Toronto call-up Jonathan Diaz

When the Toronto Blue Jays placed All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes on the 15-day disable list my brain started going over which internal candidates would be considered to take his spot on the 25-man roster.

I’m not going to lie, Jonathan Diaz was not high on my list. The soft handed, soft hitting infielder was playing the infield for the Buffalo Bison in 2015. He has played 16 games, splitting time between second and short. At the plate he is hitting .178/.315/.222 with two doubles and one run batted in.

Last year, Diaz played 22 games with the Toronto Blue Jays, providing Manager John Gibbons with solid glove when Jose Reyes was injured in his first at-bat of the 2014 season. Diaz versatility saw him play each of the outfield positions, third, second and short stop for the 2014 Blue Jays.

I am confused by this move, what with Ryan Goins, Steve Tollison, and Danny Valencia already on the active roster. Goins should see the bulk of the playing time at short stop while Reyes is on the 15-day DL, the only reason I can see for Diaz to get the call would be as a defensive replacement or to give Ryan Goins a day off.

Goins is hitting .269, still not walking, and has not looked out of place in 7-games at short. Tollison is hitting .200 and can play multiple positions. Valencia is hitting .455 and play 3rd, 2nd and LF (in a pinch). Do the Jays really need Diaz?

Short answer…..he on the 40-man roster. There are two other guys that are on the 40-man roster that I would have preferred to get the call over Diaz. I to see Andy Wilkins or Matt Hague; unfortunately, the Jays aren’t in need of corner infielders at the moment.

Andy Burns, not currently on the 40-man roster, should have been given a chance to taste what the majors is like. The club has one open spot on the roster and with Burns hitting the cover off the ball since his promotion to Buffalo, what could it hurt?

The versatile infielder has seen some time at short (88GP), 2B (24GP), and LF (5GP), but been used primarily as at 3rd (250GP) throughout his minor league career. He is currently hitting .351/.385/.432 with 3 doubles, 2RBI, 2BB, and 5 strike outs in 9 Triple-A games while splitting his time between 2nd and 3rd.

For now the Blue Jays will go with INF Jonathan Diaz as the team’s utility infielder.

In other news, OF Chris Dickerson was activated off the temporarily inactive list. RP Luis Perez was promoted from New Hampshire to Buffalo to add another experienced RP to an already deep Bisons bullpen.