Notes: Shuffling catchers; Yankees await

The Blue Jays swapped out a pair of catchers before their game in Boston on Saturday, selecting the contract of Caleb Joseph to the active roster while optioning Reese McGuire to the club’s alternate training site.

Joseph, 34, has extensive big league experience, something the Blue Jays could find beneficial while McGuire works through offensive struggles. He has just three hits in 41 at-bats across 19 games.

“We still think a lot of Reese McGuire,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “So I think it was a good time for him to go down to Rochester and get at-bats without pressure to try and get that timing down. He’s been doing fine catching, but his offense was struggling a lot.”

Joseph last played for the Diamondbacks in 2019. He appeared in 20 games, batting .211 with two doubles and three RBIs. He spent the first five years of his career with the Orioles.

Right-hander Ken Giles was moved to the 45-day injured list. That does not alter his schedule for a return to the team, however. Giles threw a live batting practice session on Saturday and likely will throw one more Tuesday.

One of the hitters Giles threw to was shortstop Bo Bichette, who continues to inch closer to a return to the team.

Montoyo said that while Bichette is progressing well, he may spend a brief time in Rochester in order to get a few more swings in, while also fine-tuning his defense. Bichette has been on the IL since Aug. 16 with a right knee sprain.

Bring on the Yankees
Among the myriad scheduling oddities that are part of 2020 is the fact that despite the season being six weeks old, and the Blue Jays have not yet played the Yankees.

The fun starts Monday. Beginning with the series opener in Buffalo, the Jays will play 10 of 17 games against the Yankees.

Entering play Saturday, the two teams were locked in a tie for second place in the American League East. This could make for an intriguing several weeks, considering the second-place team in every division will earn a playoff berth this year.

Second baseman Joe Panik, a member of the Giants’ World Series championship team in 2014, said it’s not hard to flip the switch to the “stretch run” mentality, even with a 60-game schedule.

“Once the clock hit September, I think everybody kind of got a feeling like, ‘OK, this is it. Here we go. This is last four weeks,’” he said. “Because, in my mind, that’s really when it hits the home stretch.

“It’s crazy we’re 35 games or 40 games in, and it's the home stretch. We know where we are in the standings with them, and we know what's at stake.”

Childhood Cancer Awareness Day
Major League Baseball and all 30 clubs commemorated Childhood Cancer Awareness Day on Saturday, with all on-field personnel wearing special demarcations on their normal game-day gear to show support of the cause.

Players, coaches and umpires wore gold ribbon decals and wristbands during Saturday’s games, and teams held their own ceremonial demonstrations to raise awareness for childhood cancer, the leading cause of death by disease among children in Canada and the United States.

In collaboration with MLB and the Starlight Children’s Foundation, 15 clubs donated 100 baseball-themed hospital gowns for children undergoing treatment.

Worth noting
• With a doubleheader on the docket and only two off-days remaining, Montoyo is making sure to rest his regulars when he can. That’s why Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Cavan Biggio were not in the starting lineup Saturday.

“Trying to keep them healthy,” Montoyo said. “There aren’t many more days off after this. It becomes a grind again.”

• No matter how the current series ends, it’ll be a better outcome for the Blue Jays than the last time they played a five-game series at Fenway Park. They lost all five games from July 1-4, 2002, and were outscored, 26-12. The current series marks the 11th time in Jays history they have played in a series of five or more games.