Marcus Stroman dealing with shoulder inflammation

Marcus Stroman is dealing with shoulder inflammation after ramping up his throwing regime in January, as the Toronto Blue Jays announced Tuesday. Previously scheduled to start in Toronto’s spring training game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday, Stroman will be pushed back a few days.

The injury is “nothing serious,” Blue Jay manager John Gibbons said, but pushing Stroman back is just a precaution. An MRI revealed no structural damage, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet reported.

“I’m not slightly worried about it,” Stroman told media on Tuesday. “It’s something that I could probably get through if I need to get through it . . . It’s just something I’d rather deal with now and get it out, rather than have something linger throughout the year.”

Stroman contends that his recent tinkering with his arm slot has nothing to do with his tightness.

“I’ve been playing with arm slots my whole career,” Stroman said. “That has nothing to do with it.”

To make room for newly-signed reliever Seung-hwan Oh on the roster, the Blue Jays designated Ezequiel Carrera for assignment on Monday.

Oh previously had agreed to a $2.75 million deal with the Texas Rangers, but the deal fell through when a physical showed inflammation in his elbow and the two parties were unable to rework the terms of the contract. Oh passed his physical with the Blue Jays early Monday.

“The way the team was put together, numbers weren’t in his favour,” Gibbons said of Carrera’s designation.

The Blue Jays plan to carry four outfielders on their opening day roster: Randal Grichuk, Kevin Pillar, Curtis Granderson and Steve Pearce. Carrera was the fifth man.

Carrera has been a stalwart on Toronto’s roster since 2015, and played a career-high 131 games with the Blue Jays in 2017.

Facing the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday, the Blue Jays fell 7-4. Matt Dermody struggled in relief, giving up five runs in what was eventually a bat-around inning for Tampa Bay.

Today, the Blue Jays are set to face the New York Yankees, who have yet to lose a game this spring. Marco Estrada is on the mound for the Blue Jays, while Chad Green, who was beyond phenomenal last season, starts for the Yankees. With a start time of 1:07 ET at Dunedin Stadium, you can listen to the game on MLB.com. The game is not televised.