The Blue Jays have placed closer B.J. Ryan on the 15-day disabled list with tightness in his left trapezius muscle. Ryan has pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the Blue Jays this season and he is 1-0 with 2 saves, a 11.12 ERA and a 2.29 WHIP. Ryan will likely be replaced as the closer by fellow lefty Scott Downs who has been lights out this season. Downs has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) this year and he is 0-0 with 1 save, a 0.93 ERA and a 0.41 WHIP. Downs has been incredible this season allowing only 4 hits while whiffing 14 batters in 9 2/3 innings. He should do a great job while Ryan is out of action.

The Blue Jays have placed rookie lefty starting pitcher Ricky Romero on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique muscle strain. Romero has started 3 games for the Jays this season and he is 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. Romero is the #7 rated prospect in the Blue Jays’ entire minor league system according to Baseball America. This is a big blow to the Blue Jays as Romero was really pitching excellent for them.

The Blue Jays have placed righty swinging catcher Michael Barrett on the 15-day disabled list with a torn muscle in his right shoulder. Barrett has played in 7 games for the Blue Jays this season and he was 3 for 18 (.167 avg, .544 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. Rod Barajas will become the full time starter for the Jays with Barrett out of action. Barajas has played in 10 games for the Blue Jays this season and he is 8 for 34 (.235 avg, .594 OPS) with 1 run scored and 3 RBIs. Veteran Raul Chavez has been recalled to backup Barajas. Chavez has played in 1 game this season for the Jays and he is 1 for 3 (.333 avg). Chavez has also played in 2 games in AAA-ball this season and he is 1 for 7 (.143 avg).

The Blue Jays have placed righty starting pitcher Jesse Litsch on the 15-day disabled list with a case of right forearm tightness. Litsch has started 2 games for the Jays this season and he is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. He has allowed 14 hits and 4 homers in only 9 innings pitched this season. The Blue Jays will move lefty reliever Brian Tallet out of the bullpen to replace Litsch in the starting rotation. Tallet has pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for the Blue Jays this season and he is 0-0 with a 6.14 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He has only allowed 4 hits while striking out 9 batters this season in 7 1/3 innings. Tallet has been a solid pitcher in his major league career but it will be interesting to see how well he does when he has to pitch to batters more than one time in a game. The Jays have called up lefty reliever Bill Murphy to replace Tallet in the bullpen. He has pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Jays now and he is 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA and a 0.50 WHIP.

If the Blue Jays have taught their fans anything it’s to expect the unexpected. It makes no sense to think that the Blue Jays can finish higher that 4th in the American League East because of injuries to the pitching staff. But, the Blue Jays will likely score a lot of runs this season and they have one of the deepest bullpens in the majors. With those factors in mind I would make a small bet on the over with the Blue Jays in 2009.