Dominic Leone Recalled, Lucas Harrell Designated For Assignment

“Gosh, wouldn’t it be nice to have a solid reliever like Dominic Leone available right now!” was a sentiment that echoed throughout Blue Jays Twitter yesterday as Lucas Harrell was in the process of walking in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

According to all of the beat reporters following the team (Shi Davidi had it first by a matter of seconds!) the former has been recalled, and the latter has been designated for assignment.

Harrell was added to the roster back on July 1 amidst injuries and a heavily taxed bullpen. But with Mike Bolsinger on the team, there isn’t much use for Harrell, as both pitchers fill the role of long reliever. Harrell tossed six-and-one-third innings with the Jays, getting tagged for five earned runs on 10 hits and four walks.

Leone, on the other hand, has been quite good this season. Unfortunately for him, as Ryan Tepera can attest to, if you have options, you’re going to be riding the bus back and forth a lot. Leone has been bounced between the big league club and Triple-A Buffalo multiple times now because he has options and stands behind Roberto Osuna, Tepera, and Danny Barnes on the team’s depth chart. Through 39 2/3 innings with the Jays, Leone owns a sparkling 2.95 ERA, though his 4.5 walks per nine is a little worrying.

This move makes the ‘pen stronger, though ideally nobody claims Harrell because he’s solid pitching depth to have in Triple-A in case shit hits the fan like it did in April. When Joe Smith gets activated, I’m guessing Leone will be on his way back down, unless the team wants to try to slide Bolsinger, a valuable swingman, through waivers for a third time this year.