CHICAGO -- Teoscar Hernández's prolonged slump at the plate has resulted in another stint in the Minor Leagues.

Hernandez was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo prior to Thursday night's game against the White Sox. Infielder Richard Ureña was added to the 25-man roster in a corresponding move while outfielder Socrates Brito cleared waivers and was assigned to Buffalo.

The 26-year-old Hernandez slashed just .189/.262/.299 across 39 games for the Blue Jays this season with three home runs and 15 RBIs. This will mark Hernandez's first stint in the Minors since last April when he played four games for Buffalo before being added to the big league roster.

"It's always tough to tell a kid he's going down to the Minor Leagues," manager Charlie Montoyo said. "But he was fine, he was fine. He knows he has to go there and work on his batting, stance, everything to do with hitting. He's going to be all right. He's a good kid. He said, 'I'll be back.' I said, 'Good. I know you'll be back.'"

Hernandez's biggest issue during the first seven weeks of the season was a lack of contact. The Dominican native struck out 42 times compared to 13 walks. The final straw before his demotion came when Hernandez's confidence appeared to hit an all-time low with a four-strikeout game in San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon.

The surprising part of Hernandez's struggles was that the lack of contact wasn't tied to expanding the strikezone. Hernandez is known as a free swinger, but he spent a lot of time during Spring Training working on his approach to identify pitches.

Hernandez wanted to increase his number of walks, but instead he appears to have got himself stuck in no-man's land, where he wasn't aggressive enough, missed his pitch early in counts and then expanded late in the at-bat. It ultimately cost him a starting job in the Major Leagues.

"He doesn't have that many at-bats, but the at-bats he was having were not good," Montoyo said. "So that's why we're sending him down. It's 120 at-bats, whatever it is, he could get hot real quick, but the at-bats were not what we wanted ... By the time he gets to that point, it's mechanical and mental. It's going to be a fresh start for him and I know he will be back."

Brandon Drury got the start at third base on Thursday night, but Hernandez's demotion means most of Drury's playing time will now come in the outfield. That leaves veteran Eric Sogard to assume most of the at-bats at second base and Urena will slide in as the club's primary utility infielder.

Urena, who can play both middle infield positions and third base, entered Thursday hitting .313 (10-for-32) in 11 games with the big league club this season. He lost his spot on the roster earlier in the season when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was promoted to become the every day third baseman.

"He can play everywhere and we need a guy like that," Montoyo said. "It's always good to have somebody who can play all spots. We're better just because of that. Now when [Freddy] Galvis gets a day off, Urena can play short, and we didn't have that before."