Blue Jays shake up bullpen with Sandlin (right lat) to IL, Barnes DFA'd

TORONTO -- The bullpen shuffle begins.

The Blue Jays designated Jacob Barnes for assignment prior to Sunday’s finale against the Mariners, which wasn’t a surprise after he allowed a grand slam in the 12th inning the night before, but the second move wasn’t expected. Nick Sandlin hit the IL with a right lat strain, meaning he’ll be down for at least 15 days.

Sandlin pitched the eighth on Saturday and gave the Blue Jays a clean inning with two strikeouts, so there was nothing obvious at the time. The 28-year-old right-hander who came over from Cleveland in the Andrés Giménez deal has been one of the best stories of the young season for the Blue Jays, though, already making 10 appearances for John Schneider.

With a 2.25 ERA and 10 strikeouts over his eight innings, Sandlin has been exactly what the Blue Jays needed. While they wait for Erik Swanson to return, this bullpen needed a depth reliever to step up and be something more than that, which Sandlin nailed.

Sandlin had been feeling this lat issue for a while now, but managed it. This is the Blue Jays’ attempt at getting out in front of the issue, so they’ll shut Sandlin down from throwing for a few days and go from there.

“He’s a big part of our bullpen,” Schneider said. “He can come into any situation, whether it’s a clean inning or a dirty inning. We’ll miss him, for sure, but we’ll have to hold down the fort while he’s gone.

Coming the other way are Dillon Tate, who impressed in his brief time with the organization late last season, and Paxton Schultz, a versatile right-hander who will be making his MLB debut.

Once the bullpen shuffle begins, it tends to keep shuffling all season long. Here’s a look at the other factors -- and options -- the Blue Jays will be facing:

Swanson’s timeline comes first
Swanson has been building back up after dealing with a median nerve entrapment in Spring Training, but he’s expected to begin a rehab assignment soon. Let’s loosely call that “a couple of weeks away”, which is the most important piece of this conversation.

After returning from a reset in Triple-A on July 20 of last season, Swanson was himself again. He posted a 2.55 ERA down the stretch and found the feel for that excellent splitter again. When Swanson is right, he gives the Blue Jays a legitimate, back-end arm and make’s Schneider’s life a lot easier from the sixth inning on.

Jeff Hoffman looks dominant in the closer’s role and Yimi García might be one of the most underrated relievers in the sport -- an absolutely fantastic move from this front office in December -- but adding one more shutdown arm to that group can take this bullpen from good to great.

Internal options: Who’s next?
The Blue Jays have already rostered Mason Fluharty, who was the most interesting arm in their Triple-A bullpen to open the season, and Schultz certainly earned this opportunity with a strong start and the ability to pitch in a bit of a swingman role.

From there, the Blue Jays have some other lefty options in Josh Walker, who we saw in Spring Training, and Justin Bruihl, who’s off to a nice start himself.

The other name to keep in mind is No. 21 prospect Ryan Jennings, who is pitching at Double-A now as a multi-inning reliever. Jennings can both start and relieve, but the upside is most exciting -- and closest -- in a bullpen role.

Down the road: External options are going to matter
Is it too early to talk about the Trade Deadline?

It already feels like the Blue Jays are on a clear path to making a major bullpen addition ahead of the Deadline on July 31. Think of something similar to their acquisition of Jordan Hicks from the Cardinals ahead of the ‘23 Deadline. While that postseason didn’t go how anyone wanted, that move itself was strong.

We already know the Blue Jays’ rotation is rock solid. If they can add an elite bullpen arm on top of Hoffman, García and potentially Swanson, that’s when they can start shortening games. All the Blue Jays need to do is stick around in this postseason picture, and when you pair their strong start with an American League that doesn’t have many Goliaths just yet, it’s looking likely.