ANAHEIM, Calif. – Prospect Ryan Borucki is expected to fill the vacancy in the Toronto Blue Jays’ starting rotation after he was scratched from his scheduled start Sunday for triple-A Buffalo.
While the club officially remained TBA for Tuesday at the Houston Astros, two industry sources said the club’s current plan is to call up the 24-year-old to make the start against the defending World Series champions.
Luis Santos was to start in Borucki’s place before the Bisons got rained out.
The Blue Jays placed both Aaron Sanchez (right index finger contusion) and Jaime Garcia (left shoulder inflammation) on the disabled list Saturday, with Marcus Stroman’s return from the DL filling one of the spots.
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Borucki rocketed through the Blue Jays system last year, starting at single-A Dunedin and finishing the season at Buffalo. Through 13 starts this year, he’s pitched to a 3.27 ERA and 1.169 WHIP in 77 innings with 58 strikeouts.
A 15th-round pick in 2012 out of Mundelein High School in Illinois, he threw just six innings after he signed before he underwent Tommy John surgery that also cost him all of 2013. He rebounded in 2014 but was limited to 5.2 innings in 2015 with elbow and shoulder troubles.
In a recent interview, Blue Jays farm director Gil Kim described Borucki as “one of the most athletic pitchers in the system, one of the fiercest competitors we have. Those things really play up and allow him to be what he is right now. He has probably one of the best change-ups in the system. Really taken a step forward in terms of locating his two-seamer down in the zone.”
Along with his fastball and change-up, Borucki also throws a slider that Baseball American described as “fringe-average” in its annual prospects guide.
