Relievers have been dropping like flies for the Toronto Blue Jays lately.

In a span of four days, they lost Yimi García (ankle) and Nick Sandlin (elbow) to the injured list, subtracting two key arms from the bullpen. Then, the injury bug struck again during Wednesday’s series finale versus the Chicago White Sox, with Ryan Burr having to leave the game.

Burr signalled for team trainers after throwing his 15th and final pitch in the seventh inning, appearing to favour his right shoulder as he walked off the field. Post-game, manager John Schneider revealed he’ll be heading back to Toronto to undergo an MRI to determine the severity of his ailment.

In all likelihood, an IL announcement is probably coming for Burr, especially with the All-Star break beginning Monday. However, the bigger concern is whether the 31-year-old has suffered a significant injury, which would further derail what has already been an injury-plagued season.

Burr missed over a month coming out of spring training due to a shoulder injury and had his rehab assignment paused in late May after sustaining a setback, causing him to restart his build-up last month before rejoining the Blue Jays’ staff.

If he indeed heads to the IL, it’ll require Toronto to fill yet another hole in the ‘pen — a feat that’s becoming much tougher to accomplish, as the list of injured relievers continues to grow. With the July 31 trade deadline still three weeks away, any meaningful help likely isn’t walking through the door until closer to the end of the month.

Though the Blue Jays may ultimately acquire an impact relief arm via trade, doing so at this point would surely cost a premium. As such, they’ll have to continue to look from within to cover these injury-related losses, and while they’re running thin on depth options, here are three who could help bridge the gap until the trade deadline arrives.

Fluharty, already on the 40-man roster, was optioned to triple-A Buffalo earlier this month after displaying visible signs of fatigue and struggling to correct his prolonged struggles, resulting in a 14.73 ERA and 9.22 FIP with eight walks and nine strikeouts over his final 10 appearances.

It was evident that the 23-year-old lefty desperately needed a reset following his first stint with the big-league club, during most of which he was thrown into the fire as a rookie. But he handled that role exceptionally well, at least over his first two months in the majors.

Since returning to triple-A, Fluharty has made a pair of appearances with the Bisons, allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striking out three across 1.2 innings. He also received three days of rest between those outings, something he was only afforded three times since the start of May with the Blue Jays — a span that consisted of 23.1 innings of work, including three back-to-back outings.

By rule, Fluharty must spend 15 days in the minors before he’s eligible to be recalled to the majors again — that is, unless it’s as a corresponding injury replacement. With Burr likely headed to the IL, the team may opt to bring him back up as a third southpaw in the ‘pen, joining Brendon Little and Justin Bruihl.

That would obviously cut Fluharty’s reset short, though his return could help lighten the load on Little, who’s on pace for a career-high 75 appearances this season — the most he’s made at any level thus far was 50 in 2023.

It was a rocky return to the majors earlier this season for Tate, who surrendered three runs on seven hits and nearly recorded as many walks (six) as strikeouts (seven) while inducing a ground ball less than a third of the time in five appearances. Such a disappointing performance, of course, earned him a ticket back to Buffalo after he was outrighted off the 40-man roster in May.

But the 31-year-old righty has rebounded well of late, tossing 11.0 consecutive scoreless innings with the Bisons over his previous nine games. During that span, he’s increased his sinker’s average velocity to 92.9 m.p.h., up from his 91.8 average with the Blue Jays. And his sweeper has continued to be lights out all season, responsible for over 75 per cent of his 30 strikeouts in the minors, with opponents slugging just .167 against it in 48 plate appearances.

Tate, formerly a ground-ball machine with the Baltimore Orioles, who owns a 50-per-cent ground-ball rate at triple-A in 2025, may soon earn himself another big-league opportunity with this organization — which would first have to create space on the 40-man before selecting his contract.

If you were wondering what happened to Amir Garrett following his lone spring training appearance on Feb. 28, you probably weren’t alone. So, let’s bring everyone up to speed.

Garrett, who agreed to a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays over the off-season, left his only Grapefruit League outing due to injury after two-thirds of an inning and didn’t throw another pitch for the remainder of the spring. Why, you ask? He felt discomfort in his left arm and ultimately underwent surgery to remove a bone spur in March.

After working his way back, the 33-year-old lefty began a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League on June 24, making a pair of appearances in rookie ball before advancing to single-A Dunedin. In two appearances at that level, the 6-foot-5 hurler has logged 2.1 perfect frames, punching out three of his seven batters faced and has touched 95-96 m.p.h. with his fastball.

After completing five rehab outings, three in the FCL and the other two with Dunedin, Garrett — who’s working with a lower arm angle this season — will likely head to triple-A later this month, perhaps as soon as coming out of the All-Star break. From there, he’ll continue his build-up, eyeing a return to the majors for the first time since May 14, 2024.

Despite not receiving an invite to spring training this year, the former Cincinnati Reds setup man could soon become another depth option for the Blue Jays ahead of their stretch run.