Blue Jays Send Juan Perez to DL; Recall Mickey Storey

Jul 24, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Juan Perez (57) throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the tenth inning at the Rogers Centre. Los Angeles defeated Toronto 8-3 in ten innings. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Things do not go quite right for Blue Jays lefty Juan Perez during last night’s blow-out loss to the Oakland Athletics, and that statement has nothing to do with giving up five runs on four hits and three walks over an inning and two-thirds.

After getting Yoenis Cespedes to ground out for the second out of the seventh inning, Perez was met back on the mound by manager John Gibbons and trainer George Poulis. He would immediately be lifted with an apparent left elbow injury. After game diagnosis of the injury wasn’t overly encouraging either (H/T Gregor Chisholm).

"“Well it doesn’t look good, but there’s nothing definite yet,” Gibbons said late Friday night. “They’ll re-examine it tomorrow but it doesn’t look good.”"

While the severity of the injury is not yet known, the decision to put Perez on the disabled list has apparently been made, with right-hander Mickey Storey getting the call-up from Buffalo to take his spot in the bullpen, as tweeted by Scott MacArthur at TSN.

A 34-year-old journeyman reliever, Perez has been extremely efficient for the most part this season, pitching to a 3.69 ERA and a 9.4 K/9 ratio over the course of 19 appearances and 31.2 innings. He did not allow a run to score through his first 14 appearances and 21 innings pitched for the Blue Jays. However, since that streak ended, he has appeared in 5 games and thrown 9.2 innings, surrendering 13 earned runs (12.10 ERA), 9 walks, and 3 home runs. That recent performance may have been a portent for an injury that apparently arose on Friday night.

He will be replaced on the active roster by Mickey Storey, who will be making his second trip to Toronto this season. He has appeared in 2 games thus far in 2013, surrendering 3 earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched. However, he has performed extremely well at Triple-A Buffalo, posting a 0-1 record with a 2.79 ERA and 4.77 K/BB ratio for the Bisons.

His stay in Toronto may be short lived however. Esmil Rogers‘ continued struggles in the rotation may prompt the Blue Jays to send him back to the bullpen, which would require Storey being optioned back to Buffalo and a replacement summoned for the rotation.