Morales ready to pitch if needed

TORONTO • Kendrys Morales as a relief pitcher?

It hasn’t come to this yet, but with the state of his overworked bullpen, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Thursday that the big designated hitter has offered to pitch if the jam gets that bad.

“Morales is always volunteering to pitch, he pitched in Cuba,” Gibbons said before Thursday’s finale of a three-game series against the Yankees. “He said he’d just throw fastballs. He used to throw hard.”

According to baseballreference.com, Morales did pitch — for all of 2 1/3 innings back in 2001-02 when he was slugging for Industriales de La Habana of the Cuban National Series.

Not to worry — it’s not likely to happen here. But there are some nights when Gibbons must feel like his bullpen is hanging together by a thread. After Nick Tepesch didn’t make it through five innings Wednesday, it marked the 34th game in which a starting Jays pitcher didn’t make it through the fifth. That happened only 13 times last season.

“We’ve got a group that’s had really good years this year and have proven themselves,” Gibbons said. “They’ve proven they can pitch in close games late. We’ve been playing a lot of those type games and they’re all pitching a lot. As much as you want to use them sometimes, you can’t. And you don’t want to pitch a player.”

Gibbons referenced a July 1, 2016 game in which utility infielder Ryan Goins came on to pitch and landed on the disabled list with tightness in his right forearm.

The Jays got some reliever relief Thursday when Chris Smith was recalled from triple-A Buffalo.

TOE THE LINE

While Wednesday was a memorable night for Jays pitcher Taylor Cole, it also came with it’s share of pain.

Cole made his major league debut in the eighth inning. After six hits and four earned runs in his one inning of work, that was enough damage. Or so he thought.

When he came back to the Rogers Centre Thursday, his foot was bruised and swollen from taking a comebacker on it the night before. Cole, the 50th player to see game action for the Jays this season, was placed on the 15-day DL.

NICE CATCH

Catcher Raffy Lopez made his first start with the Jays Wednesday and third of his career in the bigs.

Gibbons was impressed with the 29-year-old Philadelphia native.

“I thought he blocked his butt off and watching him between innings throwing to second base, he’s got a nice quick release, a good arm,” Gibbons said.

Gibbons said Luke Maile is getting closer to a return to action.