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After a hard loss to the Indians, the Blue Jays shake up their roster by switching an outfielder and a reliever. Two Canadians, Dalton Pompey and Andrew Albers, are being optioned to triple-A Buffalo while Ezequiel Carrera and Scott Copeland are headed the other way. Since Carrera and Copeland are both non-roster players, two spots on the 40-man roster will have to be opened up before tomorrow's afternoon game.
#BlueJays select contracts of OF Ezequil Carrera, P Scott Copeland. Dalton Pompey, Andrew Albers optioned to Buffalo. 40-man moves to follow
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) May 2, 2015
The Blue Jays' CanCon% is reduced from 20 to 12.5 with this move.
These roster moves came mere minutes after I typed out the words "the Blue Jays are counting on Sanchez [...] to save another roster move for a fresh reliever" in the game recap.
Copeland, a 27-year-old looking to make his major league debut, is that fresh reliever. The 6'3 Texan, whose middle name is Reast, has been in the Blue Jays' minor league system since 2012, signing as a minor league free agent after being released from the Orioles' system. He has had a solid 25 starting innings in Buffalo, registering a 1.44 ERA (3.21 FIP). He's a strikethrower, who doesn't nibble too much but who also doesn't strike a lot of guys out. He's thrown 85+ pitches in his four starts for the Bisons, the most recent coming on Monday, so he is quite stretched out.
He also rocked some great socks in spring training:
Photo by Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Give Scott Copeland a follow at @SCopeland345. He's a big leaguer now, let's get him more than 400 followers.
I understand why Pompey would be sent down, with his recent struggles at the plate and in the field, but adding two players on to the full 40-man roster is a bit perplexing. Pompey is young and needs constant playing time, and in a place a little more quiet than the big leagues. Jose Bautista will be returning soon--hopefully--and Pompey would've found a place on the bench anyway. But is a few more days of Pompey worth adding Carrera on the 40-man right now?
With Marco Estrada moving into the starting rotation and Aaron Sanchez starting tomorrow, I guess Alex Anthopoulos thought that they really need someone who could go long and Chad Jenkins threw 89 pitches on Wednesday. I guess he was the only choice, so maybe the moves were't that perplexing after all.
Where's Aaron Laffey when you need him?