Blue Jays-D-backs trade: Beasley to Toronto

April 22nd, 2021

The Blue Jays acquired right-hander 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.

Did you like this story?

Keegan Matheson covers the Blue Jays for MLB.com.