Blue Jays outright veteran lefty reliever to Triple-A

The Toronto Blue Jays announced that lefty reliever Ryan Borucki has been outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo. He went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment on Monday.

Borucki had sufficient service time to decline a minor league assignment. He probably would’ve remained unsigned for the rest of the season had he chosen free agency. Manager John Schneider said Monday that Borucki was hoping to stick with the organization (relayed by Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet). That’ll come to fruition after he accepted the outright assignment.

Toronto signed Borucki to a minor league contract late last month after he was released by the Pirates. The Jays selected his contract a little over a week later. Borucki managed 4 1/3 scoreless frames across four appearances, though he walked four of the 19 hitters he faced. The southpaw tossed 30 2/3 innings for the Bucs earlier in the season, working to a 5.28 earned run average. He had middling strikeout and walk numbers but got ground-balls at a 55% clip.

The Jays are familiar with Borucki, whom they drafted out of high school more than a decade ago. That came under a previous front office, but he spent his first four and a half MLB seasons with Toronto under the current regime. Brendon Little and Eric Lauer are the two southpaws in John Schneider’s bullpen. Mason Fluharty, Justin Bruihl and Easton Lucas are on the 40-man roster and on optional assignment. Borucki no longer carries a 40-man spot but that’s largely because he could not be optioned. The Jays might still view him as their third-best lefty reliever and could bring him back if Little or Lauer suffer an injury.