Travis, Leiter Jr. undergo surgeries, Jays acquire Adam

Second baseman Devon Travis recently underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Photo: Amanda Fewer

By Andrew Hendriks

Canadian Baseball Network

The Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals teamed up for a trade on Sunday, with the Royals sending right-handed pitcher Jason Adam to the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations.

Adam, 27, appeared in 31 games with the Royals in 2018, striking out 37 batters and walking just 15 through 32 1/3 innings of work at the big league level. In the minors, the former fifth-round draft pick pitched to an ERA of 1.50 while posting an overall WHIP of 0.917 across 17 relief assignments split between double-A Northwest Arkansas and triple-A Omaha.

A three-pitch hurler, Adam relies on a mid-90s fastball to get ahead of batters while utilizing an 80 mph curveball and an occasional changeup to keep them honest. In his first taste of big league baseball last season, Adam recorded 29% of his outs on the ground while allowing a barrel percentage of 14, seven points higher than the league average.

Through parts of six minor league campaigns, the product of Overland Park, Kan., has posted a cumulative ERA of 4.28 over 133 appearances, 93 of which have come as a starter.

INJURY UPDATE

Having last appeared in a game on February 25, the Blue Jays announced on Sunday that second baseman Devon Travis recently underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.

"It's frustrating. Very frustrating," Travis told reporters on Sunday morning in Dunedin. "I finished playing against the Yankees, and I went to get out my car and my knee locked up. It was a little bit sore before that, but nothing really to complain about,"

For Travis, the torn meniscus represents the latest in a series of injuries that have limited the 28-year-old to just 254 games since the 2015 campaign.

"Believe me, that one bothers me," said Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo. "I was counting on him because I've seen him do really good before. A couple of years ago, he was really good, and that's the guy I'm hoping for,"

Travis will resume baseball activities in four to six weeks and will be reassessed at that point.

For now, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is ticketed to see a lion’s share of innings at second as the team progresses towards Opening Day.

Like Travis, right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. also recently went under the knife and will now miss all of 2019 as he rehabs from UCL reconstruction surgery.

Acquired off waivers from the Philadelphia Phillies last September, Leiter Jr. made eight appearances with the Blue Jays in 2018, striking out nine and walking four over that span.

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