The Billy McKinney era begins

Billy McKinney is being given a shot to show up his former team. The Blue Jays have recalled the outfielder acquired in the J.A. Happ trade to replace Luke Maile who was placed on the paternity list.

Since being acquired by the Jays a few weeks ago, McKinney has slashed a .203/.292/.453 line with the Buffalo Bisons over the course of 20 games.

It’s been a pretty ugly season for the former top-100 prospect. He started the season with the Yankees but got hurt in the team’s second game against the Jays at Rogers Centre. He hasn’t really found his footing in the minors since. All told, McKinney has slashed a .222/.307/.470 line for the season across multiple levels. It certainly isn’t bad, but it isn’t as good as what he did in 2017.

This stint probably won’t last long, but I imagine we’ll see quite a bit of McKinney in September when rosters expand. It seems he’s jumped over Dalton Pompey on the organization’s depth chart for outfielders, and he could well be ahead of Anthony Alford and Dwight Smith Jr. too.