Blue Jays Release Elvis Luciano, Recall Josh Palacios

Monday afternoon, the Toronto Blue Jays made a handful of roster moves as they recalled a prospect, optioned one to Triple-A Buffalo, and released another.

Josh Palacios, who had started the season with the big club as an injury replacement was recalled to the team from AAA.  Palacios saw a substantial amount of playing time in mid-April when he had 35 plate appearances over 12 days, which included a four-hit game on April 10.  However, outside of that one game, Palacios was 3 for 24 (.125) during his major league time.

Palacios was optioned down to Triple-A Buffalo in late April and has spent most of the 2021 MiLB season on the IL when he went down with a hand injury in early May.   Since returning from injury in early August, Palacios had gone 9 for 33 (.273) with one double.

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To make room on the 26-man roster, Kirby Snead was optioned back to the Buffalo Bisons.  Snead made his Major League debut at the end of July for the Blue Jays and had appeared in seven games.  In that time, the soon-to-be 27-year old prospect had posted a 2.35 ERA and 1.17 WHIP over 7.2 innings pitched but picked up the loss on Sunday.  Snead earned the promotion in July after he posted a 1.89 ERA over 29 appearances for the Bisons in 2021.

Monday afternoon, the Toronto Blue Jays released Elvis Luciano, promoted Josh Palacios, and optioned Kirby Snead to Triple-A Buffalo.

The final move of the day was the announcement that the Blue Jays had released 21-year old Elvis Luciano.  The Dominican product was selected by the Blue Jays from the Kansas City Royals during the December 2018 Rule 5 Draft.  Luciano was able to remain on the 25-man roster for the duration of the 2019 season, however, posted a 5.35 ERA and 1.78 WHIP with the big league club.

The past two seasons, Luciano did not crack the active roster but remained on the 40-man.  This season, Luciano began the season in New Hampshire and last pitched this past Friday when he opened for one inning and struck out the side, surrendering just one base hit.  It is unclear the rationale behind releasing Luciano and I am anxious to see if there are any announcements that explain the decision.

The Blue Jays will open a four-game series with the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox this evening.