Blue Jays about to get relief as Jordan Romano, Erik Swanson return to game action in Buffalo

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If all goes well, the process of getting two important arms back to the Blue Jays bullpen will ramp up this week.

Closer Jordan Romano is scheduled to pitch in Buffalo on Thursday, making his first appearance since hitting the injury list with elbow inflammation prior to the season.

Erik Swanson (forearm tightness) is on a similar timeline to return to action.

“Both will be in games this week and we’re hoping those games go well,” Jays pitching coach Pete Walker said. “After that, we’ll decide what the next moves are.”

Walker said neither player will be rushed back to the Jays roster until they are ready to handle their normal bullpen workloads.

“We can’t be in a position to bring them back when it’s two or three days between outings,” Walker said. “They have to be full go to come back. When that is, we’re not sure of.”

In the absence of Romano and Swanson, the Jays have needed to be creative in their management of the bullpen, with Yimi Garcia, Chad Green and others piecing together late-inning spots.

So far, it has worked out, but it has required some creativity from the coaching staff, a challenge at any time but especially early in the season.

“We’ve had to be smart with them, too, and not over-use them, but certainly we’ve been able to count on them in some big spots,” Walker said of Green and Garcia. “It’s a challenge putting the pieces together right now and not over-using aa few guys that we would rely on normally in high-leverage situations.”

Romano and Swanson both have been with the team since they arrived in Toronto for Monday’s home opener and have been working with Schneider and his staff.

Meanwhile, Walker isn’t worried about starter Kevin Gausman’s suspect outing at Yankee Stadium over the weekend, when he lasted just 1.1 innings and allowed six runs (five earned) in a Jays loss to the Bronx Bombers.

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“Obviously, that was strange,” Walker said. “We know his stuff, velocity-wise, wasn’t what it was before. It could have been a little bit of dead arm with the cold weather, but we certainly expect him to bounce back at our place and expect the (velocity) to jump back up.”

Walker is of the belief that a full spring in Florida and then transitioning to a frigid Yankee Stadium was a shock to the system — and not just to Gausman.

“Some guys really struggle with it,” Walker said. “For us, it was tough, especially with the breaking stuff and the splits. It didn’t act the same way. Another reason it’s nice to get back home.

“But I expect him to have another Gausman-like season.”