Bullpen takes another hit

Garcia, Toronto's best reliever this season, is placed on 15-day injured list

- GREGOR CHISHOLM

The Blue Jays, still in the process of adjusting to life without closer Jordan Romano, will be forced to survive without his top replacement.

Yimi Garcia, who has been by far the Jays' best reliever this season, departed Sunday's 7-6 victory over Cleveland Guardians with right elbow soreness. An ensuing MRI ruled out structural damage but there were "ulnar nerve symptoms," according to manager John Schneider.

The Jays were initially hoping Garcia would avoid a stint on the injured list. Schneider labelled him as "day to day" on Monday afternoon and later said it was more like "12 hours to 12 hours."

That ended up being wishful thinking as Garcia was placed on the 15-day IL about one hour before the first pitch of the Jays' 7-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox. His spot was filled by left-hander Brandon Eisert, who had a 6.35 ERA in 19 appearances at Triple-A Buffalo.

"(Garcia is) obviously really important to our bullpen," Schneider said. "So we want to do what's right for him and what's right for us at the same time."

The Jays have been down this road before with Garcia. Earlier this year, they waited out a back injury for approximately two weeks without placing him on the IL.