<p>The Jays get a weak Red Sox starter to open a series in which it&#8217;s vital that they get a couple of damned wins, they&#8217;ve received some relatively good news on the injury front, and Marcus Stroman gets the call tonight. But none of that good news means the team is back to full health yet, none of it means they can&#8217;t let this damn hole get any bigger, and Chris Sale looms on Thursday. What a time to be alive.</p>
<h1>News and Scuttlebutt</h1>
<p>Cam covered a bunch of this stuff <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/2017/04/18/injury-updates-happ-avoids-major-injury-donaldson-to-miss-2-4-weeks/">earlier in the day</a>, but here are some updates and all the rest of what&#8217;s going on:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">J.A. Happ&#39;s MRI &quot;looked pretty good&quot; per John Gibbons. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a> hopeful he won&#39;t need more than 10-11 days</p>
<p>&mdash; Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/bnicholsonsmith/status/854430045183627266">April 18, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Aaron Sanchez could return to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a>&#39; rotation later this month in St. Louis or vs. Rays if blister progresses as hoped</p>
<p>&mdash; Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/bnicholsonsmith/status/854430344229072897">April 18, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Marco Estrada to start for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a> vs. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RedSox?src=hash">#RedSox</a> Thursday. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Jays?src=hash">#Jays</a> plan to call up starters from triple-A for Friday and Saturday.</p>
<p>&mdash; Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/bnicholsonsmith/status/854430875597066240">April 18, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gibbons said JP Howell will throw tonight or tomorrow in Dunedin. Maybe one more rehab outing after that and then he should be fine.</p>
<p>&mdash; Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/854428726410530817">April 18, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Not sure why the Jays needed to add another infielder, but the guy they called up to take J.A. Happ&#8217;s place on the roster at least seems confident [tugs collar]:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Eric Thames and I were once traded for one another and I can see how that seems funny to you. Because we&#39;re basically the same player.</p>
<p>&mdash; Ty Kelly (@tykelly11) <a href="https://twitter.com/tykelly11/status/854145114532442113">April 18, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Go get him, Marcus:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sept. 12, 2016.</p>
<p>That’s the date of <a href="https://twitter.com/mookiebetts">@mookiebetts</a>’ last regular-season strikeout: <a href="https://t.co/5QYwAZXDUd">https://t.co/5QYwAZXDUd</a></p>
<p>He’s at 123 PAs and counting. ? <a href="https://t.co/rG2CkWQwv0">pic.twitter.com/rG2CkWQwv0</a></p>
<p>&mdash; MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBStatoftheDay/status/854373979540213760">April 18, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h1>Today</h1>
<p><strong>TV: SNET1, MLB.tv</strong></p>
<p><strong>Radio: SN590</strong></p>
<p>And now, the lineups…</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Do you love the eight-man bullpen? Dig the five-man bench? Are you consumed by dread? Have I got the team for you!<a href="https://t.co/CDS2uSgN0g">https://t.co/CDS2uSgN0g</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Jonah Birenbaum (@birenball) <a href="https://twitter.com/birenball/status/854423811067973632">April 18, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a>&#39; lineup vs. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RedSox?src=hash">#RedSox</a> <a href="https://t.co/AtP54MtteV">pic.twitter.com/AtP54MtteV</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/bnicholsonsmith/status/854422879399817216">April 18, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p><strong>Marcus Stroman</strong>: 1-1, 15.1 IP, 1.76 ERA, 9K, 3BB, 13H, 1HR</p>
<p><strong>Brian Johnson</strong>: &#8211;, &#8211;, &#8211;, &#8211;, &#8211;, &#8211;, &#8212;</p>
<p>Johnson makes his 2017 big league debut tonight, after a pair of outstanding starts for Pawtucket. But don&#8217;t let his 15 strikeouts in 10.2 Triple-A innings fool you, there&#8217;s a chance he&#8217;s good for what&#8217;s been ailing the Jays. He&#8217;s also a fascinating story &#8212; still a prospect at age 26, having come back from a line drive to the face, a carjacking, shoulder tendinitis, an ulnar nerve issue, and being shut down for six weeks last season because of anxiety. Eric Longenhagen of <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/top-15-prospects-boston-red-sox-2/">FanGraphs</a> writes, &#8220;And while Johnson has dealt with all of those things with grace and maturity, his stuff has backed up a bit. He’s been 87-90 this spring with more or less the same secondaries he’s always had (a short but tight low-80s cutter, a solid-average curveball in the mid-70s, and a fringe changeup) but less command. He’s still likely to have a big-league future of some kind, but it’s probably as a fifth starter or bullpen lefty rather than the mid-rotation starter many thought he’d be when drafted.&#8221;</p>


The Jays get a weak Red Sox starter to open a series in which it's vital that they get a couple of damned wins, they've received some relatively good news on the injury front, and Marcus Stroman gets the call tonight. But none of that good news means the team is back to full health yet, none of it means they can't let this damn hole get any bigger, and Chris Sale looms on Thursday. What a time to be alive.
<h1>News and Scuttlebutt</h1>
Cam covered a bunch of this stuff <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/2017/04/18/injury-updates-happ-avoids-major-injury-donaldson-to-miss-2-4-weeks/">earlier in the day</a>, but here are some updates and all the rest of what's going on:

https://twitter.com/bnicholsonsmith/status/854430045183627266

https://twitter.com/bnicholsonsmith/status/854430344229072897

https://twitter.com/bnicholsonsmith/status/854430875597066240

https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/854428726410530817

Not sure why the Jays needed to add another infielder, but the guy they called up to take J.A. Happ's place on the roster at least seems confident [tugs collar]:

https://twitter.com/tykelly11/status/854145114532442113

Go get him, Marcus:

https://twitter.com/MLBStatoftheDay/status/854373979540213760
<h1>Today</h1>
<strong>TV: SNET1, MLB.tv</strong>

<strong>Radio: SN590</strong>

And now, the lineups…

https://twitter.com/birenball/status/854423811067973632

https://twitter.com/bnicholsonsmith/status/854422879399817216

<strong>Marcus Stroman</strong>: 1-1, 15.1 IP, 1.76 ERA, 9K, 3BB, 13H, 1HR

<strong>Brian Johnson</strong>: --, --, --, --, --, --, --

Johnson makes his 2017 big league debut tonight, after a pair of outstanding starts for Pawtucket. But don't let his 15 strikeouts in 10.2 Triple-A innings fool you, there's a chance he's good for what's been ailing the Jays. He's also a fascinating story -- still a prospect at age 26, having come back from a line drive to the face, a carjacking, shoulder tendinitis, an ulnar nerve issue, and being shut down for six weeks last season because of anxiety. Eric Longenhagen of <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/top-15-prospects-boston-red-sox-2/">FanGraphs</a> writes, "And while Johnson has dealt with all of those things with grace and maturity, his stuff has backed up a bit. He’s been 87-90 this spring with more or less the same secondaries he’s always had (a short but tight low-80s cutter, a solid-average curveball in the mid-70s, and a fringe changeup) but less command. He’s still likely to have a big-league future of some kind, but it’s probably as a fifth starter or bullpen lefty rather than the mid-rotation starter many thought he’d be when drafted."

Game Threat: Good News and Bad News, Red Sox (8-5) @ Blue Jays (2-10)

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