Toronto Blue Jays Make Multiple Crucial Roster Moves Ahead of Tuesday's Matchup
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The Toronto Blue Jays have struggled through their first few series matchups, primarily recently, and now sit at 13-15 heading into a three-game bout with the Boston Red Sox. The injuries in the pitching staff have been difficult for the Blue Jays, with their roster lacking depth as is, having more players go down early in the season has only made things tougher.
The good news for them is that they will be receiving some reinforcements ahead of this series, notably Daulton Varsho, who will return to the lineup after multiple rehab appearances over the last few weeks, as was reported by Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. Additionally, he reports their waiver claim from earlier in the day, veteran reliever Casey Lawrence, will be active for this matchup, making a quick turnaround to be ready.
In corresponding moves, the team optioned Paxton Schultz and Will Wagner, making room for the two veterans to play on Tuesday.
Varsho is a huge component to the defensive production of Toronto, and his offense, while inconsistent at times, is effective, and provides the team with both runs and RBI at a decent level. His ability to hit around 20 home runs each season also helps, especially with the team struggling immensely to generate power hitting in recent weeks.
Lawrence returns to the Blue Jays, having played for them back in 2017 but struggling during that time frame. In his recent stint with the Seattle Mariners, he looked both good and bad, accruing a 3.60 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, four strikeouts to one walk, and two home runs allowed. The issue is that he has been giving up a ton of unearned runs, coming in for tough situations, only giving up four earned runs, but 11 total runs after pitching 10 innings.
Overall both will provide value to positions of need for the team, as they look to get back on track against one of their division rivals this week.
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Jeremy Trottier started his writing journey with WBLZ Media, and has worked through multiple publications with 247Sports, USA Today, Fansided, SBNation and others. He is an avid fan of motorsports and most sports in general, and has completed a degree in sports management to further understand the sports industry. During his time with sports media, he has been credentialed for coverage of Boston College sports, and can often be found attending their football and basketball games as well as expected coverage of their men’s soccer team in the near future. Sports are a large part of his life and career, as he looks to pursue a full time role within the industry someday.