After a poor extended start to the season, Adam Lind has been sent to the minors. He'll report to Triple-A Las Vegas, the Blue Jays announced Thursday.
Lind, 28, hit .305/.370/.562 with 35 homers, 46 doubles, 114 RBI and 93 runs in 2009, appearing to emerge as one of the better young sluggers in baseball. He regressed the following season and had a similar campaign in 2011 to his disappointing, but not terrible, 2010 season.
This season, though, Lind has been pretty bad for the most part. He's hitting .186/.273/.314 with three homers, 11 RBI and eight runs in 34 games. Since a pretty good game on May 9, Lind has gone just 2-for-17, with both hits being singles.
With Lind out of the picture, albeit probably temporarily, Ben Francisco should see an uptick in playing time, with Edwin Encarnacion collecting most of the starts at first base.
Yan Gomes has been recalled as a corresponding move. The 24-year-old has played catcher, first base, third base and DH this season for Las Vegas. He's hitting .359/.391/.565 with five homers, 12 doubles, 22 RBI and 17 runs in 33 Triple-A games. He'll probably be in the mix for playing time with Francisco, either at first base (when Encarnacion is DH) or DH (when Encarnacion plays first).
Of note: According to the Blue Jays, once Gomes appears in a game, he'll be the first Brazilian to ever play in the majors.
