Toronto placed SS-R Chris Woodward on the disabled list on May 12th with a strained right hamstring. Woodward first injured the hamstring during the second game of the Blue Jays' May 2nd doubleheader in Chicago. He remained sidelined, resting the hamstring and receiving treatment, until May 11th when the club believed he had recovered and could safely re-enter the lineup. Unfortunately, Woodward aggravated the injury when he slipped in the batter's box while taking off for first base after hitting a grounder into left field in the fifth inning. Woodward made it to first, but then Toronto sent IF-R Chris Gomez into the game to pinch-run and take over at short.

The Blue Jays hope Woodward will be able to rejoin the team in close to two weeks, but Woodward believes the second injury may be worse than the first, and the club wants to avoid a reenactment of his last return. Consequently, I suspect the injury will keep the 27-year-old out until June, and he likely will complete a short rehab assignment before resuming his duties in the majors.

In order to provide the club with some additional depth in the infield during Woodward's absence, Toronto acquired IF-R Frank Menechino from Oakland for future considerations. The deal was completed at the same time as Woodward was placed on the DL, and Menechino took Woodward's roster spot. While the Blue Jays have used Gomez as their starting shortstop since Woodward hit the disabled list, Menechino likely will receive occasional starts while replacing Gomez as Toronto's primary infield back-up. Menechino opened the season on the disable list after injuring his right calf early in spring training. The 33-year-old returned from the DL to join the A's on April 22nd, but on the day before the trade, Oakland sent Menechino to AAA so as to make room on the roster for UT-S Mark McLemore's return from the disabled list. While he is certainly able to take a walk, Menechino has failed to find success at the plate. With regular playing time, his modest power skills might reemerge, but at the moment, Menechino is in the majors by virtue of his defensive flexibility.

Following their May 11th game, Toronto placed RHP Justin Speier on the disabled list. Speier admitted to elbow soreness after his appearance that night. He evidently had experienced swelling in his elbow previously but resisted resting. The Blue Jays hope that a trip to the DL will force the 30-year-old to rest his arm and prevent him from suffering a serious injury. Toronto has not established a timetable for his return.

The Blue Jays recalled RHP Aquilino Lopez to replace Speier on the roster and in the bullpen. The struggles Lopez experienced in the majors vanished when the 29-year-old reported to AAA. Hopefully, the experience steadied him so that he will be more effective now. If Lopez can control his walk rate, then he should be an asset to Toronto's pen.

UT-L Howie Clark returned to AAA Syracuse on Friday while UT-L Simon Pond joined the Blue Jays in the majors. Clark worked himself into a platoon with OF-R Reed Johnson when he arrived in the majors in late April, but as he struggled through May, Toronto lost interest in Clark and decided to give Pond another look. Pond will be given an opportunity to claim the starting right field job against righties, as the Blue Jays seem interested in limiting Johnson's exposure to southpaws. However, Pond started at DH yesterday and is scheduled to do so again today. Manager Carlos Tosca wants to rest DH-R Josh Phelps, who has been humiliated by right-handed pitchers to the tune of a .496 OPS this year. Two years ago Phelps had no problem with right-handed pitching, and while his batting average dipped against righties last year, he sustained his power and maintained an acceptable OBP due to his walk rate. So far this year, the 26-year-old has not displayed even half the patience he exhibited in 2003. 1B-L Carlos Delgado and 3B-L Eric Hinske are also struggling this season, but their skills remain solidly inline with their past performance, so both are much more likely than Phelps to rebound in the near future.

While Toronto officially activated RHP Bob File from the disabled list on Friday and optioned him to AAA, he is still working his way back from his shoulder injury. Even if he is able to avoid setbacks, I doubt the 27-year-old will demonstrate the endurance the Blue Jays desire before mid-June, so I do not expect him to figure into their bullpen mix anytime soon.

Early in the month, Toronto completed another small trade, dealing a player to be named later to Cleveland for IF-L Stubby Clapp. Clapp demonstrated promise in his first few seasons of AAA, but after failing to stick in the majors with the Cardinals in 2001, his production has tailed off. The Blue Jays assigned him to AA New Hampshire rather than AAA, so I do not expect to see the 31-year-old in the majors this season.