Newly acquired reliever Benoit ready to prove himself with Blue Jays

TORONTO — Joaquin Benoit is hoping a change of scenery will do him some good.

The right-handed reliever, acquired by the Blue Jays late Tuesday night in a trade that sent fellow right-hander Drew Storen to the Seattle Mariners, arrived at Rogers Centre early Wednesday morning ready for a fresh start.

Benoit, who turned 39 on Tuesday, struggled in Seattle this season, racking up a 5.18 earned-run average over 26 appearances out of the bullpen, and walking 5.5 batters per nine innings, his highest walk rate since 2008 in Texas.

“At first (at the beginning of the season) I was having soreless in my shoulder and had some inflammation so I wasn’t able to control my arm,” Benoit said of his struggles. “But now I throw way better, I feel like I can contribute more to the team and I guess the move was right on time.”

Benoit is 55-43 with a 3.87 ERA in 687 career games, including 55 career starts, spanning 15 major league seasons. He was acquired by Seattle from San Diego in exchange for right-hander Enyel De Los Santos and infielder Nelson Ward in November, 2015.

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Benoit last pitched on Sunday, going one scoreless inning in a 2-0 Mariners loss at Toronto.

“That’s the business side of baseball — you play on one team and the next day you’re somewhere else,” Benoit said. “I was here two days ago and now I’m back.”

Benoit took a 7 a.m. Wednesday flight out of Pittsburgh, where the Mariners are playing an interleague series against the Pirates.

He said he found out about the trade late Tuesday night after Seattle’s 7-4 win at PNC Park and hadn’t yet talked to Toronto manager John Gibbons about how he’ll be used out of the bullpen.

“We’ll see how he pitches,” Gibbons said. “He’s a good veteran, he’s been around.

“He’s still getting his strikeouts, that kind of thing. He’s a veteran guy, he still has a good solid arm.”

Storen, 28, was designated for assignment Sunday by Toronto after going 1-3 with three saves and a 6.21 ERA in 38 appearances.

The Blue Jays are two games behind first-place Baltimore in the AL East and hold the league’s top wild-card spot heading into Wednesday’s afternoon game against the Padres.

“Hopefully I can help the team and achieve the goal to get in the playoffs and go forward from that,” Benoit said. “You know it’s exciting when you’re close to the playoffs. Two months until the end of the season, we can do big things.”

Melissa Couto, The Canadian Press