Blue Jays place Morales on DL, recall Mayza

The Toronto Blue Jays have placed designated hitter Kendrys Morales on the 10-day disabled list due to a hamstring strain. Photo Credit: Amanda Fewer

By Andrew Hendriks

Canadian Baseball Network

Removed during the second inning of  his club's Monday's 7-1 rout over the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Kendrys Morales has been formally placed on the 10-day disabled list with a right hamstring strain.

In a corresponding move, left-handed reliever Tim Mayza has been recalled from triple-A Buffalo and will be available out of the Blue Jays' bullpen on Tuesday.

In eight games prior to being forced off the roster, Morales slashed .227/.280/.364 with a home run and six RBI.

Held off the diamond due in part to a run of inclement weather, Mayza has yet to record a regular-season appearance since minor league camp broke last week.

Through 19 games with the Blue Jays in 2017, the 26-year-old product of Allentown, Pa., pitched to an ERA of 6.88 with 27 strikeouts against only four walks in 17 innings.

Toronto's decision to run with another reliever over calling up a position player to assume Morales' vacancy on the active roster may be a direct result of the competition John Gibbons' squad is set to face during their current road trip.

While in Baltimore, the Blue Jays will go up against left-handed batters in Chance Sisqo, Pedro Alvarez, and perennial power threat Chris Davis. On the weekend, they'll visit Cleveland's southpawed hitters in Yonder Alonso, Jason Kipnis, and Michael Brantley.

With Aaron Loup representing the only lefty in Toronto's bullpen at the time of Morales' injury, adding another southpaw should make navigating matchups in the later innings a little easier for Gibbons.

At the big league level in 2017, Mayza held lefties to an opponents batting average of .206 while striking out 12 of the 37 batters he faced.

- Follow Andrew Hendriks on Twitter (@77hendriks)