ST. PETERSBURG -- The Blue Jays announced their first September callups on Friday afternoon by adding seven players to the roster, including second baseman Devon Travis and outfielder Dalton Pompey.
Relievers Ryan Tepera, Danny Barnes and Matt Dermody also joined the big league club, alongside outfielder Darrell Ceciliani. As expected, catcher Josh Thole was added to the roster, which was allowed to expand to 40 players as of Thursday.
Travis was optioned to Rookie-level Bluefield earlier this week to create room for Thole on the 25-man roster. Thole was previously released to make room for recent addition Dioner Navarro, but the plan all along was to re-sign the veteran catcher. Thole signed a Major League deal prior to Sept. 1, which means he is still eligible for the postseason.

The reason Travis was optioned to Bluefield is because that affiliate's season came to an end Thursday night. That meant the Blue Jays would not be required to keep him in the Minor Leagues for 10 days and instead could recall the promising infielder at the conclusion of Bluefield's season.
The only real surprise on the list of September callups was Dermody, who began the year as a 25-year-old reliever for Class A Advanced Dunedin. He quickly advanced through the system and also pitched for Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo while posting a combined 1.82 ERA over 54 1/3 innings.
Dermody likely will be used as a situational lefty, which is one area the Blue Jays have been looking to improve given the up-and-down seasons of Brett Cecil and Aaron Loup. There's no guarantee Dermody will see a lot of work, but it does give manager John Gibbons another option to use during the middle innings.
"It's awesome, it's exciting, it's everything we're working for as ballplayers," Dermody said of the promotion.
"I think one of the main keys to my game is finding down in the zone. Mechanically, I was trying to get my arm side up and it was hard for me to get the ball down at first, but now I've finally realized how to get it down there and just working on getting my offspeed pitches going off that."
Toronto likely isn't done adding to the active roster. Right-hander Bo Schultz and lefty Aaron Loup are expected to be recalled when Buffalo's season comes to an end on Monday, and the recently signed Quintin Berry remains a possibility as well. The Blue Jays currently have 31 players on their active roster.