Blue Jays DFA Joe Mantiply days after trusting him in season-defining spot

The Toronto Blue Jays made a flurry of pitching moves ahead of Monday night’s series opener against the Baltimore Orioles. Trey Yesavage was activated, Chad Dallas was recalled and Spencer Arrighetti was sent demoted.

But it was the news that Joe Mantiply was designated for assignment that raised some eyebrows. The move came less than a week after John Schneider trusted him with one of the most important innings of the Blue Jays’ season.

The Blue Jays had just watched Kazuma Okamoto deliver what momentarily looked like the biggest swing of their season — a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh that turned a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 lead. With Cleveland losing that same day, a Toronto win would have moved the Blue Jays to 76-75 and into a tie with the Guardians, effectively putting them in control of the final American League wild-card spot.

In the top half of the eighth, Schneider handed the ball to Mantiply. Tyler Rogers and Mason Fluharty had each pitched on the two previous days and were presumably unavailable, but the Blue Jays still had other options, including Spencer Miles and Braydon Fisher. Mantiply promptly allowed two baserunners, forcing Louis Varland into the game and was asked to get a five out save.

Varland could not strand the inherited runners, the Tigers tied the game in the eighth, and Detroit went on to win 6-5 in the ninth after Varland’s own costly mistake covering first base. The next night, the Blue Jays were thumped 10-1 before salvaging the finale to avoid a sweep.

That sequence was frustrating enough in real time and Monday’s DFA only makes it look stranger. If Mantiply was not trusted enough to hold a roster spot six days later, why was he trusted with the eighth inning of a one-run game with the season hanging in the balance?

Mantiply had also just returned from a lengthy absence following left knee surgery, and while his full-season numbers with Toronto were respectable, September had not gone nearly as smoothly. The 35-year-old left-hander posted a 3.33 ERA and 1.22 WHIP across 25 appearances with the Blue Jays, but since returning on Sept. 1, he had allowed opponents to hit .308 while pitching to a 5.79 ERA over eight outings.

It’s just one frustrating moves over the course of this season that has left Blue Jays fans wondering about the alternatives.

Blue Jays needed to make some room for a returning Trey Yesavage

With Yesavage coming off the injured list to start Monday and Dallas giving the Blue Jays some length behind him, Toronto needed some roster flexibility. Arrighetti’s option was inevitable after he failed to show enough progress following his own return from the injured list.

He's put up a 6.35 ERA through seven games with Toronto, while allowing 2.38 home runs per nine innings, with a 7.54 K/9 rate and 5.56 BB/9 rate. Those numbers were not sustainable. He was technically optioned down to the Blue Jays' Spring Training Complex, but that's more of a paper transaction because the Buffalo Bisons' season is over and there's nowhere else for him to technically play.

However, it's more likely that he's physically sticking around with the team just in case they need to recall him and he can get some bullpen work in under the watchful eye of Pete Walker. The Blue Jays will want Arrighetti to compete for a roster job this spring.

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