KANSAS CITY — Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista will sit out next week’s all-star game in order to rest, and receive treatment on, a sore right shoulder.
Bautista declined to speak to reporters after the Blue Jays 6-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday. He’ll meet with the press Sunday afternoon instead.
An MLB release Saturday afternoon stated Bautista “will be inactive during the all-star game as a result of treatment he will receive during the all-star break for a sore shoulder.”
Bautista has been battling soreness in his right shoulder since mid-April after he made an aggressive throw to first base in a heated game with the Baltimore Orioles. He initially missed five games with the injury, before serving as the Blue Jays designated hitter for his next 29 starts. He eventually returned to right field duty when the Blue Jays went to Washington in June for interleague play.
Bautista, who was chosen to play for the American League via the player ballot and remains invited to Cincinnati with full all-star honours, has been named to six consecutive all-star games.
DONALDSON UPDATE: Josh Donaldson left Saturday afternoon’s game against the Kansas City Royals in the sixth inning due to “flu-like symptoms.” The Blue Jays described his removal from the game as precautionary.
A cold bug has been making its way around the Blue Jays clubhouse and it appears Donaldson is its latest victim. Also contributing to the third baseman’s fatigue were soaring temperatures in Kansas City, which reached 33 degrees Celsius and felt like 37 with the humidity.
“He’d been sick. And then you top that with the heat and everything,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “He was a little dehydrated.”
