Lázaro Estrada is back in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform in Houston Wednesday, barely 24 hours after Toronto sent him down to Triple-A Buffalo, and the suddenness of his recall pointed to an injured list stint for rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage.
Sure enough, the Blue Jays confirmed that Yesavage had been placed on the 15-day IL due to left knee inflammation, according to Keegan Matheson of MLB.com.
The Blue jays also optioned Chad Dallas, who relieved Yesavage on Tuesday, to Buffalo while recalling Estrada and righty Chase Lee, according to an MLB Trade Rumors report.
Estrada’s whiplash trip up from Triple-A leaves one obvious question hanging over the Blue Jays as they try to hold their playoff push together, namely, how bad is Yesavage’s knee, and how long will Toronto be without him.
Yesavage walked off the mound Tuesday night in Houston without finishing his warmup pitches before the third inning, his left landing knee buckling under him as Toronto’s training staff rushed out to check on him. Chad Dallas took over on the mound as the Blue Jays lost 7-2 to the Houston Astros.
Manager John Schneider said on Wednesday, prior to the Blue Jays’ game in Houston, that the team was awaiting results of Yesavage’s MRI, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of SportsNet.
Trey Yesavage’s Knee Injury Sends Blue Jays Scrambling
Manager John Schneider described the moment afterward as “weird. It was kind of a pinching sensation where he couldn’t really stabilize perfectly,” Schneider said. “There was nothing beforehand. It kind of caught us off guard,” according to a report from MLB.com‘s Keegan Matheson.
Yesavage is scheduled for an MRI Wednesday, with the Blue Jays planning to reassess from there. He’d thrown two scoreless innings before exiting and carries a 3.65 ERA over 93 2/3 innings this season, making him one of the more reliable arms in a rotation that just added Jameson Taillon and José Soriano in separate trade-deadline deals.
Under MLB roster rules, a pitcher optioned to the minors normally can’t be recalled for 10 days unless another move opens a spot, typically through an injured list placement, which is why Estrada resurfacing so quickly was clearly not a coincidence.
Lázaro Estrada’s Latest Trip Back to Toronto Blue Jays
GettyLázaro Estrada #60 of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Mitch Bannon of The Athletic wrote Wednesday morning that Estrada had resurfaced in Houston with the Blue Jay. Keegan Matheson of MLB.com followed with his own post confirming Estrada had walked into the clubhouse.
It’s the latest lap in a busy year of shuttling for Estrada, who was recalled August 3, then optioned back to the Buffalo Bisons the very next day once José Soriano was added. He’s also bounced up and down in March, June and July.
Estrada, born in Havana, Cuba, and signed by Toronto as an international free agent in January 2018, made his major league debut in July 2025 against the Angels, throwing four innings of one-run relief. He’s posted a 4.82 ERA over 9 1/3 innings across four appearances this season, a 6.48 mark for his career, working primarily as a multi-inning reliever.
His path back also included a long injury layoff of his own. Toronto placed Estrada on the injured list in early April with a right shoulder impingement, later shifting him to the 60-day list, and he didn’t return to the majors until June 20 after missing 67 games.
Yesavage isn’t Toronto’s only injury concern. Right-hander Spencer Arrighetti, another deadline addition, is working back from a foot injury and lined up for a Triple-A rehab start Thursday.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Blue Jays Trey Yesavage Heads to IL as Lázaro Estrada Gets Call-Up appeared first on HEAVY.