High-leverage arm Garcia goes on IL with shoulder injury

TAMPA -- The Blue Jays are facing some time without Yimi García, arguably their most important reliever, who has been placed on the 15-day IL with a right shoulder impingement.

The news came as a surprise before Saturday’s game against the Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field. There was no single “moment” that García was injured, and he most recently pitched Thursday against the Padres, giving the Blue Jays a scoreless inning.

Now, García will travel back to Toronto over the next day or two to meet with the Blue Jays’ team doctors.

“It wasn’t one pitch or one outing,” manager John Schneider said. “I’ve talked about trying to limit him and [Jeff] Hoffman. I think it’s just usage, and we wanted to get him back as quickly as we could.”

This has slowly built over the past “handful of weeks,” according to Schneider. Over that time, the Blue Jays have tried to be mindful of García’s usage while giving him some extra time to warm up during games. Clearly, this has now reached the point of being something the team no longer feels it can manage on the fly.

Paxton Schultz is up to join the Blue Jays’ bullpen now, and he showed some promising flashes in his first stint, including eight strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in his MLB debut. But there’s no replacing García. Instead, everyone in Toronto’s bullpen, which ranks 12th in baseball with a 3.64 ERA entering the weekend, will need to step up.

“I think Yariel [Rodríguez] and Chad Green,” Schneider said. “Those are the guys that pop into my head. Brendon Little, obviously. Chad has done it and Little’s done it this year, plus Yariel has proven that he can do it. You need guys like [Braydon] Fisher and [Mason] Fluharty to keep doing what they’re doing to bridge the gap, too.”

García has been mostly dominant this season, stepping right back into the setup role he’d thrived in over the past couple of seasons with the Blue Jays before they dealt him to the Mariners at the 2024 Trade Deadline for outfielder Jonatan Clase. He owns a 3.15 ERA with 24 strikeouts over 20 innings, but that entire ERA belongs to two ugly outings in early May. His other 18 appearances have all been scoreless.

The realities, though, are that García is a 34-year-old reliever with 435 career MLB appearances under his belt. Last season, García dealt with right ulnar neuritis in his right elbow prior to the trade to Seattle, then hit the IL again with the Mariners with inflammation in that same elbow. Everyone will have a much clearer timeline for García once he meets with doctors in Toronto, but in the meantime, the Blue Jays will need to find ways to stay afloat without such a reliable weapon on the back end.

The timing couldn’t be better for Erik Swanson to return. Swanson has been working back from median nerve entrapment and some forearm issues, but he is scheduled to pitch Tuesday with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, and that could be the last rehab outing he needs. Ryan Burr (right shoulder inflammation) could make his last rehab appearance this weekend, too, so help is on the way, and it will surely be needed.