Blue Jays revolving door continues: Who is coming and going?

The Blue Jays have more injuries to dealt with, but on the plus side they should be getting some reinforcements back sometime this week as well.

Starting with the bad news, it looks like Danny Jansen will end up being the next Blue Jay to hit the Injured List after having to leave Sunday’s game against the Astros. Before the game was even over it was already being reported that he was dealing with a hamstring strain, and that’s not an ideal injury for a catcher to try to work through. We’ll learn more here on Monday once they’ve had more time to evaluate the extent of the injury, but I expect he’ll spend some time on the IL.

Unless Ross Atkins makes a small deal before their next game on Tuesday, we’re likely about to see the return of Riley Adams to the big league roster. He was called up to the highest level earlier in the year but unfortunately didn’t get into a game before he was sent back to Triple-A. Assuming Jansen is out more than a few days, that should change this time around and the timing is pretty nice for Adams as he’s been playing well lately.

On top of Adams likely taking Jansen’s place, the Blue Jays should get Cavan Biggio back at some point this week. He made a rehab start with the Bisons on the weekend and even hit a home run during his first plate appearance. He’s been dealing with a sprained cervical spine ligament and was last seen with the Blue Jays on May 21. In his absence they have been rolling a platoon of Joe Panik and Santiago Espinal at third base that has performed reasonably well.

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As for the pitching staff, they could see an underrated boost sometime by the end of this month as long as things continue going well for Thomas Hatch. When he went down with an arm injury this spring there was a lot of fear that he might have been lost for the year, but his rehab has been successful so far and he threw two scoreless innings in Triple-A on Sunday. Whether he’s a candidate for the rotation or the bullpen, Hatch could bring some real value to Charlie Montoyo’s pitching staff. The same goes for Ryan Borucki, who while he hasn’t started a throwing program just yet, is nearing a place where he’ll begin ramping up toward a return as well.

Last but not least, there were some encouraging signs from George Springer this weekend as video of him running the bases made the rounds on social media. It doesn’t appear that the 3x All-Star is quite running at full speed yet, but things are moving in a positive direction, albeit slowly. As long as there are no further setbacks, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him ease his way into a rehab assignment by the end of the week, or perhaps early next week. It’s been a delicate situation since Springer had to be put back on the IL after a brief return, and I don’t think he’ll be pushed much, if at all. If all goes according to plan, hopefully he’ll finally re-join the big league club before the calendar flips to July.

It’s been a tough season for the Blue Jays as far as injuries go, and that looks like it’ll continue with Jansen leaving the field on Sunday. That said, this team has been great about a “next man up” attitude so far this year, and they’ll just have to keep it up. Thankfully they may finally get a few other reinforcements back sooner than later as well.