Toronto Blue Jays reliever Yimi García is set to visit Dr. Keith Meister — an orthopedic and sports medicine surgeon with expertise on Tommy John surgery — for his elbow, manager John Schneider announced on Monday.
The right-hander has been out since July 5, hitting the IL shortly after returning from a right shoulder impingement.
In 21 innings for the Blue Jays this season, Garcia has a 3.86 ERA, three saves and 25 strikeouts.
“Kind of just not bouncing back and recovering as he hoped,” Schneider told reporters before their tilt against the Minnesota Twins. “(We’re) trying to figure out exactly what the next step is.
“Never a good thing when you’re going to see Dr. (Keith) Meister, no pitcher wants to hear that, but he’s shown he’s pretty resilient too over the course of his career.”
Elsewhere for the Blue Jays, injured slugger Anthony Santander was hitting off a machine and doing some outfield work with the club in Toronto on Monday.
Santander has been on the injured list since late May with shoulder inflammation. After a long period of not picking up a bat, the 30-year-old returned to swinging last week.
Santander inked a five-year, $92.5-million contract with the Blue Jays in January. In his first 50 games with the team, the 2024 all-star slashed .179/.273/.304 with six home runs.
Reliever Nick Sandlin (elbow) flew to Toronto to be checked out by team doctors after experiencing “a little bit” of discomfort, according to Schneider, and the team is hoping he can continue his throwing progression.
Alek Manoah, working back from UCL reconstruction surgery, is set to make another start for triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday after he lasted 4.2 innings and gave up one earned run his last time out.
Toronto opted to use one of its two rehab-period extensions for pitchers working back from Tommy John surgery on the right-hander. His 30-day rehab clock initially began with a single-A start on July 22.
Addison Barger, held out of back-to-back lineups, has been dealing with an illness the broadcast also announced Monday.