Saturday Bantering: Chris Coghlan to the DL, Steve Pearce activated

The Blue Jays activated Steve Pearce off of the disabled list yesterday, and in his first day back, he hit eighth and played left field. In his three plate appearances, Pearce walked once, hit a home run and reached on an error. The error, in which third baseman Todd Frazier missed Jose Abreu at first base, saw Pearce trip over the first base bag. Despite his calf injury, Pearce showed no signs of discomfort after the play.

Chris Coghlan, in a corresponding move, has been placed on the 10-day disabled list with left wrist contusion. In a media scrum, manager John Gibbons said that Coghlan has been playing through wrist soreness since Toronto’s sweep of the Mariners in May, when he was hit by a pitch in the left hand area.

Even with Devon Travis on the disabled list and a weakened middle infield, Gibbons won’t consider putting Pearce at second base. “Pearce ain’t playing second base. You won’t see him there. Don’t waste your breath, or mine.”

Devon Travis’s injury seems to be as severe as we thought it was. General manager Ross Atkins said that the Blue Jays “hope” to see him back on the playing field this season, but it isn’t for sure.

“Usually these procedures are a couple of months, or into three and four months,” Atkins told TSN in an interview. “So, on the low side, probably three month. And we’ll see — there’s nothing concrete about it, we’re still learning about it. We’re hopeful that we could see him again, but certainly don’t want to put anything concrete out there about this year.”

Aaron Sanchez threw on a mound yesterday, his first time doing so since May 19th, Shi Davidi reports. Sanchez is expected to travel with the team to Texas when they face the Rangers, then begin his rehab assignment. He has been struggling with a blister/finger nail issue for the majority of this season, although it was reported earlier that Sanchez has experienced this since his time in the minors.

The Blue Jays suffered another painful loss yesterday, falling 11-4 to the Chicago White Sox. Joe Biagini, after pitching well in his past four starts, gave up six earned runs (seven total) while just recording three outs. The bullpen, specifically Dominic Leone and Jeff Beliveau, proceeded to give up four earned runs. Even in the loss, Justin Smoak hit a two-run home run, his 19th of the season.

Marcus Stroman will start for the Blue Jays in today’s game, with a start time of 1:07 ET. Stroman hasn’t given up more than four earned runs since May 3rd against the Yankees, and he’s seemed to fix his earlier problems with walks — he’s given a free pass to batters only once in his past 19.0 innings pitched. Mike Pelfrey, who’s on a similar hot streak, starts for the White Sox. His last appearance, on June 14th, was out of the bullpen, so he may experience some trouble reverting back to the starting rotation.

You can watch the game on MLB Network, TVA Sports and Sportsnet or listen to it on Sportsnet 590.

Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkColley.