulder injury, but a back problem could keep him out for a while longer. Buchholz is dealing with a Grade 2 strain of his teres major, per MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm, who adds that the hurler will see famed orthopedist Dr. James Andrews early next week for a second opinion. Assuming the initial diagnosis holds up, Buchholz could stay on the shelf for a “significant” amount of time, Chisholm writes.

This is the latest negative turn in what has been a forgettable Blue Jays tenure for Buchholz, who parlayed a bounce-back 2018 with Arizona into a $3MM guarantee from Toronto this past March. An elbow issue kept Buchholz from making his season debut until April 13, however, and though he performed well in his first start with the Jays, his overall production has left plenty to be desired. Buchholz has averaged fewer than five innings during his five appearances and logged a disastrous 6.57 ERA/5.51 FIP with a career-low 4.38 K/9 and personal-worst velocity.

The 34-year-old Buchholz hasn’t been the picture of durability throughout his career, nor has teammate Devon Travis. The oft-injured second baseman, who underwent left knee surgery March 17 and hasn’t played this year, has suffered a setback and is without a timetable to return, Chisholm reports. Travis’ knee doesn’t have any structural damage, but he did undergo a platelet-rich plasma injection to tamp down inflammation.

Travis, 28, looked like a legitimate building block for Toronto during an excellent rookie showing in 2015. However, a series of lower body injuries and a decline in production have torpedoed Travis’ career since then and limited him to 254 of a possible 531 games.

In further unfortunate news for Toronto, injured lefty Ryan Borucki may not make his 2019 debut until mid- to late June, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets. Borucki has recovered slowly from an elbow ailment that surfaced toward the end of March and was only supposed to keep him out for a small amount of regular-season time. Two months later, though, the 25-year-old Borucki hasn’t yet gotten the opportunity to build on a solid rookie campaign in which he managed a 3.87 ERA/3.80 FIP with 1.6 fWAR over 97 2/3 innings and 17 starts.

Blue Jays Select Eric Sogard, Option Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

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April 15: The Blue Jays announced the move. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Sogard, the team has transferred left-hander Ryan Borucki from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Borucki has already been on the IL all season but will now be definitively ruled out until May 27.

April 14: The Blue Jays are sending infielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to Triple A, per Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports. Gurriel the younger was removed from today’s game for a “mental break” per manager Charlie Montoyo. The team hopes their young infielder can get back on track with a Triple-A reset, per Mitchell (Twitter links). MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweeted about the possibility of a Gurriel demotion earlier today.

While Gurriel Jr. heads to Buffalo, veteran infielder Eric Sogard is set to join the major league roster. The spectacled Sogard received the bulk of his big league playing time with the A’s from 2010-2015, where he slashed .239/.295/.313 over 1331 plate appearances while playing second, third and short. He spent the last two seasons with the Brewers, hitting .234/.351/.318 across 412 PAs.

Gurriel, meanwhile, has flashed moments of athletic playmaking, such as when he stole home off of Chris Sale last week, while also misfiring on a pair of routine throws from second base. An overall rough go of it at the dish (49 wRC+) also likely bolstered the case in favor of demotion. Given the long-term, if reasonable, financial investment the Blue Jays have made to Gurriel, he likely gets ample opportunity to figure it out, though there’s also little reason to rush him back to the majors. Toronto owes the 25-year-old infielder an average of roughly $3.14MM per season until he hits free agency after the 2023 seasons.

Injury Notes: Miller, LeBlanc, Borucki, Blue Jays

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The Nationals have placed right-hander Justin Miller on the 10-day IL due to a lower back strain.  Righty Austen Williams has been called up to take Miller’s spot on the 25-man roster.  Miller has a 5.68 ERA over 6 1/3 frames out of Washington’s bullpen this season, with all of that damage coming from runs allowed in each of his last three appearances.  Miller’s absence is yet another problem for the beleaguered Nats bullpen, which has a league-worst 8.12 cumulative ERA this season.  The Nationals were seemingly close to a deal with Bud Norris before that rumored contract fell through, so the team is actively looking for ways to upgrade its relief core.  There’s certainly opportunity here for a new face like Williams to make an impact, as the 26-year-old had an outstanding Spring Training and has turned in good results out of the bullpen at the minor league level since becoming a full-time reliever last season.  Williams made his MLB debut in 2018, tossing 9 2/3 innings over 10 games with the Nats.

