Blue Jays’ Shapiro optimistic about Happ prognosis

Toronto Blue Jays General Manager Mark Shapiro made an appearance on Pitch Talks yesterday evening and appeared optimistic that the J.A. Happ elbow injury will have a positive outcome.

The Blue Jays 20-game winner J.A. Happ exited his Sunday afternoon start in the 5th inning versus the Baltimore Orioles after feeling discomfort in his pitching elbow. Happ later said the pain came out of nowhere but he didn’t push it to make it worse.

Happ was scheduled for an MRI on Monday, however, the Blue Jays were tight-lipped about the imaging results until Blue Jays General Manager spoke about the Happ prognosis to the “Pitch Talks” crowd Monday evening.

Shapiro suggested that Happ’s situation will be a positive outcome which would be a breath of fresh air for the Jays chances of turning the ship around.

There are still question marks surrounding the status of Aaron Sanchez and his blister issues that have landed him on the disabled list so a stint for Happ on the DL would be detrimental to the Jays starting staff.

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Mat Latos and T.J. House seem to be the odds-on favorites to get a spot start with the big club should the need arise with either of the injuries.

Last season Happ came out of nowhere winning 20 games with a 3.18 earned run average in 32 starts for the playoff bound Jays. The left-hander is an important cog in the starting five and will be relied upon heavily again this year to replicate his 2016 campaign if healthy.

Next: Blue Jays: No, Dalton Pompey still isn’t healthy

Hopefully, Shapiro knew the results of the MRI when he shot optimism throughout the Pitch Talk crowd last night. The Jays should shed some light on the situation today before the Jays kick-off a three-game set with their division rivals from Boston.