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Blue Jays option Brendon Little and Lázaro Estrada, recall Joe Mantiply and Austin Voth
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Photo credit: © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Apr 5, 2026, 12:30 EDTUpdated: Apr 5, 2026, 13:09 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays have made their first big wave of roster moves.
On Sunday morning, Blue Jays Nation’s Thomas Hall reported that the Jays have optioned Lázaro Estrada and Brendon Little, transferred Cody Ponce and Anthony Santander to the 60-day injured list, and have selected the contract of Joe Mantiply and Austin Voth. Both Voth and Mantiply will be active for Sunday afternoon’s game.
It was only a matter of time before both Ponce and Santander were transferred to the 60-day injured list, as those two transactions freed up two spots on the 40-man. The Blue Jays elected to call up Mantiply and Voth.
Starting with Mantiply, the left-handed receiver has big league experience, making his big league debut in 2016, before becoming a regular from 2019 until the Arizona Diamondbacks DFA’d him in 2025. Mantiply’s best season by far was in 2022, when he posted a 2.85 ERA and 2.83 FIP in 60 innings pitched, with a 25.1 K% and 2.5 BB%. The lefty made the All-Star game that season, as the Diamondbacks won the National League pennant.
Mantiply had a tough 2023 season, but had a sub-4.00 ERA in 2024. After nine and two-thirds innings in 2025 where he had a 15.83 ERA and 9.45 FIP, the Diamondbacks DFA’d him then released the lefty. In the summer, Mantiply signed a minor league free agent deal with the Blue Jays, then re-upped in the spring.
There’s hope that Mantiply can find his past form, but he gives the Blue Jays a second option to turn to a left-handed reliever. Voth will give the Blue Jays some length, as his most recent season saw him post a 3.96 ERA and 2.90 FIP in 125 innings pitched in Japan last season. Voth’s most recent big league season was in 2024 with the Seattle Mariners, authoring a 3.69 ERA and 4.12 FIP, with a 24.6 K% and 7.3 BB%.
Voth, 33, will replace Lázaro Estrada as the long-man in the Blue Jays bullpen. The 26-year-old pitched admirably in Saturday’s game against the Chicago White Sox, going four scoreless innings with three strikeouts and two walks. His performance will earn him another look at some point next season.
To say that Little has struggled this season would be an understatement. Of the 17 earned runs Blue Jays’ relievers have given up this season (not including Tyler Heineman), Little has been tagged for 10 of them. The lefty has also given up three inherited runs, so he’s been on the mound for 13 of 17 earned runs this season. This decision was a long time coming, dating back to the second half of the 2026 season.
As for Ponce and Santander, it’s unclear when or if they’ll return this season, but whenever they return, they’ll need to be added back to the 40-man roster. That’s a decision for a later time, though.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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