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The Blue Jays placed Jose Bautista on revocable waivers yesterday, which really isn’t news. Bautista, a pending free agent with a mutual option for 2018 and 2019, has hit .216 this season, but still possesses a high OBP at .325.
Playing in all but one of Toronto’s 108 regular-season games, the hallmark of Bautista’s 2017 season to date has been reliability and his ability to remain healthy. He’s already played just nine games less than he did in 2016.
Bautista has 10-5 rights, meaning he can veto any trade involving himself.
Ryan Borucki is doing just okay in double-A New Hampshire.
Over 21 innings with the Fisher Cats, the 23-year-old left-handed pitcher has an ERA of 0.43 while walking three and striking out 18. Borucki ranks as the 14th-best prospect in Toronto’s system on MLB Pipeline, although the rankings likely don’t include his recent dominance in double-A. (And they likely shouldn’t, given the extremely small sample size.)
In other prospect news, two of the three minor-leaguers Toronto received at the trade deadline are within the team’s top-30 prospect list on MLB Pipeline. Teoscar Hernandez, an outfielder that Ross Atkins called “major-league ready,” is ranked fifth overall, while Thomas Pannone (acquired from Cleveland in exchange for Joe Smith) is ranked 21st overall. Samad Taylor did not make the top 30 list.
Josh Donaldson’s recent resurgence appears to be because of his helmet.
In his media scrum after Wednesday’s ballgame, Donaldson told Sportsnet that the flap on his helmet meant to protect his head was interfering with his vision, specifically on breaking balls.
Josh Donaldson takes us inside his decision to alter his batting helmet. pic.twitter.com/fjKWzindQA
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 2, 2017
Donaldson hit three home runs in the series against the White Sox. He also walked three times and collected five total hits.
After an off-day yesterday, the Blue Jays will face the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park at 8:10 ET this evening. Cesar Valdez gets his third start in a Blue Jay uniform against Brad Peacock, who provided four innings of relief in his last outing and gave up two earned runs on one walk.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet and TVA Sports or listen to it on Sportsnet 590.
Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkColley.