DUNEDIN, Fla. – A soft spot around a sprinkler in a practice-field outfield tore a huge hole in the Toronto Blue Jays lineup, as a freak accident left Michael Saunders with a torn meniscus in his left knee and will sideline him until the all-star break.
Alex Anthopoulos announced the news Thursday morning and said the team prefers to cover the gap with an internal option such as Dalton Pompey, Kevin Pillar or Ezequiel Carerra – who were already competing for the starting job in centre field.
Still, the general manager will look outside the organization at the end of spring training to see if an upgrade can be found, seeking more of a stop-gap type of player than a long-term solution, given that Saunders isn’t out all year, and the 28-year-old is more than motivated to return.
“I’ve described this to a lot of people that nobody is more excited to be here than me,” said a sullen Saunders, on crutches as he spoke with media, adding later: “I had surgery on my shoulder back in 2007 in the minor-leagues and I’m going to take a lot of what I learned from that, and that’s why I know the biggest obstacle for me is going to be my mentality going into this whole thing. …
“I’m going to have to listen to my body more than anything. I’ve never had any issues with my knees, I’m young, so everything is working in my favour. It’s tough to give you guys a timeline because then you guys will be counting down the days and I can’t make any promises. But I will be working my ass off to make sure I’m ready to go as soon as possible.”
Saunders was injured Wednesday morning, while lightly jogging in pursuit of a fly ball on one of the practice fields at the Blue Jays’ Bobby Mattick Training Center. While running, he landed on a soft patch around an underground sprinkler and his foot caught.
“It stopped me in my tracks,” he explained, “and I heard a pop.”
Discreetly, he walked off the field, went to the trainers and began feeling tightness develop in his knee.
The news only got worse when his diagnosis was confirmed, and Saunders will seek a second opinion before undergoing the surgery needed to repair the injury. The only bright side for him and the Blue Jays is that he didn’t injure his ACL or PCL ligaments, as well, which would have made things worse.
“Freak thing,” said Anthopoulos. “We’ve been here since 1976, we’ve never had anybody (get hurt this way). …
“You think about the timing – you’re jogging in a huge outfield, you step right in that spot, you know?”
Anthopoulos added that the Blue Jays have already examined the area, but plan to take another look to see if a pipe broke underground leading to a leak that softened the area.
The damage, however, is already done, and the Blue Jays must now settle two spots in their outfield.
Pompey was the prohibitive favourite to open the season in centre field, and now Pompey and Carrera are both well positioned to make the team as left-fielder and fourth outfielder.
“We know these guys can play defensively,” said Anthopoulos. “From an offensive standpoint how are they going to do?”
Non-roster invites Chris Dickerson and Caleb Gindl will also get longer looks now, while Andy Dirks, in minor-league camp while continuing his recovery from back surgery last season, could find his way into the mix if he recovers quickly enough.
From a prospect perspective, outfielder Dwight Smith Jr., is also in camp but is due to open the year at double-A New Hampshire and has been working out at second base to see if he can stick in the infield.
“We have some guys here that we like, they have to earn their way on to the team,” said Anthopoulos. “The thing is Saunders is out for a few months and we’re going to get him back. I don’t think you’re going to see us go make a move for a long-term outfield, a three or four year outfielder.
“If we were to go outside and acquire someone, how do they factor when Saunders does come back? That’s part of the equation. Ideally for us, the guys in that clubhouse are going to take the opportunity. We’d prefer not to have to go outside.”
A more subtle issue is what losing Saunders’ potent left-handed bat does to an already heavily right-leaning lineup.
Though he was likely to hit in the sixth spot, losing that presence in the lower part of the lineup hurts, while also meaning more will be needed offensively from whoever wins the job in centre field.
“Ideally you got a balanced lineup, you get left and right mixed in, but that’s not going to happen at the top of our lineup anyway,” said manager John Gibbons. “It might affect the bottom a little bit, but we like the guys we have in camp. There are some guys that need some opportunities, we brought them here for a reason, and then we have the internal guys like Pompey and Pillar, and now is their chance to shine.
“Otherwise, you go and bring someone else in right away, what does that say to those guys? You guys been BS-ing us the whole time, anyways? The game moves on, Michael will be back, let one of these guys take an opportunity and run with it.”