Blue Jays place Erik Swanson on injured list with thoracic spine inflammation

Prior to Sunday's contest against the Cleveland Guardians, the Toronto Blue Jays took to social media to formally announce that relief pitcher Erik Swanson has been placed on the injured list.

Swanson, 29, left Saturday's game against Cleveland after throwing just eight pitches and recording one out. He has consistently been a reliable and oft-used option for John Schneider and the Blue Jays this season and will be missed while he's on the shelf.

In a career-high 60 contests this season, the five-year veteran has a 3.10 ERA, 3.28 FIP and 136 ERA+ with 67 strikeouts in just 58 innings of work. Swanson has paired nicely with other high-leverage arms like Jordan Romano and Jordan Hicks in the back end of the Blue Jays bullpen.

Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic shared on X that she had spoke to Swanson before his IL placement and he told her that he was hopeful that a combo of meds and rest would be all he'd need in his recovery.

In a corresponding move, the Blue Jays recalled relief pitcher Jay Jackson from Triple-A Buffalo. Jackson had only just recently been optioned to the Bisons when the Jays welcomed Trevor Richards back from the injured list.

The 35-year-old has been shuffled back and forth between the big leagues and minor leagues multiple times this season, with the vast majority of his success coming while he was a part of the big league roster. In 22 outings for the Bisons, Jackson has a 6.58 ERA in 26 innings but he's also struck out 37 batters, good for 12.8 K/9.

In the majors, the five-year veteran has made 18 appearances and has been dominant. In 22 innings of work, Jackson has only allowed three earned runs while striking out 21 and walking six. He only just recently had an impressive run of 13 straight scoreless outings snapped and while he was already likely going to be a September call-up by the Jays, he's likely here to stay for the rest of the season.