MRI to Yimi Garcia’s elbow reveals no structural damage, Yariel Rodriguez and Brandon Eisert join Blue Jays in Toronto

The Toronto Blue Jays received some positive news about one of their pitchers on Monday, as an MRI revealed that there’s no structural damage to Yimi Garcia’s elbow.

The right-hander was pulled in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 7-6 win over the Cleveland Guardians with elbow soreness but manager John Schneider said that he’s day-to-day and might not need a stint on the Injured List.

Losing Garcia for any amount of time would be a major blow to Toronto’s already thin bullpen. While the team has had to navigate injuries to Jordan Romano, Erik Swanson, Chad Green, Yariel Rodriguez, and Bowden Francis at various points this season, Garcia has been a pillar of consistency for the Blue Jays. The 33-year-old has a 2.57 ERA over 27 appearances and leads the team with 11.9 strikeouts per nine.

With there still being uncertainty as to whether Garcia will land on the Injured List, the Blue Jays have added left-handed reliever Brandon Eisert to the team’s Taxi Squad ahead of this week’s series with the Boston Red Sox.

Selected in the 18th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, Eisert is in his third season pitching for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. He posted ERAs of 3.41 and 4.17 for the Bisons in 2022 and 2023 but has struggled to a 6.35 ERA so far in 2024. Over 19 appearances out of the bullpen this season, Eisert has struck out 35 batters and has walked 14.

Eisert isn’t on the 40-man roster but the Blue Jays currently have two spots available if they want to activate him to the Major League roster. The team can also move Alek Manoah to the 60-day Injured List, as the big right-hander is set to undergo season-ending surgery this week.

Also joining the Blue Jays on Monday was right-hander Yariel Rodriguez, who will likely be activated from the Injured List at some point this week. Rodriguez has posted a 1.93 ERA with 23 strikeouts across six rehab appearances with the Bisons and he threw 79 pitches in his most recent outing on Sunday.

Yusei Kikuchi, Chris Bassitt, and Kevin Gausman will start for the Blue Jays this week against the Red Sox, and then Manoah’s turn will come up on Friday when the team opens up a three-game weekend series against the Cleveland Guardians. The Blue Jays have been using the piggyback combination of Trevor Richards and Bowden Francis in Manoah’s spot for the past few weeks but having a healthy Rodriguez available to start would allow them to use either of them in different roles in the bullpen.