Blue Jays Call Up Lazaro Estrada, Brendon Little to Reinforce Bullpen

The Toronto Blue Jays need fresh arms after just one game post-All-Star break and they made several moves on Saturday.

Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Lazaro Estrada. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Toronto Blue Jays already need fresh arms as they get ready for the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.

Toronto announced several moves in advance of the game to help give manager John Schneider some reinforcements after Friday’s 12-4 loss to the White Sox. The Blue Jays used four relievers in that game after Chicago chased off starter Spencer Miles after four innings. Toronto also didn’t get much length out of Patrick Corbin, who pitched less than two innings.

Toronto called up Lazaro Estrada and Brendon Little from Triple-A Buffalo and optioned CJ Van Eyk and Adam Macko back to the Bisons. The moves were first reported by MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson.

New Pitchers for Toronto

Toronto Blue Jays Brendon Little. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Estrada has pitched in just two games for the Blue Jays this season and has a 2.84 ERA. A right shoulder impingement landed him on the injured list in April, and he remained there until he was activated on June 20. He was optioned back to Buffalo three days later and this is his first day back with the Major League club.

Little had had a rocky season. The left-hander is 0-2 with a 27.00 ERA in six games. He’s allowed 14 earned runs in 4.2 innings. He made the team’s opening-day roster and was optioned back to Buffalo shortly after to work on his mechanics. He was called back up on June 19 but was optioned back one day later.

Van Eyk made his MLB debut on Friday in relief and gave up one hit in two innings of work. The 2020 second-round pick would have been unavailable to pitch on Saturday given the workload. But it was an effective debut for the right-hander and he could return soon.

Macko pitched one inning on Friday and gave up two runs. He is 2-0 with a 5.03 ERA in 19 games, with one start, in his rookie season. He has a 10.57 ERA in his last seven MLB games. He was Seattle’s seventh-round pick in 2019.

The Blue Jays have other pitchers still working through injuries. Starter Max Scherzer has been on the IL since June 17 with back spasms and had his rehab paused on Friday. Reliever Yimi Garcia has yet to pitch this season after elbow surgery last year but is throwing bullpen sessions, the next-to-last step before a rehab assignment.

Reliever Joe Mantiply has been on the IL since May with a left knee injury and recently had it scoped.

Toronto is also not expecting starters Jose Berrios, Cody Ponce and Bowden Francis back this season. Berrios and Francis both had elbow surgery while Ponce had a right knee ACL sprain in his first start. There is a slight chance that Ponce could return this season.