Here’s some more injury news from around the league…

  • Wade LeBlanc left during the fifth inning of last night’s game due to right oblique strain, and the Mariners southpaw is likely headed to the injured list.  (MLB.com’s Greg Johns was among those with the details.)  Tommy Milone or possibly Justus Sheffield seem like the top candidates to replace LeBlanc in Seattle’s rotation, though nothing will be confirmed until LeBlanc undergoes an MRI today to access the damage.  The 34-year-old LeBlanc has been a solid arm for the M’s since rejoining the team on a minor league deal in March 2018, posting a 3.79 ERA while starting 30 of 35 games.  This success resulted in an option-heavy extension between LeBlanc and the Mariners last July.
  • Blue Jays righty Ryan Borucki’s bothersome elbow will be re-evaluated in two weeks after the hurler received a cortisone shot, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes.  Borucki first experienced the problem in the final week of Spring Training, and hasn’t thrown since a bullpen session on April 3.
  • In other Blue Jays injury news from Davidi’s piece, Ryan Tepera has begun a rehab assignment and could potentially join the team as early as this weekend, as the reliever tries to bounce back from his own elbow problems.  David Phelps is set to begin bullpen sessions next week as the reliever continues his recovery from Tommy John surgery, with an eye towards a midseason return.  Devon Travis is scheduled for baseball activities next week, though a 60-day IL placement in the wake of meniscus surgery means that Travis isn’t eligible to return to the Jays’ big league roster until late May.

Blue Jays Notes: Roster Moves, Pitching Health, Prospects

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While there’s not much hope of the Blue Jays contending in 2019, that doesn’t mean it’ll be a quiet season. There has been some early-season roster maneuvering already in Toronto and more could ensue in the course of the campaign.

The latest:

  • With Alen Hanson and Socrates Brito reporting for duty, the Jays have a pair of new position players to work into the mix. Whether either or both have staying power remains to be seen, but the out-of-options players would need to be exposed to waivers if they’re not held on the active roster. To create space, the Jays optioned back outfielder Anthony Alford (who’s evidently not yet in line for a real look at the majors) and hurler Sean Reid-Foley. Lefty Thomas Pannone is jumping into the rotation vacancy, though he may ultimately just be keeping that spot warm.
  • The Toronto pitching staff will at some point feature bounceback candidate Clay Buchholz. As MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm reports (links to Twitter), he’s one of several hurlers on the mend. Buchholz has already built up to sixty pitches and may be ready for the majors in the next ten days or so. Relievers Ryan Tepera and Ryan Borucki are also working back from injuries; the former seems to be on Buchholz’s timeline while the latter could return by the end of April. Meanwhile, David Phelps has resumed throwing as he tries to work back from Tommy John surgery. His timeline is not apparent at present.
  • Much of the intrigue this year will come from the young talent trying to force its way onto the MLB roster. No player has more hype than Vladimir Guerrero Jr., though he’s only one of several top prospects with obvious ability and intriguing MLB bloodlines. Vladito is also still working back from an oblique injury. He’s set to launch a rehab assignment this evening, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets, with a Class A stop to open the season.
  • The possibility of an early (even pre-MLB) extension for Guerrero or other top Jays prospects seems interesting. GM Ross Atkins discussed that possibility recently, as Emily Sadler of Sportsnet.ca writes, though he didn’t really tip his hand on the likelihood of such a deal. If anything, he seemed to downplay such a scenario (at least in the immediate term). “It happens with a lot of discussion, a lot of interaction, a lot of back-and-forth,” said Atkins of extensions for younger players, “and what’s important to a player and what’s important to an organization has to line up and those risks are very different.” Regardless of contract possibilities, the Jays are still preparing to face multiple near-term promotion questions. On that issue, Atkins struck much the same tone he has previously, saying: “We want to have the most well-rounded and complete player as possible, but we’re not going to wait for that. We’re going to do the best of our ability to balance that.”

Injury Notes: Wendle, Blue Jays, Braves

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The Rays announced Monday that they’ve placed second baseman Joey Wendle on the 10-day injured list due to a strained left hamstring and recalled Christian Arroyo from Triple-A Durham in his place. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, who first reported the moves, tweets that Wendle has a “moderate” strain that the player himself described as “not too, too bad.” Wendle won’t know how long he’s going to be shelved until he tests the injured leg in a few days’ time, though. The 28-year-old Wendle finished fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 after hitting .300/.354/.435 with seven homers, 33 doubles, six triples and 16 stolen bases. The Tampa Bay infield has plenty of depth between Brandon Lowe, Daniel Robertson and the newly recalled Arroyo, though Wendle was quietly one of the team’s better all-around players in 2018.

