The Toronto Blue Jays have made the necessary roster move to bring Max Scherzer back before tonight’s start, with right-hander Spencer Turnbull being designated for assignment to facilitate the move. Scherzer was on the 60-day IL, and with a full 40-man roster, someone needed to be removed for him to return.

Turnbull was signed by the Blue Jays in early May and had been working in the organization’s farm system to get back up to being Major League ready through the month and into early June. Toronto called him up to the big leagues on June 9th, and he appeared in three games over the past few weeks.

Through three outings, the right-hander authored a 7.11 ERA and a 5.76 FIP through 6 1/3 innings, allowing five earned runs off of 12 hits and four walks. Working as a long reliever for his first two outings, Turnbull got the start against the Chicago White Sox last Friday and struggled through two innings of work, allowing five hits and four runs (including a home run) with two walks before being lifted after 45 pitches. Before his start, he had allowed just one run through 4 1/3 relief innings. Turnbull added four strikeouts and pitched to a 62 ERA+ through his time with Toronto.

Once considered a depth signing to bolster the Jays’ pitching corps, Turnbull also appeared to be a potential long-relief candidate in the Jays’ pen before being DFA’d. The front office opted to keep Justin Bruihl, Easton Lucas, and the newly acquired Robinson Pina on the 40-man roster instead. With over three years of service time, should the former Phillies hurler pass through waivers unclaimed or he does not get traded, he can elect free agency and reject the outright assignment to triple-A.

With this move, Scherzer can now make his scheduled start for the Jays later this evening while Eric Lauer officially moves into the other rotation spot. Paxton Schultz, Braydon Fisher, Mason Fluharty, Nick Sandlin, Jeff Hoffman, Chad Green, Yariel Rodriguez, and Brandon Little round out the bullpen.

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