Notes: Romano returns; no rush on Springer

The Blue Jays activated reliever Jordan Romano prior to Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field, giving their bullpen one of its top arms back.

It has been a refreshing change for the Blue Jays to regain Romano on Saturday and Tyler Chatwood on Friday. The early weeks of the season have seen a parade of Toronto pitchers sent to the injured list, but the club finally has some coming in the other direction at a time that it truly needs it.

Romano, who was out with right ulnar neuritis, didn’t look like himself prior to hitting the IL. Now that he’s back, manager Charlie Montoyo won’t hesitate to throw him into the biggest situations.

“He’s ready for high leverage,” Montoyo said. “Whenever that point is, you’re going to see Jordan in there. It’s great to have him back.”

Montoyo kept his word, bringing in Romano in a 3-3 game in the eighth inning Saturday. Romano was tagged with the loss, allowing two runs (one earned) and recording one out.

The Canadian right-hander posted a 2.70 ERA in four games before his IL stint, with four strikeouts and three walks over 3 1/3 innings. Romano is coming off a breakout 2020, when he put up a 1.23 ERA over 15 appearances on the back of his power fastball and excellent slider. With Julian Merryweather on the IL with a left oblique strain, Romano will figure into the closer’s role alongside Rafael Dolis, who has looked much better recently after a rocky start to the season.

The Blue Jays also added reliever Ty Tice to the roster on Saturday. In a pair of corresponding moves, the club optioned outfielder Josh Palacios and reliever Travis Bergen.

“[Tice] can give us a little bit more length than Bergen, and that was the main reason for that one," Montoyo explained. "With Palacios, of course, we want Palacios to keep playing. We don’t want to just sit him here on the bench.”

Palacios has done nothing but improve his stock in the organization over the past few months, stretching back to the beginning of Spring Training. The 25-year-old, who made great use of the lost 2020 Minor League season, has started to put together some of his physical gifts more consistently on the field, and he’ll remain in the picture if the Blue Jays need an outfielder down the line. When the Minor League season opens, he’ll get everyday reps at Triple-A Buffalo.

Weekend debut unlikely for Springer
There was optimism that George Springer would make his Blue Jays debut this weekend, potentially in Sunday’s series finale. But it now seems likelier that the star center fielder will not be added to the roster until Toronto’s homestand that begins Tuesday.

“He’s got to be 100 percent. We’re not going to rush him,” Montoyo said. “It’s 162 games, or a little bit less now, so we’ve got to make sure he’s ready to go whenever he comes back.”

Between off-days and DH days, the Blue Jays plan to ease Springer in with a long-term focus on his health. Running remains the primary hurdle for Springer to clear with his right quad strain, and he was set to play in another alternate site game in Dunedin, Fla., on Saturday night.

Hernández begins to ramp back up
Teoscar Hernández returned to the organization on Friday after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier in April, and now he begins the process of getting back into game-ready shape. Having the alternate site will benefit Hernández here, as he can get in plenty of at-bats against live pitching.

That’s the next step in his progression, but Hernández started by taking batting practice with coaches pitching to him. So much of the focus has been on Springer, but Hernández has as much raw power potential as anyone in this lineup and is coming off a Silver Slugger Award in 2020, so the Blue Jays’ offense is due for a serious jolt of life over the coming weeks.