TORONTO -- The Blue Jays have yet another injury to be concerned about after it was announced on Monday afternoon that Steve Pearce has been placed on the 10-day disabled list.
Pearce strained his right calf following a double during Sunday's 3-2 victory over the Mariners. Right-hander Leonel Campos was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to take Pearce's spot on the 25-man roster.
The injury comes at a time when Pearce finally appeared to be making strides at the plate after a slow start to the season. He had one hit in each of his previous three games and posted a 1.092 OPS in 10 games this month.
"Calf strain, so he's going on the DL," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.
Toronto remains uncertain how long Pearce will be out. Gibbons referenced the amount of time that it has taken Josh Donaldson to return from a calf injury as an example of how unpredictable the injury can be. The hope is that Pearce won't need more than 10 days, but at this point it's impossible to declare that with any certainty.
The loss of Pearce won't have a direct impact on Toronto's everyday lineup. Ezequiel Carrera, Kevin Pillar and Jose Bautista remain the starting three in the outfield and Justin Smoak continues to take all of the playing time at first base. It does, however, impact Toronto's lineup against lefties and should result in even more at-bats for Carrera.
The Blue Jays also will lean on infielders Darwin Barney, Ryan Goins and utility man Chris Coghlan if any of the current outfielders need a breather or are forced to come out of a game.
"Barney can go out there, Coghlan came up an outfielder, we've got some guys who can cover that," Gibbons said. "Goins is a good outfielder too."
Toronto currently has nine players on either the 10-day or 60-day disabled lists. Right-hander Aaron Sanchez returned on Sunday and Troy Tulowitzki is expected to be back on Wednesday, but the list also includes: Donaldson, Russell Martin, J.A. Happ, Francisco Liriano, Dalton Pompey, Bo Schultz, Glenn Sparkman and Pearce.