Blue Jays transfer Ryan Borucki to the 60-day IL

The Toronto Blue Jays have announced that pitcher Ryan Borucki has been transferred to the 60-day IL to clear a roster spot for infielder Eric Sogard.

The news isn’t overly encouraging as it appears Ryan Borucki will be shelved for an extended period after suffering inflammation in his pitching elbow in spring training. Borucki received a cortisone injection last week after experiencing soreness following a bullpen session.

Richard Urena would have been the logical choice, however, he did not qualify for the promotion as he has not yet spent the mandatory 10-days in the minors following his recent demotion. Therefore, the Blue Jays required an open a roster spot after the demotion of Lourdes Gurriel Jr. yesterday afternoon.

Borucki enjoyed a successful rookie campaign going 4-6 with a 3.87 earned run average in 17 starts last season. The 25-year old was penned in to be an integral part of the rotation in 2019, however, that will have to wait following this latest setback.

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The Blue Jays have already employed seven different starters thus far after only 16 games into the season. The likes of Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, Matt Shoemaker, Clay Buchholz, Trent Thornton, Thomas Pannone, and Sean Reid-Foley have all made at least one start in 2019.

Sogard in all likelihood will make his debut tonight subbing in for Gurriel Jr. at second base. Sogard spent last season with the Milwaukee Brewers hitting .134/.241/.165 with 13 hits in 113 plate appearances. The 32-year old does provide some positional flexibility having experience at second base, shortstop and in the outfield.

Gurriel’s struggles on defence forced the Jays hand to make an immediate move to shore up the infield. Sogard is realistically just a stop gap until Urena can be officially be called back up to the majors.

Hopefully, the Borucki prognosis improves in the coming weeks and the hurler can salvage his sophomore season before it is too late.