Blue Jays reportedly reinstating Lazaro Estrada from 60-day IL after shoulder impingement

What happened

The Toronto Blue Jays are expected to reinstate right-hander Lazaro Estrada from the 60-day injured list, per Francys Romero. Estrada has been sidelined for approximately two and a half months with a shoulder impingement — the kind of timeline that tends to make a pitching staff feel like it is being assembled and disassembled in the same afternoon.

The 27-year-old's only MLB work this season came on April 4, when he made a four-inning appearance as part of a bullpen game. That outing was also just the third appearance of his major-league career. His rehab assignment has featured 2-to-3 inning stints, though he worked as a starter in Triple-A last season, so the organization has some flexibility in how they think about his role going forward.

Why it matters

The reinstatement is straightforward on the 40-man side. Toronto recently designated Yariel Rodríguez and Connor Seabold for assignment, which opened a couple of spots on the 40-man roster. Per the report, that means the Blue Jays have room to bring Estrada back without needing to make any additional corresponding moves on that front.

The more interesting question is what happens to his spot on the active roster — and whether he even gets one right away. Per Romero, Estrada has a couple of options remaining, which means Toronto could send him to Triple-A on an optional assignment without any further roster maneuvering. Under general league rules, a player with options remaining can be moved between the majors and minors without clearing waivers, giving the club a degree of flexibility that not every returning pitcher enjoys.

Is Estrada going to the big-league roster or Triple-A?

That part is still being sorted out, per the report. If the Blue Jays want to carry Estrada on the MLB roster, Romero identifies Brendon Little as the likeliest candidate to head back to the minors. Little allowed four runs in his first MLB appearance in two months — a debut-back-from-the-minors outing that the box score will remember longer than anyone else will. The timing of Estrada's reinstatement puts Little's roster spot in a precarious position, though nothing has been formally announced.

If Toronto opts not to add Estrada to the active roster immediately, his remaining options mean they can keep him in Triple-A without any additional moves. That path costs the club nothing procedurally and gives Estrada more time to stretch out after working in shorter stints during his rehab.

Where the club stands

At 79-83 (.488), the Blue Jays are playing out the string in a division that has moved on without them. Fifth place in the AL East, 19 games back, and eliminated from both the division and Wild Card races — the standings are what they are, and no amount of roster shuffling changes the arithmetic. They do carry a one-game winning streak into this move, which is the kind of momentum that deserves acknowledgment even when the standings have already rendered their verdict. The Wild Card picture is similarly closed off, with Toronto ranking 6th in Wild Card positioning, 5.0 relative to the cut line.

What the remaining schedule does offer is a look at younger and returning pieces, which is exactly the context in which a Lazaro Estrada reinstatement makes the most sense. The upcoming slate has Toronto at Wrigley Field on Saturday, June 20, where Patrick Corbin is the probable starter against Colin Rea. Sunday, June 21 brings Dylan Cease to the mound against Shota Imanaga, also at Wrigley. The club then returns home to Rogers Centre on Monday, June 22, where Cease is listed again as the probable against Hunter Brown of the Houston Astros. Estrada's name does not appear in any of those probable pitcher slots, which tracks with the uncertainty around whether he will even be on the active roster when those games are played.

What we don't know yet

Per Romero, the reinstatement is expected — but the destination remains open. Whether Estrada joins the active 26-man roster or heads to Triple-A on an optional assignment has not been formally announced. If he does come up, the corresponding move has not been made public either, though Little's situation is flagged in the report as the most likely pressure point.

There is also the broader question of role. Estrada worked as a starter in Triple-A last season, but his rehab has been built around shorter stints. Whether Toronto eventually wants him stretched out as a starter, deployed as a multi-inning reliever, or kept in the bullpen game format he appeared in on April 4 is not addressed in the report. For a club that is eliminated from postseason contention, those developmental decisions carry more weight than any single roster transaction.

What to watch

The immediate thing to monitor is whether a corresponding move surfaces to place Estrada on the active roster, or whether the club sends him to Triple-A on the optional assignment that Romero says is available to them. If Little is sent down, that answers the question. If no move follows, Estrada is likely heading back to the minors for now.

Beyond the transaction itself, keep an eye on how the Blue Jays use him if and when he does appear in the majors again. His April 4 outing was a four-inning bullpen game appearance — a format that has become its own genre of roster management. Whether that remains his lane or whether the organization tries to build his workload back toward something resembling a starter's profile will say something about how they see him fitting into the picture beyond this season.

The shoulder impingement is reportedly behind him. The roster math is workable. What comes next is the part that still needs filling in.