TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays have designated Canadian outfielder Dalton Pompey for assignment after reinstating him from the 60-day injured list.
Pompey is coming back from the third concussion of his career, sustained when he hit his head on some bats that had been placed on the top of his spring training locker in March, days before the regular season started.
The Blue Jays opted to designate Pompey for assignment instead of adding him to the 25-man roster. Toronto can return Pompey to the minor leagues only if they place him on waivers and he clears the process.
The 26-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., has played in 64 major-league games with Toronto since 2014, collecting 32 hits, three home runs, 10 runs batted in and eight stolen bases.
Pompey played 14 rehab games, including five at triple-A, where he had five hits, drove in three runs and struck out five times.
"He hasn't even had that many at bats to come to the big leagues, and we had to make a decision," Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said Tuesday before Toronto's home game against the Cleveland Indians. "So it wasn't going to be fair to call him up."
Pompey was batting .282 through 39 spring training at-bats before suffering his latest concussion.
Montoyo said he saw Pompey had "the tools to be good" in his first introduction to him this pre-season.
"I'm always rooting for guys, you know," Montoyo added. "If somebody picks him up, good for him, he goes to the big leagues. Of course I'm rooting for him.
"For me, I liked the guy from the beginning. If he clears waivers, great. He'll get at bats in triple-A and he might be back here."
The Canadian Press