A bit more from the division…

  • The Blue Jays announced that they’ve put lefty Clayton Richard on the 10-day IL due to a stress reaction in his left knee. In a corresponding move, right-hander Sean Reid-Foley has been recalled from Triple-A and will start tonight’s game for Toronto. The Jays didn’t provide a timeline for Richard’s return, but a stress reaction has the potential to keep him sidelined for a substantial period. In Reid-Foley, Toronto will be getting another look at one of its more promising young arms; the 23-year-old was the team’s second-round pick back in 2014 and pitched to a combined 3.26 ERA with 10.5 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 in 129 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last season.
  • Beyond that move, the Jays revealed a wide-ranging series of medical updates Monday afternoon. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. began taking some at-bats in extended Spring Training games this weekend, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. He’ll still need to get back into his routine at third base and play in some rehab games before he emerges as an option at the MLB level. TSN’s Scott Mitchell tweets that Clay Buchholz will throw tomorrow and could start for Triple-A Buffalo on April 7, which signals that the veteran righty is on track to join his new club sooner rather than later. Ryan Tepera and Ryan Borucki are throwing ’pen sessions, meanwhile, and could return by month’s end. Bud Norris’ timeline is less concrete, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Norris is still throwing in the 90-91 mph range — well south of his usual mid-90s heat. He did get a late start by signing in mid-March, so he’ll continue to build up arm strength without a set return date in focus just yet.
  • David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets that the Braves plan to active southpaw A.J. Minter on Thursday — the first day he’s eligible. (Minter’s IL stint was backdated the maximum three days at the start of the season.) Mike Foltynewicz could join the rotation as soon as April 14 after making a pair of rehab outings, O’Brien adds. Right-hander Darren O’Day, unfortunately, is shutting down for a “couple weeks” due to ongoing forearm issues. Given that update, it seems as though it’ll be tough for the veteran O’Day to be ready before month’s end. O’Day missed the majority of the 2018 season due to a hyperextended elbow.

Injury Notes: Reds, Wood, Rays, Duffy, Jays, Marlins

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Reds left-hander Alex Wood, who’s on the injured list with lower back tightness, isn’t nearing a return. While Wood is progressing in his recovery, it may have been “a little aggressive” on the Reds’ part to expect a mid-April debut, manager David Bell said Sunday (via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Given that Wood has been battling back problems since late February, he’ll need to build up his innings before taking a major league mound again, Nightengale notes. Wood’s situation is undoubtedly a significant disappointment for the Reds. After all, Cincinnati acquired the ex-Dodger’s final year of team control with the hope that he’d slot in near the top of its made-over rotation for the entire season.

More injury updates from around the league…

  • The back and hamstring issues that forced Rays third baseman Matt Duffy to open the season on the injured list will shelve him until at least mid-May, Rodney Page of the Tampa Bay Times writes. This is the latest unfortunate injury-related development for Duffy, who missed 71 games two years ago and sat out another 30 during what was still a productive campaign in 2018. Yandy Diaz and Daniel Robertson have occupied third in Duffy’s absence so far this season.
  • The Blue Jays have shut down lefty Clayton Richard for two weeks on account of a right knee stress reaction, Scott Mitchell of TSN reports. Richard, acquired from the Padres in the offseason, had been slated to make his Blue Jays debut against Baltimore on Monday. That start will instead go to righty Sean Reid-Foley, whom the Jays will need to recall from Triple-A Buffalo. Meanwhile, southpaw Ryan Borucki, who’s on the IL with elbow discomfort, is making progress but will miss at least one more start, manager Charlie Montoyo revealed Sunday (per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet).
  • The Marlins announced that they’ve placed right fielder Garrett Cooper on the IL with a left calf strain. Cooper said he’ll sit out a few weeks, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com tweets. It’s the second consecutive early season injury for Cooper, who began 2018 as the Marlins’ starting right fielder before going down for months with a partially torn wrist tendon sheath. His newest injury led the Marlins to recall power-hitting outfielder Peter O’Brien from Triple-A New Orleans.

