Music: {allcanada} Potential spot for Lawrie

Friday, June 3, 2011

{allcanada} Potential spot for Lawrie

The Toronto Blue Jays lost minor-league reliever Josh Roenicke on waivers to the Colorado Rockies on Thursday, potentially opening up a spot on their 40-man roster for highly touted prospect Brett Lawrie in the near future.

The Canadian third baseman was expected to get the call from triple-A Las Vegas for Friday's series opener in Baltimore against the Orioles but that plan seems to have been pushed back after Lawrie was hit on the left hand by a mid-90s fastball on Tuesday.

Lawrie suffered a bruise and swelling, and was out of the 51s lineup both Wednesday and Thursday.

The incident came mere hours after Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos said Lawrie was "close" to being called up.

Manager John Farrell said Wednesday that Lawrie would likely sit for a couple of games to ensure all is fine with the hand before he returns to action with Las Vegas.

There are signs pointing to Lawrie making his debut Monday when the Blue Jays begin a four-game series in Kansas City against the Royals.

Roenicke, a hard-throwing 28-year-old right-hander, was 1-3 with 6.04 earned-run average in 16 games for Las Vegas this season.

Acquired as part of the trade that sent Scott Rolen to Cincinnati, Roenicke appeared in 29 games with the Blue Jays over the previous two seasons, going 1-0 with a 6.38 ERA.