The Toronto Blue Jays may have lost to David Peterson and the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, but they have possibly lost more as they begin a series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Recent Blue Jays news is that both Trey Yesavage and Spencer Arrighetti could miss significant time.
The Blue Jays are fighting for their lives in the MLB standings. They are in last place in the AL East. The Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Baltimore Orioles are all ahead of them in the standings.
However, there is a sliver of hope for Toronto. They are only 3.5 games back of the final Wild Card Position. Sadly, FanGraphs gives them a 4.3 percent chance of making the playoffs.
Because of that, the recent Blue Jays news surrounding Arrighetti and Yesavage is hard to swallow.
Toronto Blue Jays News: Spencer Arrighetti Leaves Rehab Game
Recently, Arrighetti was put on a rehab assignment. The Blue Jays revealed the news of this assignment yesterday.
“Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP Spencer Arrighetti on a rehab assignment to Buffalo Bisons,” the team wrote on their transaction log.
However, the bad news started during the third inning of his rehab start on Thursday with the Bisons.
“Spencer Arrighetti just left due to injury in the 3rd inning of tonight’s AAA rehab start. He appeared to tweak that same right foot again,” Thomas Hall wrote on social media yesterday.
Arrighetti has played 17 MLB starts this year. He has recorded 87 strikeouts while posting a 4.60 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP in 88 innings for the Houston Astros.
The Latest on Trey Yesavage
Yesavage left Tuesday’s game before the third inning and received an MRI on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, John Schneider gave an update on his situation.
“John Schneider says Trey Yesavage has an injury to the meniscus in his left knee and will visit a specialist Monday to determine next steps,” Shi Davidi wrote on August 6th on social media. “Surgery ‘is always a possibility’ when a player sees a specialist, said Schneider. ‘We’re obviously hoping to avoid that.”
Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet added by saying that Yesavage will “see a specialist on Monday for further evaluation and to determine next steps.”
Obviously, this is less than ideal.
The State of the Toronto Blue Jays Rotation
Luckily, the Blue Jays have a lot of starters to fill out their rotation right now.
They have healthy hurlers in Dylan Cease, Jose Soriano, Max Scherzer, Shane Bieber, and Jameson Taillon. Not to mention they scored Matt Waldron off waivers, who will join the team as they face the Phillies on Friday, August 7th.
Unfortunately, the Blue Jays would like to have as many healthy bodies as possible so that they can properly assess what they have with their current rotation. With the playoffs all but a dream at this point, securing what their rotation looks like beyond the 2026 season is a top priority.
Scherzer and Bieber are likely to move on in the offseason. If they do, that could leave Cease, Soriano, Yesavage, Taillon, Arrighetti, Spencer Miles, and a few minor leaguers to fight for the five rotation positions.
With an ace like Cease to go along with a 2-3 punch of Soriano and Yesavage is a great thing for the Blue Jays to have.
Now, fans will have to wait and see what happens over the rest of this season. It could have a lasting effect on the team for months to come.
Blue Jays Get Disastrous Arrighetti News as Trey Yesavage Injury Looms