Blue Jays Notes: Borucki, Stroman, Buchholz, Pentecost

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Here’s the latest from the Blue Jays’ camp in Dunedin…

  • Ryan Borucki will miss at least one regular season start as a precautionary measure after the right-hander felt elbow pain during a recent start in minor league camp.  The Athletic’s John Lott (Twitter links) was among those to report the news from Jays manager Charlie Montoyo and Borucki himself, who didn’t sound too concerned about the problem.  Borucki has battled elbow problems in the past, including a Tommy John surgery, and said that injury experience allowed him “to figure out what’s good pain and what’s bad pain, and really, [the current injury] was nothing to really worry about.”  The Blue Jays have Sean Reid-Foley, Thomas Pannone, Sam Gaviglio, or Trent Thornton as potential fill-in candidates for Borucki’s one start.
  • The Astros were one of the teams that showed interest in trading for Marcus Stroman over the winter, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (subscription required).  The Reds and Padres were also linked to Stroman in reports.  Stroman is under team control through the 2020 season, though the combination of the Jays’ rebuild and Stroman’s own outspoken displeasure over a lack of extension talks and the club’s winter moves could be signs that the Blue Jays will eventually move on from the right-hander.  To rebuild trade value, however, Stroman will have to rebound from a disappointing 2018 season.  From Houston’s perspective, Stroman would give the team additional pitching depth beyond the coming year, since Gerrit Cole, Wade Miley, Brad Peacock, and Collin McHugh are all scheduled to hit free agency in the 2019-20 offseason.  (Justin Verlander is also part of this group, though he and the Astros appear to be closing in on an extension.)
  • Clay Buchholz could be ready for rotation duty by early April, GM Ross Atkins told reporters, including The Athletic’s John Lott (subscription required).  Buchholz was a late entry to camp, as he didn’t sign with the Jays until the start of March, plus he was also shut down by the Diamondbacks last September due to a flexor mass strain in his throwing elbow.  For now, however, the veteran righty looks to be making good progress towards his eventual Toronto debut, which could be a boon given Borucki’s injury status.
  • Former first-round pick Max Pentecost has stepped away from spring camp to consider his future in baseball, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi reports.  Pentecost was the 11th overall pick of the 2014 draft, though he has been plagued by shoulder problems throughout his young career, and also dealt with an elbow injury even prior to his draft selection.  The Blue Jays had slowly been getting Pentecost re-acclimated to catching, culminating in Pentecost being behind the plate for 660 innings for Double-A New Hampshire last season.

East Notes: Yankees, Phils, Herrera, Red Sox, Blue Jays

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The Yankees signed right-hander Luis Severino to a four-year, $40MM extension shortly before they were scheduled to face off against him in arbitration Friday. General manager Brian Cashman spoke about the buzzer-beating agreement Saturday, saying (via George A. King III of the New York Post): “We circled back 30 minutes before the hearing and I asked [agent Nelson Montes de Oca] if he wanted to circle back to my room again. The atmosphere was better, different. We both said we would rather not walk into this hearing and do what we have to do. We gave a little, they gave a little. The Severino extension may not be the last one the Yankees dole out before the season, as Cashman revealed that the club has “had conversations with some” unidentified players regarding new deals. Speculatively, center fielder Aaron Hicks, shortstop Didi Gregorius and reliever Dellin Betances – integral Yankees slated to reach free agency next winter – look like logical candidates.

Here’s the latest on a few other East Coast franchises:

  • Manager Gabe Kapler claims the Phillies aren’t guaranteeing a No. 1 job to center fielder Odubel Herrera, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Herrera’s a four-year starter in Philly who still has three guaranteed seasons left on the $30.5MM extension he signed in 2016, but he turned in an underwhelming showing in 2018. He’ll now compete for a place in center and right this spring with Roman Quinn, Nick Williams and Aaron Altherr, according to Kapler. Although, if the Phillies add superstar right fielder Bryce Harper in free agency, it’ll give the Herrera-Quinn-Williams-Altherr quartet one fewer position to fight over. Herrera, for his part, has worked hard in recent months to get himself into better shape, as Lauber details, and Kapler expects the 27-year-old to benefit from the Phillies’ hiring of first base/outfield/baserunning coach Paco Figueroa.
  • The Red Sox are expected to trade a catcher – be it Christian Vazquez, Sandy Leon or Blake Swihart – before the season. If that happens, they’ll likely be left with minor league signing Juan Centeno as their No. 3 backstop. Manager Alex Cora said Saturday he’d be “comfortable” in that scenario, pointing out he’s familiar with the veteran Centeno from their time with the World Series-winning Houston organization in 2017, per Christopher Smith of MassLive.com. Centeno’s contract does not include an opt-out clause, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski confirmed to Smith, so the Red Sox aren’t in danger of losing him before the season. However, as Smith notes, if Boston adds Centeno to its 40-man roster at some point and then tries to send him to the minors, it’ll need to pass him through waivers because he’s out of options.
  • Left-hander Ryan Borucki was one of the few bright spots on the Blue Jays’ pitching staff in 2018, a rookie year in which he turned in a 3.87 ERA/3.80 FIP over 97 2/3 innings and 17 starts. Nevertheless, while it appears the Jays are guaranteeing starting spots to Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and newcomers Matt Shoemaker and Clayton Richard heading into the season, general manager Ross Atkins indicated this week that Borucki will have to battle for a role in their rotation this spring, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com relays. The soon-to-be 25-year-old Borucki still looks to be the front-runner for the Jays’ No. 5 spot, though, as he’s clearly the most proven 40-man option left on their staff.

