John

Axford

Axford is done for 2021 after injuring his elbow in his season debut Monday versus the Pirates.

Axford was making his first major league appearance since 2018 on Monday night against the Pirates when he began feeling discomfort in his right elbow, and tests taken Tuesday revealed significant structural damage. This could very well be the end of the road for the 38-year-old reliever.

There is no official diagnosis yet, as Axford is still undergoing imaging tests. His elbow gave out Monday night against the Pirates while he was making his first major league appearance since 2018. Angel Perdomo will join the Brewers in a corresponding move.

He’ll undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the damage. For what it’s worth, the pain is in the back of Axford’s elbow, which would indicate it’s probably not a UCL issue. Axford, 38, was making his first appearance in the majors since 2018 and first with the Brewers since 2013. He retired only one of the five batters he faced and walked in a run, ultimately being charged with two runs.

Axford will immediately join the major league roster in his return to the Brewers, where he pitched from 2009-2013 and enjoyed his most success. The 38-year-old last pitched in the majors in 2018 and has been doing TV work for the Blue Jays, but he recently signed a minor league deal with Toronto after hitting 98 mph during the Olympic qualifiers for Team Canada. He had a 0.77 ERA and 15/3 K/BB ratio over 11 2/3 innings in the minors and the Jays ultimately did him a solid sending him back to Milwaukee for a chance to pitch in the majors again. It’s a really great story.

Axford is 38 and hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2018, but Jon Heyman of MLB Network says that the reliever was clocked at 97-98 mph on the radar gun while pitching for Team Canada recently. The righty was with the Jays on a minor league deal back in 2019 but made just one appearance due to elbow issues.

For now, the 36-year-old hurler is putting those plans on hold. Axford admitted, “It would be great to keep playing and I’d love to continue playing for another few more years, but I’m also at the point of realizing this may not happen this year because of everything that’s going on, so I have to prepare myself for that. But it’s more about looking at the bigger picture of what’s going on here.” Once baseball returns, it’s likely that Axford will once again pursue a minor league deal.

Axford was expected to begin a stint with Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday but the Blue Jays had to scrap that plan due to a setback. The only game action the right-hander has seen this year came two weeks ago when he logged an inning of scoreless ball in a rookie-league game for the Gulf Coast Jays.

Axford has been sidelined all season due to a stress reaction in the olecranon of his right elbow. He’s with the Blue Jays on a minor league contract and will likely be stationed at Triple-A Buffalo for a bit whenever he’s deemed fully healthy.

Axford was released by Toronto over the weekend, but he’s back now on a restructured minor league deal. The veteran reliever is unlikely to be available to the Jays until sometime in May because of a stress reaction in the olecranon of his right elbow.