Blue Jays reliever Erik Swanson nearing return from injury

The Blue Jays should be getting a reinforcement to their bullpen soon.

Manager John Schneider said on Friday that Erik Swanson is going to pitch on Saturday in a rehab assignment for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. The hope for the Blue Jays is that Swanson’s rehab assignment is a one-and-done and that he can join the team shortly after.

Swanson was placed on the 15-day Injured List following Toronto’s late-August series with the Cleveland Guardians because of thoracic spine inflammation. He was shut down for 10 days and resumed throwing earlier this week and is eligible to be activated from the Injured List on Monday.

The Blue Jays acquired Swanson in the off-season from the Seattle Mariners to add some depth to their bullpen and he’s provided the team with a lot of quality innings. Swanson has a 3.10 ERA and is striking out 10.4 batters per nine innings while walking 2.9 per nine.

He’s also already matched a career-high in innings pitched in a single season at the Major League level with 58, though Swanson threw over 100 innings two different times when he was a starting pitcher in the minors. His other 58-inning season came in 2019 with the Mariners and he started eight games and came out of the bullpen 19 times.

The Blue Jays haven’t yet had a fully healthy version of their ideal bullpen this season. Jordan Romano and Trevor Richards spent time on the shelf in August after the team traded for Jordan Hicks and Chad Green didn’t get activated from the 60-day Injured List until after Swanson got hurt. If the pitching staff can stay healthy this weekend, we should see Toronto’s deepest bullpen of the season starting next week.