There was a moment of confusion this afternoon as reporters tried to sort out the moves the club was due to make with its roster. It was known that Kevin Pillar would be returning to the lineup, having served his two game suspension for using a homophobic slur on the field, but it turned out it wasn’t quite as simple a process as sending Dwight Smith back to Buffalo.

In the end we can sum all the moves up fairly succinctly:

– Martin activated from DL
– Pillar returned from suspension
– Cesar Valdez up
– Ohlman DFA'd
– Sanchez to 10 day DL
– Smith Jr. down

— Blue Jays Nation (@thejaysnation) May 20, 2017

Getting to that point, however, was a bit of an event…

C Mike Ohlman packing up his locker. No official word yet. #BlueJays

— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) May 20, 2017

Source tells me Russell Martin is playing tonight. https://t.co/irv5RawS4P

— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) May 20, 2017

Dwight Smith Jr and Anthony Alford still in #BlueJays clubhouse. Mike Ohlman packing up his locker. No confirmation on roster moves yet.

— Laura Armstrong (@lauraarmy) May 20, 2017

Reliever Cesar Valdez up with #BlueJays. Corresponding move not yet known.

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) May 20, 2017

Martin is back. Ohlman is leaving but that's just one of several moves coming today. #BlueJays

— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) May 20, 2017

Dwight Smith Jr is packing up. #BlueJays

— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) May 20, 2017

Aaron Sanchez could be headed back to DL. Still trying to confirm. Hang on to your hats..#BlueJays

— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) May 20, 2017

Russell Martin activated. Says he feels good. Mike Ohlman goes down

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) May 20, 2017

This is like piecing together a puzzle. #BlueJays have nine relievers listed on lineup card. Likely means a move is coming with a starter.

— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) May 20, 2017

Martin is back. Pillar is back. Looks like Ohlman and Dwight Smith Jr. drop. #BlueJays

— Laura Armstrong (@lauraarmy) May 20, 2017

Ohlman has no options remaining so he must have been DFAed. Makes 40-man spot for Pillar. https://t.co/UWhiYwYGhX

— Minor Leaguer (@Minor_Leaguer) May 20, 2017

Sanchez back on the DL. #BlueJays

— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) May 20, 2017

TBJ Roster Moves: C Russell Martin activated from DL, Pillar returned from suspension, RHP Cesar Valdez recalled from Buffalo.

— Blue Jays PR (@BlueJaysPR) May 20, 2017

Roster moves cont… C Mike Ohlman DFA, RHP Aaron Sanchez on 10 day DL (R middle finger laceration)…Dwight Smith Jr. optioned Buffalo

— Blue Jays PR (@BlueJaysPR) May 20, 2017

Sanchez on DL with right middle finger laceration. Said he felt "a little pain" last night. #BlueJays' rotation depth tested again

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) May 20, 2017

OK… thoughts:

• Pillar was going to be back today so we knew this was coming.
• Smith going down is somewhat interesting, as it means that Anthony Alford is still here — and slated to start again tonight in Baltimore not sure why I wrote that originally, as he’s not starting and I don’t think ever was. Anyway, this says a lot about what the club thinks of him, I think. Though it probably also says something about what they think of the idea of Ezequiel Carrera being their backup CF.
• Martin returning is surprising and awesome! It sounded like he was making important progress when it was reported that he was catching Francisco Liriano’s bullpen session on Thursday, and I guess he was! HUGE!
• Ohlman getting D’d FA is interesting, as there was some thought that the Jays might option Luke Maile back to Buffalo, as they could have easily done that without risking losing him as a piece of organizational depth. But I guess they really do like his game calling and defence enough. Reasonable, even though Ohlman is a mildly intriguing bat.
• I’ll mention Valdez here so that I can conclude on Sanchez, but on his arrival… meh.
• The Sanchez thing succccccks! This is last year’s AL ERA leader’s third trip to the DL already this season, and it’s still just the 20th of May. A big part of it — hopefully — is the fact that MLB has switched from the 15-day DL to the new 10-day one. With two off-days next week, Sanchez is perhaps only going to miss one start here. And if they thought he’d be dicey to make it anyway, having eight games of an extra body on the bench or in the bullpen is probably a worthwhile trade-off to make. His right middle finger, of course, is the same on he recently underwent his “procedure” on, which removed a portion of the fingernail. So… that’s not working out so great, eh?

To that last point:

Gibbons specifically mentioned that it's a blister causing issues once again for Sanchez. No mention of the nail. Blister's back. #BlueJays

— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) May 20, 2017

Awesommmmmmmme.

Gibbons: "It's a blister thing. We want to knock it out. It's aggravating him. If we don't get rid of it then it'll probably linger forever"

— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) May 20, 2017

So… maybe I was being optimistic hoping he misses just a single start. Yeesh.