Blue Jays-D-backs trade: Beasley to Toronto

The Blue Jays acquired right-hander Jeremy Beasley from the D-backs in exchange for cash considerations, the club announced Thursday.

The move comes as the Blue Jays are dealing with a significant number of injuries to both their rotation and bullpen early in the season, which has tested their depth already. Beasley, who was recently designated for assignment by the D-backs, will report to the Blue Jays’ alternate training site.

Beasley offers the Blue Jays some length. He could be used as a starter or in a bulk role out of the bullpen, which has become important for the club in April. The 25-year-old came up as a starter with the Angels prior to being dealt to the D-backs for Matt Andriese in early 2020.

While Beasley has just one Major League appearance, recording a single out in relief in 2020, he topped 100 innings in each of the prior two seasons in the Minor Leagues. He’s made three Triple-A starts in his career, where he struggled to a 7.90 ERA but pitched to a 3.59 ERA across 153 innings at the Double-A level.

This also gives the Blue Jays some needed depth on their 40-man roster, which was running thin on healthy arms. Travis Bergen, Elvis Luciano and Ty Tice were the only healthy arms on the 40-man roster not currently on the active roster, and given that Luciano wasn’t a consideration, more depth was needed.

The Blue Jays have already needed to lean heavily on arms like Trent Thornton, Joel Payamps, Tommy Milone, T.J. Zeuch and Anthony Castro to fill multi-inning roles, so Beasley’s length adds some insurance behind that group. In a corresponding move, Thomas Hatch, who’s rehabbing from a right elbow impingement, was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Hatch is still expected to make a full recovery and contribute this season, but this move reflects the time the young right-hander will need to build back up after injuring himself late in Spring Training. The timing was unfortunate for Hatch, who would have stepped into a prominent role in this rotation if he’d stayed healthy, but the organization is still very optimistic about his future as a starter.

The full list of injured pitchers on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster includes Hatch, Zeuch, No. 1 prospect Nate Pearson, Tyler Chatwood, Julian Merryweather, Patrick Murphy (60-day IL), Jordan Romano, Ross Stripling and Kirby Yates (60-day IL). Both Chatwood and Romano are expected back very soon, which is a step in the right direction, but the Blue Jays are still very limited in terms of roster flexibility by these injuries.