Joe Biagini, who did not show any signs of being visibly injured, will head to the DL, with Jake Petricka getting the call to come back to the bigs.
According to an official release by the team, the Blue Jays have placed right-handed pitcher Joe Biagini on the 10-day disabled list with a left oblique strain, recalling right-handed reliever Jake Petricka from Triple-A Buffalo to take his place. The move is retroactive to September 1.
Biagini, 28, was in the middle of an enigmatic season that saw him pitch to a 5.79 ERA in 43 games, four of them as a starter. As a reliever, Biagini was better, though not by much. Overall, opposing hitters slashed .316/.372/.524 against him with 13 home runs, 15 doubles and 85 hits.
Joe Biagini tweaked an oblique during his last outing -- he's going to the DL. Jake Petricka rejoins the Blue Jays bullpen tonight. Justin Shafer will be added as well in the coming days.
— Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) September 4, 2018
Though Biagini didn’t appear to injure himself during his last outing, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet notes on Twitter that he “tweaked” his oblique the last time he pitched.
Somewhat similarly, Jake Petricka, 30, has been streaky in his own right, despite pitching to an acceptable 4.25 ERA in 36 frames with the big club this year. The former member of the Chicago White Sox organization has struck out 29 and allowed 17 earned runs while walking 11.
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From July 3 to July 23, the native of Northfield, Illinois pitched to a 1.59 ERA in 11.1 innings, striking out 11 while walking four and allowing just three runs, two of them earned. However, the stretch immediately after that, from July 25 to August 14, he struggled mightily, allowing nine earned runs in 8.2 innings (9.35 ERA) while allowing three homers and hitting two batters.
Though this move will likely not drastically affect the flow of the next week of baseball, it was rather unfortunate for Biagini, who had recently come off a solid stretch in which he tossed 5.1 innings allowing only two earned runs (3.38 ERA) since August 25.
For Petricka, this is the second call up of the year. He’d previously been optioned to Buffalo four times this season after being signed as an MiLB free agent in early February.