Blue Jays sign George Kottaras - MLB

Released by the Cardinals when they signed A.J. Pierzynski, journeyman catcher George Kottaras has joined the Blue Jays on a minor-league contract.

Kottaras has a solid .740 career OPS in 309 games, which is actually above average for a starting catcher and very strong for a backup, but his poor defense and low batting averages have caused him to endlessly bounce around from organization to organization.

Since the end of last season he’s been with the Royals, Cubs, Indians, Cardinals, and now Blue Jays, and previously the 31-year-old also played for the A’s, Padres, Red Sox, and Brewers.

For now he’ll head to Triple-A, where Kottaras has logged 1,124 career plate appearances in parts of six different seasons.

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CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”