On This Day: Blue Jays claim Luke Maile off of waivers

On April 6, 2017, the Toronto Blue Jays claimed catcher Luke Maile off of waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays.

Maile, then 26 years old, had played sparsely in both of the Rays previous two seasons. He had accumulated 57 games, a .214 batting average and strikeout-to-walk ratio of 11.

Here’s what MLB Trade Rumors said at the time:

Maile did provide more offense earlier in his minor-league career. And he has shown fairly well defensively in the majors. Last year, he rated well as a framer and cut down seven of 18 would-be base-stealers, which suggests he could be a useful depth piece. Maile will likely join Juan Graterol as 40-man members stashed at Triple-A in the Toronto organization.

Of course, he wasn’t known for his offensive abilities, and was acquired by the Blue Jays to supplement the play of Jarrod Saltalamacchia. He was recalled from Buffalo in late April, and remained with the team until July, when he tore his meniscus. He didn’t return until September.

In total, he played 46 games last year, the most of his career in a single season (although he came close with a 42 game season in 2016). His offense was akin to what it was when with the Rays. He posted a batting average of .146 and OBP of .176; he had only 19 hits.

Even with flawed catching metrics, Maile had a 0.9 defensive WAR.

Already this season, in only nine plate appearances, Maile has reached base four times. In the entirety of 2017, he had seven RBI, and he already has three this season.