Blue Jays Notes: Donaldson, Solarte, Atkins, Borucki

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The latest from Toronto…

  • Several teams, including contenders in the American League, contacted the league office in regards to the Josh Donaldson trade “either to express their dismay with the circumstances of the deal or seek clarification on why baseball allowed it,” The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (subscription required).  The particular issue was Donaldson’s uncertain health status and the timing of his activation from the disabled list as a Blue Jay and his latest DL placement after joining the Indians, without any return to the field in between.  Prior to the deal, teams interested in Donaldson were issued a “buyer beware” warning by the league about his possible injured status, which stemmed from concerns Donaldson himself had about his bothersome calf, which he expressed to the MLBPA (via his agent).  After the union passed these concerns onto the league, Rosenthal reports that MLBPA officials also wondered how the trade was completed.  Donaldson’s worries, however, were alleviated after speaking to the Tribe on August 31, as Cleveland was given permission by the league to speak to the player once the general framework of the trade had been settled.
  • Infielder Yangervis Solarte has been activated from the disabled list, as per the Blue Jays’ PR department’s Twitter feed.  Solarte has missed just under a month due to right oblique injury suffered after an awkward swing.  Solarte has hit .233/.287/.397 over 471 PA in his first season in Toronto, and could be entering his final days with the team — the Jays are deep in young infield options, and may choose to buy out Solarte’s 2019 club option for $750K rather than bring him back at the full $5.5MM price.
  • General manager Ross Atkins is expected to receive a contract extension this winter, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes, as Atkins’ current contract only runs through the 2019 season.  This means that Atkins signed a four-year deal when first hired as Toronto’s GM in the 2015-16 offseason.  The contract length wasn’t reported at the time, and this new deal may also be handled with a modicum of fanfare, as Davidi predicts that an Atkins extension “likely takes place quietly behind the scenes and doesn’t get announced.”  Building off a recent interview with Jays president/CEO Mark Shapiro about the club’s offseason plans, Davidi’s piece also predicts some modest roster targets for the Blue Jays, such as at least one innings-eating veteran starter, and “some value-play additions to the bullpen” in the mold of the Seunghwan Oh and Tyler Clippard signings last winter.
  • In a separate piece from Davidi, he examines how the Blue Jays drafted and signed Ryan Borucki in 2012, an acquisition that may not have happened if Borucki hadn’t suffered a UCL tear while pitching for his high school team that spring.  Despite several injuries that hampered his early development, Borucki has turned into one of the club’s best young arms, and projects to be a member of the 2019 rotation after making his MLB debut this season.

Blue Jays Designate Gio Urshela For Assignment

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The Blue Jays announced that they’ve designated infielder Gio Urshela for assignment in order to clear space on the roster for left-hander Ryan Borucki, who has been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo and will start tonight’s game.

Urshela, 26, was acquired from the Indians back in early May and has received sparse playing time in the six weeks that have followed. Urshela has appeared in 19 games with the Jays but taken just 46 trips to the plate, hitting .233/.283/.326 in that time. That’s roughly in line with his career numbers to date: a .225/.274/.315 batting line in 499 plate appearances. Urshela grades out as an above-average third baseman, though Toronto has used him more at shortstop, where defensive metrics have been less favorable (in an admittedly negligible sample of 85 innings).

Toronto will have a week to either trade Urshela or place him on outright waivers in hopes of going unclaimed and subsequently being sent outright to Buffalo. Given his defensive reputation, it’s possible that Urshela would indeed be claimed by another club. However, he’s also out of minor league options, so any team claiming him will have to carry him on the MLB roster or try to once again run him through waivers in order to get him to Triple-A.

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