The Toronto Blue Jays placed first baseman Ty France on the 10-day injured list due to left oblique inflammation and activated right fielder Anthony Santander from the 60-day IL on Tuesday.
France’s move was retroactive to Monday. Toronto also designated right-hander Alek Manoah, who has not pitched in the major leagues this season, for assignment.
The Blue Jays (90-66), having clinched a playoff berth, entered Tuesday with the best record in the American League and sat two games ahead of the New York Yankees in the AL East.
Santander, 30, was a major free agent signing in the offseason with a five-year, $92.5 million contract, but has been sidelined by left shoulder inflammation.
He has been out since a 12-0 home win over the Athletics on May 29. Santander has played in only 50 games in his first season in Toronto, batting .179 (33-for-184) with six homers and 18 RBIs.
Santander was an All-Star and MVP candidate in Baltimore last season when he batted .235 with 44 homers and 102 RBIs in 155 games.
He is a career .242 hitter with 161 homers and 453 RBIs in 796 regular-season games for the Orioles (2017-24) and Blue Jays.
France, 31, last played on Sunday, going 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter in an 8-5 road win over the Kansas City Royals.
He is batting .277 with one home run and eight RBIs in 37 games since the Blue Jays acquired him from Minnesota at the trade deadline. He hit .251 with six homers and 44 RBIs in 101 games with the Twins.
France is a career .262 hitter with 81 homers and 364 RBIs in 840 regular-season games with the San Diego Padres (2019-20), Seattle Mariners (2020-24), Cincinnati Reds (2024), Twins and Blue Jays.
Manoah, 27, is recovering from Tommy John surgery and has started 10 games for Toronto’s minor league affiliates. He played in only five MLB games in 2024, going 1-2 with a 3.70 ERA, eight walks and 26 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings before season-ending surgery on his right elbow to repair his ulnar collateral ligament.
An All-Star in 2022 when he finished third in the American League Cy Young Award voting, Manoah is a career 29-20 with a 3.34 ERA, 158 walks and 412 strikeouts in 420 innings since his 2021 major league debut.
Toronto selected Manoah with the 11th overall pick of the 2019 MLB Draft out of West Virginia.