Blue Jays announce four roster moves ahead of Texas Rangers series

Prior to their three-game series against the Texas Rangers, the Toronto Blue Jays have announced four roster moves, including the activation of Adam Cimber from the Paternity List. Here's the full rundown:

• RHP Adam Cimber has been activated from the Paternity List.
• 1B/OF Spencer Horwitz has been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo.
• RHP Thomas Hatch has been optioned to Triple-A.
• OF Nathan Lukes has been optioned to Triple-A.

Blue Jays announce four roster moves ahead of series against the Rangers.

The big headline here is obviously the promotion of sweet-swinging prospect Spencer Horwitz. The 25-year-old is ranked as the No. 18 prospect in the Blue Jays' system and has been off to a red-hot start for the Buffalo Bisons this year. In 57 games, he has only two home runs but he's driven in 34 runs, walked 42 times against 46 strikeouts and has a .300 batting average with an OPS of .826.

Through and through, he's big league-ready. With Brandon Belt on the injured list, Horwitz has a direct path to playing time in the big leagues, as he is primarily a first baseman. In recent years, the Blue Jays have tried playing him in left field and while he isn't racking up a ton of errors, reports are that he has poor range and is not much of an outfielder at all. Fortunately the Jays have multiple outfield-capable players on their roster so Horwitz may be able to comfortably jump back and forth between first base and designated hitter, just as Belt was.

Cimber, 32, is returning from the Paternity List after him and his wife welcomed a baby daughter into the world. The right-hander submariner has been off to a rough start this year, but he has earned a long leash after making an MLB-leading 77 appearances for the Blue Jays last season. In 20 outings this year, he has a 6.75 ERA, 7.35 FIP and an ERA+ of 61.

Hatch and Lukes both are players who were at the bottom of the Blue Jays' 26-man roster totem pole. Hatch has thrown 3.2 scoreless innings in four outings this year while Lukes has functioned primarily as a pinch runner and defensive replacement. He didn't hit much in his first big league cameo, but he has a history of dominating the opposition in Triple-A. With the significant depth issues the Blue Jays have faced this year, just know that you will be seeing both of these names at the big league level again.