ANAHEIM, Calif. – Josh Donaldson returned to the Toronto Blue Jays lineup Thursday night at designated hitter after an MRI on his right hip revealed “some wear and tear” but not enough damage to keep him from playing.
The reigning American League MVP sat out the club’s previous three games getting treatment for the injury, which is thought to have been exacerbated running out a groundball Sunday against the Boston Red Sox.
The Blue Jays didn’t disclose exactly what the MRI revealed, with manager John Gibbons saying, “Really, just a little beat up, nothing major.”
But Donaldson noted that his doctor “said my hips look good for a 30-year-old athlete. That’s what he did say. Obviously there’s some wear and tear probably, but we feel like it’s good enough for me to play.”
Donaldson headed into the opener of a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels in an 0-for-23 slide, and his hip issues are simply the latest malady to befall him this year. Already he’s dealt with hamstring, thigh, knee and thumb issues while also getting hit in the face by a pitch.
Having played in 158 of 162 games over each of the last three seasons, Donaldson’s pain would have had to be substantial for him to miss three consecutive games.
“Some of the soreness has started to go away a little bit,” he said. “But, obviously, it’s something that’s still there. The fact of the matter is if I can go out there and play, I’m going to do my best to go out there.”
During his three days of rest Donaldson didn’t do any baseball activities, but he planned to get back to work Thursday and test himself out with the aim of returning to third base as soon as possible.
“I’m going to try it out today,” he said. “I’ll take some groundballs today, I’ll take some batting practice today, see how it’s feeling. There’re a lot of people who are banged up in here.”
SAUNDERS GOES SMALL: Michael Saunders did something the Blue Jays rarely do as an offence Wednesday afternoon, dropping a sacrifice bunt in the first inning after a Devon Travis leadoff double. The play worked as Edwin Encarnacion cashed a run, but there’s a saying in baseball that if you play for one run, that’s usually all you’ll get.
The Blue Jays didn’t score again in what finished as an 8-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
“The motivation was just to get on the scoreboard early,” Saunders said Thursday. “I almost wanted to give myself as good a chance as possible of moving that runner over for Eddie, I thought it was really important to score early, you know the old saying, score early and often. With what happened [Monday in the sixth inning], similar situation, leadoff double and I was a little bit late and I popped up to left field, I was pretty upset with that because my job in that situation is to however I can move the runner over.
“You’d love to trade places with the guy, but at the end of the day you’ve got to make sure you get that runner to third with one out. In that situation I was just trying to get my job done and give the American League’s RBI leader the best opportunity to drive that run in.”
Typically, American League teams are reluctant to give up an out and play for a run, especially a team with an offence as prolific as that of the Blue Jays, but having scored three runs or less in nine of their past 14 games, swayed Saunders.
“Aside from that eight run game against the Red Sox [on Sunday], we’ve been scoring two, three, four runs and especially against a Rays pitching staff that their starters are all very good pitchers, my mindset was try to get a little momentum, try to get that one run in the first inning and maybe that helps people relax a little bit, go out there and play,” he explained.
“It comes down to understanding yourself as a player, knowing your role and what you bring to the table. There are guys on this team who won’t bunt because that’s not their job. Earlier on in my career I bunted quite a bit and it’s something I’m able to bring out every now and again.
“Personally I prefer to swing the bat but the situation occurred and I felt it was a good spot to get the job done. I’ve bunted so rarely this year, there’s the possibility of catching them off guard, as well. I thought I laid down a good bunt, I also thought [Alex] Cobb made a good play, it could easily have been first and third and then we could hopefully get a rally going. But worst-case scenario, I do my job there.”
ESTRADA’S DISC: Gibbons deflected suggestions that Marco Estrada’s recent struggles are tied to a herniated disc in his back, saying that the right-hander has had the disc issue since spring training.
Indeed on July 3, the day after Estrada laboured through five uncomfortable innings versus the Cleveland Indians, he said of the bulging disc in his back: “I’ve had it for a while, I can aggravate it by swinging and that’s basically what I’ve done. That area isn’t terrible, it’s more the joints.”
Estrada received multiple cortisone shots in his back shortly after, explaining his troubles were largely in the sacroiliac joints.
Over his past six starts, he’s allowed 24 earned runs over 28.2 innings, giving up seven home runs.
