The Blue Jays have activated Brett Lawrie off the disabled list, and he will start in game 2 of their series with the Baltimore Orioles. The only difference, Lawrie will be playing 2nd base, a position he has never played at the major league level.
Lawrie was originally drafted by Milwaukee as a second baseman, but was converted to third base prior to his trade to the Blue Jays in 2011. He has been working at second during his rehab assignment with Triple-A Buffalo.
Lawrie has been out for nearly 2 months after injuring his ankle on the basepaths, sliding into second base.
In 37 games this season Lawrie has hit .209/.268/.374 (72 OPS+) with five home runs. He hit .273/.324/.405 (96 OPS+) in 125 games last year, his first full season with the big club.
The Jays have made the move as they have the worst offensive production of any club in the major leagues from their second baseman. Quite frankly despite being a fan favorite, Munenori Kawasaki is a below replacement level hitter at the plate, and below average defensively. Emilio Bonifacio is not getting the job done either, and so the Jays are turning to Lawrie playing second base and keeping Maicer Izturis and Mark DeRosa at third.
Toronto second basemen collectively ranked last in the majors in on-base percentage (.248) and on-base plus slugging (.560), 29th in hits (68) and batting average (.216) and 28th in RBIs (24) this season.
To make room on the roster the Blue Jays have assigned Kawasaki to Triple-A Buffalo.
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