More grim news on prospects of Yimi Garcia returning to boost Blue Jays bullpen

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Not that the expectations were high to begin with, but the faint prospects of reliever Yimi Garcia returning to the Blue Jays bullpen to help with a playoff push have taken another hit.

Toronto manager John Schneider said on Monday that Garcia hasn’t been bouncing back from his throwing sessions in recent days and a visit with elbow specialist Dr. Keith Meister has been scheduled. That’s never good news for a pitcher, especially one that has been sidelined for as long as Garcia has.

On the injured list since July 5, first with an ankle sprain and more recently with ulnar nerve symptoms, Garcia has missed the last 44 Jays games.

“It’s been a while since we’ve have him and trying to figure out what’s going on,” Schneider said on Monday, prior to his team’s game against the Minnesota Twins at the Rogers Centre. “So hopefully this does one way or another.

“He just wasn’t really recovering well. It wasn’t like a specific throw hurt worse than the others, he just wasn’t really bouncing back and it kept him from progressing.”

Schneider said that Garcia, who was a huge part of the Jays bullpen early in the season, has been frustrated with the stalled recovery. He was the ideal setup man in the early going but in two combined IL stints has now missed 80 games.

“He’s upset that he’s not here, obviously, and not playing,” Schneider said. “He wants to be a part of this. For a veteran guy, you work hard to be in situations like we’re in right now and he wants to be a part of it.”

While trying to remain hopeful of a return, the Jays have essentially moved on from Garcia out of necessity. The date with Meister has yet to be set, but with just five weeks remaining in the season, it doesn’t sound good.

“He was one of the best in the league, really,” Schneider said of Garcia’s early season form. “Other guys have come in and stepped up and done a good job, for sure. But you can kind of look back and see how dominant he was at the time and say ‘Damn, I wish he was here.’ ”

In other injury news, as expected Vlad Guerrero Jr. (hamstring) was back in the starting lineup on Monday, batting third as designated hitter.

“With the time he missed (six days) we want to ease him back in a little bit,” Schneider said. “But he came in after the game (on Sunday when he came in as a pinch hitter) and said ‘I feel great.’ “