Blue Jays: Friday Night Roster Moves

The Blue Jays announced two hours before game time on Friday that they have activated Cavan Biggio from the 10-day injured list and optioned Santiago Espinal to Triple-A.

The move comes nearly three weeks after Biggio was placed on the injured list with a cervical spine ligament sprain on May 22.  Biggio had gone through some ups and downs to start the season and had been batting just .205, but his 20 walks through 151 plate appearance gave him a .315 OBP.

Biggio was sent to the Buffalo Bisons this past week to get into some live games and got into three contests.  The lefty-hitter looked good to start as he hit a home run in his first plate appearance, however went 0 for 10 with one walk and three strike outs in the remainder of his plate appearances.

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Santiago Espinal was looking to stick with the Blue Jays once Biggio returned, however two things likely factored into the decision to send the 26-year old down.  The first being that between the two utility infielders he was the only one with options and the second being that Joe Panik has been hitting so well of late. Over his last 10 games, Panik had 14 hits in 34 plate appearances.

In 34 games this year, Espinal has posted a slash line of .247/.286/.329, which has five extra base hits over 77 plate appearances.  Espinal handles the bat well, but his defensive side of the game is what is his best part of baseball.

Minutes after announcing the roster moves, the Blue Jays posted their line-up for Friday night’s game, which had Biggio listed as batting in the eighth spot and playing third base.

In other rehab news, Thomas Hatch will make his third start tonight for the Bisons since coming off the 60-day injured list.  Hatch has pitched five innings total over his first two starts and has surrendered just one earned run on five strike outs.  The young right hander was originally thought to be in contention for a starting rotation spot coming out of spring training until the injury.  Whether its a potential starter or reliever, the Blue Jays could use some help on the mound.

Do you think the Blue Jays made the right decision sending Espinal down to the Bisons?