The Blue Jays have announced that Marco Estrada and Franklin Morales have been activated off of the 15 and 60 day disabled lists, respectively, while Aaron Loup and Andy Burns have been optioned to AAA Buffalo to make room for the pair. To make room for Morales on the 40-man roster, RHP Dustin Antolin was designated for assignment.
The @BlueJays have reinstated Marco Estrada and Franklin Morales from the DL. Aaron Loup and Andy Burns have been optioned to @BuffaloBisons
— Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 22, 2016
Estrada, 33, the Blue Jays ace, has been his dominant self this season, with a 2.93 ERA in 16 starts. He makes his return after a brief time on the disabled list with a back injury. While he has been away the Blue Jays have carried an eight man bullpen, and that will continue with Morales also getting the call up. It’s an interesting strategy for a team that has starting pitching staff that leads the majors in innings pitched, but it’s likely to change in the coming days as the team cannot continue to carry relievers who aren’t getting the job done.
Morales, 30, was signed by the Blue Jays on April 2nd of this year with hopes that he would help stabilize the situation in the bullpen. However, after making just two appearances and recording a grand total of two outs, he was placed on the disabled list with shoulder fatigue. He has been on a rehab assignment in the minor leagues for the past 30 days, but now that his allowed time has run out, the Blue Jays needed to make a decision; release him or call him up to the big leagues.
He has been good as recently as last season with the Kansas City Royals, when he pitched in 62 1/3 innings and recorded an ERA of 3.18. His repertoire consists of a four-seam fastball that averages 92 mph, a two-seamer at the same speed, a slider at 88 mph, and a curve at 75 mph. In two innings with the Dunedin Blue Jays during his rehab stint, Morales allowed one hit, walked two, an struck out three. For the Buffalo Bisons, he pitched nine innings with an ERA of 2.00, striking out six and walking two. With Brett Cecil struggling and Loup being optioned, Morales could start to become an integral member of the Blue Jays bullpen if he can retire left handed batters at a decent rate.
Loup, 28, has really struggled, and has been up and down between Buffalo and Toronto this season, with a 6.00 ERA in 10 games for Toronto. He hasn’t shown the ability to get batters out like he did from 2012-2014, another example of the volatility of relief pitchers.
Burns, 25, is a fringe player at this point, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was back in Toronto another couple of times before being called up for good in September. He has yet to record his first major league hit, reaching base on a walk once in his seven big league plate appearances.
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