After shaking up their roster earlier Monday, the Toronto Blue Jays are hoping reinforcements are on the way.
Following the four earlier roster moves, manager John Schneider also provided updates on a number of injured Blue Jays players, per Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi and Arden Zwelling.
Starter Max Scherzer is set to get a cortisone shot in his right thumb. The veteran right-hander already had a cortisone shot in his forearm last week, but has seen his thumb issue flare up again.
Scherzer’s thumb kept him out of action for much of the 2025 regular season.
On the season, he holds a 9.64 ERA with 10 strikeouts and eight walks in 18.2 innings. He left an April 6 start against the Los Angeles Dodgers after just two frames with the same forearm tendinitis.
Scherzer was placed on the 15-day injured list with tendinitis and left ankle inflammation on April 27.
Reliever Yimi Garcia, meanwhile, felt more soreness than usual following his first rehab outing on Thursday as he works back from season-ending surgery last year. The Blue Jays are pushing his next outing back a couple of days and hope he will return to the mound later this week.
Shane Bieber will throw an inning against live hitters on Tuesday. It will be the first time he faces hitters this year after beginning the season on the injured list with elbow inflammation.
On the position player side, catcher Alejandro Kirk began a hitting progression over the weekend. He has continued to throw but hasn’t returned to catching after fracturing his thumb in early April against the Chicago White Sox.
Finally, outfielder Nathan Lukes is scheduled to resume running the bases by the end of this week, and if all goes well, he could begin a rehab assignment in single-A Dunedin by the weekend.