DETROIT -- The Blue Jays placed reliever Tommy Nance on the 15-day IL Sunday morning with right forearm discomfort, yet another injury in a season already filled with them.
Taking Nance’s place on the roster will be lefty Adam Macko, who’s in line to make his MLB debut. The Blue Jays’ No. 21 prospect has been working as a multi-inning reliever with Triple-A Buffalo. Born in Slovakia, Macko has deep Canadian ties as he played high school ball in Alberta and recently pitched well for Team Canada at the World Baseball Classic.
Down in Triple-A, Macko owned a 4.50 ERA over 18 innings of relief, but the 25-year-old has been considered for a callup multiple times already this season as the Blue Jays deal with injuries. Originally a starter, Macko has built a reputation for growing stronger as the season wears on, which is rare among prospects. But injuries have kept him from touching 100 innings, and he’s since been shortened up into a relief role.
Macko’s fastball sits at 93-95 mph, but his best offerings are his breaking pitches, a strong curveball and slider he’ll need to lean on as out pitches in the big leagues. Expect to see Macko in a middle-relief role -- and given that the Blue Jays are essentially using bullpen days led by Spencer Miles as their “fifth starter” for the foreseeable future, there’s value to any pitcher capable of throwing multiple innings.
In Nance, the Blue Jays lose a veteran righty who’s quietly been very reliable over the past two seasons, including a 1.99 ERA over 30 appearances in 2025, which flew under the radar but shouldn’t have. In ‘26, Nance has posted a 3.86 ERA with 25 strikeouts over 21 innings.
Nance last pitched in Saturday's win over the Tigers, giving them a clean inning. But prior to that game, manager John Schneider said that the Blue Jays had a couple of relievers who were “banged up.” That’s why Macko was up with the Blue Jays earlier in this series, initially on the taxi squad. But clearly, the Blue Jays didn’t see Nance’s forearm bouncing back the way they needed.