The Blue Jays have signed lefty Joe Kennedy after the Diamondbacks released him earlier this month. He can help in either the rotation or the bullpen for the Blue Jays in September. Kennedy has pitched in 30 games (16 starts) this season for the A’s and Diamondbacks and he was 3-9 with a 4.77 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP.

The “Big Hurt” is swinging the bat like the Blue Jays expected him to in the 2nd half of the season so far. In 37 games since the All-Star Break, Thomas is 37 for 132 (.280 avg, .918 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 7 homers and 33 RBIs. The Blue Jays need Thomas to keep hitting like he is right now because if the Jays get hot they could make a run at the A.L. Wildcard. Thomas has now played in 122 games this season and he is 107 for 411 (.260 avg, .830 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 21 homers and 76 RBIs.

The Blue Jays have activated A.J. Burnett from the disabled list. Burnett has started 16 games this season and he is 6-6 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. In 101.1 innings he has allowed 82 hits, walked 43 batters and whiffed 111. The Jays have placed reliever Brandon League on the DL to make room for Burnett on the roster. League has a strained oblique muscle. He has pitched in only 7 games this season for the Blue Jays and he is 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and a 2.10 WHIP.

The Blue Jays tried to explore trading Royce Clayton but they didn’t find any takers so they released him. Some team will probably pick him up an use him as a backup as he still has a little bit of game left.

The Blue Jays were so upset at the play of Russ Adams last season that they have left him in AAA all of this year. He has played in 104 games in AAA this season and he is 104 for 398 (.261 avg, .723 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 10 homers and 51 RBIs. He will likely need to play better than that to get called up to the Blue Jays.