Steve Drumwright

Despite a first half filled with struggles, the defending AL champion Toronto Blue Jays will have two players starting in the All-Star Game. Two pitchers are going, too. With second baseman Ernie Clement having punched his ticket as the top vote-getter among AL players in the first round of voting, first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was also voted in by the fans in results announced Saturday. Right-handed starter Dylan Cease and right-handed reliever Louis Varland were also named to the team. The All-Star Game is July 14 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. While Guerrero is in for the sixth straight time, Clement, Cease and Varland are first-time All-Stars. Guerrero said he will sit out the game to rest his lower back, which has been hurting him. Jays manager John Schneider will manage the AL team. Clement, a Blue Jays fan favorite, entered Saturday with a slash line of .295/.319/.434 with seven homers and 29 RBIs. He leads the AL with 22 doubles. Guerrero has had a subpar first half with a slash line of .268/.349/.350 and just four homers and 35 RBIs. His career slash line is .287/.364/.484 and has hit at least 23 homers in the previous five seasons. Cease has a 2.79 ERA in 16 starts and 90⅓ innings with an 11% walk rate and career-best 36.7% strikeout rate. Varland, acquired at last year’s trade deadline from the Minnesota Twins and a key bullpen component as they made their World Series run, has a 0.96 ERA in 47 innings over 42 games. He has a 7.2% walk rate and career-best 35.9% strikeout rate. The nine starters for each team were determined by two rounds of fan balloting, with Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Clement getting automatically selected to start by virtue of leading the first round in the NL and AL, respectively. The 23 reserves, which includes 12 pitchers as that position is not up for voting, are selected by player voting and the Commissioner's Office, which ensures that each team has a representative in the game. View full rumor

The Toronto Blues are going to have to make do without George Springer for a few days. For a good reason. The Jays on Wednesday placed the designated hitter on the paternity list and called up outfielder Jonatan Clase from Triple-A Buffalo. Springer, who is slashing .221/.308/.373 this year, is allowed to be away from the team for up to three days for the birth of a child. Clase is up with the Jays for the first time this season. At Triple-A, the switch-hitter was slashing .223/.321/.359 with five homers, 23 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 53 games. He has appeared in 60 games with the Jays over the last two seasons with a .224/.294/.311 slash line, hitting three homers and driving in 14. View full rumor

The call-up of Sean Keys is official, but it comes at the same time as a key injury. The Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday selected the contract of Keys, a corner infielder, from Triple-A Buffalo so he can make his MLB debut. The Jays also called up outfielder Yohendrick Pinango from Buffalo, while placing outfielder Jesus Sanchez on the 10-day injured list with a sprained right ankle and optioning outfielder Davis Schneider to Triple-A. Room on the 40-man roster for Keys was made Friday with right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson being designated for assignment. The news of Keys' promotion broke Friday. He has hit 21 homers this season between Double-A and Triple-A. Sanchez's injury is new, however. He left Friday's 5-4 loss to the Texas Rangers as he smacked into the wall while backtracking to catch a fly ball to end the seventh inning. Sanchez, acquired in the offseason in a trade with the Houston Astros, has been a key part of the Jays' offense and is slashing .274/.316/.437 with seven homers and 29 RBIs in 73 games. Pinango is up with the Jays for the third time this season. He has a .283/.331/.433 slash line in 43 games, hitting four homers and driving in 18. Schneider is back in Buffalo for the second time this season. He was initially sent down to try and straighten out his lack of offense, but was needed back up due to an injury. Schneider has put up a .222/.241/.519 slash line with two homers and four RBIs in 11 games since returning, improving his overall numbers to .153/.282/.296 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 49 games. View full rumor

Despite not allowing a run, Simeon Woods Richardson's stay with the Toronto Blue Jays didn't last very long. The right-hander was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays on Friday to make room for left-handed reliever Adam Macko. Woods Richardson, acquired June 3 from the Minnesota Twins for cash after being DFA'd, made three relief appearances for the Jays, throwing 10 scoreless innings while allowing four hits and seven walks with five strikeouts. The walks could have been a contributing factor to Woods Richardson being DFA'd by the Jays. With the Twins, Woods Richardson had a 6.17 FIP (7.74 ERA) in 10 starts and two relief appearances covering 47⅔ innings with an 11% walk rate and 11.5% strikeout rate. His walk rate with the Jays in the small sample size was 18.4%, with his strikeout rate up a bit to 13.2%. Macko gives the Jays a much-needed second left-hander in the bullpen next to Mason Fluharty. Macko is up for the second time this season after making his MLB debut in May. In 12 games, Macko has a 2.94 FIP (1.50 ERA) with a 4.2% walk rate and 25% strikeout rate over 12 innings. View full rumor

The Toronto Blue Jays are getting a power boost. Corner infielder Sean Keys, Jays Centre's No. 7 prospect, is reportedly being called up from Triple-A Buffalo to make his MLB debut. The move will be made before Saturday's game. Keys hit his 21st homer of the season Thursday for Buffalo. KEYS_VIDEO_0626.mp4 That followed a two-homer game Wednesday. Keys now has seven homers since being called up from Double-A New Hampshire on June 5. Between the two stops, Keys is slashing .284/.409/.619 with 54 RBIs and seven stolen bases in 67 games. At Buffalo, he has a .281/.403/.719 slash line with 20 RBIs in 18 games. Keys was the Jays' fourth-round draft choice in 2024 out of Bucknell. Moves to accommodate Keys on the 26- and 40-man rosters will need to be made, much less where he fits into the Jays' lineup. View full rumor

After a long wait, Shane Bieber is back. The 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner was activated off the 60-day injured list by the Toronto Blue Jays and will start Tuesday's game against the Houston Astros. To make room for Bieber, right-handed reliever Lazaro Estrada was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo and right-handed reliever Hayden Juenger was designated for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Bieber has been out since spring training with inflammation in his right elbow. Bieber was acquired by the Jays at last year's trade deadline while he was on the injured list as he made his way back from Tommy John surgery in 2024. He made seven starts in the regular season, posting a 3.57 ERA in 40⅓ innings. In the postseason, he made four starts and came on in relief in Game 7 of the World Series, giving up the fateful homer to Will Smith of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Estrada came off the 60-day IL himself Saturday following a right shoulder impingement and made one relief appearance, tossing 2⅓ innings, allowing a two-run homer vs. the Chicago Cubs on the day of his return. Juenger was called up May 30 to make his MLB debut, which happened the next day as he surrendered three runs on two hits and two walks in one inning. He made one more appearance June 3, a scoreless inning vs. Atlanta, before being sent down the next day. View full rumor

The Toronto Blue Jays are going with an extra infielder rather than a bonus outfielder. Infielder Luis Urias had his contract selected from Triple-A Buffalo by the Jays on Monday, with outfielder Yohendrick Pinango sent back to Buffalo. Urias was just acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash. Urias had yet to play a game with Buffalo after appearing in 27 games at Triple-A with the D'backs where he had a .361/.393/.546 slash line with three home runs and 19 RBIs. He played in the World Baseball Classic for Mexico, but started the season on the injured list. He was with the A's last season, playing in 96 games and slashing .230/.315/.338 with eight homers and 25 RBIs. Pinango was in his second call-up this year after making his MLB debut in late April. Between the two stints, he has been a very nice contributor with a .283/.331/.433 slash line with four homers and 18 RBIs in 43 games. View full rumor