Blue Jays Veteran Reliever’s Return from Injured List Could Be Imminent

This Toronto Blue Jays reliever could be an option for the team this weekend as he is back around the Major League club.

May 21, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Erik Swanson (50) delivers a pitch against the Chicago White Sox in the ninth inning at Rogers Centre. | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

The Toronto Blue Jays could get some relief for the bullpen as early as Sunday.

Erik Swanson, who has been rehabbing a right median nerve entrapment since the start of the season, was with Triple-A Buffalo getting himself built back up to contribute to the Blue Jays.

As it turns out, he’s no longer in Buffalo. He’s in Toronto.

Why Erik Swanson Could Return to Blue Jays Soon

During a pre-game interview with local media, Blue Jays manager John Schneider confirmed that Swanson was back in town.

"He's hovering. He's circling the area,” Schneider said.

MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson posted on X (formerly Twitter) that “it feels like just a matter of waiting to activate him.”

Swanson last pitched for Buffalo on Thursday, as he gave up one hit and struck out one batter in one inning. His return to Toronto is likely an opportunity to give team doctors one last chance to make sure he’s ready physically for activation.

Swanson has been in the minors for the entire month of May. He started his rehab on May 9 with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays. After two games with Buffalo, he went to Class-A Dunedin for two games before returning to Buffalo at the start of this week.

Combined, he is 0-1 with a 10.13 ERA in seven games and 5.1 innings. He has five strikeouts and allowed one walk. After getting roughed up for eight runs allowed in his first two games, he hasn’t allowed a run in his last five games, dating back to May 17.

He is on the 60-day injured list and is eligible to be activated.

The 31-year-old had a rough 2024, as he went 2-2 with a 5.03 ERA in 45 games. The Blue Jays are hoping Swanson will be more like the 2023 version, when he went 4-2 with a 2.97 ERA in 69 games. He had 75 strikeouts and 21 walks in 66.2 innings.

Before he joined Toronto, he spent his first four Major League seasons with the Seattle Mariners, where he went 4-12 with a 4.13 ERA in 126 games, including 11 starts. He also has six saves. He struck out 166 and walked 34 in 154.2 innings.

The Fargo, N.D., native grew up in Cincinnati and was an eighth-round pick of the Texas Rangers in the 2014 MLB draft out of Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa.