The Blue Jays have taken a blow with the loss of Bo Bichette to a sprained left knee, but they might be getting some serious help soon.
Anthony Santander, the team’s biggest free-agent acquisition of the off-season, finally began a rehab assignment with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Thursday, serving as the designated hitter and batting second against Washington’s top affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings. And he got it going with a bang.
In the switch-hitter’s first game since May 29, when he was finally placed on the injured list after playing hurt for three weeks, Santander homered in his third plate appearance against former big-leaguer Adrian Sampson, a 396-foot drive to right field.
It was a welcome sight for Santander, who suffered a subluxation of his left shoulder when he went into the right-field wall to catch a fly ball hit by the Angels’ Jo Adell on May 8. The 30-year-old missed the next three games, then returned to the lineup and hit .122 with one home run before being shut down.
The right-hander allows just two fourth-inning hits while striking out nine.
Signed to a five-year, $92.5-million (U.S.) contract in January to help solve the Jays’ power outage, the notoriously slow starter was batting just .175 with four home runs at the end of April. Santander hit a career-high 44 homers with Baltimore last season despite having only four going into May.
Santander went 1-for-3 with two walks against the Red Wings.
The Bisons only have nine games remaining in their season and Santander might need all of them to get his swings from both sides in good enough shape to help the big club, but he’s off to a solid start.
Helpful Heineman
Kevin Gausman lavished praise on catcher Tyler Heineman after the right-hander’s complete-game, two-hit shutout of the Houston Astros on Thursday.
“He called a hell of a game, caught a hell of a game,” said Gausman, who went on to say that he’s “become a big fan of (Heineman). He does everything the right way, works hard and he’s having a great year.”
The 34-year-old backstop, who is in his first full season in the majors, was taken aback by his pitcher’s kind words.
“That’s the highest compliment any pitcher can give,” said Heineman, after hearing how Gausman raved about him. “That’s what we do it for. That’s my job as a backup catcher, to give (Alejandro Kirk) a day off and try to be as prepared and locked in as I possibly can be for that guy.
“It’s awesome. I’m kind of speechless. That means a lot.”
It was the first time the California native had caught a complete-game shutout in the big leagues.
“That’s as nervous as I’ve been in the ninth inning of a six-run game in forever,” he said. “Just because I wanted it bad. I wanted it bad for him, I wanted it bad for me even though it’s really nothing to do with me. It’s just a cool thing to be able to start a game with a starting pitcher and then end a game with a starting pitcher. I just think that’s awesome.”
No more Orelvis
Once one of the Blue Jays’ top prospects, Orelvis Martinez was designated for assignment Thursday in order to make room on the 40-man roster for Alek Manoah, whose rehab assignment had reached the maximum 60 days.
Manoah had to be activated off the 60-day injured list, necessitating a 40-man move. The right-hander was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo and can be called up for the last series of the season, if the Jays have clinched the division and want to give him a look.
Martinez, 23, served an 80-game drug suspension last year聽and was hitting .176 with 13 home runs and 112 strikeouts in 99 games in Buffalo this season when he was placed on the injured list with an “unspecified injury” last week.
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