Blue Jays' Erik Swanson injury update is painful reminder of Teoscar Hernández trade

On Monday, the Toronto Blue Jays announced that they’d placed reliever Erik Swanson on the 60-day injured list.

It was a move that impacted the Blue Jays on multiple levels. 

The first impact was on the 2025 Blue Jays. Swanson entered spring training as one of the most important arms in the Blue Jays bullpen, but now he won’t make his season debut until the end of May (at the earliest). 

The second level was a bit more macro. In November 2022, the Blue Jays acquired Swanson in a trade with the Mariners where they sent Teoscar Hernández to Seattle.

And Swanson’s spring training injury (and recent placement on the 60-day IL) have been reminders of how much of a miss that trade was for the Blue Jays.

Blue Jays' Erik Swanson injury update is painful reminder of Teoscar Hernández trade

The Blue Jays acquired Swanson after he posted a 1.68 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 52 2/3 innings in a breakout 2022 season for the Mariners. 

While he was able to recapture that magic in 2023 (2.97 ERA in 66 2/3 innings), his production has fallen off a cliff since. 

He dealt with forearm tightness in spring training last year and ended up being sent to Triple-A at the end of May after he had a 9.22 ERA through his first 17 games.

He then came back and posted a 2.44 ERA across 24 2/3 innings in the second half, which made it look like he was poised for success in 2025. 

That hasn’t been the case, as he hasn’t pitched this year due to a median nerve entrapment in his right arm.

While it seems like he could make his return soon, that’s likely cold comfort for Blue Jays fans given how things have gone for Hernández since he left Toronto.

The Blue Jays acquired Hernández from the Astros midway through the 2017 season and watched him blossom into one of the best hitters in baseball. He won a Silver Slugger in 2020 and ‘21 and quickly became a fan favorite. 

He spent one year in Seattle (and mashed 26 home runs) and now is a key cog in a loaded Dodgers lineup. Hernández hit 33 home runs and 99 RBI last year with the Dodgers on a one-year deal, and re-upped in Los Angeles on a three-year, $66 million contract in the offseason. 

Hernández has hit 68 home runs since he left Toronto, while Blue Jays right fielders have only hit 52 home runs combined in that same time period.

Hernández got off to an electric start this year (he currently leads all of baseball with 34 RBI) before being placed on the injured list earlier this week with a Grade 1 groin strain. 

Although this year’s iteration of the Blue Jays’ bullpen is much better than last year’s, it’s not hard to imagine how Swanson could help this unit.

They’ve had to cycle through middle-leverage options like Richard Lovelady, Jacob Barnes, Casey Lawrence and Jacob Barnes. 

In a perfect world, Swanson would’ve been on the mound for those innings. He’s proven that he has wipeout stuff when he’s healthy. Those moments have just been few and far between. 

The Blue Jays have made plenty of shrewd trades during Ross Atkins’ tenure as general manager. 

It’s looking like this trade isn’t going to be one of them.