Blue Jays News and Notes: Mayza, Axford, Bautista and more

Toronto Blue Jays news and notes for Tuesday, April 24th with updates on Tim Mayza, John Axford, Jose Bautista and more.

Mayza Called Back Up

The Blue Jays have called reliever Tim Mayza back up to the big club as John Axford has been placed on bereavement leave for the next 3-7 games. Mayza was just down to Buffalo on Friday when designated hitter Kendrys Morales was activated from the disabled list. The 26-year old has one scoreless inning under his belt thus far this season with the big club.

Axford who will be away from the team for the better part of a week has been impressive so far making 10 relief appearances to the tune of a respectable 2.70 earned run average while surrendering three runs. Thoughts and prayers go out to John and his family for their loss.

Bautista To Be Everyday Third Baseman For Braves

According to the Braves manager, Jose Bautista will be the team’s everyday third baseman once promoted from Triple-A. Thus far Joey Bats has two hits in 15 plate appearances between their Florida and Gwinnett affiliates.

Diaz The Fleetest Afoot

According to Statcast Aledmys Diaz had the best sprint speed on the squad covering 28.6 feet per second. Teoscar Hernandez, Kevin Pillar, and Randal Grichuk were milliseconds behind Diaz. The shortstop ranked 42nd in the majors with that time while Justin Smoak was the slowest of all Jays sprinting at 23.7 feet per second. Twins outfielder Byron Buxton was the fastest in the league with an impressive time of 30.5.

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Pitching Match-Ups For Series With Boston

The Jays have arguably their biggest test of the season as they host the league-leading Boston Red Sox for three games at home.

Game 1: Rick Porcello (1.40 ERA) versus J.A. Happ (4.50 ERA)

Game 2: Eduardo Rodriguez (3.45 ERA) versus Aaron Sanchez (3.86 ERA)

Game 3: Chris Sale (1.86 ERA) versus Marco Estrada (5.32 ERA)

The Jays will miss their old friend David Price in this series, Price has gotten off to an impressive start going 2-2 with a 2.93 earned run average.

Next: Blue Jays can make a big statement against the Red Sox

That concludes another edition of your news and notes, remember first pitch is at 7:07 pm tonight down at the Rogers Centre.